Ep. 181: Fall 2024 Circle Back with Catherine (@GilmoreGuide)
Sarah's Bookshelves Live
Sarah Dickinson
4.9 • 732 Ratings
🗓️ 30 October 2024
⏱️ 54 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In Episode 181, Sarah and Catherine of Gilmore Guide to Books catch up on the 16 new releases they shared in the Fall 2024 Book Preview, now that they’ve read them. They share their reading stats, chat about what worked — and hash out which books didn’t work and why. Check out the episode for their full reviews on all their fall picks and get recommendations for your next book!
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CLICK HERE for the full episode Show Notes on the blog.
Highlights
- Catherine describes her fall reading “trick or treat” — mostly treats (her first 5-star preview book since February), but a few tricks (two DNFs).
- Sarah had a higher DNF count than usual, but still had a high(ish) success rate for this season.
- Since this is the last Circle Back of 2024, they look at their stats for the entire year of Previews.
- They name the best and worst books picks for fall!
Books We Read Before the Preview [3:30]
Sarah’s Picks
- Madwoman by Chelsea Bieker (Sep 3) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [3:58]
- The Sequel by Jean Hanff Korelitz (Oct 1) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [5:32]
Other Books Mentioned
Fall 2024 Circle Back [7:28]
Mid-August
Catherine’s Picks
- There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak (Aug 20) | Amazon
| Bookshop.org[7:36]
September
Sarah’s Picks
- Guide Me Home by Attica Locke (Sep 3) | Amazon
- The Siege by Ben Macintyre (Sep 10) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [15:41]
- Entitlement by Rumaan Alam (Sep 17) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [23:36]
- A Reason to See You Again by Jami Attenberg (Sep 24) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [29:51]
- Adam and Evie’s Matchmaking Tour by Nora Nguyen (Sep 24) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [36:35]
Catherine’s Picks
- Dear Dickhead by Virginie Despentes (Sep 10) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [12:54]
- Bringer of Dust by J. M. Miro (Sep 17) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [20:07]
Other Books Mentioned
- Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke [10:44]
- Heaven, My Home by Attica Locke [10:48]
- The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre [15:46]
- Ordinary Monsters by J. M. Miro [20:12]
- Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam [24:29]
- Sandwich by Catherine Newman [25:03]
- All This Could Be Yours by Jami Attenberg [30:09]
- Banyan Moon by Thao Tai [37:01]
- The Sicilian Inheritance by Jo Piazza [37:32]
- The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl [37:48]
October
Sarah’s Picks
- Shred Sisters by Betsy Lerner (Oct 1) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [45:36]
Catherine’s Picks
- A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang (Oct 1) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [27:00]
- The Puzzle Box by Danielle Trussoni (Oct 8) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [32:24]
- Libby Lost and Found by Stephanie Booth (Oct 15) | Amazon | Bookshop.org[39:47]
- Like Mother, Like Mother by Susan Rieger (Oct 29) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [42:21]
Other Books Mentioned
- The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni [33:07]
- The Forest for the Trees by Betsy Lerner [46:14]
November
Catherine’s Pick
- The Courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E. Pearson (Nov 12) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [48:23]
About Catherine Gilmore
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Catherine started The Gilmore Guide to Booksover 10 years ago after wrapping up a career as a corporate librarian. She loves books and reading (surprise!) and currently lives in Seattle, WA.
Next Episode
In two weeks (November 13), Sarah will be back with Chelsea Bieker, author of Madwoman.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Sarah's Bookshelves Live. |
| 0:11.9 | I'm your host, Sarah Dickinson. |
| 0:13.9 | Join me every other week as we get real and sometimes a bit snarky about books and reading. |
| 0:19.2 | Let's get rolling. |
| 0:20.6 | Welcome to the fall 24 circle back |
| 0:23.1 | episode, where we discuss books we shared in the fall preview now that we've actually had a |
| 0:28.3 | chance to read them, or at least attempted to read them. Catherine from Gilmer Guide to Books |
| 0:33.4 | is joining me as usual. Welcome, Catherine. Hi, thank you. Happy to be here. How did your fall |
| 0:40.7 | reading turn out? Well, given that we're recording this towards the end of October, I'm going to go |
| 0:46.8 | with kind of trick or treat. I like it. It was mostly treats, but a few tricks. I started off strong, but crashed with a 50% success rate compared with 83% last year. I also had two DNFs, but my first five-star preview pick since February. |
| 1:09.3 | Really? Yes, that was a wonderful. It's been not a great five star year. |
| 1:15.4 | Well, I'm glad to hear that. And I don't know which book that is, so I can't wait to hear. |
| 1:18.7 | I know. How about you? I have an average amount of treats. Well, you're healthy. And a couple tricks. My success rate was 63%, which is five out of |
| 1:33.6 | eight books. But I did have a very high DNF count. I DNF three of my fall picks and all were by |
| 1:40.4 | authors who I have previously enjoyed in the past. Oh, no. I know. I thought those were kind of |
| 1:46.0 | sure bets. Oh, yep. Okay. I don't have any five-star books for the fall. My one five-star fall pick |
| 1:55.3 | actually was in the book preview extras bonus episode for patrons. |
| 2:01.6 | So they will get to hear about my one five-star fall book. |
| 2:05.7 | Okay. |
| 2:07.3 | And 63% is not quite living up to last year, which was 67%. |
| 2:12.3 | And I did have two five-star books in last year's fall preview. |
| 2:16.2 | So a little bit down from last year, but 63% |
... |
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