Reading Update: What we're reading in May!

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:00]So, I'm like having fun just like >> wiggling your tassel.

[00:00:04]>> Okay.

[00:00:05]>> Trying to see like how Okay.

[00:00:11]>> Hi, I'm Brandon.

[00:00:12]>> I'm Taylor. Welcome to Good Books Lely.

[00:00:14]Welcome to our home.

[00:00:15]>> Yeah, we're doing a a an update on what we're reading because we haven't done a lot of reading.

[00:00:21]>> This is for >> We haven't finished anything.

[00:00:23]>> We haven't finished anything. We're reading. It's just not >> We are into more books.

[00:00:28]>> Yeah. in terms of we've gotten bookmarks and more books >> and we're further along >> and I have a pretty alarming quote.

[00:00:35]>> I have a less alarming quote >> of the the episode. Yeah.

[00:00:39]>> Um >> but typically we do it done and dusted.

[00:00:41]There's no done and dusted today.

[00:00:42]>> Nothing. There's a >> we have a bunch of bookmarks.

[00:00:46]>> One of them being the Patreon book club that we host over on Patreon.

[00:00:50]>> Which we feel like might have had some people running for the hills.

[00:00:53]>> Yeah. But it is the best book club according to us.

[00:00:56]>> Best book club in the world.

[00:00:57]>> Yeah. According to Taylor. According to me and us, everybody's involved.

[00:01:01]>> Quote of the day or book pickups or just whatever, but it's quote of day.

[00:01:06]>> Keep it simple. Maybe you guys are having a good week.

[00:01:08]>> Have an after show.

[00:01:09]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:01:09]>> And the after show will fall probably be about something that comes up later in the episode. Yeah.

[00:01:13]>> All right. Do you want to get started?

[00:01:14]Let's go ahead and start with um books that are not the book club book since there's different ones.

[00:01:20]>> You want me to go cuz I have two.

[00:01:21]>> Yeah, go for it. Ready for >> I'll start with the one that I'm not as far along in as.

[00:01:24]>> All right. Pepper's returned.

[00:01:25]>> But I brought this up. I started James A. Mitchner's The Drifters.

[00:01:30]>> Show this picture. This is the picture.

[00:01:33]>> Yeah, >> look at these.

[00:01:34]>> Very 70s, very hippie vibe, very free love.

[00:01:39]>> Um, love.

[00:01:40]>> I'm not as much further in than I was before. I'm the next chapter in. And it's still very much you're introduced to a person who's a a youth age. Get a little background of them and then you start to learn how they a drip. They go a drift in terms of like they get a they break the the cycle of what their parents are doing. What >> thought my fly was down >> but they break the cycle of what their parents expect them to do or what is expected of them or what's going on because they just feel like the world's not >> for them right now. They want to they got to go do something else. They got they they don't they don't fit.

[00:02:17]>> Yeah. That's like the whole hip isn't that like part of >> Yeah. I I feel like that is very much a >> sentiment that is shared by a lot of the youth now.

[00:02:26]>> Except I don't think that the youth now is >> they can't go anywhere cuz everywhere's bad now. It's not that they want to go anywhere else. It's that they just want to stay inside.

[00:02:34]>> Yeah. But they can't. But then staying inside is in their parents' basement >> because they can't go anywhere.

[00:02:41]>> They can't afford to go anywhere.

[00:02:42]>> We're not going to go there.

[00:02:43]>> But I I am enjoying it. I I only read it at night when we're in bed usually. M >> Brandon did not live in his parents' basement. I feel like what it's going to come off like is like you're having like you're bringing up some like trauma of like your past life of living in your mom's basement. This is not >> I just lived in the the second bedroom.

[00:03:02]>> Carry on.

[00:03:02]>> Yeah. But I I'm enjoying it. It's It's really kind of just poignant and like historical like in the terms of historical fiction but also relevant to today's time.

[00:03:13]>> Cool. I like I love it when you read something >> when I mentioned it in the last video. A couple of you viewers commented that you love this book. Glad I'm reading it.

[00:03:22]Want to do a readalong with it. So come on, tell me what you got.

[00:03:26]>> So Oh my gosh. So come on. It's like that the travel man episode where he's singing about the coup in the the Oh my gosh.

[00:03:35]>> Yeah.

[00:03:36]>> Have a bloodless coup. Come on.

[00:03:38]>> Yeah.

[00:03:39]>> All right.

[00:03:39]>> But anyway, I I'm not too much further in, but it's it's still good. I'm still enjoying it.

[00:03:44]>> I'm glad you're liking it. Okay, let's go ahead and move on. Right. [laughter] So, >> I don't mean it that way.

[00:03:49]>> Push that off to the side.

[00:03:51]>> Do you want to finish both of yours and then I'll just do mine? All right. I like I mentioned in the last one, my favorite palette cleanser series since Brandon introduced me to her is CS Harris's Sebastian St. Seir series. It's uh um uh my gosh, what is the time period? Um uh just give me a minute.

[00:04:10]Hold on. It's the Regency period.

[00:04:12]Regency.

[00:04:13]>> Regency period. England, obviously. And it follows an unlikely detective. You know how like you have books where there's a person that has to solve a crime or a murder, but they're not a detective, but they get wrapped up in the having of the having of to do that, >> right?

[00:04:27]>> Whatever. That's kind of something like this is you have this guy who's Count Develin and he has gotten himself involved >> in solving murders, right? And so everyone, it's very procedural.

[00:04:40]>> We have that period of our life, >> right? Right. But then that he has a much bigger story arc as well that's happening and unfolding throughout the books, right? And they're so good.

[00:04:48]They're really good. I'm reading it kind of slow because I've just been reading a little slower the last couple of weeks.

[00:04:53]Um >> nothing wrong with that.

[00:04:54]>> Yeah, it's fine. And but I'm enjoying it. It's super cozy. I love coming back to it. It's intelligent. The crime is >> gritty. Um I'm getting into it.

[00:05:03]>> Yeah, I'm getting into it. So yeah, this is a Why Mermaids Sing is the name of this one by Cas Harris. It is the third in the series and there's like I don't know like probably 737 books in the series. Yeah. Uh there's a lot. But if you like if you like that kind of >> thing like uh >> yeah historical fiction murder mystery dictive >> detective murder mystery interesting characters that it's just it's a it's a whole thing.

[00:05:28]>> Uh what what do they call that? A procedural.

[00:05:31]>> It's procedural. Yeah. Meaning that every book is wrapped up in terms of the crime but then there is still a story arc.

[00:05:37]>> Yeah. throughout. I really love them. I I Yeah, it's just I know I'm gonna like them when I get into it. I'm like having fun just like >> Yeah. Wiggling your tassel.

[00:05:47]>> Okay.

[00:05:47]>> Trying to see like how Okay. Yeah. That >> Yeah. Good.

[00:05:52]>> It's great. I love it.

[00:05:53]>> Next one.

[00:05:53]>> Something like that.

[00:05:54]>> I give me applause. Remember to put the book jacket on it this time.

[00:05:58]>> Yeah.

[00:05:59]>> And that is the second in the hierarchy series uh by James, The Strength of the Few. And since I've last done the update, I am significantly further. I have >> You have really chunked into it.

[00:06:12]>> Uh at school on my breaks, on my prep, on my lunch.

[00:06:16]>> Are the edges.

[00:06:17]>> It's like a purple tint.

[00:06:19]>> Yeah. No, it's purple.

[00:06:20]>> Um because it's supposed to be purple, but I have switched the book cover over to be the the match the other one.

[00:06:25]>> Oh, I see.

[00:06:26]>> Uh but anyway, I'm significantly further along than I was >> and through part one.

[00:06:31]>> Nice.

[00:06:32]>> I am I don't know about 35% of the way through. Loving it. It's, like I said, I think in the last one, >> as I've gotten into reading it, it really reminds me of what I loved about the first, which was The Will of the Many, which was so good. This one >> has that exact same feeling for me, >> but more of it >> because there is multiple kind of story lines going on. I don't want to say more because if you haven't read the first and you haven't or haven't started this one, it's going to ruin it. But I was enjoying it so much I was like, man, I'm gonna fly through this knowing that this is supposed to be a trilogy. I went on to his website.

[00:07:11]>> When does the next one come out?

[00:07:12]>> And to see I was like, "Okay, when's the Is there any word on when the next one is?" The most recent update is uh March.

[00:07:19]>> Yeah.

[00:07:20]>> He posted a thing. I just got done with the first draft of book three >> and he's like, "Hopefully over the next couple months, I'll be done through uh book or draft two and then from there."

[00:07:31]So maybe next year. Well, yeah.

[00:07:34]>> So, but he did say it's over 270,000 words he's written in draft one or something like that. So, >> I bet you he does have a title. He has a title for it. I forget what it is.

[00:07:44]>> Strength of the few. Will of the many.

[00:07:46]Will the many strength of few >> solidarity the solo or something?

[00:07:49]>> Uh the >> it's something about the soul like the individual >> bird in the hand. Yeah, >> it's worth >> two in the bush. Two in the bush. Yeah, that's what it's called. But anyway, >> really loving I think there's a series of books where the first one's called a bird in the hand and the second one is called Two in the Bush.

[00:08:03]>> Probably >> it's a smut series.

[00:08:05]>> Yeah. But I you know what I also is this is doing is you know how you got into your groove of like gothic >> Yeah.

[00:08:13]>> thing. It's gotten me in my groove of like kind of fun kind of sci-fi sagas that I want to go once I finish this I'll probably pick up where I left off with the uh the the Gunslinger series by Stephen King. Uh, so I think I'll start picking that up after this.

[00:08:30]We'll see. But it's got me feeling good about like that kind of writing, that kind of storytelling, the big developing stuff going on.

[00:08:37]>> Really, really eager to see how this plays out. Well, >> cool.

[00:08:40]>> If you have not started The Will the Many, I highly recommend getting into that series because that one's great.

[00:08:45]This one seems that it takes that and just moves it up another notch for me at least. So, Strength of the Few. Really enjoying it. Digging it.

[00:08:53]>> Two in the Bush is going to be the is going to be a good one, too.

[00:08:55]>> Yeah. One in the hand. One in the hands, two in the bush.

[00:08:58]>> Yeah.

[00:08:59]>> What does it mean when somebody has like exclaims and how?

[00:09:05]>> What does that mean?

[00:09:06]>> It like it's really great. And how? Like it's Yeah. I don't know.

[00:09:11]>> Like there's something you were saying when you were talking about this that made me feel the compulsion to like go and how.

[00:09:17]>> I don't >> but I don't really understand what that means.

[00:09:19]>> Yeah.

[00:09:20]>> All right.

[00:09:21]>> All right. Should we get into the one that is the Patreon?

[00:09:25]>> Yeah. So, our Patreon book, we're just going to rip off the band-aid. Our Patreon, you know what? I'm kind of tired of like >> beating around the bush. Like, we're This is what we're reading. We're reading Lolita by Vladimir.

[00:09:35]>> And I have my copy now. Finally. Yeah.

[00:09:37]>> You can see the difference. They're both a vintage. Mine's the 50th anniversary.

[00:09:41]You're the 70th.

[00:09:42]>> I um >> Did you know that?

[00:09:44]>> Yes, I did know that.

[00:09:46]>> A couple of things before we get started because if you don't mind, we're very early on. Both of us are. You're on page what?

[00:09:52]>> 40.

[00:09:52]>> I'm on page 33.

[00:09:54]>> Yeah. Um, I highly recommend anybody who's on the fence about reading this.

[00:09:59]Now, anybody who knows that this is gonna have something in it that's gonna mess them up and they don't want to read it because of whatever and it's just not worth even putting themselves, don't read it. Okay. No.

[00:10:08]>> Um, >> but you can also, if you kind of want to know >> the introduction to this one, um, >> yeah, the 70th >> the 70th >> doesn't come in this.

[00:10:17]>> Yeah, it's the introduction by Claire Msad 2025. I felt like did a great job of explaining why someone may want to read it, why people who are interested ought to read it and why >> the author Vladimir Nabokov, >> it gives you a little bit of an insight into like his mind when he wrote it. And one of there were a lot of really interesting things about that insight.

[00:10:45]>> Yeah.

[00:10:45]>> That really stuck with me. In fact, maybe at the in the after show I'd like to like pull out a couple of those things or we can even do it here in a minute. But >> yeah, >> the after show thing.

[00:10:54]>> Well, okay. I just >> We did it. Yeah. But yeah, >> but the just like a couple of things that I thought were interesting were his insight into why he wrote this because it's analyzed and psychoanalyzed and used in psychoanalysis of things for um >> you know the content of this book. If you're not familiar with Lolita, we have a 40-year-old, I think he's 40, late 30s, um >> man who is falls in love, >> seducing and becomes involved with a 12-year-old girl.

[00:11:25]>> Not great, >> right? Um >> and so you wonder like why would somebody write about this, you know, and Vladimir Nabacov >> wrote about that kind of stuff. In fact, somebody commented on our last video and this is interesting. So if this person is watching, I kind of hope they're watching because I did read we brought up.

[00:11:42]>> Um, we we actually talked about this comment in our book club and it was that the thing about and they had very strong words about the author and just not hating hating this book, not having no interest in the author and part >> because they were forced to read it.

[00:11:56]>> Yeah. They were they read it and they didn't want to read it, which that could cause you to resent something quickly.

[00:12:02]So fair.

[00:12:03]>> Yeah.

[00:12:03]>> But they a lot of this author's writing is of a similar theme.

[00:12:08]>> Yeah. and he explored this kind of these themes in his writing and that can be very off-putting and unsettling.

[00:12:16]>> Yeah.

[00:12:16]>> And now there's that isn't to say that we can take the author and the content and immediately say that's the kind of person he was because there is no evidence to support that.

[00:12:26]>> But I guess you kind of get the sense that maybe he's he caught on to something that was shocking, >> right?

[00:12:31]>> And then used it to kind of continue to shock, >> right?

[00:12:34]>> Or try to tap into that well a little more. And I think that something that this book is doing is it's causing you it's he's the writing and the language used by Hbert Hbert which is the main character >> holds you captive and causes you to feel this weird momentary >> not like a sympathy but you kind you listen to him. Yeah. you're there with him as opposed to against him, which is what you feel like you should be. And it's uncomfortable.

[00:13:07]>> Yeah. And it's I I think we talked about this last night. He's It's almost It's satire.

[00:13:13]>> It's satire.

[00:13:14]>> People around him >> and it at times is kind of funny. Uh, >> but you als but he's doing it he's being funny in uncomfortable situations sometimes, >> you know, and and then you know where this is leading. At least I've gotten to the part where he, >> you know, and he does talk about things and >> that are uncomfortable already. Um, and I'm 40 pages in and it's it's like, okay, I I you sympathize with him a little bit, but you can't you can't you always in the back of your head as you're reading it like you feel like that you're waiting for just that he's despicable at times, too.

[00:13:59]>> Oh, and yes, and well, it's I'm reading the opening part. I'm not quite You've met Lolita. I have yet to meet her, but yet you know his introduction when he first Yeah. because of the way he talks about things. In fact, my quote is going to tie to like how he talks about things. Yeah.

[00:14:14]>> Um, >> and you're reading it and of course you have not seen any actual acts of that nature yet where I am.

[00:14:22]>> Same.

[00:14:23]>> But he says things and he does things and some of the things he says are really funny. The way that he puts words together, the way he approaches a situation, you're like this is this is actually really funny.

[00:14:34]>> But then like he just says stuff and you're like this guy is just the absolute worst. It really is.

[00:14:39]>> And we haven't even gotten to that yet.

[00:14:41]>> Yeah. We haven't got to the worst part.

[00:14:42]>> And he's the worst guy.

[00:14:44]>> Yeah.

[00:14:44]>> And he's like a narcissist, which obviously it's not that isn't brought up specifically, but if you know anything about narcissism and what how that >> tell >> Yeah. You could tell he's got a narcissistic like sociopathic >> quality.

[00:14:58]>> Quality about him.

[00:14:58]>> Yeah.

[00:14:59]>> And it's interesting. So, where we are so far, satire is definitely the name of the game and it's uncomfortable satire.

[00:15:05]Um, and I know that we're venturing off into some really uncomfortable territory.

[00:15:09]>> I I am so interested to read it because I want to see what this author is capable of doing to me as a reader.

[00:15:16]>> And that I think is where the purpose and meaning might come when it comes to reading this is to experience what that is. Yeah. Because and this is one of the little tidbits that I got from the introduction and it's something that Vladimir Nabokov said as well. He says, "I am neither a reader nor a writer of didactic fiction, which is fiction that teaches a lesson or is in some way moralizing. And despite John Ray's assertion, Lolita has no moral in tow.

[00:15:40]For me, a work of fiction exists only in so far as it affords me what I shall bluntly call aesthetic bliss. That is a sense of being somehow somewhere connected with other states of being, where art, which he says is curiosity, tenderness, kindness, ecstasy, is the norm." Um he and then the Clare Msad who's writing the introduction says that Nabokov dismisses all the rest as topical trash or what some call the literature of ideas which is very often topical trash. And so he in no way intends Lolita to be used as any form of a didactic >> piece of fiction. He isn't trying to put a moral in here.

[00:16:17]>> But I I while I get what he's doing there, I feel it's more of him like covering his butt.

[00:16:23]>> What do you mean by that? like he's he's like, "I wasn't trying to do anything."

[00:16:27]Like he knows that this is gonna like he knows this. He's saying that after the fact. It's not like he says that. That's not a quote before he wrote this book or before it's published. It's after the fact.

[00:16:38]>> Yeah. But why would he say that if he >> I think he wants to kind of like just like I wasn't doing it. I wasn't.

[00:16:43]>> Do you think he was?

[00:16:44]>> I think I don't know if he was or was not. But to say it after the fact that I wasn't trying to do anything is is kind of a copout, right? you're writing a very controversial story and then you're not expecting there to people to try to pull moral from it or or have any kind of like discussion about it or or whatever. That's that's him just like I don't Hey, hands off. I I >> he doesn't want to he doesn't want to be associated with whatever moralizing is happening.

[00:17:13]>> Yeah.

[00:17:13]>> I think that's interesting and it's you know we >> whether that's good or bad like positive or negative. He doesn't want like this, oh, this is a manifesto or this is a a guide to or whatever.

[00:17:24]>> Well, it says here that we it says we now know clearly thanks to Sarah Weineman's 2018 book, The Real Lolita, the kidnapping of Sally her and the novel that scandalized the world that Nabokov was aware when writing of the actual two-year kidnapping of 11-year-old Sally her by Frank Lal in 1948, a real event mirrored in his fiction. Lolita might thus have been construed even then as some version of topical trash. So topical trash would be like a book that's written it fictionalizing an issue that's happening right now, right? Um so we could look at this and think this is interesting topical trash that's obviously wasn't but because of the me too movement and things like that.

[00:18:02]>> Um >> so it's funny that you say that because he could have been some people say that this is his response to that or that this is a book that is his fictionalized version of that event that happened or that serious thing. So, it's like you're right, like maybe he was and he just but he didn't want it to be like read like that. He didn't want to be that. He wanted to just be in the driver's seat completely.

[00:18:22]>> Yeah.

[00:18:22]>> And so, yeah, I don't know. It's interesting. Um >> we haven't gotten far enough in to be able to speak too much to the really uncomfortable stuff, but based on what you're already getting, >> Yeah.

[00:18:32]>> it's not going to be it's not going to be a walk in the park. But I will say that, you know, that a lot of the thing that people that give credit to this book is the writing style, the pros, the the the turn of phrases and the the way he >> go I I do get that he is very heavy.

[00:18:49]>> Yeah. But it's >> with the way he writes. It's it's has a quality about it. It's not it's not vulgar.

[00:18:57]>> No.

[00:18:57]>> You know what I'm saying? Like it's it's And it's also not plain.

[00:19:00]>> It's vulgar in in its context.

[00:19:03]>> No. Yeah. But but the language itself the purple and the language itself is very much almost >> beautiful.

[00:19:12]>> That's but that's the thing. It's like it's very heavy-handed. you would consider it purple, but it seems very it's intentional because the point of it is to try to like >> hold you and like and manipulate you into feeling a certain way, which I think is affect is really I think that's the part >> and I think that is why people do give credit for the writing, >> not the content necessar. Yeah. Like they're not not necessarily praising >> what he's writing about, but how he went about writing it. But what he's writing about is is why how he writes about it is so effective.

[00:19:45]>> You know what I mean? Because if it weren't such a troubling topic, >> yeah. I mean, then it would just be a >> Yeah.

[00:19:50]>> a hard >> It's a topic It's a topic that is just a complete no-go for anybody under all circumstances, right? Like >> But if you don't write it in this way, it comes off more trash or more >> just Well, it's al Yeah, it's just there's no there's no nuance. Yeah.

[00:20:06]>> This has a nuance that makes you uncomfortable. It's an interesting >> relationship.

[00:20:12]>> Yeah, we've been talking a lot about this um in the chat thread on the Patreon as well in the book club. And if you I mean this is why the book having a book club whether it's our book club or any book club. Join a book club because talking about books with other people especially heavy-hitting books or uncomfortable books um it helps it helps you to like >> conceptualize things. It helps you to see it from somebody else yeah point of view >> somebody else's perspective. Um, that's what I think has been so cool is like listening to other people's perspectives on things.

[00:20:42]>> Yeah. And getting their eyes on it or their ears on it, however they >> however they ingest it or or read it, it kind of >> tweaks how you might perceive it.

[00:20:54]>> Yeah.

[00:20:55]>> Or understand it or, you know, it's been fun.

[00:20:57]>> Yeah, it has been. It has been really fun. And I'm excited to really get our teeth into this one. And >> and I know some people there's some members of our uh Patreon and our book club who are like, "Nope, sorry. I'll see you in June cuz I'm not interested.

[00:21:09]And that's great. And we always tell those people like come to the meet anyway. Just hang out, join us, have partake in interesting conversations if it's, you know, but always like to quote Blake, what did he say? You got to preserve preserve your peace.

[00:21:24]>> Yeah, something like that. Yeah, >> something. It was something like that.

[00:21:26]It was very I've heard it before, but Blake said it so well.

[00:21:28]>> Um, yeah. Anyway, so Lolita, yeah, you know, let us know your thought. Let us know your thoughts and don't be afraid like that one person that commented and was like, I hate Lolita. Yeah. and the author sounds like a complete dirt bag.

[00:21:38]It's like it's fine.

[00:21:40]>> We're not bashing it. You can have >> one thing. Yeah, you can have that opinion and and that's fair. But one thing we will say is that we are reading Lolita >> and that doesn't mean that we condone anything that's happening in these pages. It just means we're reading it because we want to understand what it is about this book. We want to read Lolita.

[00:21:56]So I don't ever think you should make a person feel >> a certain way about the books that they read. Um yeah. So just I just >> you got any quotes?

[00:22:09]>> Yeah, I do. You want to move on to my quote and then come back?

[00:22:11]>> Back to my quote. Yeah, sure.

[00:22:13]>> Okay. For those familiar with the story, he's involved in a political kind of like thing like a lot of >> politics happening and he's navigating it. the main character and he gets himself involved in this like uh competition that is he's trying to prove himself but he's also using life lessons to kind of like understand what he needs to do.

[00:22:39]>> Okay.

[00:22:40]>> And this is a very short quote um and he's kind of reflecting on something his father told him. Um, he goes, "Talent, as my father used to remind me constantly, matters only when it's married to effort."

[00:22:54]>> Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. I need to take a picture of that and send it to Christina.

[00:23:00]>> Yeah.

[00:23:01]>> Because Okay, we have some really good friends and there's Okay, I don't need to go into details with other people's like >> don't let me forget.

[00:23:09]>> Right. But no, I think that's good. I think you always hear like, "Oh, I I can't make I can't do this thing because I don't have the talent in it."

[00:23:17]>> And that's only half the battle. The most talented people, if they don't put the effort in, don't succeed.

[00:23:22]>> That's the part that people don't that part. It's it's the you have the people who feel like they don't have the talent, but they're willing to work hard. Those aren't those people have to get [clears throat] by without the naturally talented people.

[00:23:33]>> Yeah. naturally talented, which >> in aspects of my life I feel I've fallen trapped or victim to is like I've been naturally talented at something and just >> felt uh discouraged when it didn't go the way I was hoping and then wasn't willing to put the effort in to fully see it through sometimes and I've learned that lesson many times.

[00:23:52]>> Yes.

[00:23:53]>> But I also been the other way where I've done the effort and had to learn something as I go and found success in I feel like teaching and the people that we're talking about our friends, they have a son who's incredibly talented in all kinds of things, but he's such a natural talent that sometimes he is resistant to like the extra work that goes into it. And this is such a common thing with kids that are naturally talented. And I feel like that's such an empower that's a very powerful thing just the whole notion of that.

[00:24:23]>> Um because talent is nothing if you don't put in the work to keep it up. You have to maintain it.

[00:24:27]>> Oh yeah.

[00:24:28]>> Um that's great. That's a great one, babe.

[00:24:30]>> Town can only take you so far.

[00:24:32]>> Yeah, absolutely. Okay, cool. I like it.

[00:24:34]Well, should we jump into a word town?

[00:24:37]>> All right. I um want to read this because it kind of gives you a little bit of an idea of how the language is.

[00:24:44]>> And >> again, >> one more time. We're early.

[00:24:46]>> This is kind of uncomfortable. It's not really that. It's just you you get the gist of what's happening. The guy's a creep. Okay. He's looking at little >> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:24:53]>> He's creep.

[00:24:53]>> We got it.

[00:24:54]>> All right. It says, "A normal man given this is kind of long.

[00:24:58]>> I know. Just like this.

[00:24:59]>> I got you.

[00:24:59]>> A normal man given a group photograph of school girls or girl scouts and asked to point out the comeliest one will not necessarily choose the nyfett among them. He uses this word nyfetti as a whole, you know.

[00:25:11]>> Yeah.

[00:25:11]>> Uh you have to be an artist and a madman, a creature of infinite melancholy with a bubble of hot poison in your loins and a super voluuptuous flame permanently a glow in your subtle spine. Oh, how you have to cringe and hide in order to discern at once by ineffable signs the slightly feline outline of a cheekbone, the slenderness of a downy limb, and other in indices which despair and shame and tears of tenderness forbid me to tabulate. The little deadly demon among the wholesome children, she stands unrecognized by them and unconscious herself of her fantastic power.

[00:25:53]>> Yeah. And it's it's a line like it's a that >> Yeah.

[00:25:57]>> That it's like what an incredible turn of phrase. I don't even know if I would call that purple as much as I would just call it >> Yeah.

[00:26:04]>> It's something >> descriptive and >> Yeah. But like it's it's doing something else. And it's you feel two. You feel a few things. The first thing you feel is like >> I want to take a shower.

[00:26:16]>> Yeah.

[00:26:16]>> Like another thing you feel is almost like a um like fear well kind of of knowing that there are people out there >> that have >> that think like this >> bad in their heads >> and and he does a lot of he talks in the very beginning of the book he sits and he watches playgrounds okay and there are people I spend a lot of time at the playground with our kids after school like >> and you don't know >> you don't know but there are people out there that think like this >> and just this way that he words this it's like you know how horrible this kind of a thought process as is.

[00:26:53]>> But it's I don't know. It's just >> it's like when you hear about like cannibals like in uh Silence of the Lambs when he would describe it a similar kind of thing. It's like you hear it and you think like you're like >> wow >> I'm I'm picking up what you're putting down but my lord it's horrible.

[00:27:10]>> I can't back it.

[00:27:11]>> No. Absolutely not. But you feel the language working on you. You know what I And I I think I mean I don't know but I think that's what a lot of these kind of psychopath like they they are brilliant >> and they are able to convince you >> that they're they're not crazy.

[00:27:32]>> And you know another thing that makes them even worse and it's the case with her Humber Humber is they know >> Yeah.

[00:27:37]>> they know they're psychopathic. Well they know >> they're able to do or something >> which is the dangerous part. Yeah. it. I mean, if you're into psychoanalysis or psych like psychiatry and psychological like nature of criminals and this kind of criminal in particular, I think you would probably really enjoy this. Enjoy.

[00:27:56]It's not the right word maybe, but like it would be interesting.

[00:27:59]>> It would peique your interest.

[00:28:00]>> Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

[00:28:01]>> But I just that that and there's a lot of that, right? You know, intermix. It's not like the whole book is not like that. Like there's very casual language too, but like that when it he really gets down to it and he's trying to explain how he thinks about things. Yes.

[00:28:14]It's just it's a lot of it's a lot of that.

[00:28:16]>> Yeah.

[00:28:16]>> And it's uh I'm I'm intrigued. I'm keep keep reading. It's nice to have a book to fall back on.

[00:28:22]>> Got my guards on. You're definitely glad to have other books that >> making me feel less.

[00:28:28]>> You know, I'm gonna say something controversial.

[00:28:30]>> Okay. Please do. And there's a special place in the underworld in hell in my mind of how I would go about somebody like that.

[00:28:41]>> Well, I don't think that's controversial.

[00:28:42]>> Okay. No, that's not controversial.

[00:28:44]Like, you know, you know what I mean?

[00:28:45]Like somebody like that.

[00:28:46]>> New Florida law.

[00:28:47]>> But like like there's I don't know what that is.

[00:28:50]>> No, a new Florida law just passed that um Yeah, just look it up. New Florida law on this kind of thing.

[00:28:57]>> Okay. Well, the the thing is is like you couldn't if I ever if I ever came into contact with somebody that did something like that to one of my children like >> look there's no there's nothing that I wouldn't do to just >> and I don't think anybody would >> right just because it is it's it's a level of of vile that I can't just whatever.

[00:29:18]>> Yeah. But when you read this, you aren't the entire time thinking that about what so which is so not yet. We haven't gotten there. Talk to me in like a couple next week.

[00:29:36]>> Oh, no.

[00:29:38]>> Monster. It's interesting.

[00:29:40]>> Yeah.

[00:29:42]>> All right.

[00:29:42]>> I'm starving.

[00:29:43]>> I know. It's the same thing every week.

[00:29:45]>> I know.

[00:29:47]>> That's all we're got.

[00:29:48]>> That's all we're got. That's all we got.

[00:29:50]>> We're going to talk more about something in the after show. It's probably going to be about those.

[00:29:53]>> Yeah. But um and I don't see us finishing anything by the next week.

[00:29:59]Maybe I'll finish double.

[00:30:01]>> You'll finish doubling. You got >> I'll finish double.

[00:30:03]>> I am going to my intention is to finish this so that I can just >> focus on that.

[00:30:07]>> Focus on that. I'm hoping to get this finished by next week.

[00:30:09]>> Definitely. I'm not going to finish this.

[00:30:11]>> That's okay.

[00:30:11]>> I my by next week I want to be through part one because that's kind of where we need to be for our book club. No, my intention is that I just want to finish something next week.

[00:30:19]>> Okay. Yeah, I'll finish double iners next week.

[00:30:22]>> Okay.

[00:30:22]>> By next week, >> I'll hope.

[00:30:23]>> And I can talk about that way we can mix in something different.

[00:30:27]>> Um, >> so yeah, th that's our intent.

[00:30:30]>> Yeah.

[00:30:30]>> What are you guys reading?

[00:30:32]>> Yes. Let us know what you're reading.

[00:30:33]>> Yeah, we always love to hear it. Give us your recommendations. We I love seeing those because even if it doesn't seem like we're following it or we're not picking up, believe us. Our TBR is is growing every time we put one of these out. And also we have a book list that we created with the book club um of just that by the way >> and let's post let's post post it for all all members over there free and paid >> TBR for book >> join the Patreon. You can be a free member of the Patreon. There are things that pop up just for everybody. Um and that will be one of those things if you want just a really cool list of great books from a variety of really awesome people. So yeah. Yeah.

[00:31:07]>> All right. That's it for today. We hope you guys are having a great week weekend. [music] >> Yeah.

[00:31:11]>> And we'll catch you next week. Yeah.

[00:31:13]Bye.

[00:31:13]>> Bye.