how to read more, sapphic book recs and bookish hot takes - talk lit with us vol 4

this episode, we are once again opening our inboxes and hearts to our favourite people in the world, our listeners. we asked for your 2026 goals and aspirations (bookish or otherwise), the things you wanted to leave behind in 2025 and and anything else you wanted to get off your chest. we discuss goals to finish lengthy TBRs, how to read more in 2026, getting and staying off our phones, sapphic fiction (where is it and do we have any recommendations?), the modern classic (a marketing ploy or enduring praise?), DNF-ing books, describing our ideal book and so much more.  

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join talk lit, get hit podcast for deep dives into the hottest BookTok recommendations, trending contemporary fiction, and literary favourites! each episode features book discussions, spoiler-filled chats, and thoughtful literary analysis of novels everyone is talking about - from viral romance and fantasy to modern classics. whether you’re looking for BookTok book reviews, author interviews, or a virtual book club experience, out podcast is your go-to space for readers who love stories and want to explore them in depth.

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Transcript

Bridget 0:00

A being Mel Roberts.

Laura 0:02

No shit. You love clicking. I haven't noticed her do that.

Bridget 0:06

Bam. Hello and welcome to a talk lit get hit bonus chapter. The little book chats in between the big ones. We'll talk about reading, authors, and have discussions with people who, like us, can't shut up about books. We might get sidetracked and talk about literally anything else.

Laura 0:22

But this is a bonus chapter we wrote just for you. What better way to kick off the new year than by once again opening our inboxes and hearts to our favorite people in the world, our listeners? We asked for your 2026 goals and aspirations, bookish or otherwise, the things you wanted to leave behind in 2025, and anything else you wanted to get off your chest. As always, you know exactly the kind of whinge we're looking for, so let's keep the good times rolling and get straight into it. We are nothing if not whinges. 2026 whinging is in. Bring it back.

Bridget 0:59

People are getting away with too much.

Laura 1:02

Lucky we're here to put a stop to that. There seemed to be a little bit of a trend emerging with a couple of the questions we received. One said, Next year I want to prioritize reading more and actually read books I'm interested in. And another listener said, This is the third year in a row I haven't met my reading goal, but I don't know what to do.

Bridget 1:19

This is something that we're always talking about to each other. It's something that I'm always thinking about. And it's something that we've been making a little bit of content about recently, but it's something that is always good to rehash. Laura, what's your top tip for reading more?

Laura 1:32

I think what works best for me is reading across a variety of formats. And when I spell it out, it seems a little unhinged because normally what I will do is have a book on my Kindle, maybe a book on my phone, like on the Kindle app or on like Libby or something. I'll have an audio book and I'll have a physical book. But it just means that there's always something to reach for, and I don't really feel stagnant because if I'm not enjoying one book, I can switch to another, and it's just like I'm constantly reading something.

Bridget 1:58

Sometimes I'll even have a book on my iPad because it feels like I'm doing something really big. That's so true. I'm so smart right now. And it's full colour. It is, and it's like full screen, amazing. Sometimes I've read on my laptop. Ooh. I think accessibility of just having books wherever you are is really good. It's a bit like that James Clear Advice and Atomic Habits where he's like, have a glass of water just around the house in different positions, so then you drink more water. That's what I think about the books. Like just have them around, or like have someone that can get you the books. Like I'm always like, Brian, can you bring me the book that's on the couch? Because I don't want to get up and get it. But please. Which one? That one over there. Because you've got millions around the house. It's a great way to do it, I think. But yeah, I have audiobook, e-reader, book that I can scroll on my phone because sometimes you can only swipe. But scrolling is key, I think, because you trick your mind into thinking you're on TikTok. You're having a good time. I love reading. ARC is its own category for me. Like I have one on the go at the same time as something else that I have on my Kindle. A library physical book, a TBR physical book, a big book that you're reading over a long time. But yeah, that's a great first tip.

Laura 3:14

So there you go. The sky's the limit. Great first tip. Do you have any other tips?

Bridget 3:18

Yes. This is one that I've recently discovered, and it's don't be afraid of DNFing. For too long, I've been in the prison of reading books that I think I should be reading. And like reading books that I think are with a capital I important. And if I'm someone who reads, I should be reading these books. There's been a few books recently that I've picked up because I think they are things that I should be learning about or reading about. And unfortunately, they've just been really boring. And I've decided I'm just not going to read it. Don't feel bad about that. You read a page, you think it's boring, get rid of it.

Laura 3:50

I've recently been on a similar journey as well because I have a lot of books in my physical TBR, and I decided it was time that I at least attempt to read them or move them on because they've just been sitting stagnant on my shelf for years. And so I came up with the idea to listen to whatever ones I could as an audiobook. I would listen to like 20 minutes, half an hour, an hour to figure out if I was even interested in it. And if I wasn't, I would move it on. And if I was, yeah, maybe I would just read that book. I ended up reading a couple of books from my TBR using that method because I was like, oh shit, like it's actually pretty good. And god damn it, it's actually kind of good.

Bridget 4:25

Worth thought.

Laura 4:27

But there were a couple where I thought, no, why would I, like, it's not even interesting to listen to? Why would I want to read it? And I felt kind of low stakes because I think the benefit of an audiobook is you can do other stuff at the same time. So it didn't really feel like quote unquote wasted time reading something that I ultimately wasn't going to finish.

Bridget 4:45

Actually, just to sort of package that with the first tip, I think that reading a book, a singular book, in as many formats as possible is also a good tip, especially if you're getting them from the library. Don't go and buy Audible credits, get a Libby account, sign up to different libraries. A good example of this recently is Wuthering Heights, and like there's a lot of Yorkshire dialect, and that's something that was quite hard to get into. But I listened to the audiobook for a little bit, and I was like, oh no, like I get it. I'm bilingual, it's fine. And that got me hooked on that.

Laura 5:18

Like, if you don't have context for how that's supposed to sound or what the rhythm of it is or how it flows, then it is really hard to get into. I had a similar experience recently as well. We're just we're just in the flow state right now. Um jumping off the back of what you just said, but I was trying to read Matrix by Lauren Groff, which was a little more challenging. I think it doesn't use inverted commas and that kind of thing for dialogue. So I listened to some as an audiobook and I was like, oh, okay, now I get it. Like I get I guess the rhythm is the only word I can really think of. Um and even reading some of it out loud to myself helped me get in a bit more.

Bridget 5:54

So the rhythm and the tone, I think, as well. And I guess that is the interpretation of the narrator. Yeah. But sometimes it's hard to pick up what vibe we're going for.

Laura 6:03

Yeah. Another habit that you mentioned in passing before is breaking down big books, and that's something I would personally like to get better at in the next year and beyond. Just the idea that you should be reading a certain number of books or it should take you X amount of time to read a big book. Uh, I mean, it's nonsense. Like it's all made up. And the time will pass anyway. So take as long as you need to read whatever you want to read.

Bridget 6:26

I've read a few big books in this way. I read Lay Miz over a month or two, and I think if you're reading something big like that, like big in page or big in content, I think it's sometimes best to take your time with it because if there's lots of concepts in it or lots of sort of themes that you're not used to reading, then it's good to take your time and think about it and not just like mindlessly consume pages. Another one that I read recently was The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky, is how I think you say it. Sounds good. That's what I'm gonna go for because I'm not Russian. But that was good because I haven't really read much Russian literature before. I think this is another good tip as well. When you're reading these big books, have a look at SparkNotes and look at the chapter analysis. For me, I use it to sort of check that I understood what was going on. It's just good to reinforce that, especially if you're reading it over a month. It's like previously on whatever.

Laura 7:21

I think that's a great idea because it's not like any of these things exist in isolation, and it's not like you're expected to be an expert on things that you don't know about. Like this is potentially your first time encountering these kinds of characters or themes or settings or like historical environments, whatever it may be, and it's very fair to not get the context. Actually, we could have perused these questions a little more carefully because it does sort of seem like the overwhelming sentiment around a lot of the questions we got was about like breaking free of the shackles of DNFing books, reading books that you're interested in and meeting particular reading goals. We had another message from a listener that said, if the first chapter of the book isn't good, I'm gonna DNF it and I don't care if it gets better. The book should be good from the start and make me want to continue reading it. Yeah, that's great.

Bridget 8:06

Of course it should be good from the start. Like the first line should hook you. And I don't think I take this advice. I think I'm like, mm, 10%'s a good, a good amount to read, but maybe I need to start. Can you think of any books where you persevered beyond a chapter you didn't enjoy and then ended up really enjoying it? That's a good question. None are springing to mind, but I'm sure there would be some. Can you think of any?

Laura 8:24

I guess I can think of books where I wasn't necessarily hooked, but I thought there's something here that's quite good. It's hard to explain. Like it's not as if I'm reading the first chapter on the edge of my seat, desperate to know what's coming in chapter two, but there's something there. If I'm reading it thinking, oh, that was shit, then yeah, I'm definitely not gonna persevere and I wholeheartedly back this. I agree. The first chapter should be good. Otherwise, what are we doing here? Isn't that your job?

Bridget 8:47

Often I think to myself, I know this is gonna be a four-star book in the first chapter, or like I know this is gonna be a two-star, three-star. You can sort of tell your rating. I haven't tracked if I am always right. Maybe I should start doing that just to see how good my my book intuition is. But often I'm like, mm, four-star.

Laura 9:04

That's a fun idea. I would also like to unnecessarily expand on this point and say that if your book requires a playlist, a mood board, bonus content, then your book simply is not good.

Bridget 9:17

The next one is actually a goal that I share. And it says, My reading goal is to get through a little life by Hanya Yanagahara. This book was actually on my 25 for 25 list, and it was one of the books that I was like, no, I'm not reading that this year. Maybe next year. And I do still want to read it. I have two copies of it staring at me every day. I think I've sort of been waiting for the right maybe weather to read it. I don't know, it feels like a winter book. Maybe that's wrong. Feel like I need to be sad and cold at the same time. But yeah, get through, I think, is the right, the right phrase for that book because it's I feel like it's gonna be an undertaking.

Laura 9:51

I think it took me seven or eight weeks to read it. I remember it took a really long time and I loved it. Although I will say I have become increasingly stressed about having recommended it to you so strongly. I'm no longer confident that you'll enjoy it at all. I in fact, I think you might not enjoy it, but I think that's a journey you have to go on yourself.

Bridget 10:11

I'm worried that I'll DNF it. I'll be like, not reading this, and I've been like building it up in my head for so long, and it's like, I can't read this. I'm a little baby. We should do it for the podcast. Yeah, we should. Then I have to read it. Yeah. I have made a list of 12 big books that I want to read, one for every month of 2026. At the moment, I've put it into the August slot, so maybe we could do a read-along on StoryGraph or something. I've never used that feature. Guys, let me know if you want to do that.

Laura 10:37

Sound off in the comments.

Bridget 10:39

Mic reacts, please. The next one is another one that's very close to my heart, and it is mindfully use my phone, buy only 26 books, and then in brackets. Sad about this one, but the TBR must be read. I'm with you on both of these goals. Since we read Looking for Alaska, I have been on a journey to rid myself of my phone addiction, improve my attention span and my memory. I feel like my memory, short-term memory is leaving me quickly. As we talked about in our let them episode, I've deleted Instagram and TikTok from my phone. And if I do look at it, I look at it on my iPad, and it's mainly just the podcast accounts. For some reason, the iPad doesn't have the same draw for me as the phone. It just looks a bit shit. It's like not as slick, and I feel like a bit of a loser. I think shaming yourself is a really good way to start mindfully using your phone. And it's really embarrassing because at some point you're gonna figure out wow, this is a really expensive piece of glass and metal that's really boring when I don't have those two apps on my phone. So yeah, the only tip I have for that, I think, is just to get rid of it altogether. Try to trick yourself into thinking it's boring. And something that I kept saying to myself is I just spent an hour and a half on TikTok. Can I think of one thing that I watched? No. Since I've deleted it, the days are going longer, they they feel longer. I'm more present and I'm noticing more things. This is crazy, but like after three days of not being on social media, I had a dream where I wrote a poem. And like I tried my best to remember the poem, but like I couldn't. And I was like, wow, new parts of my brain have been unlocked. So far, no other poetry has been written. But you know, the potential is there, and I think it's because I'm not killing my brain.

Laura 12:22

I wholeheartedly agree with you. And you just did this after I talked about it for like six months, being like, maybe I should just wouldn't it be so crazy if I it's not possible, but perhaps. And then you were just like, hey, I deleted TikTok and Instagram. So I was like, oh, so happy for you. I couldn't do that. Like I was making a lot of excuses because I save recipes or I get cafe wrecks, or I think I just learn so much on TikTok, but I was talking to Brown about this yesterday, and I was like, name one thing, Laura. Like, actually name one thing that you've learned on TikTok. Tell me more than 20 seconds of information about it. Yes. Tell me like a single time where you've thought that's interesting and you've gone to learn more about it. There is not one thing that I could tell you that I've learned.

Bridget 13:08

Yeah. Saying all this, if it was on my phone, would I go back to spending hours on it? Yes, I would. Smash. I can't do it. And like, you know, when you're just in that haze of like TikTok happiness where you every single video is an absolute banger and you're like, people are so funny. I miss that, but it's not worth it.

Laura 13:26

Yeah. Because I used to reward myself with I mean, I'm saying used to as if it isn't like a week ago, but I'm very guilty of rewarding myself with scroll time or like bed rot phone time, whatever. But I'm trying to get to the mindset where like that's actually not a reward. It's a reward to like love myself enough that I can do something constructive, like watch a movie or a TV show, which is funny because that's what I used to think was rotting my brain, but now my concentration span is so short that I can't even make it through one of those, like a half-hour episode without reaching for my phone. There are other things I can be doing that require a lot more concentration and critical thought.

Bridget 14:02

And I want to be able to form my own opinions. And the second part is buy only 26 books. Sad about this one, but the TBR must be read. And I think that's another really important thing as well. Like I am constantly on a journey to stop purchasing things that I don't need, stop giving my money to mega corporations like Amazon and things like that. But um I think reading the books that you have is a great way of not buying things that you don't need. Because, like, to be honest, you don't need to go and buy books that you haven't read. You don't need to go and buy a series of books that you've never read. I think people need to be using their libraries, they need to be reading the books they have before they buy one. I think the phrase reading books and buying books are two different hobbies is detrimental. I've been really getting mad about it, actually.

Laura 14:46

I saw a comment the other day that was something to the effect of in our current society, if libraries didn't already exist, they never would because people would not understand the point or the purpose of them. And I think that's such a depressing and scary thought. But I tend to agree. Yeah, I agree as well. They're not money-making institutions and people are I um not to like put on my little tinfoil hat, but I do feel like there is like a will to suppress information because if people are dumb and uneducated, the elite can do what they want.

Bridget 15:19

Yeah. And like it's a maybe a crazy rage to say that about buying books. Enjoy your 26 books. Yeah, you've earned them. Sorry. And like I have over 500 books in my house, but I would say 90% of them are secondhand, or books that I had when I was a child. Like I always had a lot of books. And this year, really, the only books that I bought new were podcast books or books that I'd already read, but were like purchased secondhand. And I think that going into 2026, my goal is to only buy podcast books or books that I've already read and liked. Why do I need a book that I didn't like?

Laura 15:58

To be very clear, we weren't trying to slam you for buying books. I will a hundred percent be buying books, very likely more than 26. I think I bought like 30 alone at Lifeline Book Fairs. Yes. This was a whole separate tangent.

Bridget 16:10

But it's not really actually relevant to what you said.

Laura 16:13

I'm really sorry about that, but just we're just two girls with microphones.

Bridget 16:18

What can you say, huh? Also, just one more thing. How are people affording to buy these books? Because if I go to the bookshop and I see books that I want to buy, I would spend hundreds of dollars. You can't tell me that these people are going to Barnes and Newable and buying um like uh $500 worth of books on a regular basis. That's insane.

Laura 16:38

I've been bummed out because you and I went to a bookstore in Brisbane the other day. Shopping small, buying local, etc. Good for us. Yes. We are better than everyone. Yeah. Um I went out on a limb and bought a book I'd never heard of that was highlighted as a staff pick. It did sound excellent. It had um testimonies from authors that I really like, and it's been fine. Yeah. But it was like $30, $35. And I remember being like, should I buy it? What is the point of this story? I don't know. But that's a lot of money for something that is not enhancing my life. If I got it from the library and I loved it, I would have been like, heck yes, smash and for free.

Bridget 17:15

Yes, definitely. And then if you'd seen it, you know, Bookfest, a secondhand bookshop, Facebook Marketplace, I'm gonna buy that.

Laura 17:23

And I'm better than everyone.

Bridget 17:24

Yeah, once again. Tick. Tick. But I think reading the TBR is a really good thing. I did this a few years ago and I don't have many books left. I think I've got maybe like 10, and then some books that I don't really want to read. Yes. Um, and you're currently on that journey as well.

Laura 17:39

I've thrown out like 20 books. They've gone to the street library. They like Ian McEwen. Sorry to that man. We had another listener write in to say, I love the increase in new LGBTQI plus media popularity, but where is the Sapphic rep? And I thought, oh, it's out there. And then I thought about it and I was like, Is it what have I read that's sapphic fiction? And I was really struggling to come up with suggestions. Do you have any? I've got six.

Bridget 18:12

I don't know if the listener is really into like book talk sort of romance suffic books or like more serious literary Sapic books, but I've got a little bit of both. So the first one is Seeing Other People by Diana Reed, and this one is definitely more of a literary book. Another one that I read recently, and it's another Laura book, is In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado, and this is actually a memoir about an abusive lesbian relationship. So I don't know if that's really the representation you're looking for, but I found that to be fantastic. Another quite serious book is Concerning My Daughter by Kim Haijin. It's translated from Korean, and this is another quite emotional, reflective book, and it's about an aging mother who has a queer daughter, and she's trying to come to terms with what that means in South Korea. A book I read recently, which I'm not quite sure if I liked, was Chosen Family by Madeline Gray. It's a different kind of relationship that's being represented. Two obsessive best friends, are they in love? Are they not in love over a long period of time? So that was quite interesting as well. And then two book talkie romance sort of books that I have uh Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrane. And this was quite cozy, pretty sure it was like Christmassy sort of book, and there was like a fake engagement sort of situation. And look, I wouldn't say this is one of my favourite books I've ever read. I think I read it at four stars, but it was enjoyable and it was like not as painful as other book talk romances, straight romances that I've read. So I quite liked that one. It's got a cute cover as well. And another one is Wild Things by Laura Kay. This is another book talky sort of one. This group of friends decided to move out of London and buy this like massive ram shackle house that they've got to fix up. I'm pretty sure we got this as an ARC a few years ago, but a bit of forest proximity if you're into the tropes and you know best friends, friends to lovers and whatever. But anyway, they're my wrecks.

Laura 20:07

I struggle to come up with recs too. The only ones that you haven't already said that I could think of were maybe Our Wives Under the Sea, which is probably more spooky than Sapphic. Yeah. And sad. Yeah, quite sad. And also keeping in theme with the sad and barely sapphic is lead us not.

Bridget 20:24

Yeah.

Laura 20:24

I'm not even sure if it's just like a whiff of sapphic fiction, if that counts. And maybe Greta and Valden.

Bridget 20:32

Yeah.

Laura 20:33

But I agree, like it should not be so hard to come up with representation in this category. And that could be a fault of our own reading. Yeah. Or it could be a fault of the publishing industry. I blame the publishing industry. Same. We are never wrong. Speaking of the publishing industry, we had another listener write in to say the modern classic is just a marketing sticker and it looks desperate.

Bridget 20:56

When I first read this submission, I was like, yeah, I agree, because I've seen a lot of books, you know, being advertised as like one of the best books of the 21st century and best-selling authors of the 21st century, and it's always attached to books and authors that I don't particularly enjoy. I have just Googled modern classics of the 21st century, um, and I'm looking at an article from Chitulia. 25 books that will stand the test of time, and my mind might be changed because there's some really good books on this list that I have read and books that I would like to read. So we have Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. Um I know you really love that book. I enjoyed it as well. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, friend of the show. Um Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantell, which I'm in the middle of reading, Atonement by Ian McEwen, A Little Life by Hanya Yunagahara, Between the World and Me by Tanahisi Coates, The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, Lincoln in the By George Saunders. So I'm sort of in two minds. Like the books that I see being advertised as modern classics, I'm like, ew. But are they going to stand the test of time? I think no. Um, like if we're talking about a book like Icebreaker, I think those books in a hundred years' time aren't going to be very important. But I think there's many books that are being published now that are going to be very important in a hundred years' time.

Laura 22:21

Yeah, I'm in two minds. I mean, I think this is undeniably a marketing tactic. But is it true? I think overwhelmingly, yes. I think you can normally tell when a book is going to be enduring or representative of a time or a moment in history. Um, I think the most sort of modern literary example I can think of seeing with this tag applied is maybe something like Normal People by Sally Rooney, which I think is undeniably a modern classic. It hit the literary scene with a force and everybody is suddenly trying to emulate it. So in a context like that, I think it makes perfect sense. Same with those examples you read before. I was looking at another list on The Guardian, and it was things like The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, Days Without End by Sebastian Barry, which I think are all excellent books with enduring narratives. This next question I think might be a question for you. It is have you ever perused the free chart section on Apple Books? And if so, have you ever read anything actually good? Not to be rude to the books that are on there.

Bridget 23:25

Well, I mean, I'm gonna be rude to the books that are on there. So I went through a phase actually of reading these free books because I was like, these are so easy to read because you know, like the rinse and repeat, such shit, shit, shit books. I actually really love the Apple Books app. I like how clean it is. You also get a little bit of a wrap-up of your reading year, and because I already read like one book on there. That was all I got. I wish you could put library books on there because that would be great. I do have to say that you can also get free classics on there. So if you are interested in reading classics on your phone, you can get all of them pretty much for free. So some of the books that I read on there when I was reading, reading through as many free books as I could read were things that you that wouldn't be out of place on book talk. You know, there were those sort of things where like you get a book, you get a book. Every single character has their own story and has their own like grumpy farmer man that they're gonna fall in love with. And then I read one where like her mum was a fashion designer and her dad died, and like then she had to go and live in like some celebrity's mansion and like all this stuff, and I don't know where these books are coming from, but I mean they're not good. That's all I'm trying to say. This is not slander about Apple Books. I love the app. Sometimes you can get really good deals on there as well. The user experience is very clean and slick, but I mean the free books, bad.

Laura 24:43

Yeah, you've got beyond to this. I didn't know Apple Books was a thing. I thought it was kind of like I don't know, a version of Adobe Reader or something, and it was only for PDFs. Didn't realise it was sort of like Kindle-ish.

Bridget 24:55

Yeah. And I mean, like, is there a lesser of two evils? Amazon, Apple? I don't know. I'm not buying things on Apple Books, but sometimes um have been known to dabble. Okay, the next one is a fantastic question, and it says, Describe your ideal book. If you were to walk into a library and pick up your perfect book from the shelves, what sort of things would be in there? Me, for example, would be like an excellent twist, humor, and actually likable characters. That is a hard thing to find. Actually like, is it possible? I don't know. Um, this is a great question. What's your ideal book?

Laura 25:31

My ideal book is Love and Virtue by Diana Reed. Um, this is hard. It's probably some sort of Australian fiction with characters who are in their mid-20s to early 30s, figuring it all out. They're making some messy career choices, they probably work in a creative industry. Barista. I would like to cry. It's a really hard question for me to answer. I think about a book like The Secret History, which is obviously not at all similar to Love and Virtue, and that's also my perfect book. So I don't know what the parallels are there. Maybe can you answer this question, please?

Bridget 26:11

I think very similar to you, like it's always got to be about a girl. Um, it's got to be written by a woman, Australian fiction will be good, or Irish, or English. Normally in a big city, there might be some kind of romance subplot, but that it's like not important at all to the story, really. Like they could be there, they could not be there. I don't really care about that.

Laura 26:32

I would say the romance can be quite morally grey and or tragic.

Bridget 26:35

Yeah, like if they're having an affair, yes, don't care. If it's toxic, yeah, like workplace romance, that's fine.

Laura 26:43

But not like mafia boss romance.

Bridget 26:45

No, not just not protective millionaire, like boss and secretary kind of vibe, like just like someone who's in a slightly different position to you, and like in any other space would be gross. But like don't even think about them. Not interested in those people at all. I'm just interested in this in like interior, sad, but in a self-deprecating kind of way. Um, there's always some sort of thing that they're recovering from, like they're in repair from like this toxic relationship or this devastating breakup, or maybe they're one of their parents has died, or they've had a tragic friendship breakup, or something's gone wrong like that. That's what I like to read about. They're not taking themselves too seriously. Dark, dry humour. No one's wearing galaxy leggings, you never find out what clothes they're wearing, you never find out what they're listening to, you never have a reference to Taylor Swift, you never have a reference to TikTok, none of that. There's no modern um amenities anywhere to be seen. Like they're on their phone, but you don't know what they're doing on their phone. Yeah. Like they might be scrolling, but I don't want to know about what. It'll say I scrolled through the apps. Yeah. Don't care about what kind of apps. There's no playlists, there's no bonus content, there's a beautiful cover. A book that I recently read that was definitely my kind of book, and I was just reading and thinking, yes, this is this is the good shit, was what it's like in words by Eliza Moss, a young woman who falls in love with the wrong kind of man. And it's like dual timelines, which is not something that I always enjoy, but I liked it in this one. But yeah, always just recovering from something traumatic. But you know, also at the same time, it's not that serious. Like she just got dumbed, she doesn't have cancer or anything. So to recap, it's really simple actually. Great cover, girl, funny, sad, messy, messy, inappropriate love interest, yeah, and just like detached.

Laura 28:44

Yes, and I think inappropriate love interest that is a distraction for the real love story, which is either better love interest or friendship, or self-love, self-love, also smart, but wasted potential. Love that yes, and crushingly kind parents. Yes, that's okay, love. Yeah, I'll be here in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, waiting for you, darling. Just best for you, Meg. Eve. Ava. It's just your attitude, Meg.

Bridget 29:23

Yeah, great.

Laura 29:24

Ah, excellent. Let's write it. As if it doesn't exist in 50 iterations that I lap up every time. Yummy! Great flavor. This next question is great. And I, for one, am knocking on your door desperate to hear the answer to this. Fuck Mary Kill. The main guy from Spanish Love Deception. Oh god. Also don't know his name. Is it Alex? I don't know. Let's say his name's Alex. The feral guy, literal feral from Credence. Yeah, what the hell's his name? Who cares? It could be it could be any one of Saviour. Any guy Satan! Lincoln. What were they now? Oh, Caleb with a K. Yeah, yeah, Caleb. Um, Noah and Uncle J Trey would be a good name for that universe. Okay, any of the men from Credence. Let's pick Caleb. I think he's the literal feral, as as requested. He's got blood disease for sure. Okay, hang on. And Lestat. Oh god. So just to reiterate, the guy from Spanish Love Deception, Caleb or Lestat. Take it away, Bridget.

Bridget 30:41

I do love Lestat, but he's also insane. And I mean he is a vampire. So let's think about this. I need to really consider this. Okay, I'm gonna marry the guy from Spanish Love Deception because I want to fly first class.

Laura 30:52

Yeah. He does seem the most stable.

Bridget 30:55

Yeah, he's not gonna eat me or drink my blood. And I think Caleb might eat people. He's not gonna make me wear camo. You might get a pink bow and arrow out of this too. Um I think I'd have to kill the feral guy. Yeah, it's gotta be put down. I hate him. I hate that book. It's for the good. I guess that leaves Lestat, but vampires don't have sex. These ones don't anyway. Maybe I could birth the next Renezme.

Laura 31:29

Because what would he have to drink your blood? Yeah, I guess. Maybe he could um make an exception. Yeah, Lestat. We're playing this game. Sorry. I really want to. What about you? Is that what you think? Yeah, unfortunately, exactly the same. No question in my mind, the guy from Credence is dying. And I just think you couldn't well, I guess the benefit of marrying Lestat is maybe he's rich. Yeah. But then oh, but then the other guy's rich you die and he just Yeah, there's no real benefit there.

Bridget 32:06

I don't think I'd mind being a vampire.

Laura 32:08

What if I got turned? Yeah. You did just do a twilight reread. Yeah.

Bridget 32:13

I I think I would be like Bella. I'd be like, what's the deal? Like, I don't get what the big deal is about me becoming immortal. Who cares? Live forever sick.

Laura 32:24

Lestat would do that in a heart, but he'd be like, for sure. Yeah, I'll hook you up. Give me my band. What do you play? You're in.

Bridget 32:33

Okay, great. Answering the big questions today.

Laura 32:37

Speaking of big questions, one listener wants to know what's one law you would pass if you could.

Bridget 32:46

Yeah, I'm prepared for this because something that I've been saying for at least 15 years is when I am a dictator, I will blank. And so I've just searched the phrase dictator to see the various bold claims that I've made. Oh, in your messages? Yeah. And I have quite a few. This is from 2022. When I'm a dictator, the first thing I'm getting rid of is 24 hour time.

Laura 33:11

Taking a stand and I respect that. I hate it. I will see you at 1600 hours.

Bridget 33:17

I hate space. If I was a dictator, nobody would be allowed to talk about it.

Laura 33:22

Yeah, you degree.

Bridget 33:24

Shut it down. I hate all carpet everywhere. When I'm dictator, there will be no carpet.

Laura 33:37

Three, you three for three. This is good.

Bridget 33:40

Work. WTF. That should be illegal. When I'm dictator, it will be XOXO. Job. Job interviews will be outlawed. When I'm a dictator, you'll be hired based on vibes.

Laura 33:58

You'll be pleased to know that I've searched my mouth is the dictator, and the only two times it's mentioned is from you listing things that are gonna happen when you're a dictator.

Bridget 34:11

But I also love like the like the dictator that I'm gonna be is like no job interviews, no work, no carpet. Like I think it's for the good of society. I think that's how all dictators feel about their dictation. So I mean I'm I've got the right attitude. So yeah, all of those things um would be the laws that I would pass if I could. Also, like I don't think you should pay for parking, that's bullshit, and I don't do it. I play the game of life.

Laura 34:46

Great answers, and I will be your second in command enforcing those. I'm you're a little henchman. You're a little bull terrier.

Bridget 34:57

Do you have any laws that you pass?

Laura 34:59

Um I think my first law would be if your coworkers can't wrap up their story in under 30 seconds, you have full license to scream, which well, in my dictatorship, there'll be no work.

Bridget 35:20

Even better.

Laura 35:22

Just a 30-second cutoff for all stories from coworkers.

Bridget 35:25

Yeah. And if they're about kids, pets, or like new diets they're trying, not allowed.

Laura 35:30

I don't want to hear about it.

Bridget 35:32

Or like some like health advice they'd seen, like, actually, if you if you drink one tablespoon of canola oil mixed with couple cider vinegar every day, you'll never get leukemia.

Laura 35:42

All sentences beginning with, did you see their saying? Yeah. I heard their saying. Yes. Outlawed. Yes.

Bridget 35:50

Okay, the last one that we have for today is you can only have one app on your phone for three months. What are you choosing? This is a great question. Very topical.

Laura 36:01

I wish I could think of something fun or funny, but if I'm answering earnestly, it's probably gonna have to be like Apple Music or Google Maps. I mean, I use Apple Maps, but whatever.

Bridget 36:14

I like the Google reviews. Oh, yeah, fair.

Laura 36:17

And sorry, if you're looking for something fun, sometimes when you're looking through Google reviews, you'll come across someone that's left a review so unhinged, you think to yourself, I've got to find out more about this person. And then you can click on their profile and see all of the reviews they've left.

Bridget 36:35

And it can lead to a good time. There's some crazy people out there. That's also like a hidden treasure when you see someone you know, they've got strong opinions. This could change at any time for me. It would have used to have been Kim Kardashian Hollywood. Yeah, it would have been if it was still a functioning game, it would still be because I love that game so much, even though I really can't say in Kim Kardashian, but she's just not the main draw card for me. At the moment, it would either be this great game called Good Sort 3D, which is where you have like shelves and you've got to like put the shit on the shelves and then it takes them away once you've got the three. Love that game, and then the other one that I'm really into at the moment is called Solitaire Association's Journey, which is just like solitaire but with like categories, and it's great. So they would be the apps that I'm doing. Another great game, unfortunately, they're all just gonna be shit games. Um, another great game is called My Perfect Hotel, and I could spend days on that game. Um, but yeah, I think they're my three games. I I mean what I should be saying is like Libby or um Goodreads story graph, but or maybe like the podcast up so you could I can listen to my favourite podcast talk when they get here, but make sure you subscribe if I'm being real. It's either going to be Good Sword 3D, Solitaire Association's Journey, or My Perfect Hotel. Thank you for your question. Thank you so much to all of our listeners who made our day by sending in those submissions. Our next podcast book is Twisted Love by Anna Huang. Have your say in what we read next by keeping an eye on the link in our show notes and on our socials. Make sure you subscribe to the show, and if you want to be on the same page as us, follow us at talklit.gethit on Instagram and TikTok.