Ep. 143 - Real-Time Reactions: 3 Super-Popular Contemporary Fiction Books

I’m ready to dive into a genre that I don’t normally read - contemporary fiction. There are three very popular novels that everyone is talking about right now, so I wanted to see if the hype is worth it. Come find out which books I’m excited to read and react to in real time.

You can find the companion blog here.

Books I React to in this Episode: 

• Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
• The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston
• The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I'm ready to dive into a genre that I don't normally read: contemporary fiction. There are three very popular novels that everyone is talking about right now, so I wanted to see if the hype is worth it. Come find out which books I'm excited to read and react to in real time. Hey story lovers, it's time to unwind, relax, and get comfy cozy. You're listening to the Bookmarks and Blankets podcast. I'm your host, Kelly Matsudaira. Each week I discuss my favorite forms of art, which are books, movies, and TV series. I also love talking about cozy living, cozy hobbies, and self-care tips. If you like reviews, recommendations, discussions, and a whole lot more, then you're in the right place. Join me with your favorite blanket, beverage, and snack, and let's get cozy together. Welcome or welcome back, my book friends. I hope everybody is doing well. I am very intrigued and curious and excited for this episode because one, it's been a minute since I've done a real-time reaction episode. So I'm just very excited to be back doing one of these episodes. And two, there are some books that just completely go viral. They become uber uber popular. I start to feel FOMO, fear of missing out. And I just gotta see, is this hype worth it? What is all of this talk about with these books? I have seen these books all over YouTube, Bookstagram, even Facebook, and some book groups that I'm in. I feel like these books are everywhere right now. And all of them are newer. They have come out within the past couple years or just last year. But the one thing about them is they're all contemporary fiction books. And if you've been here for a minute, you know that I don't really read in this genre a lot. This is a genre that I would like to explore a little bit more, but the story really has to grab me because I am somebody who likes romance, I like historical books, I like my thrillers and my mysteries. So contemporary fiction to me sometimes just feels like those could be very boring books because they don't really focus on any of those angles of other genres that I usually like. So the story really has to grab me for me to really like it. I can probably count on one hand how many contemporary fiction books I've read in the last, say, three years. It's very, very little. So not only am I excited to explore this genre, but also to just check out what these books are about because everybody is talking about them. And I just I have to find out. I have to see what's going on. Before I wrap up my little intro, I do want to mention because this is something I recently just found out about, and maybe it's been this way for a while, but I just learned that if you are on Spotify and you are a premium member, you get access to hundreds of thousands of audiobooks. Now, the kicker is you only get 15 hours a month with your membership. If you want more time, because 15 hours, I mean, sometimes depending on what you're choosing, that might not even cover an entire book. I guess if you're choosing a very long book, but that might get you one, maybe two books a month that you could listen to on there, but that is an option because sometimes my Libby Library app, the wait for these books are insane. We're talking four, five, six plus months to wait for an audiobook and they're not available on Kindle Limited, they're not available on Audible. And so I just learned about audiobooks on Spotify. I feel like for me, because I am a premium member, that I'm gonna use Spotify as my last resort. So if I'm not able to access any of these books through my library app, then I'm gonna see how much time I have that I can just use Spotify and listen to audiobooks over there. I love that they have a wide, wide variety and they have books on there that my library doesn't have. So that's kind of cool too. So if you're into audiobook and you're a Spotify member or you're thinking about becoming one, I just wanted to mention this. This is not a sponsored post. I don't have any affiliate links. This is just me letting my listeners know. Here is another way you can listen to audiobooks if you're a member. Because I absolutely had no idea that this was available to me until literally a couple days ago. So I have saved so many audiobooks that I most likely will take forever to get through unless I purchase more time, which I haven't even looked at how much that costs. And I'm not really interested to pay more right now, but I think I can use my 15 hours wisely every month through Spotify. So I just wanted to mention that real quick. Okay, that's it for the intro. I'm gonna keep it short and sweet because I am so ready to dive into these books. So let me hop to the logistics for those that are new. I'm gonna let you know the three books that I'm planning to read. I will read you the short summary from Goodreads, and then I'm gonna give you my thoughts as I read through the story. So usually I stop around the 25-30% mark, then the halfway mark, and then I will finish the book up and give you my final thoughts. As I do with every podcast episode, there is a companion blog. If you go to bookmarks, the letter n blankets.com. If you miss anything in the episode, if you want to learn more, if you want to look at the cover art, read my written review because I will have that available, you can head over to my website and get all of that information. Also on my website, I have a blog, if you're not aware. I post every Tuesday and Thursday. I have book discussions, reading tips and tricks, book lists, and these are book lists that I don't talk about on the podcast. So you're gonna find lots of book recommendations. It's very seasonal. And right now I'm recording this in the middle of spring. So I have a lot of spring seasonal content and I'm already planning out what I'm gonna be posting for summer. So check back to that every week if you enjoy that kind of content. Also, if you want to know what I'm reading in real time, you can follow me on Goodreads. I'm in there every single day. I have multiple books in multiple formats, multiple genres, tons of different authors. And I also post all of my written reviews on that platform as well. So I would love for you to follow me over there. And then finally, I would love to know your thoughts if you've read any of these books. What did you think of them? Are they really worth the hype? So I invite you over to social media. You can find me on all the places. I'm on X or Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. You can leave me a comment in the post that I make when I announce this episode and just let me know your thoughts. What was your take on these books? Are they completely overhyped? Are they underhyped? Do they deserve all this praise? I would love to engage with you. All right, without further ado, I'm so ready to dive into these books. So let's get comfy, let's get cozy, and let's dive in. So, how did this episode come about? Is because this first book was actually on my spring TBR. So if you listen to the April TBR book list, this was on there. So my first book is Theo of Golden by Alan Levi. And this book really started gaining a lot of momentum late last year. This book actually came out in 2023, but for some reason it took a couple years to really get going, but I just saw this explode everywhere late last year in 2025, and it was on so many people's best of books of 2025. So I definitely wanted to read it this year. It does take place in spring, so that's why I've been holding on to it because I am a seasonal reader, I'm a mood reader, and I love to read books that are set during the season that I'm in. And I heard that this was perfect for spring. So I already have this on my list for April. The audiobook became available to me, so I am super excited to dive into this one and to see what all the hype is about. So the description reads One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from or why. His name is Theo, and he asks a lot more questions than he answers. Theo visits the local coffee house, where 92 pencil portraits hang on the walls, portraits of the people of Golden, done by a local artist. He begins purchasing them one at a time and putting them back in the hands of their rightful owners. With each exchange, a story is told, a friendship born and a life altered. A story of giving and receiving, of seeing and being seen. Theo of Golden is a beautifully crafted novel about the power of creative generosity, the importance of wonder to a purposeful life, and the invisible threads of kindness that bind us to one another. So this sounds very, very sweet. I've heard so many people say, have your tissues on hand because this is a tearjerker. It's gonna make you cry. I've also heard that the audiobook is very good. So I am very excited to hop into this one and to see what this is like. I feel like this is gonna be that feel-good story for springtime when we celebrate renewal and rejuvenation. And it just feels like this is gonna be perfect for this time of year. All right, the second book that I'm gonna check out is The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston. Again, another book that I have seen everywhere. This has a 4.31 on Goodreads. And the description says, for readers of Remarkably Bright Creatures and a Man Called Uva, a warm, life-affirming debut about a zany case of mistaken identity that allows a lonely man one last chance to be part of a family. Also, side note for my listeners I have not read Remarkably Bright Creatures or A Man Called Uva, which I know a lot of people say a man called Ove, O-V-E. It's pronounced UVA. I actually looked that up because I wanted to make sure I said that right. But these are two very popular books that I have not read yet. And just a little foreshadowing, you may be seeing these coming up on some pages to popcorn episodes. Wink wink, hint hint. Alright, so back to the description. Would you mind terribly, old boy, if I borrowed the rest of your life? I promise I'll take excellent care of it. Frederick Fife was born with an extra helping of kindness in his heart. If he borrowed your car, he returned it, washed with a full tank of gas. The problem is there's nobody left in Fred's life to borrow from. At 82, he's desperately lonely, broke, and on the brink of homelessness. But Fred's luck changes when in a bizarre case of mistaken identity, he takes the place of grumpy Bernard Greer at the local nursing home. Now he has warm meals in his belly and a roof over his head. As long as his poker face is in better shape than his prostate and that his look-alike never turns up. Denise Sims is stuck breathing the same disappointing air again and again. A middle-aged mom and caregiver at Bernard's facility, her crumbling marriage and daughter's health concerns are suffocating her joy for life. Wounded by her two-faced husband, she vows never to let a man deceive her again. As Fred walks in Bernard's shoes, he leaves a trail of kindness behind him, fueling Denise's suspicions about his true identity. When unexpected truths are revealed, Fred and Denise rediscover their sense of purpose and learn how to return a broken life to mint condition. Bittersweet and remarkably perceptive, The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife is a hilarious, feel-good, clever novel about grief, forgiveness, redemption, and finding family. So this just sounds like another really good, feel-good book. We have another older gentleman, kind of a little theme going on here. I just love reading books about kind people because this world is full of so much heartache and disappointment, and there's so much anger and rage going on right now. We're seeing wars happening, we're seeing all these protests, we're seeing people be so cruel and nasty to each other. It is so nice to be reminded that there is kindness and generosity, compassion, respect, love and support out there. There are people who harbor those feelings. And it seems to be in literature that the trend is it's always by older people. So we usually see the senior citizens. I would actually love to read a book about a young person being this way, but I'm very excited to read this. I have seen this everywhere just like all the others. And I'm probably gonna need my tissues for this one as well. I'm sure this will make me cry, just like the O of Golden. All right, so then the last book that I have seen everywhere is The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. This book actually came out just last year in 2025. It has a 4.50 on Goodreads, and it was up for three Goodreads awards last year. So it was up for favorite fiction, favorite debut novel, and favorite audiobook. Now, I think this is epistolary where everything's in letters. So I've heard the audiobook's very good, but I also have heard that it's actually helpful to have a digital or physical version of this book to read along with the audiobook. Unfortunately, I don't have either one of those. My library wait for this physical book is I think like five months, and I'm not gonna wait five months to finish this episode. So I think I'm just gonna have to deal with listening to it and hopefully it's not too hard to follow along. And as much as I have heard so many people talking about this book, I've also seen a lot of mixed reviews. There's a lot of people that really enjoy it, but then there's also a lot of people that say they couldn't get into it. It's kind of boring, it was hard to follow because it's just a bunch of letters. So we'll see what happens. But the description reads: Every morning, Sybil Van Antwerp sits down to write letters to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to attend a class she desperately wants to take, to her favorite authors to tell them what she thinks of their latest books, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter. Because at 73, Sybil has used her correspondence, witty and wise, to make sense of the world. But beyond the page, she has spent the last 30 years keeping the people who love her at arm's length, until letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life. Now, Sybil must send the letters she has been writing for all these years and find forgiveness within herself in order to move on. Sybil Van Antwerp's life of letters might not be an extraordinary one, but she also might be one of the most memorable characters you will ever read. So again, we have an older character. This time we have a female character, so that's kind of a nice change up. Again, I don't mind epistolary novels. I've read a couple books that were all in letters and I love them. I thought they were really, really good. So we will see how this one goes. Again, I think I'm only gonna be doing audio as much as I would love to do a tandem read-along. I don't think that's gonna be possible for me, but let's just see how all of these go. Okay, so those are the three books. They all kind of have the same theme of an older character that looks like it's gonna be some feel-good tearjerker emotional. So I have a feeling these are going to be heavy reads. Not super, super heavy. I'm hoping I don't feel exhausted after reading them, but I know these are not gonna be light-hearted, fluffy type of reads. I'm expecting to laugh a little bit, but I'm also expecting to cry. So I think there's gonna be a range of emotion. And ultimately, I just really want my heart to feel happy when I read these, and I have a feeling that's gonna happen. So I'm gonna start with Few of Golden, and I will stop when I get to the 25% mark, and then I will check in with you and let you know how it's going. All right, I will be back soon. Hello, hello, my sweet friends. All right, so I have started Theo of Golden by Alan Levi. I am listening to the audiobook that is narrated by David Morse, and he's doing a fantastic job because Theo has an accent. He's from Portugal, and he has that Latin accent to him, and then there's also some other characters that have accents. So I think the narrator is doing a wonderful job. I'm very glad that I listened to this. So, right now, my first impression is I'm very intrigued. There's kind of a little mystery going on. So I like that it's not just this what could seem as a bland story, and that there is a little bit of mystery of what's really going on with Theo. Who really is this guy? What is he all about? I don't learn too much in the first quarter of the book, but let me tell you a little bit about the plot of where I'm at. So this is set in the springtime. Theo is an 86-year-old man. He's from Portugal originally, but he's kind of lived all over. And for the past, I don't even know how many, I'm guessing a few decades, he was in New York City. And now he has come down to Golden, Georgia. Now I had to look up because I'm always curious when I read books, is this a real place? And when you say Golden, I have lived in Colorado for 12 years total. I lived here for 10 years and then I moved to Ohio for a few years. That's where I'm originally from. And now I'm back in Colorado. So for me, there's a golden Colorado. I used to work in Golden. So that's what I think of. But I know this doesn't take place in Golden. This is down south. So it is in Georgia, and there is no such place as Golden, Georgia. I think it's supposed to resemble Columbus, Georgia, which is weird because I'm originally from Columbus, Ohio. So when I hear Columbus, I always think of Ohio. But I think it's supposed to resemble Columbus, Georgia. But Golden is a fictitious city. So anyway, he's moved to Golden. Now we don't know why, and we're not really sure how long he's gonna stay. He's not real sure how long he's gonna stay. It could be a few months, it could be six months, it could be a year. But he has moved down and we don't really learn too much about Theo, but he starts to explore his new town. It doesn't seem like it's a very big town, like it's not some city. I see it more as a town than a city. And he goes to the local coffee shop called the Chalice. We meet the owner, and there are 92 pencil portraits all over the coffee shop. And he asks the owner about them. And the owner gives the backstory about how he and his wife came to buy this coffee shop. So we get a bit of his story, and that there's a local artist, and he has allowed this artist to take pictures of people and then to draw their portraits. And he says that all of these portraits are available for purchase. And Theo gets this idea. He doesn't know where the idea has come from, but he gets this idea that these portraits are so beautiful of these people, they need to go back to their rightful owners. So he has decided to purchase all 92 of these portraits and to give them back to the person that the artist drew of them. And these portraits go between $125 to $200 per picture. And then he's going to just be gifting those to these people. So if I do some quick math, if I say on average a portrait's around $150 times 92, I mean, we're talking almost $14,000 that he's going to be spending on these pictures. That's wild. But we know that Theo is an entrepreneur. He says he's in golden on business, but we don't know what the business is. And we don't know where his money has come from. But this guy's got money. I mean, if he can spend $14,000 on these pictures and then just give them away to people, he's not even asking them to buy them from him. This is just out of the kindness of his heart, he believes in giving instead of receiving. And he's just this kind, gentle old man. So then we start to follow him around town. He meets some more people. We meet Tony, who's the owner of a bookstore, and there's a bunch of older guys there. We meet a bunch of them. Then we see Theo. He gets an apartment and he's settling in. He pays six months up front. So we know he's going to be here for at least. Six months. Then he starts to meet with these people. He writes a letter. So on the back of these portraits is the name of the person. And so then he uses that name to look them up to get their address. And then he writes them a letter saying, I'm going to be at the local park by the fountain. He tells them what he's going to be wearing. He always wears this green hat. And he says, I have a gift to give you. So if you want to meet me on this day at this time, then we see the first person, it's this woman, and we find out she's actually the niece of the artist. And she has a whole backstory. So now we're learning more about these people in these portraits. And so we learn her story and she ends up going to meet with him and they have a very heartfelt conversation. And she kind of opens up to him and she's been going through some hard things. We just learn more about her and then she takes her picture. And then the story goes through the next few people pretty quickly. They just kind of mention. We don't get to see a longer chapter of his interactions. And I mean, the author would have to pick and choose because if there's 92 portraits, you can't have. I mean, I guess you could, but it would be a super, super long book if you dove in to each 92 people of these portraits and heard their story. It would just be a very, very long, tedious story. So we go through a couple more very quickly, but then there's another story about this man where his daughter and his wife were in a car accident and the mother died, but the daughter survived, but she has leg issues and she's in the hospital and she has to have all these different surgeries. So we learn a little bit more about him. So I have a feeling that's how most of the book's gonna be is that we're gonna see certain people being chosen to dive deeper into to learn more about their backstory. But that's where I'm at right now is he's just getting acquainted with the people around town. He only gives his first name, nobody knows his last name. And it's just Theo. He's moved to town, he's new, he's purchased these portraits, he's giving them back to the people, and we're just learning about some of these people that were in the portraits. The very last thing that we do start to learn a little bit more about Theo, at the very end of this first quarter, we find out Theo's daughter and his wife were both killed in a car accident in France. So I think he was over in the United States. He wasn't in France when this happened. His wife had been drinking and she was driving and they got into an accident, and both she and his little girl, she was 10 years old, both died. So then it tells a little bit of the story about him finding out that news, and then he had this grief period and what he went through during that grief period. So we're learning a little bit more about what has shaped Theo and how he is the way that he is. But right now, he seems like a very sweet man, but he does feel like he's holding a secret. There is a mystery behind this guy. Who is he? Where did he come from? Why is he here? Why is he doing this? For what purpose? Where did he get all of his money? There's a lot of questions that I have. So there's a lot of mystery around Theo. And anytime anyone tries to ask him anything, he diverts the conversation and asks them questions, or he answers something else, or he talks about something else. So he's not answering people's questions when they're asking about him. So the people in the story don't know much about him, but as the reader, I don't know much about him either. It is creating this mysterious feel to the story. And it doesn't feel sinister or anything. Like one of the older guys that hangs out at the bookshop is like, Are you a mobster? Do you work for the mafia? And so they make these jokes and they're trying to guess what this guy is all about. They're like, Oh, don't say you're from Portugal. Nobody's from Portugal. Say you're from Rome. And then that's when they went to the oh, say you're in the mafia. So people are trying to guess what is up with this guy and what's going on. So I'm very intrigued. There's no language right now, which is really nice. There's no any kind of romance or anything like that. This is pure just contemporary fiction right now. It's interesting. Theo seems like a really good character. He just seems so gentle and soft-hearted and just very kind and generous. He's at the end of his life. None of this feels malicious or that there's some ulterior motive going on. I mean, there's some kind of motivation driving this character to do this, but we haven't figured that out yet. But the way that he's touching these people's lives already, and he's only been in town for a couple weeks, it is remarkable how much he's touching the lives of these people already. So I'm liking it right now. I will say it feels a little slow here and there. I think I have to be in the right mindset to want to just kind of sink in to the story and to just listen without feeling like I want it to rush to the next sequence or the next plot point or what's happening next. I'm trying to just absorb what's being said and listening and just, I don't know, just kind of being reflective in my own life because there are a lot of big universal themes being spoken about and just kind of being slow with it and just allowing the story to unfold as it needs to unfold and not feel like I want to rush through this to get to the next book. So I'm really trying to take my time with this. However, as it usually goes with me, I don't have much time left with my audiobook. So there is a sense of urgency and a sense of rushing to get through this because I only have a couple days left with the audiobook and I can't renew it because there's like 10 people waiting for it. And I already waited like a couple months. I put this on reserve in my Libby Library app. Gosh, I think like back in January or February, and I'm just not getting it. So it's taken a while to get, and I probably should have started this a lot earlier, but I didn't. But here we are. I have started it, and I am excited to continue. I have kind of teared up a little bit here and there, so I'm waiting for a big cry. I will say I'm waiting for that big sobbing moment, but it hasn't come yet, so we'll see what happens. But those are my thoughts. That's where I'm at, and I will check back in with you when I am around the halfway mark. All right, I will talk to you soon. Hello, hello, my friends. I am back. It is actually a few hours later, the same day. I am about 55% into the book now, and I'm really, really enjoying it. I thought I would hop on here and give you my next check-in because this is such a sweet, wholesome, very tender book that is just giving my heart a huge hug right now. So where I'm at in the book, I don't really have too much to share because I do feel like this is a type of book that I don't want to disclose too much information about because I really feel like you need to read this for yourself and really absorb it and let it speak to you the way that it wants to speak to you. It's one of those soft, quiet books that does allow you to slow down and to just take in the messages and to reflect and to do maybe a little bit of soul searching and then just enjoy the story and let Theo come into your heart because he is just the sweetest old man. But we do see there's one thing that I did really like in this next section that I read is that we meet the artist of these portraits, and Theo finally gets to meet and interact with the artist, and we get some backstory on the artist, and then we just see the two of them talking and discussing art. I thought that was a really lovely part of the book, and it really does make you appreciate art a little bit more, even just thinking, what is art? What do we deem beautiful and lovely? There's so many messages about art, and as I'm going through this book, there are just so many things coming up for me. There's so many themes, there's so many messages. I think this would be a really great book for a book club because I feel like there's a lot you could talk about. You could really reflect on a lot of things. This would definitely be something if I had the physical copy or even a digital copy. I would be annotating this so much. It would have tons and tons of highlights or tabs. And this definitely feels like a book I would want to revisit every now and then to just discover more messages and to go deeper with the book because it really is focusing on how we can just be as humans. We just see through Theo how generous and kind he's being to these people. He listens to them, he's very curious about them, he lives very humbly, he's focused on other people. And one thing I really like about Theo is that he's an observer of the world. This may be where some critics want to say that it's kind of bland or boring, but there are parts of the book where Theo is observing the architecture of a building. Or when he's looking at the portraits, he's observing the artwork and the strokes, and it kind of describes that a little bit. Or he's sitting out in the park and he's just looking at a tree and has thoughts about it. So I can see how some people wouldn't like that. Maybe that's not for everybody, but it really does make you want to slow down and notice things more. And the way that he's just an observer of the world and he does take a more slow approach to life. I think many of us need that. I just really think it's beautifully written. I love how hopeful the story feels. And it's bringing some peace to my heart because you're just seeing him interact with people and the way that he interacts, he really knows how to handle people. And we see him interact with more of the people in the portraits when he's giving them their portraits. So we're learning about more people, and there's a homeless woman that everyone thinks is kind of crazy, but we get a little bit more about her backstory, and she may be suffering from some mental illness, but also she's been through a lot and he just listens with curiosity and respects her, even though everybody else is saying we gotta be careful of her, she's kind of crazy, she acts erratically, but he listens to her and she opens up to him. And then there's another person where there's this really shy guy, but he starts opening up to Theo. And then there's another woman who's really insecure about herself and her body. And so we're meeting all kinds of different people. It feels really raw, it feels real, like these characters feel real. And the way that he just sits and listens to these people tell their story, and there's just something about him that they feel like they can open up to and share parts of themselves with him. It's just really, really beautiful. Now, I was really curious about some reviews because I know not everybody loves this book. And I'm not saying that anything is controversial, I don't even think this really has mixed reviews. I mean, this has a 4.53 on Goodreads. So the majority of people are rating this four and five stars. But I wanted to see what are some of the one and two stars, what are the critics saying about this? And one thing that has come up continuously, outside of this might be a little bland and boring for some people, but there is religious talk, and it does come from a Christian perspective. So there are some Christian themes and messages that are underlying. There are people that saying they feel this is a bait and switch book, that it's a Christian fiction. I don't think it's categorized as a Christian fiction, but they don't like the talk of God. They don't like how Theo, I think he kind of quotes the Bible here and there. You even see him go to church. They didn't realize that that was part of the story, and they feel that they were kind of duped. They feel like it's too religious or they feel that it's preachy. I am a Christian. I am someone who reads Christian fiction, and I have read preachy Christian fiction books, and this does not feel like that. So I would not consider this a preachy book. If you want to categorize it as Christian fiction, I could see that because these Christian themes are woven in and it is brought up. And for me, I really like that. I think it's a nice touch. It's something I wasn't expecting either. Because when he started talking about God and there's points he's talking about heaven, and he does start to say things from the Bible, and I was like, oh, I didn't know that was gonna be part of this story. As a Christian, I like to hear that, and I think it's a nice touch of the book. But I know that there are critics, there are non-believers, there are non-Christians that don't like that. Maybe they do feel a little duped, maybe they do feel that it's preachy. But as somebody who does read Christian fiction, I don't feel like it's preachy at all. So I just want to let my listeners know that there are some Christian themes and God is brought up, and that is part of the book, but I think it's a really nice touch. I really, really like it. So, right now I'm really liking the story. We're still not learning too much about Theo. There was a past scene when he was a little kid that we learned about him interacting with this fisherman who was also an artist, and he kind of taught Theo about art and how he could be an artist as well. So we see a little bit about his love for art and how he came to appreciate art. So again, we're still not getting a lot of information about him. There was even a point where there were some people trying to get his last name, and they're like, Does he use a credit card where you could see his last name? Or can you get a driver's license where you can see his last name? And he keeps evading all of that. He keeps directing the conversation to something else. He does not reveal who he is, but then it's explained that as Theo settles more into this town and the more he interacts with people. At first people were really skeptical of him, but then now it's because he's been there for a while. I'm not sure. At the point in the story I'm at, I think he's been here for maybe a month or two. He's been here for a few months, I think now. And people just know him as Theo. They don't care anymore about what his last name is. But I'm still really curious of where the story's gonna go, how the story's gonna end. So I think that's all I have to say right now. Those are my thoughts. It's still a very sweet, tender, wholesome story that is really touching my heart and does give you a little bit of hope for humanity. I would definitely recommend this right now. But I'm not sure on my rating. I don't know if I'm quite feeling the five-star vibe like everybody else. So I don't know. I'm kind of going between four and five stars. I'm not really sure. I really think it's gonna depend on this second half and how it ends about my rating and how I'm truly feeling about this. But it's definitely a pleasant surprise because I did go into this a little bit skeptical, thinking, oh, this is gonna be so overhyped. It's not gonna be worth what everyone says. I don't know if I'll really like this because it is contemporary fiction, something I don't read. And then when I started it, I realized that this is a very slow progressing story. It's something that you do need to sink in with and reflect. It's just a deeper emotional story, but I'm finding myself liking it and I'm not dreading it, like, oh, I have to listen to this. I'm finding myself still very intrigued. I still like learning about the different people that we're meeting and learning more about Theo. But I think at this point, I'm just really curious of how this is gonna end. So that's my second check-ins. I will finish the book and then I will come back and give you my final thoughts before I move on to book two. I will talk with you soon. So I have finished Theo of Golden by Alan Levi, and I literally just finished it five minutes ago. And if I sound nasally or sound a little off, it's because I've been crying. So this book just touched my heart. This is my real-time reaction. I've been crying, I'm all nasally, my eyes are red, and this is just such a touching story that will definitely stay with me for a really, really long time. This is absolutely going to be on my best of the year when I do that book list at the end of the year. And I will say that I was wavering for quite a while on my rating for this book because it is slow. There were details and descriptions I didn't feel like I really needed to know. I did see myself getting kind of sorta a little bored at times. But the second half of the book really went in deeper to the story itself. And then by the very end, I swear, chapter 45 that had me crying. But the last three chapters, I'm just sitting here streaming with tears down my face. I could not stop crying for three chapters. And that really solidified my rating because I was leaning on about a 4.5, and I was thinking I was just gonna round down to four stars on Goodreads, but I let the story do its thing. I just kept listening, and then the last little bit just hit me so hard that this is absolutely a five-star book. So I'm not gonna discuss too much about the plot of what happened in the second half of the book. I usually don't do that in these types of episodes, but I will just say that the second half of the book was a little bit different than the first half because we see Theo interacting with these people that he's giving the portraits back to, but then the story does shift where you start to see him interact with those same people, and now he's becoming friends with some of these people that he's given the portraits back. And you see him interacting more with them. You see him really becoming good friends with Tony, the bookstore owner. And he was in the Vietnam War. He has PTSD from all of that, and he keeps talking about stories and his time during the war and the things that he faced. And there's some really heart-to-heart talks with Theo. So we just see their friendship deepen and blossom, and we learn more about Tony. And Theo sees more of these people around town. So now he's getting to become part of this little circle of friends. And because Theo is in this town for a good length of time, it does shift from spring and summer into the end of the year. And Asher invites Theo to his place for Thanksgiving. And then a lot of the people that he gave the portraits to are also there. So we see this group of people come together for Thanksgiving, and then it does kind of shift into the holidays a little bit. So we do see the seasons change, we do see time go by, and then it does come back around to the next spring in March when Theo does celebrate his one-year anniversary of being in Golden and he does this anniversary walk around town and he's telling everybody, Oh, I've been here for a year. So he does end up staying there for quite a bit of time and he's interacting more and more with people and becoming friends with them. And it really has this huge found family element to it, which, if you know me, if you've been around for a second, I love the found family trope. So that definitely comes into play. And in the second half of the book, the story definitely starts to shift and veer away from him giving the portraits to people. So I think he finally does end up giving all 92 back to the owners, but we don't really see all of that. We just have our main cast of characters, and then I think we're just supposed to assume that he finished giving those away because now we're just seeing him interacting with people. Now, I will say it does get very sad. So definitely if you read this, which I highly, highly recommend to get your tissues ready because it's going to make you cry. I wasn't bawling my eyes out, but it is a very, very touching story. And while it has pieces of Of hope and joy and happiness and inspiration, there's also sadness and brokenness that's part of this. Theo is talking to somebody, and I actually wrote down some of these lines that he said that are really good messages that I think could really spark some good conversation if you read this as part of a book club. And I highly, highly recommend if you're part of a book club, whether it's in person or virtual, to recommend this book because I think everybody would enjoy this. One, but two, I think it can evoke a lot of questions that you guys could talk about and evoke a lot of talking points and a lot of good messages and themes are brought up. They're very universal. I think they're very relatable to everybody. And I think everybody could get something different from this story. But some things that I took away is Theo said we must all confront our sadness and brokenness because as humans, that's part of who we are. We all experience that. And he said that sadness can make you bitter or wise. And living with sadness and accepting it is easier to deal with than ignoring that it's even there. So basically, what I gleaned from this is that you don't want to run and hide from your sadness. To me, sadness could also be trauma. And I do feel like you need to deal with your trauma, to deal with your sadness. If you're grieving, then grieve. If you need to cry it out, then cry it out. It does not help you to hide from your feelings or to stuff your feelings and bury them deep down. I think it is easier to just allow yourself to feel and to feel those harsh emotions than it is to just ignore them. So I completely related to that sentiment that Theo had. And then he also said that sadness and joy can coexist. You can enjoy things while you're still being sad. Sadness doesn't have to take root and just stay there and completely envelop you. You can experience happiness and joy while also feeling sad. And that there is a beauty to sadness. So that's just one little glimmer of these life lessons that are in this book. There are so many others. And that's just one thing that really kind of hit home for me. And it's just such a beautiful, beautiful, touching story about this man who just wants to give back, who wants to be kind. He's offering his generosity to people. And that was his purpose for that year in Golden to just meet these people, to hear their story. And every story matters because every person matters. It's just a beautiful story of being seen, of being heard, of listening, of being in the present moment, of slowing down, not taking people or things for granted. And then, of course, just the kindness of being just a decent human being and offering compassion and generosity and just giving to others and not expecting anything in return. Just many, many deep messages that you could sit and probably journal and reflect on for hours. So I recommend this book. It was so good. I definitely recommend the audiobook. I really liked the narrator, and especially when he did the accent for Theo, I really like that. And I will say, by the very end of the book, I know I had a lot of questions that I was asking. Everything is revealed and tied together really nicely by the very end. So we do learn Theo's full name. We do learn why he is there. We do learn how he came into all his money. We do learn just all the mysterious things about him we learn about. So everything is revealed. And those were in the last few chapters and just really touched my heart. It was very emotional. It made me cry. There were some things revealed that I wasn't expecting. So I would say there's a little bit of some twist to the mystery by the very end. And oh, it was just so, so good, you guys. I am so glad that I decided to give this a chance because, as I mentioned, this genre is not my normal genre to read in. But is the hype real? Yes. I personally think so. I don't think that this is overhyped by any means. I think the hype is absolutely real for this. If you're able to get your hands on the audiobook or even just the physical book, definitely pick it up. Check it out for yourself. Keep an open mind because as I mentioned, it is a very slow read. Don't try to power through this, but just be open to the messages that want to come through for you. And if you need to pause and reflect and journal, I think that could be a really good practice while you're reading this. I definitely want to get a physical copy so I can go back and reread and annotate and just do my own reflection. There was a sense of urgency for me to get through this because my audiobook was expiring. I literally finished the book with three hours left of my loan. I had to speed it up to about a 1.65. I would have liked to listen to this a little bit slower, but just because of timing on my part. But this is a book to just ease into it, read it slowly, take it in, pause if you need to, reflect, journal, do whatever you need to do, meditate, pray. I really think most people will like this. There's always going to be critics. There's always going to be people that don't like it, and that's fine. Everybody has their own taste. But I would just say if you're going to pick this up to really just keep an open mind about it. But I would say for my fellow Christians, I think you will really like this because there is talk of God in heaven. There's church scenes, there's Bible, I don't know if it's exact true Bible verses, but sayings from the Bible. And so from a Christian perspective, it's so, so good. If you're a Christian, I think you would really, really like this. But even if you're not, this is a story that is very universal. And there's many, many universal themes that run throughout the whole story that I think could resonate with you, could be very relatable. And it's just a very touching book. If you want a good cry, this is a good book to pick up. If you just want a book that gives you a warm hug to the heart, it's just a feel-good book that you could curl up with a cup of coffee or hot tea and just sink into it, take it in slowly, and just take the messages that arise for you while you're reading it, is what I would say. Now, I don't know if this is part of the digital version or the physical version, but at the end of the audiobook, there is an author note. And Alan Levi actually comes in and speaks to the listener, and he talks about how he came up with the idea. So this story is actually based off kind of sort of true story, not so much of Theo, but Alan Levi, the author, was in a coffee shop that had 92 portraits of people, and that's where he got the inspiration. So he names who the real artist is, and then he just got this inspiration of what it would be like if somebody purchased all of these portraits and gave them back to the rightful owners. So there is a place somewhere I think he might have mentioned where I don't remember off the top of my head, but there is a real coffee shop that has portraits on the wall of people that you can purchase. And he said he did purchase a few. Now he didn't have any intentions of what Theo had where he was going to give it back to people, but he did purchase a couple of the portraits. He really wanted to see when he wrote this story if he could stick to a long form novel, if he could even write something. So when he was writing the story, he had zero intentions of ever doing anything with it. And he just wanted to get into the practice of writing, he just wanted to see where the story would go. He fell in love with Theo, the character, and he just wanted to get to know his character better. So he was just really testing the waters with his writing ability and his storytelling and just wanted to see, can I even write a novel? So he wrote the full manuscript and then he put it aside for a while. And then he had some close friends of his read it and they said, Oh my gosh, you have to do something with this. You can't just sit on this. And so then he published it, and this is his debut novel. So for a very first book, this is quite impressive. Just the rave reviews that he's getting, all the hype that is surrounding this in the book world. It's amazing. I would not be surprised if this is turned into a movie at some point. This very much reminded me of like a forest gump or something along those lines. I could absolutely see this being made into a movie at some point. And I will absolutely watch it and have my tissues on hand. But okay, I'm rambling on and on, but I just wanted to come in and give you my real-time thoughts because I literally just finished this. I just have all these ramblings going on in my head about it. So I just wanted to hop on here and record this in real time because that's the whole point of this episode. So absolutely pick up Theo of Golden by Alan Levi. And if you love it, tell your friends and family about it. It is so good. It's definitely gonna be one of my favorites in the year. I could definitely see this making my top 10 list. Is it gonna make my book of the year? I'm not sure. It's only April. I still have a long way to go this year to figure out what's my book of the year, but this is definitely gonna be in my top 10. This is five out of five stars, and highly, highly recommend. And now these next two need to fill the same footprints that Theo of Golden stepped into. So can these next two live up to Theo of Golden? I hate to say that I'm gonna be comparing these two against Theo, but I kind of am because all of these books are about elderly people and their story. I'm gonna be following an older gentleman in this next book. So I'm gonna be tackling The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston. I'm gonna try really, really hard not to compare the two because they are completely separate books, but it's gonna be hard not to compare them. But we'll see how it goes. I'm gonna start the book and then when I get around the 25-30% mark, I will check back in and let you know what's going on. All right, I will talk with you soon. Hello, hello, my book friends. So I am back. It is actually a couple weeks later after I finished The O of Golden. I needed to take a break of this kind of story, and I was really interested in some other genres. I'm also working on some other projects, so I needed to read some books for those projects and just allowing my mood to dictate what I read. However, I am ready to get back into the groove of this episode, and I have started The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston. I am listening to the audiobook on Spotify because it's on like a three or four month wait through my library app, and it's not available on Audible, and I really wanted to listen to this. This is narrated by Tim Carroll. I actually did not realize that the author is Australian. So this is an Australian story, and the narrator has an Australian accent. I had absolutely no idea until I started listening. So I'm really liking the Australian accent, is really bringing the characters to life, makes me feel like I'm in Australia. The way that they speak and the slang that they're using, it is really fun right now. So as I've started this, of course, I am comparing it to Theo of Golden. And I'm not sure right now with where I've stopped. I'm at the 25% mark. I'm not sure if I like this more than Theo of Golden, but I feel like I'm barely into the story. So I don't really want to compare right now. They're also completely different types of stories. One thing I don't like is that there is quite a bit of cursing in this right now. It's not a ton, but it's enough to kind of put me off to the story a little bit. And I will say this is pretty funny, but it's using some toilet humor like fart jokes, that at first it was pretty funny, but then it keeps using some fart jokes here and there. And I feel like they're starting to get a little repetitive and overdone. I could only take so much toilet humor. So I'm hoping that we don't get too much more of this further into the book. But I'm enjoying it right now. It is really, really funny. I would say it's a lot more lighthearted, except for it starts out lighthearted, but now where I've stopped, it has kind of taken a serious tone here and there. There are some heavy topics that are discussed. So it's not a full-on comedy. It's not a very light-hearted, fluffy story. There is some depth and heaviness to it. And I have a feeling that we might go further into these themes as we go more into the story. And this might make me cry again by the time I get to the end of it. So let me just back up real quick and let you know what's going on. So we do meet Frederick. He goes by Fred, and he is 82 years old. His wife, Dawn, has unfortunately passed away. So he is a widower. They were married for over 50 years, and he's just a really, really lonely old man now. He's actually getting evicted from his apartment. So he needs to find a place to stay. So as he's trying to deal with his living situation and try to figure that out, he goes to the park. And when he's at the park, he finds a man slumped over in a wheelchair and he goes up to make sure that the guy's okay. And unfortunately, he realizes the guy is dead. He's passed away. So he looks around to try to figure out what he should do. And he sees that there is a group of people from a retirement home. So he starts to move the guy in the wheelchair towards the group, but then the deceased man ends up falling out of the wheelchair and he takes a tumble down a hill and lands in a river. It's actually a really funny scene, and it reminded me kind of like weekend Bernie's, but I was just like, oh my gosh, because I was not expecting that at all. Of course, Fred is freaking out and trying to figure out what to do, and he needs to tell somebody well, the nurse that's looking after this group of retirement home people, she comes up to him and she mistakes him for the deceased guy because apparently they look really similar. Fred is trying to tell her what happened, but she thinks that he's not all there in his mind, and she's kind of treating him like a child, like, oh, there, there, Fred. Come on, let's go back to the group. And he wants to show her his ID because he realizes that she's mistaking him for the other guy. And he wants to show his ID that he's somebody else, but he remembered he put his wallet with his ID in his jacket, and he put the jacket on the guy who just fell down the hill. So now he doesn't have any ID. He can't prove who he is. So they put Fred in the wheelchair because they think he fell out. So they put him back in, they take him back to the group, and now he's on his way back to the retirement home. And he's just thinking, oh my gosh, what have I got myself into? I don't know what to do. So he gets back to the home and he's still trying to tell people, no, this is mistaken identity. You've got the wrong guy. But then he learns more about this guy. His name is Bernard. But the way that they pronounce it or it's pronounced by the narrator is Bernard. They call him Bernard, but the way I would read it is Bernard. So I'm just gonna say Bernard. So anyway, he gets to Bernard's room and he's looking at the pictures and he realizes how similar they actually look to each other. So he understands why they would mistake him for the other guy. So he's trying to learn more about Bernard. And Bernard had suffered from a stroke and he has some sort of dementia. So that's why they're not believing anything that he says because they think he's Bernard with dementia and that he doesn't know what he's talking about. So Fred's in a pickle right now. He doesn't know what to do. He can't just leave the retirement home. He actually tries and they track him down and they take him back and he tries to explain to the police that he's somebody else, but he doesn't have his ID. He can't get back to his apartment. So he goes back to the retirement home and he kind of takes it all in stride. He's really liking that he has a place to live. It's nice and warm. He's got good food that he can eat. He likes the snacks. He's around people now because he was just being very lonely after his wife died. And I don't think they had any kids. He doesn't have any friends around. So he's just a really lonely old man. And he really likes having the company of other people around him. So he's kind of going along with it. And then, oh my gosh, there are some really funny moments in the retirement home. There is this lady, Patricia. She mistakens Fred for her lover and she starts to kind of accost him, and she's coming up on him and flirting with him and almost like attacking him. And I'm just like, oh my gosh, this really happened in retirement halls. I haven't visited a lot of retirement homes, but oh my gosh, this was a horny woman. Let me tell you. So that was a really funny incident. And then there's another incident where he meets Albert, and Albert is another elderly man who has dementia, and he calls him Freddie. So Fred's like, oh, it's kind of nice to hear my name. But then he realizes that Albert has dementia, and he is mistaken Fred for his deceased brother, Freddie. And so he kind of plays along. There's some moments with Albert, and Albert gets really confused. He thinks that he's getting ready for his wedding, and his brother is his best man, and he doesn't want to miss his wedding. And so he's so glad his brother made it. It's a kind of really sad scene that this man is out of his mind and mistakes Fred, but Fred's being really nice about it. He's a really, really nice guy, and he's like, let me help you out. Let's calm down. Let me take you back to your room. So he's being very helpful and friendly with the other elderly people in the retirement home. We also meet some of the nurses, and he has an aide that is assigned to him. We see Fred trying to be a matchmaker because the aide that is, I think his name's Kevin, he likes this other. I'm not sure if she's another aide or a nurse, Lynn. So he's trying to match them up together because they're two young people. And so we're just seeing him take things in stride, but he's still really distraught because he's like, I have all my stuff in my apartment and I'm getting evicted. What are they gonna do with all my stuff? He has stuff from his wife. He has a lot of memorabilia and that he doesn't want to lose. So he's kind of fretting about getting his stuff out of his apartment before he's fully kicked out. But then things start to take a turn towards the end of the first quarter where I stopped. So Fred finds out that they found a body in the river and they think it's him because he had his jacket with his wallet on Bernard. So they think Bernard is Fred, and they're saying Fred is dead. And now he's Bernard. So he's like, Well, now I'm never gonna be able to get my stuff out of the apartment. And he's kind of accepting the fact that he's just gonna have to lose all of his stuff. But what is he gaining in return is that if he goes along with this whole sham of him being Bernard, he's gonna have a place to live, he'll have a warm room to himself, he'll have food that he can eat, he's gonna be able to make friends and be social. So at the very end of where I stopped, he has fully embraced and quit trying to fight and prove who he is. And now he's fully embracing okay, I'm Bernard now, and I am going to swap lives with this guy, and he's gonna fully own being this new guy. So that's where I've stopped. Now, in the midst of Fred's story, there is a secondary story. So we meet Denise and she is a nurse at the nursing home, and we find out that she's married and she has two little girls, and her youngest daughter is actually very sick. I think she might have cancer or something because they talk about her having to do radiation or chemotherapy or something, and her hair is gonna fall out. So we do have multiple POVs in the story right now. We see from Denise's point of view of what's going on in her life. We also get the perspective of the older daughter. So that's kind of an interesting POV from a child of what's going on because Denise's marriage with her husband is starting to hit the rocks and they're starting to have problems. And then the older daughter, I think her name's Hannah, and the younger is Sadie. Hannah realizes Sadie is sick, something's going on, and she wants to help, but she doesn't know what to do. So it's just seeing from a child's perspective the enormity of this situation, and she doesn't quite grab. Grasp it. So that's a really interesting perspective. And then, of course, we've got Denise, and then we have our storyline with Fred. So I would think there's three POVs right now. And it's the same narrator. It's not multiple narrators, but it is really interesting to have a different subplot outside of Fred's story right now. So that's where I'm at. And I'm liking this. It is making me laugh so much. I'm just constantly grinning, of course. There are some harder topics. Like I said, the sick child and the older people, unfortunately, with Alzheimer's or dementia and just their failing bodies and how they're just deteriorating. I mean, it's just sad, but it is a part of life and it's what happens to some people. But we're definitely getting an insight of what life is like in this nursing home and what life is like for Fred, what life is like for Denise with a sick child and her marriage on the rocks. So it's not all light and fluffy, but it is really funny. It does take these very heavy topics and it is making a bit of a, I would say, a dramedy. So you have like drama and comedy, and that's how this is feeling right now. I'm liking it so far. I don't know if I'm feeling the five-star vibes yet, but I really like the narrator. I like being immersed in this world. It's very funny, even though there is some cursing, but I'm just excited to keep going with it and to see what happens next. So we have Fred who is embracing Bernard's life now, and I'm just waiting to see what we are gonna get into next, what are the shenanigans he's gonna get up to. I'm sure by the very end, things will come to light and his identity will be revealed. I mean, I don't see why it wouldn't, but that's just my predicting of what's gonna happen. I don't know. But so far, this is really funny. It's very entertaining and it's going by pretty fast. I think a little over 10-hour audiobook, and I have it sped up to about 1.5. So I'm enjoying it right now, and I feel like I'm gonna get through this pretty fast. I'm just gonna keep going. So I'm going to stop again when I get around the 50% mark and I will do my second check-in and let you know what is going on and my thoughts. All right, I will speak with you soon. Hello, hello, my sweet friends. I hope everybody is doing well. So I am back for my second check-in, and I am a little bit later than I should be with this check-in. I usually stop around the 50% mark, but I am around 65% through the book right now. So that's where I've stopped because I'm listening to this on Spotify. And if you're a Spotify premium member, you get 15 hours. And I didn't think I was even close to hitting my 15 hours for this month, but I opened up the app and all of a sudden it said that I had run out of hours and I needed to purchase more, which kind of freaked me out because I was only 40% into the book at that time when I got that message. But I was able to still listen to the audiobook. So I don't know what happened there. I don't know if it was some weird glitch because I know I have not listened to 15 hours worth of audiobooks yet on that app. So anyway, I kept listening to this book because I didn't want it to stop for me. So I just kept going, but I didn't want to finish the book and not do a second check-in. So I think as long as I don't close the app and I can just pause the audiobook, I think I can still listen to it. But I'm a little nervous that I'm gonna lose the book before I finish it. So I'm trying to get through it pretty quickly right now. But I will say this second portion that I've listened to has really kind of taken a turn. It's gotten so much more emotional. I've been crying. There's some very sad moments, and it definitely has a different tone than that very first quarter. It's not bad by any means. I'm still really enjoying this story, and I'm still waiting to see when Fred's real identity is going to surface and everybody's gonna finally realize this is not Bernard, this is Fred. But also, a lot has happened in this second portion, and I really try to keep these episodes spoiler-free. So I'm gonna try to be really vague about what has been going on plot-wise. So, one of the biggest things that Fred is dealing with is when he's taking over Bernard's life, you have to think about the things that Bernard was dealing with, mainly health issues and concerns. So, not only was Bernard suffering from dementia, but he had some continence issues. So he had to wear an adult diaper. And the nurse noticed, oh, when I have to change his diaper the next morning, it's clean, it's not wet. So there were no accidents in the middle of the night. So that's leading to some suspicions. And then there's certain medications that Bernard was taking. And Fred has been able to not have to take those pills, he's been able to hide them or get rid of them. But there was a moment where he had to get an enema. That was kind of a really funny scene. And there were some other things, and so he's had to fake some of the issues and symptoms that Bernard has to keep up this identity of this other guy. So he has an accident on purpose and he wets himself just so that they don't start getting really suspicious. And then because he's supposed to have dementia, he does say the wrong name of people because that was another thing, is he was remembering people's names. He was remembering more about them when he was interacting. So he realized that he has to act more like Bernard and not like himself because it's gonna draw a lot of suspicion. So those were some funny moments of him trying to remember what he has to do to stay Bernard, and he's really getting caught up in this lie. It's beginning bigger and bigger for him, and he's starting to forget what he's said to people and what he's doing. Sometimes he's acting just like himself, but then he has to remind himself that he's actually Bernard. So it's starting to get really complex, complicated, and he's starting to get a little confused about things. It does make for some really funny moments. There was a really fun moment where his friend Albert, who thinks he's his brother, that passed away on his wedding day way back like 50-some years ago. And Albert is suffering from dementia, and he thinks his wedding is coming up. So Fred wants to make Albert happy, and they kind of escape the nursing home and they go out shopping for suits. So he wants Albert to get a wedding suit for his wedding. And that's a whole really funny scene, is when they're shopping at the store, and that was a really fun moment. And then they do put on a second wedding for Albert and Val, his wife. So she comes to visit Albert, and there's a whole setup, and they do this ceremony, and they have a little party afterwards. So it's almost like a second wedding that they do, but then Albert does become really agitated, and Fred's able to calm him down. So you really see how sweet and kind Fred is, and how he cares about others, and he just wants to make them happy, and he steps in and he's able to calm Albert down, and they can continue having a nice time at this wedding party that they're throwing for them. So it's a really sweet, tender moment. It definitely will make you tear up a little bit some of the things Fred was saying because he was thinking about his wife, Dawn, who, as I mentioned, has already passed away. So there's just some really sweet, tender moments that just totally tug at your heart. But here's one thing that I don't know if it was my mistake, that I just wasn't listening as well, and I got confused with the story, or if it's the story itself and was keeping things from the reader. But I mentioned there's a nurse named Denise, and she's got two daughters, and one of her daughters is really sick, and I think she has cancer. Well, I found out she had leukemia. And we fast forward to the present because, like I said, it's kind of past and present a little bit. And Fred found out that Bernard has a daughter. Fred is really taken aback by that because he and his wife tried to have children, but his wife had a miscarriage and then she had fertility issues and they were never able to have kids. They looked at adoption and fostering kids, but I guess they weren't able to ever do that. So that is something that he's really missed in his life is he was never able to have a family. So when he found out that Bernard had a daughter, he was really taken aback by that. But then there was a letter that Bernard wrote to his daughter, and they were restrained. And he was saying how sorry he was and just apologizing for things in the past. And then all of a sudden, his daughter shows up at the nursing home and her name is Hannah. And I was like, wait a second, isn't Hannah the sister of the little girl, Sadie, who got sick, and isn't that Denise's daughter? But it's not. So we do see Hannah as an adult. So I'm guessing those scenes when we saw Hannah and her sister Sadie as little girls, and we were getting the perspective of the little girl, that was in the past. So now we meet Hannah in the present. She's a grown adult. We find out that she got married and her husband never wanted to have kids, but now she's pregnant. And I think she's like three or four months pregnant right now. And her husband has left her because he never wanted to have kids. She's been estrained from her dad, who turned out to be Bernard. So I was really confused for a second. I was like, wait, then who's Denise and who are her daughters? Now, Denise does have daughters and they have different names. So again, I don't know if that was me being really confused while I was listening to the audiobook and not understanding, or if it was the book keeping this from the reader, and now it's exposing what's really going on and who's related to who. I don't know. I hope this isn't too spoilery, but we find out that Sadie, the sick girl who had leukemia, she did end up dying around her 13th birthday, and her dad, Bernard, never showed up. So Hannah has been harboring this anger and rage towards her dad because not only did she lose her sister, she basically lost her dad at the same time because he left the family and didn't really have anything to do with them. He didn't show up to the funeral and basically just left Hannah and her mom alone. So she's harboring all this anger. It's really turned into this very emotional family drama and all of the hurt and the pain that Hannah is harboring. We learned that Bernard became a gambler and he had a gambling addiction, and there were some things going on of why he explains why in a letter that he did the things that he did back then and he's really sorry. So Hannah reads the letter because Bernard gives it to her when she visits. She's having a really hard time forgiving her father, who is actually really deceased and is Fred, but she's seeing the tender side of Fred, and she's like, Why is he being so nice to everybody else? She can see the kindness in his eyes, and she's like, Why didn't I get that when I was younger? So she's kind of resenting him, but she's also opening herself up to him. But there's some reconciliation that's starting to happen between Hannah and who she thinks is her dad, but is really Fred. And Fred invites her to a father-daughter luncheon that they're having at the nursing home to celebrate Father's Day. She decides to come and they have a really good time. They play chess together, and he learns more about her, and she learns more about him. You can see that she's starting to maybe think about forgiving him, and she wants to open up and forgive him. But then Val, Albert's wife, she comes to visit and they start talking, and Val is describing Fred, and Hannah is starting to put the pieces together. Like, this doesn't sound like my dad. So no one has figured out that Fred is Fred and not Bernard yet. But I think there are people that are starting to put pieces together. So Hannah is starting to put pieces together, and at times Denise is noticing things. She is the nurse. Now we haven't followed too much about Denise and what's going on with her, and she does have a couple daughters, and one of them I think is dealing with some mental health issues, but we're not seeing too much of that right now. But anyway, I'm not as interested in Denise's story as I am, of course, with Bernard or Fred. And now that Bernard's a strained daughter, Hannah has entered the picture, it's gotten even more interesting. We are getting some perspectives from Hannah and what she's dealing with, and she's going through it. The girl is going through it. She's pregnant, her husband has left her. I think her mom might have passed away or is at least not around. Her sister died when she was young. So she's all alone and she's pregnant. She doesn't know what to do. She's trying to reconcile with who she thinks this guy is her dad. And so it's gotten to be a really interesting story, and it's definitely gotten a lot heavier. It's more emotional. Like I said, I've been crying, I've been tearing up here and there just because you can feel the hurt, so much hurt and pain that Hannah was feeling from what her dad did. But then you also can feel the pain of Fred, and he talks about his late wife and how much he misses her and how he was so alone after she had passed, and now he's around people and he's eating better, he's put on some weight, he's active, he's social, he has friends. It just really makes you think about just older people. It makes me think about my grandparents. All my grandparents have passed away, they've been gone for a long time now, but it does make me think about when some of them were alone, when one of my grandparents had died and the other one was still around and what it must have been like to have to live alone after 50-some years of being married, and then your partner is gone and what life is like. I don't think my grandparents were super lonely people. I mean, they had family and friends around them, but I can only imagine what it's like. I sometimes think this might sound like a daughter and might get a little morbid, but I mean, my husband has a heart condition, so we've talked about this. He's most likely gonna go before me. I know I'm only in my mid-40s, but I don't know how long I'm gonna have my husband around and just the thought of being alone in the world without him. We've been together for over 20 years, so I can only imagine once we get older and it'll be even longer, what that's gonna be like. So it just really makes you reflect about life. It does make me think a little bit differently about old people and what they're dealing with, especially the elderly that are in nursing homes and just everything that they've gone through and how they're feeling, what they're thinking. Especially it's really sad when they start having mental issues like Alzheimer's or dementia. I hope that's something that neither one, me or my husband, ever have to deal with when we get older. It's not in our families. I've never had a family member deal with any of that, but you never know. It's just, I don't know, the story is kind of taking a turn to be a little heartbreaking. But I feel like we are gonna have some reconciliation and I do feel like things are gonna turn around, and I'm hoping it ends on a more hopeful, uplifting message, but it has gotten really sad and somber and very serious at times. But there's still humor. I will say, like I'm still smiling, I'm still laughing, there are still funny moments. So it's not a complete Debbie Downer of a story. I'm not saying that by any means, but it is more serious now than it was at the beginning of the story. But I'm still really enjoying it. I still am enjoying the audiobook. I'm gonna try to get through this so that I don't lose the book on Spotify because it's a super, super long wait on my library app. And I've already used my credit on Audible Plus for this month. I would have to wait a while to use my credit next month if I lost the audiobook. So I'm gonna keep going. I'm at 65% done. So I have just a little bit more to go, I think about four hours. And then I have this at a 1.5 speed right now is what I'm listening at. I didn't want it to be too fast because it does have that Aussie accent, and I didn't want to be confused of what was being said. So I do have it at a slower speed for me. Sometimes I speed it up to 1.6 or 1.7, but because of the accent and the different dialect and slang, I'm keeping it slower so I can understand it. But I'm really liking it. It's definitely a tearjerker. I guess that's just what you can expect with these types of stories. When it deals with older people, I guess I just always expect that it's gonna make me cry. I don't know what to expect as far as this can be super, super sad by the end. Is Fred gonna die? We've already had a death in the story that was really hard-hitting. I'm not gonna say who died because I don't want to spoil anything, but there's a side character that has died and that hit Fred pretty hard. So there is death in the story. You are seeing people deal with loss and grief and going through all of that, death of a loved one. But I'm really hoping it ends on a more uplifting note because right now it's it's quite sad. But I am liking that Hannah is coming around and talking to who she thinks is her dad to try to reconcile things. So I'm hoping we get more of the daddy-daughter relationship. I really like that dynamic. I hope we see things being resolved between those characters. Okay, so this is getting to be a long check-in. I'm going to stop. I'm going to finish the book, and then I will give you my final thoughts, and then we will move on to the last book in this episode. I will talk with you again soon. So I am back and I have finished The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife. I really enjoyed the story. It really touched my heart, and I will tell you, tears were streaming towards the end. And I was happy that it wasn't a sad ending. It was sad in one way, but it really turned out to be more of a happy, uplifting ending. So I was happy about that, but it did make me cry. This is one of those where you're gonna sob if it really hits you. And for me, it really did hit me hard. I was just crying and tears were just streaming because this really turned into a father-daughter story, kind of because Fred is interacting with Hannah and she's trying to come to terms with the things that her dad did. I liked how the last little bit, I would say the last third of the book wrapped up, things do escalate. Obviously, his identity is revealed, they figure it out, things take off from there, and there's a little bit of a red herring where you think it's gonna go one way, but then it actually goes a different way. So I kind of liked the little twist that was there at the end, and it didn't turn out exactly as I had expected, but I feel like it actually turned out better. So it was more uplifting and a happy ending than I thought that it was gonna be. I did really enjoy this, but I could not give it five stars just because I didn't like all of the cursing that was in it. There's no spice, but there were quite a few toilet jokes. I just thought that it was funny at first, but that toilet humor did continue throughout the entire story, and I just felt that it got repetitive and felt really juvenile and immature by the end, and I was just kind of over it. So I didn't really like that kind of humor by the end. At first it was okay, but it just needed to stop after the first couple jokes and not continue throughout the whole book. And then also the middle kind of was a little bit slower for me. I will say I understand why there's the subplot of Denise, the nurse, and she's going through a really hard time with her husband, and we see that she's an alcoholic and she does have two small girls, and one of them is diagnosed with like ADHD or something like that, or some kind of neurodivergent anxiety or something like that. And she's going through a really hard time, and there is a point where Fred and her interact. That was a really sweet moment, that whole sequence with her. But honestly, I could have done without that nurse subplot at all. I didn't really need that in the book. I feel like we could have just followed Hannah and Fred. And like I said, at the end of the day, this is a story that did turn out to be about a father and a daughter and just reconciling. So it's a story about forgiveness, redemption, resilience, and also then looking at Fred's life, and he has lost everybody in his life. So it is about loss and grief and depression. It did make me think more about elderly people and start to see them a little bit differently. I do feel like that group of society is for. A lot of the time. We don't think of the older people, especially those that are not doing well health-wise or mentally, and they're in nursing homes. And I tell you what, after listening to this, there was a part of my heart that was thinking if I did not live in a remote area and I was more in a city, I would maybe look at volunteering at a nursing home, maybe like once or twice a month or something, just to interact with some older people because I know that they would really enjoy that. I remember when I was younger, I think I was in Girl Scouts and we visited a nursing home and we did activities with the older people and they just really, really enjoyed us. I just think that they are a forgotten group of society that are lonely and they're missing their loved ones and they just want to be around people and not all of them are gone in their head. They not all of them are suffering from Alzheimer or dementia or anything. They're just lonely older people that just don't really have anybody in their life. But that's something that I want to keep in mind when I'm able to move out of this remote area, is possibly look at volunteering at a nursing home at some point because I just really think that would be a joy for them as well as for me and to just serve and to get to know somebody older. I really enjoyed being around my grandparents when they were alive. I would play cards and dominoes with them and help my grandmas cook. And it was just a really fun time. I always enjoyed being around my grandparents, both sets of them. I was closer to my maternal grandparents because they lived very close by, but my paternal they lived a couple hours away, so we only got to see them a few times a year. But I just always enjoyed being around my grandparents and listening to their stories. And they've been around for a while, so they're wise. They have a lot of wisdom to give and a lot of love to give. I just really think it would be a joy for me as well as them to volunteer somewhere. So it's just something that really touched my heart. And then, of course, it made me think of my dad, who is still alive, and just my relationship with him. It's hard because we live across the country from each other and we don't really get to see or talk to each other very much. But definitely this was a story that made me think of you definitely want to tell your loved ones how much you love them and to just not get so busy with life that you forget about your loved ones, especially elderly people, especially if you have older parents or grandparents or any older loved one. So it just really made me reflect about family and time that we don't have a lot of, and just making sure that you're telling your loved ones what you need to say to them while they're here, and if there's any kind of animosity or any kind of estrainment that you're experiencing to try to clear that up while they're still here. So it is really reflective, and I really did like the messages that were portrayed in this story. So overall, I gave this four stars. Absolutely recommend this, absolutely recommend the audiobook because, like I said, the narrator has an Australian accent and you really get immersed in the Australian culture and the way that they talk and their slang. I just had a really, really good time with the audiobook. It was a little over 10 hours. I didn't feel like it was slow at all. It was easy to get through. It was easy to just sit there and to listen to it. But definitely have your tissues on hand or be in a space where, if you are a more emotional listener or reader, that you have a space where you can release your emotions if you need to. Because yeah, I was definitely crying. I was sitting up in bed right before I was going to sleep while I finished this, and I just let the tears come because I was in the privacy of my bedroom. I was just able to feel everything and just allow this touching story to really touch my heart. I really, really enjoyed it. So definitely recommend it. So I'm gonna go ahead and move on to the final book of this episode, The Correspondent, and I'm gonna start this audiobook. Unfortunately, I was not able to get the digital ebook. I was really hoping to do a read along and listen because this is an epistolary novel, so everything is in letters, and I have a feeling the audio might be a little hard to listen to without reading along. I've seen some people say that only listening was a little difficult or challenging for them, but hopefully that's not the case for me, and I'll be able to just listen because I have no way to get the digital ebook unless I buy it, and I'm not able to do that right now. So I'm gonna start this final book and then I will be back with my check-in when I'm around the 25% mark. All right, I will talk with you soon. Hello, hello, my lovely readers. I am back, and oh my gosh, you guys, I am not sticking to my own schedule because I always try to do three check-ins per book where I stop at the 25-30% mark and then the halfway and then I finish it up. Well, I am already at the halfway mark. I was going to stop earlier, but I think the fact that my audiobook is expiring kind of got in my head a bit, and I felt like I just needed to keep going as far as I could go. So I did stop at the 35% mark, but then it's also hard for me to record because I don't have my own little room in this house that I'm staying at temporarily. I don't have my own little studio, so it can be very difficult for me to be able to find time when it's quiet and there's no one around, and I can have the time to record. It's just been really busy in this house that I'm in right now, and I just wasn't able to stop earlier. So anyway, I'm at the halfway mark, and I'm really liking The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. At first, I wasn't quite sure about it. And I will say, earlier in I think my last check-in, I said I was a little nervous to just listen to the audiobook because this is an epistolary novel, meaning that everything is in letters. I have read epistolary novels before. Specifically, I can remember the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. That's quite the mouthful of a title. I was okay with that one, and I was hoping that this would be the same, and it is. So I did see some other booktubers say they were having a hard time just listening to the audio and that they needed to have a physical or digital copy to read along. But for me, that's not the case. I'm totally fine not having anything to read along with, and I am able to follow along with the audiobook. Now, I do want to say I can understand why this was up for best audiobook last year in 2025, because it is a huge multi-narrator or full cast narration. So let me just point out who the narrators are real quick. Maggie Meg Reed, she is Sybil, who is our main character, and she's doing a fantastic job. I think they're all doing fine, but we're mainly hearing from this narrator as Sybil because she is the main character, and I really, really like her. Then we also have Jane Oppenheimer, Carly Robbins, Jeff Edner, David Pitu, Chris Andrew Chula, Mark Brammel, Petria Burchard, Robert Petkoff, Kimberly Farr, Saris Morgan Morrier, Peter Gomnen, and Jade Wheeler. And I apologize if I mispronounced any of those names. Some of those are a little hard. But it is a full cast narration because Sybil is writing letters to different people. And so it is a large cast of characters to keep track of. And at first, I was having a hard time figuring out who is who, but she keeps writing to the same people. And then those same people keep writing back to her. I'm getting to know them now, especially now that I'm halfway through the book. I know who is who, and it's not difficult to follow along at all. At first, it was a little complex. And I did think, oh, maybe I do need to read along. But if you just push through it, I pushed through it and kept listening, and things do start to fall into place, and it is a lot easier to follow along. Now, I usually talk about what's going on in the plot when I do my check-ins. I have really found that with this book, I really think if you haven't read it, it is probably best to go in blind. Because even though I read the summary of this book, I read it multiple times. I read it on my own, and then I read it earlier in this episode when I first talked about the books that I was gonna read. But I didn't really know what I was getting into. I didn't really know what this book was about. I knew it was about an older lady that's in her 70s that writes letters to people, but I didn't really know what is the actual story about. And as it's been unfolding for me, at first I was kind of bored. And then, like I said, because there's so many characters and it felt like there was a lot going on, I started getting confused. But as I've leaned into this story, as I've given it a chance, it is slowly unfolding. And I'm embracing that and I'm embracing the audio. And as I've gotten into this, I am really, really loving this now. It has unfolded in ways I wasn't expecting. There is a narrative shaping because I know some people can be like, well, if you're just reading letters from people, how does it actually tell a story? Well, this is very character-driven story. Don't look at this as a plot-driven story. If you're going into this wanting a plot, you're gonna be sorely disappointed. This story is about learning about Sybil and it is very character-driven. So you need to come in with an open mind and wanting to get to know this character because that's what this is about. It's about her life. And we do learn some things, and I'll share a little bit. We learn that she got married, she had three kids. Unfortunately, one of the boys that she had, she had two boys and a girl. One of the boys died when he was, I think, around eight years old. And that was a very painful, dark time in her life that did set the stage that ultimately hurt her marriage and her relationship with her husband, and they ended up getting divorced. And then we do hear from him later on, and he ends up getting sick, and there's things that go on with him, and he moves out of the country, so they don't really talk to each other too much. But you see that she has a relationship with her son and her daughter that are still around, and they're grown adults now. And so we see that whole dynamic. And then she has a best friend, and this is really interesting is her and her best friend, her best friend moved away when she was young, and they continue to write letters to each other. They actually ended up marrying brothers. So her best friend is her sister-in-law. So they still write letters to each other, and we see that whole dynamic. And then there's some other characters scattered in here and there. We learn about the life of Sybil. She went to law school, she became a lawyer. She's a lawyer for a really long time, like a couple decades. And then she ended up leaving her practice, and she went to be a clerk for a judge. And the judge just actually passed away. That was in the newspaper, and we learn more about her professional career. And then we also learn about her childhood. Sybil was adopted, and she has a brother, Felix. He was also adopted. And Felix is gay and he lives over in France with, I'm not sure if it's his husband or a boyfriend, but he lives with a partner. So we learn a little bit more about her childhood and growing up, and she had a really lovely family, but she is adopted. And one of the things that takes place is that over Christmas, one of her kids gave her a DNA kit so she could do the swab and learn more about her history because her parents have passed away. Obviously, she never met her birth parents, and now she's in her 70s. She didn't really ask for that, but she just did it anyway because it was a present. And so then there's that whole storyline. So there's different storylines surrounding Sybil, and we're learning more about her. I don't really want to go too much into detail because for me, I love going into books blind sometimes. And this is a book that I'm glad I went in not knowing too much of what was gonna happen because I went in with zero expectations and now it's just unfolding how it's unfolding. My emotions have kind of been all over the place, but I'm actually really, really liking this. And I actually really like Sybil. She is kind of an older curmudgeony woman. She's kind of grumpy, but she's more set in her ways. She comes across as grumpy, but she does have a good heart. She's just one of those harder people. She's not one of those super warm, friendly, grandmotherly types. She's the stern, strict, harder woman. I mean, she was a lawyer and you know, she went through divorce and she went through a child dying. So she's had a hard life. She's had a lot of traumatic things happen to her. And I think that that shaped her into who she is. But I tell you what, she is sassy and she is hilarious. She is kind of that old lady or people joke about the old man of get off my lawn. And she's kind of like that, but she does have a soft heart, but there's layers that you have to get through to get to that. But you do see that. So I really like Sybil. And she is really funny. She's blunt, she's very straightforward, and she just says it like it is. It's definitely taboo the way that she speaks to some people. I'm just like, oh my gosh, I would never talk to somebody that way. But I do sometimes for me personally, I can get an attitude real quick. And I was telling my husband about this story, and there was a point where I was laughing because there was a really funny sequence where she's talking to this customer service guy, and she is so blunt and forward with him, and it is hilarious. So it there is some humor that is woven within this story, and I'm finding certain things are so funny to listen to. And I was telling my husband about this, and he goes, Oh my gosh, that sounds like that could be you. I'm gonna start saying, when you get into an attitude and you start getting grumpy, I'm gonna say, Well, that's Sybil coming out to play. I now have an inner Sybil, and I'm like, Oh my gosh, is this what I'm gonna be like when I'm an older lady in 30 years? When I get to be old and in my 70s, am I gonna be like Sybil? And he's like, from everything you're describing, I can totally tell that you're gonna be like Sybil. So it's kind of a joke now. He's calling this character my inner Sybil is coming out whenever I get into a mood or I'm grumpy or I have an attitude, and it's been really fun. So, but outside of it being an interesting story, being an interesting character, I'm laughing, but there's definitely heartfelt moments. Like I said, there are harder moments. There is cancer being mentioned, there's death of loved ones, there's grief, loss, loneliness. It's not all fluffy, it's definitely got some harder issues. I would say if you're a super sensitive reader, maybe check the triggers. I don't feel like there's anything super graphic, there's nothing very triggering for me at least, but there are some more somber moments. And then you also have the inner reflection of Sybil herself and just coming from the geriatric perspective, just an older person's view. And that's really interesting. I'm really liking that. There's one thing she talks about when people get older that you're in different seasons of life. You could be in your winter, you could be in your summer, you could be any season. And that's something I've heard of before being in a season, but I've never really thought about it too much when it comes to older people and being in their season. And I think about my dad, who is in his 70s, he's already retired and he is in his later years, his golden years of life. And it does make me think about well, what season is he in? Is he in his winter or fall, or is he more in a spring or summer? And then I just think about my grandparents, they've all passed away, but I do think about them when they were alive and what season they were in. So there's just a lot of really good things to reflect about. And I could definitely see this being good maybe for a book club and just talking about the more general universal life messages. But I will say one thing that I really, really like that has really stuck out to me is it's called the correspondent because Sybil is a writer and she loves to write letters specifically. She has been writing letters since she was a child, and that's how she makes sense of the world. And that's what feels comfortable to her. That's how she loves to communicate with people and to express herself. And it is really a lost art. I mean, in 2026, people are texting, they're emailing, they're chatting, still calling on the phone. But is anybody actually writing letters anymore and mailing them? That is a lost art. We're not doing that anymore. And she even acknowledges in the book how it can be hard to find an address for people because everybody's online. You can just direct message them through social media or you can email them. And she really loves to write letters. She talks about her process and what she thinks about it. She says that over her lifetime, she's probably written over a thousand letters. She has incorporated that that is just who she is. It's part of her being. It's part of her routine in her, I wouldn't say daily life. She says she writes three days a week and then sometimes four, and she'll set aside a couple hours to be able to do it. She talks about how sometimes she'll write a draft and she'll cross things out and mark it up, and then she'll use a clean sheet of paper to actually write the letter she wants to fully send. So she just talks about her process and how she does it. And it was so captivating for me to just listen to someone who is so passionate about this letter writing. I found that very fascinating and a highlight of the story so far. And I used to write letters. I used to write letters to my grandparents. I had a set of grandparents who lived very, very close to me. They actually lived right behind my house when I was growing up. There was our house and then an alley and then my grandparents' house. So I basically grew up between our two houses. But then my other set of grandparents, my paternal grandparents, were two hours away. And I used to write to my grandmother and she would write me back. I used to write to some great aunts that lived a couple hours away. I did have a pen pal in some Asian country. I can't remember. I think I was in middle school. They had this pen pal program. And I did have a pen pal for a few months that I wrote back and forth. So it really reminded me about how much I really enjoyed writing letters and receiving letters. And this really feels like a love letter to writers or people who like to write letters. So I love this aspect of this story, and I love it so much that it's actually inspiring me to want to go out and buy some stationery. I have not bought stationery in probably at least 10 to 12 years. I don't even know. I'm feeling inspired to go buy some stationery, to go to the post office and get a roll of stamps. I mean, we're talking old school here and to writing to people that I don't talk to often. I mentioned my dad. My dad and I used to be very, very close. My mom died when I was 16. And so my mom's been gone for a really long time. And it's just my dad, but he did remarry. The thing is, is that my dad is retired, but my stepmom just retired. And so now she's around all the time. And he has told me he doesn't feel that comfortable talking on the phone with her around all the time. So I don't get to talk to my dad as much as I used to. We used to talk once a week on the phone for an hour or two. Because his situation has changed, I don't get to hear from him as much. And this completely inspired me. Like, what if I start writing letters to my dad? And what if he started writing me back? That would be really cool. But even if he didn't, just the act of I'm sending it to him and he is receiving communication from his only daughter, how cool would that be? How good would I make him feel? How much would he love to look forward to receiving my letters? What if I wrote a letter once a week? What if I thought of some other people that maybe I could write letters to? So it just really inspired me that I may start picking up the habit of writing letters and trying to figure out who are the people in my life that I don't talk to very often. And maybe writing letters could start opening up that communication again. And maybe it could start reviving those relationships that I have let go dormant for too long. So I don't know. That's just something that has inspired me as I'm listening to this audiobook. And I just love the way that Sybil talks about writing letters, and I love the way she loves it and how she's passionate about it. The title absolutely goes along with this story. So anyway, that's all I think I want to say about it. I'm really, really enjoying it. My emotions are all over the place. I haven't cried or anything yet, but there's definitely been the more serious, solemn times, but I'm also laughing so much too. It's just making me chuckle or I laugh out loud or I'm just smirking. I'm not sure what I want to rate it yet. I think I want to wait till I'm done and see how it ends. But so far, this first half has been really enjoyable. It took a little bit of time for me to get into it and to settle with the story and to just listen and to allow myself to be open and letting the story. Take me where it's supposed to take me, but I'm in it now. And there is a narrative that is being formed. There is a story around this character. And there are things I want to know about. And there are things I want to know what happened with this and what happened with this person. So I'm definitely invested now. And I see the hype. So I'm going to talk about the hype with all of these books when I'm completely done. But I am very much enjoying this. I did want to make sure that I stopped at the halfway mark and not just finish it and come in and let you guys know what's going on. So that's what's happening and that's where I'm at right now. I'm going to go ahead and finish this. My audiobook is expiring in less than 24 hours. So I need to get this done. And then I will come back, give you my final thoughts, and then we will wrap up this very long episode. All right, so stay tuned, and I will be back and I will talk with you soon. So I have finished the book and I am back to talk about it. Also, if I sound nasally, I apologize. I'm dealing with allergies right now and I'm just doing the best that I can. But anyway, I have finished the book and I really, really enjoyed this story. I did love it. I was going back and forth of what I wanted my reading to be because while there's no language, there's definitely no spice in this, there is some wokeness, I will say. There's a lot of feminist comments, and it wasn't that bad. It was noticeable, but I didn't feel like it was intolerable. And you can also tell that the author is on one side of the aisle because she created this character, and there's some mentions about loving Obama because this spans, I think, from 2012 to 2019, and then it skips a few years, and then at the very end, it's around 2022. So it does span a large length of time. And during the Obama years, the character says how much she really enjoys him. But then once we get around the 2016 mark and she sees that Trump is running for president, she talks about wanting to change her party to the Democrats. So there's some political messages that are added in that I didn't really feel were necessary. There's also some mentions of racism. There's just other liberal comments that were made here and there. I didn't really feel like that was needed. So I wanted to knock it down a little bit for that. But by the time I got to the end of this, my feelings started to change. And I felt like, okay, I think I can just overlook some of those because it wasn't preachy. It wasn't pound you over the head with these messages. It was just little inserts, little comments made here and there that it was enough for me as a conservative to notice it and to be annoyed by it. But I could just roll my eyes and keep moving on and just ignore it. So I am gonna go ahead and give this five stars because I really liked the way the second half of the book went and how the narrative did change and we had some conflict happen. It starts to pick up pace because some more things are going on. And then the very end, I just felt like it was just a really great resolution to the story. And it was sad. There are some sad moments. I did tear up. So this book had me on emotional roller coaster. I was laughing, I was tearing up, I was smiling, I was also frustrated, I was a little angry. So I felt like it was a whole wide range of emotions while I was reading this book. There's another thing that also, and I'm not gonna knock it down for this, but just this was a personal preference that I found a little annoying listening to the audiobook, which I absolutely love the audiobook. I would highly, highly recommend listening to this book. If you have the option to either read or listen, I would listen to this, but maybe you could do both if you prefer to do that. But one thing I didn't like just listening is they always read the email address out loud along with the timestamp. And that got annoying because a lot of these chapters are very short and you're moving on very quickly. And so you're hearing a lot of email addresses as well as physical addresses. And I know that that's part of the book. I know we need to know who she's corresponding with, but just listening to it, it just got tedious. And I kept hearing the same email addresses or the same physical addresses, and I didn't like that. But that was just me. However, because this does span over many, many years, I am glad that it does include the date in the year so we know when things were being sent, so we can follow along and know what time of year it is, how long it's been. So I did like that aspect, but just saying the physical address or the email over and over, it started to get really repetitive. So it's just a little warning there if you're listening to this. But overall, I just really, really like this because Sybil is not a very likable character. I was looking at some one-star reviews, and this is a couple that I just jotted down really quick because it kind of made me laugh because I see where the one-star reviewer is coming from, but also I wonder if they read the whole thing and maybe they DNF'd it and they just didn't mention it in their review because there is a shift. She starts out as a very unlikable character and she makes poor decisions. There's things that she says and does that I didn't agree with, that I didn't like, but that was the character. And as you're listening to the story, you can see how certain things that happened in her life shaped her into being this harder woman. As I mentioned in my last check-in, she's hard to like, she's hard to love. She's not a super warm, friendly, lovable character. I think a lot of readers want those type of characters. They don't like these harder characters that you have to peel the layers back. But if you read through the book and you see what she's gone through, everything that she writes about, I mean, there are major losses in her life. There's some huge tragedies that took place. She has a lot of regrets and bitterness just towards herself. And she's grappling with all of that. She's human. I just felt like Sybil was a very raw, real human character that I feel like so many people could relate with. But a couple of these one-star reviewers, they say it's just a bitter woke feminist booner complaining, a good guide on how not to act. Well, okay, yes, it's definitely got the feminist overtones, as I mentioned. It did feel a bit woke here and there. And this is a bitter woman. Like I said, she's been through some things. And of course, there are ways that she acted that I would never act, just for me personally. That's just my personality. But there are people who do act that way in real life. Not all characters that you read are going to be characters that you like, but they're going to be real. And I felt that with Sybil. Someone else said that she was just a pompous, judgmental, mean, arrogant woman with a big chip on her shoulder and had a very high opinion of herself who seemed to hold very little regard for anyone other than some famous writers and herself because she reads a lot of books as well as writes a lot of letters. And so she writes to a lot of authors. So that's what they're meaning by that. But I feel like again, she was shaped this way because of the things she went through in life. She was a woman that became a lawyer and then became a clerk for a judge. This was back during times when it was harder for women and there was a lot of misogyny and sexism going on. And you just have to think about what she grew up in, what she went through in her life that shaped her. So I do not agree with these one-star reviewers because if you look at the whole of the story, you have to understand where she's coming from. I liked Sybil. I did feel like I was able to peel back the layers to become more attached to her and to be on a level where I did like her. I didn't always like the way she came off and the things that she said to some people, but I understood her better. I understood where she was coming from. Also, I love that this story, and then one of the main reasons I gave this five stars was that there is a shift. So in the last part of the book, there's some conflict that happens, but there's a shift. She has realizations. She starts to forgive herself. She starts to come to terms with some of the things that have shaped her life, some of those tragedies and losses. She's finally dealing with her emotions, and there is a shift. You do see a personal character development. I absolutely love that. I love seeing how she was different from the beginning of the book to the end of the book. I love seeing how she changed over the course of the story and her heart softened. There were certain things that went on, and again, I'm not gonna go into spoilers of what that was, but it was so heartfelt and so heartwarming that it just made me smile. It made me tear up. So I really feel like there's a lot of great messages in this where it's never too late to change. I mean, by the time this book ended, I think she was 80. She started, I think, at 73 and it ends when she's 80. And it's never too late to change. It's never too late to forgive others, to forgive yourself, to atone for things that you regret in your life. Also, I love that there is a little bit of a love triangle going on. So she found love late in life. She also began traveling late in life. There's a really found family element as well as real family to this story. You just really see her blossom. And it's just never too late. It's never too late to change your life, to change things for yourself for the better, to forgive yourself. And I just really loved all of the messages because this was a woman who basically lived in fear, in sadness, and grief. She had a lot of pain. So, again, that's what shaped her. That's what made her such a rigid, harsh woman to a lot of people that they didn't like her. But there is a shift and there is a change by the end. I thought it was just beautifully, beautifully done. I really loved this book. Again, I think it's best consumed as audio. I also loved how Sybil with her best friend Rosalie mentioned the books that they're reading. One of the books that they mentioned is 84 Charing Crossroad by Helene Hampf. That is a nonfiction book. If you've never read that, it's also an epistolary nonfiction novel. It is so good. I love that. I gave that five stars. The audiobook was fantastic. I did watch the movie with Anne Bancroft. The movie was a little boring and I wasn't into it as well as the novel, but I love that novel. And this book kind of reminded me of that a little bit. But I just love the books that Sybil and Rosalie talk about, and they're real books. They talk about a lot of classics and other contemporary fiction books that they're reading, and they just mention, like, here's what I'm reading right now. So I really feel like this whole story is a love letter to readers, to writers, to book people, to letter writers. There was just so many amazing messages. Again, I just love that they talked about the lost art of writing a letter. And it really has me inspired to want to buy some stationer and to start writing to some loved ones that I don't talk to very often. So I thought this had some really great messages. I thought it was easy to connect and to relate to this character and to everything that she was going through. I just really feel like with a lot of people that do have criticism of this book, to just go in more with an open mind. And you need to sit with it, to settle in with it, and to just absorb the story for what it is. Let it unfold as it needs to, and you'll see who Sybil is in the beginning and how she shifts and changed by the end. And it's just a beautiful story. There's just so much going on. You're gonna go on an emotional roller coaster. This has seriously been one of the best books I've read this year. So I highly, highly recommend it. And I'm really glad that I gave this a chance and didn't listen to all the naysayers that were not liking the book because this has been truly a hidden gem for me that I probably would have never ever picked up unless I saw the hype about it. So I am glad that I gave this a chance, and it's really been a highlight of my reading season so far. So let's just recap real quick. I really, really enjoyed all of these books. I highly recommend all three of them. I definitely recommend the audiobook for all three of these because that's how I consume them, and I just thought they were all fantastically done. And I just loved my time with all of these books. So the first book, Theo of Golden by Alan Levi, five stars. The next book was The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston, I gave that four stars. And then The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, I gave that five stars. I think, let me think about this. If you asked me, are these books worth the hype? Yes. I want to say yes, they are. They're absolutely worth the hype. I loved Theo of Golden and The Correspondent the best. I still really enjoyed the Frederick Fife story. I could see how some people won't like any of these books. I could see how some people might think they're really boring. But I feel like they all have really great universal life messages in them that we can all relate to and we can all connect with on some level. And I really think that that's the reason why these have gone so viral and that these are so popular is because it really does hit home on just a larger scale. I definitely think they're worth the hype. I highly recommend all of those. Is one of these my book of the year? I don't know. We shall see. It's only May. I still have a lot more of the reading year to get through, but I don't know. I feel like one of these could possibly be my book of the year, but I'm not gonna jump ahead and confirm that right now. I really have no idea what my book of the year is right now. I know last year in 2025, by March, I had already felt like I found my book of the year and it did turn out to be my book of the year, but I'm not feeling that way right now. I have had some really good five-star books this year, and I do feel like maybe one of these could be my book of the year, but I just want to see how the rest of the year goes. So I'm not gonna jump ahead and say yes to anything yet. We shall see what happens. But I have really loved my time with all of these books. Honestly, I could see all of these stories being made into a movie or a TV series at some point because you do have the heartfelt moments. I cried with all three of these books. I either big cried or I teared up. I felt like all of these books made me laugh in some way or another. So I was laughing through all of them. They're definitely all very heartfelt, charming, sweet stories about older characters. And I'm finding that I am enjoying these type of stories, which is really interesting for me because I never really thought that I would want to pick up a contemporary fiction book, especially about older characters in their 70s or 80s and be as enthralled and captivated by the story as I was. But also just to fall in love with these characters. I fell in love with all three of them: Theo, Fred, and Sybil. I love all three of them so much. And it really does make me want to explore more stories like this because I just feel like the characters were so lovable for me, but also just the messages through the story are just really hitting home for me. And they just really, really touched my heart. I have all of these on my wish list to actually buy the physical book at some point because I would love to have these as part of my library collection. These are definitely books I could see myself coming back to and rereading again and again. And I'm sure I would pick up different messages as I'm reading them again. But I also might use some of my Audible credits, especially for the correspondent and Theo of Golden, and get the audiobook so that I always have that as well. So I have fallen in love with these books. The hype is real. I feel like these books deserve the hype that they're getting. I'm really glad that I took a chance and read these because again, if it wasn't for the hype, I would have never looked twice at these books because contemporary fiction is not a genre of fiction that I ever read in. So this also has opened my mind up to what else am I missing out on? What other contemporary fiction books should I start researching and looking up? Because these books have been some highlights of my reading year so far. And I want to know what else I'm missing out on. What are some other books that they don't have to be necessarily super hyped up, but what are some other books that could really touch my heart and leave an impression on me? I feel like all of these books have left some kind of impression on me. As a reader, that's one of the best feelings is to remember these characters, to have that lasting impression. So anyway, I could go on and on about these books. If you haven't read any of these books, all three, grab them from your used bookstore, brand new bookstore, put them on hold at your library, borrow from a friend if they have them. Highly, highly recommend checking all of these out. These definitely could change your reading year and could be some highlights for you as well. So that is all I have for this episode. Again, I know this is super long, but these types of episodes usually are when I'm talking more in depth about my thoughts and feelings as I'm reading through them. I hope you've enjoyed this episode. If you are here to the very end, thank you so much for spending your time with me. I know you could be spending your time anywhere, and it's so precious. And I just feel so honored and grateful that you're spending it with me listening to me talk about these books, and hopefully I have piqued your interest to pick them up. Again, if you do, follow me on Goodreads or social media and let me know your thoughts. Again, I have everything posted on my website and the companion blog if you missed anything. And I also have the written reviews up on my website as well as on Goodreads. Yeah, I think in the future, I'm definitely gonna keep my eyes open for more of these types of stories. And like I said, I have some pages to pop court episodes planned or that I'm currently working on that may have some older characters from some very popular books that have movie adaptations that are gonna be coming out very soon. So keep an eye on the podcast or social media when I announce those episodes. But I'm gonna be doing more of these real-time reaction episodes if you like these. I really like to pick up the super popular and read them and see what I think of them. So I definitely want to do more, see what else is out there, and see what could become my next all-time favorite book. All right, I think that's it. Thank you so much for joining me. And as always, until next time, my sweet friends, happy reading. Well, that's all I have for this episode. If you missed anything, you can find the companion blog on my website at bookmarksandblankets.com. That's bookmarksthelternblankets.com. If you enjoyed today's discussion, please consider subscribing to the podcast so you don't miss any episodes. Also, if you feel called to do so, please share this podcast with others who you think may be interested in this type of show. Or if you have a few minutes, I'd love for you to write a quick review. This helps me reach more people, and I would greatly appreciate it. If you would like to support the show even more, you can join my Patreon community at patreon.comslash bookmarks and blankets. Until next time, my friends, please remember to take care of yourself and always stay cozy.