Great Big Beautiful Life

Kristy (00:00)
Welcome to Books I Make My Husband Read, a self-described hilarious and heartfelt podcast where I, Kristy, the devoted book lover, curate an unexpected reading list for my husband,

Jon (00:10)
And that's me. Each episode, we'll dive into lively discussions, humorous debates, and surprising insights on the books Christie just has to make me read.

Kristy (00:18)
We're here to explore everything from timeless classics to quirky hidden gems, challenging our perspectives and inviting you to join in on the fun.

Jon (00:26)
Settle in, grab your favorite beverage, and get ready for another literary adventure.

Kristy (00:46)
Hello listeners and welcome to season two, episode nine of Books That Make My Husband Read. I'm your host Kristy.

Jon (00:52)
And I'm the co-host Jon, the one in Kristy makes read all the books.

Kristy (00:56)
This week we'll be discussing Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry, a genre blending story of rival writers, buried secrets, and one elusive woman whose life is either a tragedy, a love story, or a carefully crafted mystery, depending on who's telling it.

Jon (01:11)
Indeed. I do have some thoughts on this one, obviously, otherwise we wouldn't be doing this podcast. But I don't know, this one didn't quite hit.

Kristy (01:19)
Yeah, I have lots of thoughts as well.

Jon (01:22)
I'm sure you do.

Kristy (01:24)
I always do. I'm an opinionated person.

Jon (01:27)
And truer words have never been spoken on this podcast. But before we get into all that, we need to let our listeners know about the next book in our lineup, which is also our last book in our lineup, ⁓ which is The Love Haters by Katherine Center.

Kristy (01:44)
And then that's it. That's a wrap for season two and we will come back at you late in the summer for season three.

Jon (01:51)
Yeah, and be sure to keep up with us on Instagram at Books I Make My Husband Read while we're on the break. And you can see what books Kristy might be making me read coming up for season three and whatever else she's gonna make me do over the break. You never know.

Kristy (02:06)
That's probably very true. Well, do you want to move on to that spoiler-free book summary?

Jon (02:11)
I suppose we should.

Kristy (02:13)
Alice Scott is an internal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Poulter Prize-winning human thundercloud, and they're both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason. To write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years. Or at least to meet the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and the daughter of one of the most storied and scandalous families of the 20th century.

Jon (02:43)
When Margaret invites them both for a one month trial period, after which she'll choose the person who will tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice's head in the game. Number one, Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over. Number two, she's ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a serious publication. And number three, Hayden Anderson.

who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaking to the core way that suggests he sees her as competition.

Kristy (03:21)
But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can't swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they're in the same room. And it's becoming abundantly clear that their story, just like the tale Margaret's spinning, could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad, depending on who's telling it.

Jon (03:47)
Well, this is the warning time. We are about to unleash more secrets than a celebrity with a multi-million dollar book deal and zero chill.

Kristy (04:05)
these.

Jon (04:06)
just never reveals the secrets. I am the funniest Pritzl.

Kristy (04:08)
They're very witty.

And that is a lie.

Jon (04:15)
I need to confirm with Owen it's been a couple of years. I just need to reinstate.

Kristy (04:19)
You take your accolades from a 12 year old. All right, let's talk about what we read in this book. Now is the moment of truth. Here we go for all to hear.

Jon (04:30)
I didn't love this one. This one just fell flat for me. was a little bit of a struggle to get through. I felt that I didn't really get, well, one, there were way too many characters. Characters were like in an inception part of the book almost. I found myself actually being more interested in wanting to read the book on this.

Kristy (04:46)
totally agree with that.

the story.

Jon (05:00)
fictional Margaret Ives and I was continuing to read the actual book by Emily Henry. I don't know, her life seemed interesting. But yeah, was just okay. I felt that it dragged on a little bit, but then at the same time, I was also like, how are they getting all this done in a month or how did all this happen in three short weeks or two short weeks? I don't know, the timeline felt weird on it too. And then it all just kind of like, oh, okay, here we are.

this is the climax of the book, great. And then it was done. yeah, this one, it was meh. Tell me all your wonderful thoughts.

Kristy (05:37)
Yeah.

The first most important thing I have to get off my chest that drove me crazy the whole flippin time.

Jon (05:48)
No. That drove me crazy how she said.

Kristy (05:51)
No, that is not what bothered me. What bothered me was five seven, spoiler alert, is not tall. It is not. I realize it is taller than the average woman, but no one who is five seven is having trouble doing anything. There's another part where she calls Hayden uncommonly tall and he's six two. Both you and I are taller than both of these people.

as a couple and we have never had a problem fitting into a booth. Nope.

And it's not that she mentioned it once and moved on. It's just the whole book she talks about how tall she is and how uncommonly tall he is. I'm like, you're not that tall. Like, yes, you are taller than average, but five, nine, six, three, we have no problems. It drove me crazy. I'm sorry. I know that's petty, but it drove me freaking crazy. Okay. Back to actual meat of the book and the issues I had. So I knew from the beginning that this book was...

Jon (06:29)
whole book.

True story.

Kristy (06:55)
supposed to be different than Emily Henry's other books. We even, I think I mentioned that in one of the episodes. And I was excited to read that. But if you look at the books themselves, if you look at the spines, if you look at the cover, if you look at the artwork, they all look the same. They look like they're part of the same family. So if you're a musician and you are releasing a new type of album in a different type of music genre, like that is going to look and feel differently. This book looks and feels like

Emily Henry's other books. So going into it, if I would have just picked up and not picked this book up in a bookstore and not known that it was, you know, supposedly supposed to be different, I would have been severely disappointed that it's not a romantic comedy in it's whole because it really isn't. You know, there's this mystery element, which we actually don't get to and we're going to talk about. Like, I didn't see that there was a twist coming and

maybe I wasn't paying enough attention because in real mysteries, I do pay a ton of attention and usually guess the twist, but I didn't know that that was coming. So when it did, it felt unexpected to me. I didn't like it. People have called it like historical fiction too. And it didn't feel like enough of that to be real historical fiction. And I realized there's all different types of subcategories within historical fiction itself.

it just felt like a little bit of all these things and it left me wanting more of each thing. Like if I would have gotten a full story of Margaret Ives, like I can totally see that being a good and interesting book about her family. But I also wanted to hear about the relationship with Alison Hayden. That is what I went into the book wanting. And I just feel like it came up short. I didn't get that. And I didn't get enough of the other pieces to like fully enjoy the story. So let's move on into our first question.

And I think we covered this from my perspective, but give me your thoughts. So this novel is a bit of a departure from Emily Henry's other books, and it blends a family saga with a little bit of mystery and romance. How did you feel about the mix of the genres?

Jon (09:03)
Yeah, I mean, it felt flat. I didn't really get overly engaged in any one point or another. felt like Hayden analysis romance was rushed. Like suddenly it was really cold. And then all of sudden he's like, I'm in love with you. It's basically that's how it felt. know there was like, but it was like two weeks in between there or whatever the timeline was.

Kristy (09:26)
And we didn't get to hear about the time. And again, you can fall in love with someone in two weeks. Don't get me wrong about that. But we didn't get to hear about the time like they were spending together.

Jon (09:36)
Right,

right. Like a lot of that was just kind of skated over and yeah, I mean, I think the part that was actually most interesting to me was the stuff about Margaret and that storyline and dropping the little pieces and I mean, I tried to pull on a mystery thread because you know, mystery and thrillers is my favorite genre. So I kind of maybe gravitated to that a little bit more even though there wasn't a lot, there wasn't a lot of meat on that bone either.

Kristy (10:03)
I just didn't realize it was a mystery. It was a mystery to me.

Jon (10:07)
There you go. Yeah, I didn't see it like I didn't see the thing at the end coming Hayden and saying, you know afterwards the power of hindsight, you know, like, okay She gave this clue earlier. She gave this clue earlier but still it didn't feel like it was enough of a clue or Or like you're saying kind of going into it the expectation. I didn't really know that I should be looking for clues. Yeah

Kristy (10:30)
Right. mean, there is one point where Hayden tells Alice, didn't find her, like she found me. And so I think at that point, we're all supposed to assume that she liked her book or she liked the other book he wrote. And maybe there was this like I'm dying component and she liked the way that Hayden wrote the story for the guy who, you know, had, it was Alzheimer's.

Jon (10:57)
Lee, think his name was maybe.

Kristy (10:59)
Yeah, so again, I just didn't think there were enough breadcrumbs to be a mystery. Okay, so despite his feelings for Alice, Hayden doesn't want to cross a line since they're technically competitors for Margaret's story. What were your initial thoughts on Alice and Hayden? Did their connection feel authentic or did it develop too quickly for your taste?

Jon (11:04)
I

I think it developed too quickly. I definitely understood his reservation on wanting to get romantically involved with, especially during like they're there in competition for a fairly lucrative business deal and that can get really sticky really fast. as you know, I think like halfway through the book or a little over halfway through the book, he reveals that something similar happened to him previously. And so he was very gun shy about it too. And so I respect that. I thought that that made a lot of sense to me. ⁓

I probably would have felt the same and...

Kristy (11:52)
I

wouldn't have been able to resist my charm though, I know it.

Jon (11:56)
Yeah, it was a good thing you were so far away when we first met there. I wouldn't have been able to for sure. But.

Kristy (12:04)
How much I distracted you.

Jon (12:06)
No,

for reals, my brain shot back to 13 years ago, 14 years ago. God damn, that's a long ass time. Yeah, so it was just okay. I didn't really like, I didn't care about the characters that much to care about the relationship either. Yeah. Sorry, not sorry.

Kristy (12:27)
I didn't write the book. I just made you read it.

Jon (12:31)
Yeah. So I don't know. mean, what did you hear?

Kristy (12:34)
mean, I don't think it developed too quickly as far as the timeline goes. I feel like what we get on the pages, it develops too quickly. So if you compare this to, you know, a traditional romantic comedy where it's 300 and how many other pages, all of those pages typically are devoted to the main characters in some way. Sure. And maybe not like specifically to their every single movement, but the things that are going on in their lives.

Now here we have a timeline that is set how many years in the past, 40, 60 years in the past and even beyond that. And so we're not getting a lot of like what is going on? What are their thoughts? What are the other outside circumstances that are hindering their romance or whatever the case may be. So I don't feel like it was rushed as far as two weeks or a month or however long it is. It was rushed in like we didn't get enough of them, which was

super disappointing to me because as much as I love enemies to lovers, I also love rivals to lovers too. And I did not get near enough of that. I agree with you on Hayden's decision, which is funny because he keeps telling her, like, you don't know, you don't know that you're not gonna hate me if I get this job and you don't. And then what turns out neither of them really get it. And then she ditches them anyway. And I'm not saying she didn't have like a

quote unquote, fairly good reason or what she thought was a good reason, but she did exactly what he said she was going to do.

Jon (14:07)
Yeah, right. That's a great point.

Kristy (14:09)
So both Alice and Hayden have loving but complicated relationships with their parents. Who doesn't? Did you relate to their struggles with parental expectations? How did these relationships shape who they became?

Jon (14:23)
So I think Hayden's family was like local politicians or something like that, right? Their dad was mayor of their city or something. And so he had these, they were sort of in the public eye. My family obviously was not in the public eye, but I think what resonated for me there was just a level of expectation coming from the maybe area. So I grew up in a small town, everyone knew everyone. So in a way I could see, I could.

project a similar state because everyone knew them. They were the mayor's family or whatever. So when you think everyone knows you or knows your family, there's a certain level, there's a certain expectation of how you should act or how you should be. And that winds up kind of trailing with you into adulthood, right? Like there are expectations of feeling like he wasn't enough or that he wasn't, yeah, I guess I mean.

Kristy (15:17)
Well, I think that, and it's funny because we've actually talked about this before with other books that were completely different than this, is that I think at the end of the day, what kids want from their parents is to know that their parents are proud of them. And in both these instances, you have people who grew up with siblings and their siblings are doing very different things. And whether your sibling's a doctor or in the Peace Corps,

you don't have to do those things for your parents to be proud of. You know, each child is different. So you should be proud of your children, even if their accomplishments or what they're doing in life is vastly different. So I think that both of them grew up like in a shadow of like maybe another sibling for different reasons. I mean, in Alice's case, her sister was sick a lot. So she probably was in the shadows because her sister needed more.

We needed more care and that's fine. I mean, that is what it is. But then her sister goes on and she was working in the, it was Peace Corps, right? And then because Alice isn't doing this super important journalism that her mom thinks, she feels like she doesn't measure up.

Jon (16:32)
Yeah.

Kristy (16:34)
when at the end of the day we learn it's just like her mom just doesn't understand.

Jon (16:38)
That part resonated with me at the end of the book when she's describing that or when Alice finally broke and shared with her mom how she feels. Her mom goes on to talk about how she was actually envious of her husband and Alice's dad and how he could relate to her and knew the things to say to make her feel better and that sort of thing. But she struggled with knowing how to say those things after he passed away.

Kristy (17:02)
Like she didn't feel like she was measuring up to the pair she needed.

Jon (17:06)
Right, just talk to one another.

Kristy (17:10)
Were you engaged with Margaret's history and past, or were you left wanting more? What were your thoughts on her romance with Cosmo?

Jon (17:17)
I mean, I definitely wanted more of that story. think that would be, it sounds like a really interesting story. Where's the book?

Kristy (17:24)
read. were writing.

Jon (17:26)
Well, shit, I just kind of found it fascinating how kind of the backstory of how our family came into the wealth and the personality types that it took to basically take over those industries and the different dynamics between just how that entire family, each generation, and generation and what they struggled with. Then for Margaret to sort of break the mold, I guess, for lack of a better phrase, and to find someone who unexpectedly

just swept her off her feet. You she went into that concert with a very strong opinion of him, it seemed like, and his lifestyle and what probably ironically what the tabloids were, what the papers were saying about him, even though her company ran.

Kristy (18:11)
Right, we're printing them.

Jon (18:13)
And then to sort of self-discover the real person behind the headlines and behind the black and white print. was pretty tragic that they only had a few years or whatever together when he was killed in the car crash. And to find out that it was appendicitis, not that appendicitis can't be really severe. As I know personally firsthand,

Kristy (18:38)
As you know very well.

Jon (18:41)
It was just crazy that that sort of what that whole event is what wound up taking him. Yeah. So I don't know. I didn't really have any deeper thoughts on their relationship than that. ⁓ But I'm sure you do.

Kristy (18:55)
Well, I think for me, that's another piece of the story that's missing. is marketed, but in the book, it is talked about this great love story between the two of them, and we just don't get to hear about it. We get a little bit of it, but they didn't, like you're saying, they didn't spend that long together because he dies. And so we only get a little bit of him on the pages and really their life together. It feels like it's kind of glossed over.

the conversations they were having and the things they were doing for each other. I just don't feel like we get any of that. And so I was left wanting more of that part too. So back to what I said in the beginning, I just felt like while I did enjoy Margaret's story, I would have liked to read a book about Margaret's story or a book about Alison Hayden and their story.

Jon (19:49)
Yeah. It's like the concept is really interesting, but she didn't pick one lane on the other.

Kristy (19:56)
Yeah. Yep. So Margaret wrestles with her family's legacy as both creators and targets of the media. How does the author's depiction of that legacy reflect the realities of celebrity and media?

Jon (20:09)
⁓

I'm not sure how to answer this one.

Kristy (20:13)
I mean, basically, Margaret makes some pretty severe damning life decisions based on how she's being treated in the media and giving up her child because she can't, doesn't think it can have a real life or a real chance. And, I mean, so does her sister. And do you feel like that is just an accurate portrayal of like, I guess, how people who are celebrities or have fame have to live their lives?

Jon (20:43)
Yeah, I can imagine being put under a microscope and having every action decision, piece of clothing or jewelry that you wear, what you walk out of or what you walk into or how you walk even being analyzed and critiqued and read into and opined upon. mean, no thank you.

Kristy (21:10)
did feel like, when was she growing up? The 50s and 60s?

Jon (21:15)
They mentioned it. That's a reference in there. So 60s.

Kristy (21:18)
60s.

I'm not saying the media wasn't everywhere then. I certainly feel like it continues to get worse. So I don't know, it felt like the level of scrutiny was almost not quite at the generation it would have been then, but I don't know. I do think, I'm sure they were constantly having their picture taken. They were constantly being followed by paparazzi, but it also felt a little over, like they would have had some.

Privacy, I don't know.

Jon (21:51)
Yeah, don't either. don't. think people of that stature and in that class probably had a lot more exposure to the media than the general population did. today now general population has similar even more access. So it probably felt noisier to them than it did to Jon Doe on the street. Sure.

Kristy (22:16)
So as we mentioned, Margaret has a couple twists up her sleeve and it turns out that she gives up a child in fear of what the press would do. And that child turns out to be Hayden's mother, so Margaret is his grandmother. The entire book project started as a way for Margaret to meet her grandson. What were your thoughts on this reveal?

Jon (22:35)
It felt so out of left field that I was just like, ⁓ okay, this is happening. Sure, let's go down this path now. It just didn't resonate. I didn't feel like, ⁓ my God, or any other sort of massively emotional reaction to the reveal. Definitely not anywhere close to the way that Alice reacted to it. I mean, yeah, like it's a cool idea. Again, I just wish it would have picked a lane on.

which path you want to be. So those are my two cents.

Kristy (23:10)
Well, and I feel like because we don't hear any of Hayden's side of the story and the conversations he's having with Margaret. Yeah. Yeah. don't know. We're left to assume a lot of things about what is she telling him? Like, I think if we would have heard those, like if we would have had the dual point of views when they're in the conversation with Margaret, maybe there would have been more breadcrumbs because we're like, why are these conversations so different? is Alice?

Jon (23:18)
That's a big

Kristy (23:38)
asking her these questions and listening to these stories and Hayden's getting a totally different take. So I think that would have left, I felt similarly to you. I mean, when I find out she has a daughter she gave up, was like, that's obvious. did go, okay, that's by Hayden's mom, but only because who else would it be?

Jon (23:44)
Yeah.

Yeah, why else would it reveal it?

Kristy (24:00)
Right, exactly. So that made sense to me at that point, but I would have never like put the pieces together moving into that. And then again, I didn't care. It didn't seem like, my gosh, like this is why. I I didn't care.

Jon (24:15)
Yeah, that would have been really interesting to hear the conversations that he would have been having with Margaret. I think that would have added a lot to tie both those sides together. Yeah.

Kristy (24:27)
So what would you have done in Alice's shoes when you discovered the truth about Margaret? And specifically what I mean is that Hayden is her grandson, but she can't tell Hayden. Hayden doesn't know, but she can't tell Hayden because they have the NDA.

Jon (24:42)
Yeah, I mean, probably would have felt like between a rock and a hard place. I think that would have been really challenging. You have someone that you clearly care about and she, at this point, has acknowledged that she loves him. She knows there's no way that a relationship could start with her holding onto this giant secret. I also think it was just incredibly unfair of Margaret to play her like that.

I liked how Alice used Margaret's own words against her when she sent the letter to Margaret and the one I had brought back. So I think that it just would have been really shitty. think she made the right decision with that context that like, there's no way this relationship would work and I care about this person too much to force the issue. it's just always going to be a cloud hanging over us and I'm never going to be able to tell him he knows me too well already. He's going to sense it.

It was just kind of a shitty situation all around. It's probably my thoughts, but I can see your face. So enlighten me.

Kristy (25:42)
.

So two things bother me. One, I realize people do this in real life, but Alice essentially makes a bunch of choices for Hayden. Like she plays out the scenario in her head. He's going to feel this way. He's going to think this. You are not that other person. Like, right, exactly. Like give them the opportunity to make their own choices.

Jon (26:09)
Yeah, that's not fair either.

Kristy (26:16)
As people, think we go to the worst case scenario, which she did, he's gonna hate me. He can never forgive me. We can't get past this. Like you don't know that. He knows you signed an NDA. You know he signed one. Why can't you say, I can't talk about this. And if you're gonna ask me about it, then we absolutely can't be together. I mean, maybe that wouldn't have worked for him, but you don't know that. You're making this decision for him. So.

I hate that in books when there's this miscommunication because someone has had the whole conversation in their head and not given the other person opportunity to speak. But also what bothered me is throughout this whole book, Alice is an eternal optimist. Like everything is and rainbows with her. She always looks on the bright side. She was always happy. She would drive me crazy because of that, although I need someone like her in my life. But...

She kept telling, like I said, she kept telling Hayden, ⁓ when this happened, like if she picks you, I'm still gonna wanna be with you, whatever. But yet she has this secret and she goes to the worst case scenario instead of trying to be positive and thinking maybe there's a way we can work through this. So it just felt out of character for her to do that.

Jon (27:30)
Yeah, I get that. That's fair.

Kristy (27:32)
So do you feel that Margaret's reasons for giving up her child for adoption made sense to you? What were your thoughts about her decision? And then how did that decision reverberate in her life for many years to come?

Jon (27:44)
I couldn't imagine being in a position like that where it just seemed like an impossible situation where she felt like she had to give that up because she wanted her to have a better life than she ever had. She knew the challenges that would come with that and her status and her name and everything else that went along with it. I guess you could kind of make a connection to like someone giving a child up for adoption, realizing that they can't care for them or they don't have the capacity or whatever. It's a, you know, a similar vein.

trying to make a choice for this child to have a better life than you feel like you could give for it. I mean, the reverberation, it changed the course of her life, ultimately leading to seclusion and avoidance and regret probably even a little bit in there as well. yeah.

Kristy (28:33)
get her reasoning, but because of all those things after that, the regret, you know, she isolates herself, like all those things. I just feel like she didn't make the right decision because now she's left with what is a shell of a life really.

Jon (28:49)
Yeah, but in her mind she's justifying it because her daughter has supposedly better life, that she doesn't have all these outside noises affecting her.

Kristy (28:59)
But the thing is you don't know that. That's the other thing. It worked out in this case, but I don't know if you would have given your child up for adoption and something terrible would have happened to them. You have the means and resources to care for a child. What do you mean? Meaning that, I don't know, what if her child would have went to abusive parents or parents who couldn't afford to care for them? ⁓ I mean, she could have made a choice that her sister made. Her sister decided to leave and be sec—

Jon (29:21)
I say what you're saying, I say.

Kristy (29:27)
you know, secluded and live overseas. I mean, she could have done that with a child.

Jon (29:32)
Maybe, but it didn't sound like it the way that it was. She was portrayed that the media was always attracted to her, that they would have always followed her story or whatever, unlike her sister. don't remember her name. Laura. Laura, who was really media avoidant. She wasn't interesting enough for the media to care about. So, mean, maybe, I mean, but again, it's so, what were you saying? were you, did you? Okay.

Kristy (29:58)
I finished.

Have you ever wanted to be extremely wealthy and or famous? Did Margaret and her family's story change your perspective on wealth and fame?

Jon (30:11)
No, just validated it. I have no interest in being famous. I have no interest in being on public eye.

Kristy (30:19)
What about being extremely wealthy?

Jon (30:22)
If I

Kristy (30:25)
I mean there's people who are wealthy that you don't even know about.

Jon (30:28)
Right, if I could be one of those people, sure, sign me up. That would be awesome. But I have no interest in being in the public eye or anything.

Kristy (30:36)
Yeah,

I don't even need to be extremely wealthy, like just kind of wealthy. Can I just be kind of wealthy?

Jon (30:42)
Yeah, like you're like the way you order your martinis. You don't need to be filthy dirty. Just just a little.

Kristy (30:48)
was dirty dirty. ⁓

Jon (30:50)
So I mean, you feel the same way, right?

Kristy (30:53)
I mean, I could try my hand at being famous. Don't get me wrong.

Jon (30:56)
You

have wanted to dance in the public eye, potentially.

Kristy (31:00)
I

just want to be famous enough to be on Dancing with the Stars. ⁓

Jon (31:04)
Or celebrity jeopardy.

Kristy (31:06)
I definitely want to be famous enough to be on Celebrity Jeopardy. That's probably number one.

Jon (31:11)
Yeah, I agree with that. I will support this from the sidelines. Good job, babe.

Kristy (31:20)
Her husband is in the audience.

Jon (31:22)
Exactly.

Kristy (31:25)
Did the book reaffirm your aversion to fame?

Jon (31:30)
100 % it did. Yeah. No, thank you. Hard pass.

Kristy (31:34)
So a central theme of the novel is that there are always three versions of a story, yours, mine, and the truth. Do you agree with this perspective? How does this theme play out in different storylines throughout the book?

Jon (31:47)
I think so, though I've heard you saying over this shit that there's your version, my version, and your version.

Kristy (31:53)
No, have not said that. This is what I've said. That's mean. I have never said that. I've said there's your version, there's my version, and the truth is somewhere in the middle. ⁓

Jon (32:05)
Okay, I forgot the middle part. Yes, exactly. There we go. We have it on the record now. Yeah, I mean, I agree with that statement. We all bring our own biases and point of views and past experiences into any situation and it colors whatever situation that is, whatever is happening at that moment. So yeah, I think that that statement probably holds a lot of truth. ⁓

Kristy (32:07)
but leaning closer to my version.

Jon (32:33)
I just called myself there.

Kristy (32:36)
And I also think that sometimes it's not even intentional. It's just how we experienced it. It's not that someone's version is right and someone's version is wrong. It's that we just experience things very, very differently because of what you're saying. We're coming into it from a different set of circumstances. We're bringing all our past experience and all of the things that have happened to us into a situation, into a conversation.

There's no way for you to experience it the same way I experienced it.

Jon (33:06)
Yeah, I think that's the way that phrase is taken a lot though is it's your way, my way or the truth, which implies that one side is right over the other, you know, which really isn't the case is just different experiences, different perspectives on it. And then somewhere in the middle is the truth. I don't know how else to say that.

Kristy (33:31)
whatever the truth is.

Jon (33:33)
Yeah, the truth is out there.

Kristy (33:35)
If you could write the tell-all story of a once famous person or celebrity, who would you choose?

Jon (33:42)
⁓ boy.

Kristy (33:44)
I think this question is most interesting or most, I think this question is fun because if you're writing this book for them, you're going to get to spend a lot of time with them and learn about them and hear their story. So I think that's the real question. Steve Jobs, right?

Jon (34:00)
I don't know, Walter Isaacson did a really great job with his biography.

Kristy (34:04)
It doesn't matter that

thought it was good or bad. It's like, do you want to write it so you could spend time with Steve Jobs?

Jon (34:12)
That's a good one. I don't know. Let me think in a sec. What you answer, what would yours be? And I'll come back to it.

Kristy (34:18)
I think mine's probably gotta be Bruce Springsteen or Taylor Swift.

Jon (34:20)
Yeah, that's I kind of figured that years your answer would be Bruce Taylor should have just gone I can't believe I didn't think of that. How do I not think of her?

Kristy (34:29)
I probably pick Taylor Swift because no one's wrote her story yet.

Jon (34:34)
⁓

yeah, that's a point. That's cool. Her story is still very much being written, though. Right. I think it would have been pretty cool to spend a lot of time with Bono, honestly, even though I his story is already written too. But I think I would have I think I would have really enjoyed that.

Kristy (34:46)
His story was good too, but you didn't read it. I did.

Jon (34:49)
I

didn't finish it. Yeah, I know. started it, but I didn't finish it. I herpes renaissance so hard.

Kristy (34:53)
You should listen to it because it's in, he does it. So it's easy to listen to, to me when the person is doing their own audio. Same with Bruce.

Jon (35:04)
There's also an Apple TV special of him talking about his, that book now too. Also, somebody will watch that.

Kristy (35:11)
There you go. I definitely think historical figures would be really cool. I don't have any on the top of my head. mean, like an FDR, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton.

Jon (35:26)
There you go.

Kristy (35:29)
Yeah, I'm sure there's a lot of historical figures that would be fun. So, all right, what's your final answer?

Jon (35:35)
I would take Bono. I think I grew up just really idolizing him and respecting him a lot. So I think I would have enjoyed spending a lot of time with him, even though he's way more religious, I'll say in air quotes. I don't know what organized religion he's in, but I think that would be difficult for me. He has a I'm sure he would tie. has a lot of Which I respect. It's definitely not my genre, but I think it would be really fun too.

Kristy (35:55)
His faith is important to him.

That's not my job.

Jon (36:05)
Yeah. But I think he would be just an incredible person, not just musically and all the things that happened with you two, but all of his philanthropy work and all of that, think would just be really fascinating, inspiring.

Kristy (36:19)
Well, here we are. It's that time of the episode. Do you have any final thoughts? Anything you didn't get to share?

Jon (36:27)
I do. have one next to the final thing. Yeah. I'm just kidding. I really don't. ⁓

Kristy (36:30)
Are you serious?

Rude.

Jon (36:39)
I mean, was meh, which is unfortunate because I really enjoyed the last the other book of Emily Henry had me read.

Kristy (36:47)
That's still my favorite book lovers, but funny story to me is a close second.

Jon (36:53)
Maybe you'll make me read that one some other time. So that is my final thought. The book was meh. So.

Kristy (36:55)
Maybe I will.

that the book was meh.

I really thought you were going to save a final thought this time.

Jon (37:06)
Sorry, maybe I'll have a final thought for our final episode and then like it'll be extravagant and awesome. Do you have any final thoughts?

Kristy (37:16)
I asked the questions here, not you. All right, well, if you don't have any actual final thoughts, we wanted to remind everyone that the next book in our lineup is The Love Haters by Katherine Center. And that will be our last book for season two. And then we'll pick up again in late summer for season three. And don't forget that a free way to support our show is by leaving us a review and rating us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Jon (37:18)
Yeah, OK.

Kristy (37:43)
If you don't want to us, but you have a question or feedback on the show, can email us at books that make my husband read at gmail.com. We would absolutely love to hear from you.

Jon (37:52)
Yes

we would. Anyway, it's another one in the books.

Kristy (37:55)
Well, who knows? Maybe this will be the one your husband reads.

Jon (37:59)
He He

shouldn't though. He can pass on this one.

Unless he wants to, then go for it. Unless he wants to, then go for it.

Kristy (38:11)
Hey, I think if he wants to read it or he's being forced to read it, it's a book and he should read it. There's plenty of people who love this book. Remember that every book is for every person. So there are gonna be plenty of people out there who love this book. I heard some rave reviews on it. Reese Witherspoon herself was praising it to the moon.

Jon (38:31)
Well, then I changed my rating to a 5.

Kristy (38:34)
That's not what I said.

Jon (38:38)
Anyway... Okay then. Bye-bye! Bye!

Kristy (38:39)
Take care.

See you, dude. Peace out, Billy.

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