Pouring Over Books Episode 1: Who is a Reader?

Its the very first episode of Pouring Over Books Podcast!

Summary

“In the inaugural episode of the Pouring Over Books podcast, host LaShawn Wiltz shares her journey as an avid reader and introduces her unique book rating system. She reviews several books she has read recently, including ‘Ministry of Time’, ‘God of Fury’, ‘Parable of the Sower’, ‘Blood and Steel’, ‘The Wedding People’, and ‘The God of the Woods’. LaShawn also discusses the importance of inclusivity in the reading community, emphasizing that all readers, regardless of their genre preferences, are valid. The episode concludes with LaShawn sharing her current obsessions and upcoming reads.”

LaShawn Wiltz (00:26)
Hi friends, welcome, welcome. I am your host LaShawn Wiltz and this is the Pouring Over Books podcast.

I am so happy to be here with you all and I cannot wait to go on this journey with this podcast with you. Let me tell you a little bit about me. I am Lashawn and I’ve been an avid reader since I picked up I Know Why the Craged Bird Sings in the library after school in the sixth grade. My mama, however, traces it back to when I read The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe in the fourth grade by C.S. Lewis.

And if I’m honest, that’s where my love for fantasy books begins. Over the years, my love of sharing books with friends and on social media, I think has naturally evolved into this podcast. I used to have a book and coffee themed subscription box by this name, Pouring Over Books. And for a while, I hosted a monthly band book club over on Substack.

I read a lot friends. I am also one of those people who reads more than one book at a time and can keep everything straight. People always ask me how and my answer is always the same. I don’t watch a lot of television and plus I utilize every form of book. I read physical books, I read Kindle books, and I listen to audiobooks. So basically I always have a book. So the next question I always get is well,

What kind of books do you read? I love to read basically anything good. So my taste is eclectic, even within genres, I think. But for the past few years, I must admit it’s been a lot of romance and fantasy, basically escapism because the real world has been a bit crazy, if you know what I mean. But I’m slowly coming back to my will read anything good era.

And I’m excited because it’s just in time for this podcast friends. So basically every week we will have a book related topic that could be what I read the previous month, a backlist title, recommendations, books around specific topics, my love of Kindle Unlimited, deep dives of book topics, book genres.

And I’ll even have a few guests to help me deep dive into specific topics. So then we will gather around the bookish water cooler and maybe throw in a few things that may or may not be book related because I’m a well-rounded person, friends, and I want y’all to get to know me just as I get to know you. And plus it’s my podcast. So now, before we get started,

Today we’re going to talk about a few books that I read so far this year that I think basically over the summer really that I feel like Needs to be mentioned that I want everybody to know about Now before we get started, I really want to talk about my rating system for my books because I’m a little different There is a lot of this discourse you might want to say online about whether

good books quote unquote should get anything under a four, a four out of five. I don’t agree. Sometimes a good book is just a good book and that’s okay. And it’s fine if it’s going to get a three. Two, in my world, a three is an average rating. It’s not good, it’s not bad. It’s just a book that I read and that I enjoyed, but it got a three. I save my fours and fives for exceptional books.

Once again, let’s go over my rating system. So if I give a book a five, that means I couldn’t put it down. I loved it. I will reread. Yes, I reread my books, friends. I will recommend this book to any and everyone who asks. So if someone asks me, what book should I read? This is the book that I tell them about. It will have a place on my bookshelf because like I said before, I reread my books. And so that is what I give five out of five.

Four out of five stars now is still a solid book. That means I really, liked it or it made me think and I would recommend. I usually take off for like something minor or something that just annoyed me. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a great book. And most likely if it’s a four out of five, I might own this one too. I might go out eventually and own it. Now three out of five stars, like I said before, not the best thing I’ve ever read, but

I finished it and most likely I enjoyed myself while I was reading it. This is most romance novels for me because most of them are just passing time for me if I’m honest. They’re not meant to be literary. They’re not meant to make me think. They’re just meant to get me to the happy ending and be like, that was cute. So I enjoyed myself. If you ask me about it, I’d be like, yeah, that was okay. Or it was cute. I might even recommend it to you, but most likely I will not read it again.

Not shade. I just won’t read it again now two out of five stars. This is usually the lowest rating I will give and I can count on One hand this year how many books I’ve given a two out of five in fact, it might be two maybe I know for sure it’s one but it might be two. Anyway, this means

that really didn’t like it. But I finished it because for some reason I felt like I had to. Usually this is a book that disappoints me in some way. Like if someone asked, I’m quick to say, just don’t do it. Girl, no, leave it alone. Then last but not least.

Last but not least, it’s the one out of five star. This is a true WTF moment in reading. I usually list out copious amounts of reasons of why I dislike this book. I will probably hate this book and hate read it and was like, what is this? Or either I had to get through it because I promised somebody a review or I just couldn’t believe what I was reading and I just kept reading it. I have only given a one out of five.

one time and I think one time because that book was such a disappointment that it deserved every bit of that one out of five. One day I’ll tell you all about it in another episode. So anyway, without further ado, let’s go ahead and get started and talk about the best books I read in the last few months. So number one on my list is

Ministry of Time by Kayleen Bradley.

In the near future, let’s talk about the book first. Now, in the near future, a civil servant is offered a salary of her dreams to work on a recently established government ministry that is gathering expats from across history to establish whether or not time travel is feasible. She is tasked with working as a bridge, living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat who is known as 1847 or Commander.

Graham Gore, who as far as history is concerned, died on a doomed expedition in 1845 to the Arctic. Over the next year, their relationship evolves and by the time the true shape of the ministry’s project comes to light, the bridge has fallen in love with consequences she never could have imagined. I was intrigued by the premise of this book.

and finally gave in and read it when, number one, it was on Obama’s list. And I was like, his summer reading list. And I was like, okay. Then number two, a friend read it and then she sent me her copy and it arrived just before I went on a cruise. So I was like, okay, perfect. This is vacation book. It’s part sci-fi, part time travel, part slow burn romance. It really was a lot, but.

It covered every genre of a book, of the kind of books that I love. So I kind of liked it. I read it in one sitting or rather in one travel day. And even though I had my doubts during parts of the book, I found myself really enjoying it. The plot twist at about 80 % throughout the book, through the book, through me and had me saying, what?

out loud in a crowded airport and everyone was giving me strange looks, including my child and my husband like, girl, what’s wrong with you? But the ending, I would have liked a little bit more. I have always been the type that I hate those ambiguous endings that let you draw your own conclusions of what had happened, where you can draw the conclusion either way. I don’t like those. I want the solid ending. But for this book, it works. So all in all,

I enjoyed it. Like I said, not my usual book, but I enjoyed it and I will recommend it if I feel like it is something that the person who asked me about it, what to read will like it. But I recommend it, always point, always with a caveat that it’s slow, but you need to stick with it. I gave it a four out of five, mainly because of the slowness of how it started off so slow and the ending.

Yeah, the ending. almost gave it 3.5, but I rounded it up because it was pretty good.

All right, our second book that I read is God of Fury by Rena Kent.

This is the fifth book in a dark romance series on Kendall Unlimited. But I didn’t read and have no intention of reading any of the other books. I saw this on Book Talk and I was intrigued. Let me start by saying,

Dark romance usually isn’t my thing, like at all, but I love a good male-male romance, usually because the emotions of it are excellent. So let’s get into what this book is about. This is a male-male mafia romance starring Nikolai Sobolev, who is best described as a mafia heir, a notorious bastard, and a violent monster. And Bran, who is the quiet artist who is his…

enemy’s twin brother who is also not attracted to men. Frankly, he’s really not attracted to anyone and has a lot of deep, deep issues that I won’t spoil because they are an integral part of the plot. Let me start my review of this book by saying this book is not for everyone. And that’s okay. Just because I like it.

doesn’t mean you will. I, once again, I have to say that I usually hate mafia romances. So I don’t even know why I picked this one up because usually it’s too much violence for me and dark romances are not my thing. But what drew me to this book was I do love a morally ambiguous, shady, depraved, main male character and

Nico was that. He was also what they call a golden retriever. So he was, he just, he was all in, he was in love. He fell first, but he was also toxic as hell and basically had stalker tendencies, was sadistic and generally really effed up and really should take his meds at all times. His inner dialogue was chaotic as hell.

But it served a point in the story. And even though it confirmed that he was crazy as hell, like I said, it was such a integral part of the storyline that it worked. I loved this book. I was telling a friend, said, what on earth does that say about me? I loved it.

I stayed up until 2 a.m. to finish this book. I could not put it down. I’ll recommend this male-male romance to any and everyone with the caveats to check the trigger warning because damn near everyone is a sociopath. And there are some heavy topics that Bran has to deal with that are just heartbreaking. It makes you just want to give him a hug and protect him. As I say,

Keep in mind that this is part of a series, so there are multiple stories happening at the same time. But it can be read as a standalone, which worked for me. So if an unlikely romance is your thing, read this. If you like male-male romances, read this. If you like mafia romances, read this. If you like slightly…

unhinged characters, read this. Fall in love and we basically become puppies, know, read this. If you really just want a good read, a good read where you’re sitting there saying, what did he say? Read this. I gave it a four out of five. I had to take off some for some of the rather random inner monologue by Dominic that was just crazy enough to have me thinking,

Why does she need to put that on page? Why does she have to that on paper? We didn’t need to know it. But again, those thoughts served as a plot device that lets you into the mind of Dominic, even if it was, yeah, dude is crazy and really needed to take his meds. But I loved it. I loved him. I loved that book. All right, third book.

I read these past few months that I thought was something I wanted to bring today is Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler.

This book starts in 2024 and I knew I had to read it. It has been on my TBR for like 20 years. And in August, when the book starts is when I finally decided to start reading it. Let me just give you a little recap of what it’s about in 2024.

With the world descending into madness and anarchy, one woman begins a fateful journey towards a better future. Lauren Omalima and her family live in one of the only safe neighborhoods remaining on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Behind the walls of their defended enclave, Lauren’s father, a preacher, and a handful of other citizens try to salvage what remains of a culture that has been destroyed by drugs, disease, war, and chronic water shortages.

When fire destroys their compound, Lauren’s family is killed and she is forced out into a dangerous world with a handful of other refugees. Lauren must make her way north to safety while conceiving a revolutionary idea that may mean salvation for all mankind. After trying and failing to read this one for many, many years, I listened to it on Audible. Thank God for Audible.

And just wow, I will honestly say it’s not my favorite book of hers that of course is kindred, but it is just so timely with how the world is right now. Octavia Butler wrote this book in 1993 and I swear she was a prophet or she had a looking glass or she had been to the future or something because the accuracy of what she wrote when you look at what is going on in the world today is

amazing. I’m almost afraid to read the next book. I really want to know what happens next. I really want to continue the story, but I’m going to be honest and say I’m going to wait until after the election. It’s decided before I dive in because it was a lot. I gave it a four out of five. I got lots of four out of fives on this list. Okay.

All right, our next book is Blood and Steel the Legends of Thesmar by Helen Schumer.

Sure? Yes, sure. Okay, fantasy friends, I have found my new obsession and all the books in this series are out. One thing you will learn about me is that I am against starting any new fantasy series that are not complete, which is why I have not read the second book of the fourth wing series and probably won’t read the third because I think there are

maybe five books that are supposed to be in there. So I won’t read it until the end of it because I refuse. And this is because Sarah J. Maas has had me waiting three years for the next ACOTAR book. And friends, when I tell you, it’s like torture, I just can’t do that to myself anymore. So anywho, because I like to just binge read my books. I wanna finish one and just go to the next. I don’t wanna wait. At the most, I wanna wait a couple of months.

And that’s what I thought I was doing with when I read fourth wing. was like, the next one comes out in a couple of months. No y’all. It’s five books. can’t do it. Anywho, all right, let’s get into this book. With her death foretold, Althea Zotair only has three years become what she’s always dreamed of being, a warrior legend. Women are forbidden to wield blades. So she has been training in secret her entire life. Now she fights to secure her place

in the elite guild charged with the protection of the Five Kingdoms. The sparring and hazing of the new trainees bore on deadly, but even more dangerous is her growing attraction to Wilder Harthorn, her unwilling warrior chaperone. Will Althea pass the perilous initiation test and take her place as a champion of Thesmar? Or will the invading evil snatch away her dream before it starts?

was a great, almost excellent enemies to lovers. Like truly, some of them even like ACOTAR, the two main characters, they started off as enemies, but they were never really enemies, but they just didn’t know it. She didn’t know it. This one, no, no, no, they’re enemies. And so it was a great true enemies to lovers book.

with great world building without being overwhelming and an actual plot. I cannot tell you how much I appreciated an actual plot. I say that because, I will say that because of the character development. It read like a YA novel, but with sex. Think of how, if you’ve ever read Throne of Glass, how the first book felt so YA, so young adult.

And then when you got to like the fifth book, it was off the chain. Think that, but in one book instead of five. And that’s a good thing because a lot of romanticies these days are heavy on the romance and heavy on the sex and nothing else. Sometimes it’s just like y’all just throwing a sex scene because y’all ain’t feel like writing nothing else, huh?

And I like, I love a good smut scene, but sometimes I want to plot with my smut. And sometimes I don’t. But lately in my fantasy at least, I want a plot with my smut. You know, if you give me good smut, I’ll never turn away, but give me a plot with it. Anyway, I digress. And then we’ll talk about that on another episode. But anyway, this started off just a bit slow for me, mainly because of the world building.

And I wasn’t used to having world building in a plot in my fantasy books anymore, in my romantic books anymore. So I had to stop, pull myself back and be like, this is a real book. But about a third of a way in, I was hooked until the very end. I immediately downloaded the second one. And now as I do, I have neglected it due to new and shiny books. But.

I can’t wait to dive back in. I’m going to have some time next month where I’m going to just force myself to sit still and I’m going to finish this book. I’m going to finish this series. I gave it a four out of five. Our next book couldn’t be more different. It’s The Wedding People by Alison Espach. And let’s find out what it’s about. It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island when Phoebe Stone

arrives at the Grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels and not a bag in sight alone. She’s immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t there for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamt of coming for years. She hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sales with her husband, only now she’s here without him. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for

every detail and every possible disaster that the weekend might yield except for well Phoebe which makes it that much more surprising when the women can’t stop confiding in each other. There’s this line that comes at the beginning of the book and it says a story can be beautiful not because of the way it ends but because of the way it was written. This line like I said it happens pretty early on

But it stuck with me the whole time because, my goodness, you guys, this story was really about the way we got to the end. I only had a loose idea of what the book was about, so I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it from almost the very first page. I laughed out loud several times. I know there were many life lessons in the book.

and underlying themes that if I go back and ever read it again, I’ll probably catch then. But for once, I was really just enjoying the way the story was told. And it was just so good. I kind of knew how it would end, mainly because I read a lot of books and I was like, I can see this coming. But I was curious as to how we would get there because I could see the ending, but I couldn’t see how it would happen.

I will say I wasn’t disappointed at all. This might be one of my favorite books that I’ve read this year. And I gave it my first five out of five.

Now, the last book on our list is The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. This too was on Obama’s list, which is, I’m going to say the only reason why I read it. Early morning, August, 1975, a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Larr, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any 13 year old. She’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents.

And this isn’t the first time a Van Lahr child has disappeared. Barber’s older brother similarly vanished 14 years ago, never to be found. As a panic search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds, chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Lahr family and the Blue Carter community working in its shadow. Now, this was one of those it books, like it was the it book, the must read book of the summer.

I avoided it successfully until it appeared on President Obama’s summer reading list. And then I felt like I was stuck. I felt like I had to read it and I was mad. But let me say that after a while, especially when I realized after a while that I was hate reading this book. Seriously, I hate read this book because while reading it, I couldn’t decide if it was brilliant.

or if it just needed a really, really good editor because it was, my gosh, y’all. While the meat of the story and even the ending was excellent, how we got there was trash, okay? Complete trash. There were too many characters to keep up with. The timeline kept jumping back and forth at odd times. I hate that plot device with a passion. I get why we needed it with this book, but still, I’ll get still.

In the end, each one of those characters that I hated trying to learn and keep up with served a purpose and what was the larger story that you had to get through it to the end to see that. And I hated every minute of it. It was painful. It was a struggle read. I stopped and said I was not going to finish this book many, many, many, many, many, many times. It took me forever to read this book because I swore I wasn’t going to finish it.

but then I would pick it back up and keep going. But I’m glad I struggled through. I reluctantly gave this a four out of five simply because the way it tied everything together in the end, because I am a sucker for good writing. And even I can admit that even though I personally would not write a book like this, personally don’t like to read books like this, it was…

Well, it was extremely well written, extremely. So yeah, four out of five. I took off because of the way we got there. Anyway, okay friends, let’s move on over to the bookish water cooler. Okay, so every week we’re gonna have a topic over at the water cooler where we talk about something bookish, some bookish topic that I’ve even seen online or that I’ve read on Book Talk.

bookstagram, read in one of the book blogs I read, heard on a podcast or just some random thing that I thought of. It’s some bookish topic. So this week’s topic is who is a real reader? Like I said, I listen to a lot of podcasts, read a lot of articles and I scroll a lot of social media. Like a lot.

And there is a literary fiction camp. There is a, they think you’re only supposed to read serious stuff, books that make you think, books that are supposed to be hard. You might say books that win prestigious awards. And in these camps, on these podcasts, these blogs, these YouTube channels, they subtly and sometimes not so subtly,

poke fun at quote unquote mainstream books. You know, the Colleen Hoover’s, the Emily Henry’s, the Sarah J. Maas, and books that have sprayed edges. And then there’s the other camp that only cares about one genre or the ones that will tell you that the book talk fave, like fourth wing, that you love is trash because it’s not well written and they just don’t see how any good reader

quote-unquote would like it. Basically, there’s a lot of snobbery going around and I don’t like it. Because frankly friends, no matter what you read, you can read all romance, all fantasy, all self-help book, all erotica, only comic books. mean, only books that got a prestigious award. Whatever you choose to read, you are a reader and no one should try to shame you for your choices.

And I want that to come across on this podcast. I want you to feel like no matter what you choose to read or how many books you read this year, you are a reader and that your opinion matters. So even if you love that one book that everyone loves to hate, love that book out loud. Even if I’m on here talking about a book that I love and you’re like, I hated that book. Or even it’s the opposite. It’s a book that I hate that you’re like, but that book was good.

You know, talk about it. Are you with me? Buy multiple special editions of it. Buy the digital hardback and the audio book. Do you. If it is your thing and it’s your book and you want it, do it friends. Because that’s what I’m going to be doing on this podcast. Sometimes I get on a kick and I read straight romance novels for a month. I will binge read like 12 in one week. Sometimes I throw in a horror book or a literary novel.

You are just as likely to find a book that everyone hates on my bookshelf as you are to find the newest New York Times bestseller. I mean, I have Toni Morrison, Rebecca Yarrow’s, Percival Everett, and Colleen Hoover all on the same bookshelf at the same place of honor because that’s me. I’m sorry, I’m one of those people who like verity. Moving on. Because that’s okay. You don’t have to agree with me. I don’t have to agree with you.

But that is okay, that is the beauty of community where you learn and you listen and people have different ideas and instead of arguing about it and trying to putting somebody down about it, you just vibe with it. You just be like, okay, that’s how you feel. Cool, and we move on friends, all right? Okay, well, that’s all, that’s the meat of the podcast.

for this week. think that was a lot for our first episode. But before I leave, I want to always leave you with three things I’m currently obsessed with or thinking about. So first thing is I am obsessed with the color Kindle, y’all. I was beginning to believe we would never see it. It’s a little pricey. I mean, it’s almost $300. Yes, yes it is. But Christmas is coming. It comes out what, Thursday?

This week, mm, yeah girl, mm. I often get asked why I just don’t use the Kindle app on my phone because I really love my Kindle. And it’s because I become easily distracted by other things if I’m on my phone. Like I’ll flip out of a book and go to Instagram or nowadays I’ll go to threads or I’ll go to the news or something on my phone instead of being focused on the book. The thing I love, love, love about my Kindle is it’s for dedicated reading.

And it’s paper white, so it doesn’t have that glare in it, because I have really bad eyesight. So it doesn’t hurt that, it doesn’t put that much of a strain on my eyes as say would a phone or an iPad would. The new Kindle is color, but it’s paper white color. So I think the colors are gonna be a little muted. And it’s the color, the covers of the books are gonna be in color.

And like if you read comic books or what is it? Manga? I can never say it right. Those will be in color. And if you highlight like I do, because sometimes I’ll highlight stuff with my Kindle, especially if I’m doing a review and I want to come back to it later. Now you can do color highlights annotating on it if you need to be. So I’m pretty excited about it. And yes, it’s on my Christmas list.

I’m currently planning, your girl is about to run her first and most likely, no, it will be my last marathon in a few weeks. And friends, I’m tired of running. I am tired of running. In the beginning, it’s so exciting when you hit those little milestones. Now I’m at the point where I don’t want to see my running shoes like ever again, but I’ve got three more weeks.

Off I go tomorrow to run. Currently watching Tyler Perry’s Beauty in Black. Y’all, I promised myself after the last Tyler Perry movie on Netflix that I would just mind my business and let that man make his money without me, but threads got me sucked in and I’m so mad at myself. I can’t tell if he finally got new writers or if his mind has just reached

a new level of unhinged because the way my mouth has been hanging open since last night while watching that mess and I’m only at the end of episode two, was like, what? From the very beginning, I was like, what am I watching? But it’s like a train wreck. I couldn’t stop. I could not stop. All right, so that’s all with that. And I’ll leave you with what I’m currently reading.

I’m currently reading Finding Haze by Laura Pavlov. It’s the last in a romance series that I have been underwhelmed by. She is usually one of my must-read romance novels, but this series is not it for me. I’ve only read two of the books all the way through and lost interest in the other two. And I was really looking forward to reading this one.

The most, it is the character that I was most interested in finding out more about, but 60 % through and the thrill is gone and I’m thinking of moving on. That’s one thing you would learn about me. I used to struggle read through books besides The God of the Woods. I still don’t know why I struggle read that book. But most of the time, especially with romance novels lately, if I’m not feeling it, I put it down and I move on because life is too short for bad books.

But anyway, I’m thinking of moving on to one of two books. The first one is The Blueprint by Ray Giana Rashad. It’s speculative fiction, meaning a speculative fiction book is a type of story or literature that is set in a world that is different from the one we live in or that deals with a magical or imagined future. Think Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale. You know how it’s real but not real.

but it could be real or most of Octavia Butler’s books. So the blueprint is speculative fiction novel that follows Celine, a young black woman living in the area formerly known as Texas. In this alternative version of America, the 1960 civil rights movement did not happen. And instead the US underwent a second civil war beginning in 1954, after which the country established military rule

reinstated slavery for black women, forced black men to be in the military, an outlawed reproductive choice.

And I will determine a black woman’s occupation, spouse and residence. It sounds a little too real, doesn’t it? I might have to put that one off until after this election too. But it’s on, I need to read it. It’s on its last renewal for the library. So I need to get it back. I might just have to, I might have to actually sit down and buy this book because I really want to read it. But once again, it’s hitting too close to home.

So instead of reading that because of the current world, I might read a standalone fantasy book called Phantasma by Kaylee Smith. Let me show you what this one about. It reminds me of Hunger Games, but again, with sex. Hunger Games had sex, it was like closed door sex. But anyway, there are only two rules to the game. Stay alive and don’t fall in love.

When Orphelia Grimm’s sister disappears, there’s only one way to save her. Orphelia must enter Phantasma, a deadly contest inside of a haunted mansion, and claim its prize, a single wish. Phantasma is a maze of swirling corridors, lavish ballrooms, and demons and temptations. Orphelia will face nine challenges, each one more dangerous than the last. There can only be one winner, and all of the contestants will stop at nothing to eliminate their rivals.

But just as Ophelia’s fears threaten to overwhelm her, a mysterious stranger offers a bargain. Of course, of course. Charming, arrogant, and infuriatingly attractive, of course he would be. Blackwell claims he can guide her through the lethal trials ahead. All he asks in returns is 10 years of her life. Only she, Ophelia knows she shouldn’t trust him.

Blackwell doesn’t seem dangerous, but appearances can be deceptive. Worse still, she feels like a dark and irresistible attraction, drawing them closer and closer. This might be it for me. I will see how I feel tomorrow while I’m waiting on my son in the doctor’s office. I’m going to pull up one of these books. I don’t know which one, and we’re going to see what we see. We will see.

Let me know on social media which one you think I should read. And I’ll let you all know next time we meet what I decided. Okay friends, that’s all for this week. I hope you enjoyed this first episode of the Porn over Books podcast. I can’t wait to hit you up next week. Make sure you follow me at Lashawn Wilkes on IG or the Porn over Books pod on IG. And follow me also on Substack.

at Letters to LaShawn. I will put the show notes for this and the transcript of the podcast over on pornovelbooks.com and you can find any of the books mentioned today listed in the show notes below the podcast. Okay friends, I hope to see you next week. Bye bye.