Introducing BWWPS Book Club

A quick intro to the book club, how it's going to work, and our first book choice!
We're reading Assistant to the Villain! 

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:08

Hi everyone, welcome back to. But what Will People Say? I'm your host, deesha Mazzappa, and this is a South Asian Insuraisal, relationship and Lifestyle podcast. Welcome back for another episode, hi everyone. So guess what? But what Will People Say? Has a book club now and I'm super excited to tell you about it.

Speaker 1: 0:26

So this is not a traditional episode. This is just me filling you in on how the book club is going to work and tell you about the first book. I mentioned it briefly in the last episode but I was still hashing out the details, but now I've got it all sorted out. That last episode I did with my friend about the Serger Mass Books was the most fun I've had podcasting in a while and I was like, yes, I want to do this and so many of you are readers just like me and so many of you tuned in and had fun listening to it. Obviously, this podcast we've covered all kinds of things about brown girls. We also have brown girl authors on, and so this didn't feel super left field to add a book club in and the best way to incorporate it was right here on the podcast and so basically, I'm going to pick a book and I'm going to tell you about the first one I picked today and you're going to get four or six weeks to read it and by that point I will have put an episode out about it. But of course, this wouldn't be a book club without all of your thoughts as well. So down in the show notes you will find the BWWPS book club form and you can drop your thoughts in there. Just like I have an anonymous submission box, a guest application, I now have a book club form. It's going to ask you just for your name, your the title or the book you chose to talk about because, as this goes on, I'm going to keep the form the same and a little box to put your thoughts in. If you love the book, what you hated about the book, if you have other thoughts you want to share about the story we read, that's going to be the place for you to share those thoughts and you'll have a month to submit them and I will include them as many as I can, into the episode with the guest I have on. If I pick a book that you love, that you're like Disha, this is my whole personality. I have so many thoughts, reach out to me and you can be the guest for that episode.

Speaker 1: 2:22

So many of you are readers. When I went online, a bunch of you were like totally down to have a book club. The majority of you, I will say, are contemporary romance readers or fantasy readers. We did have some people who enjoy mystery and thriller books as well and, of course, the spicy books. Everyone loves a little spice, so I will try to change up the books I choose.

Speaker 1: 2:45

I'm very much a mood reader, so I'm gonna be honest that variety will kind of change as the seasons change, because that's just how I read, and incorporating this into the podcast made the most sense because I know everybody reads at a different pace and so, essentially the episode, you can listen to it whenever you want. Maybe you don't finish the book in time, but you finish it two months later. Or maybe your TBR has a hundred other books on it and it's going to take you six months to get to it. That's fine. The episode or the episode on that book will be there. And so that's where it felt like everyone could do it at their own pace and I would still be able to give you guys enough time who wanted to read along like as a group to share your thoughts and it was just a way to add a little more of the lifestyle piece into this podcast Because, honestly, sometimes I'm just tired of all the brown girl problems we have so many. We also have so much more in common than like the men or women we date. There's so much more to it. The lifestyle piece, I think, is a huge chunk that I would really like to incorporate more into the show.

Speaker 1: 3:53

But anyway, the first book I chose for this book club is Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Mayer Mayer. I might be saying her last name wrong, I apologize. It is a mid-grade cozy fantasy. If you have listened to the last episode, you know I love cozy fantasy. It's my favorite subgenre of fantasy books and the best way I can describe cozy fantasy is like it's a low stakes plot with the fantasy setting, with the elements of like magic, but it's much more casual. It's not like you're on this like epic adventure and your favorite character is going to die and you're going to cry while reading a book that is fun and exciting. But also those books are like 500 pages long and I was like I want to shorter, quicker read. It's also February and I feel like my seasonal depression is just like kicking my ass, and so I needed something that felt more like sunshine, that had a sense of humor, that was a light and easy read and I was like Assistant to the Villain. I've already read it. I'm definitely going to read it again because I love it and I think you will too.

Speaker 1: 4:59

It's a grumpy sunshine romance. So for those of you who need the romance in a book, this is a romantic. The relationship is a significant part of the plot, even though it's not the entire plot. Cozy Fantasy also has a lot of elements of like found family and like past trauma. That gets managed with a sense of humor, but also like a real sense of like, warmth and compassion, and for me, books are a huge source of healing. For me, like when I was a kid, they were a way to escape, but as an adult, they've become the place where, like I can feel like there's this narrative I can build in my head to help me overcome some of the things I've been through, and I think this book does such an excellent job of that. Our characters definitely have some dark pasts and it's always nice to have a different lens to look at the things we've been through that can be more positive and healing and just this book feels like a warm hug with a sense of humor. So I hope you love it.

Speaker 1: 6:12

I will say, if you're someone who needs to read books that are qualified as literature, this ain't it. I'm sorry, this is this author's first book and I'm really excited to have like a brand new author to like come on to the scene and write something that people really loved. It is quite a popular book. The best way I can describe it is it is once upon a time meets the office like the TV show with Steve Carell. It's funny and it's lighthearted but at the same time just like. So I don't know if empathetic is the word, but that's what I'm going to use.

Speaker 1: 6:49

So if you watch the Office and you remember the character, erin, she was a little bit naive, she was Andy's girlfriend, she has some going to Florida, but she's a little bit naive, but she's so well intended and she's so sweet. And now imagine Erin gets a job working for the bad guy as a corporate nine to five job. So she works at like the villains headquarters and it's literally like a corporate office, like they have water cooler talk and there's basically a director and everyone has a clock in and out and so there's this kind of like juxtaposition with the fantasy and this thing that so many people experience and she's just kind of in over her head. But it's funny and it's delightful and I really enjoyed reading this book and I think you will too, as long as you're not thinking too hard about it and like, again, low stakes plot, not like more of the plot is about the relationships the characters have with each other and the friendships than like this grand adventure that we're on. There is some of that as well and there's some fun plot twists mixed in and I just think it's a great book. I think you guys will enjoy it and it'll be really fun to talk about when y'all read it. So I'm picking assistance to the villain.

Speaker 1: 8:10

I'm linking the Amazon like link to the book down below, but I highly recommend you find your local indie bookstore or even a Barnes and Nobles and get it from there, but of course I know Amazon for some people is the most convenient and often affordable way to get it. Feel free to use that link. Obviously, four to six weeks also gives you time to get the book from the library Big purveyor of the local library. I love Libby on my Kindle. I love my local library. I'm a kid who grew up spending hundreds of hours in the library, so if you can get a copy from there, definitely do it.

Speaker 1: 8:47

But yeah, my only caveat here if you're an audiobook reader, the audiobook of this book is not great. I like to read and listen at the same time, so I'll read the book while playing the audiobook, just because I like dissociating. But I will say the audiobook of this is like super annoying and I didn't love it. So I just read the book like normal. But yeah, I hope you guys enjoy it and we'll be talking about it in four to six weeks, which is what I'm going to keep saying here. But yeah, welcome to BWPS Book Club.

Speaker 1: 9:24

Thanks so much for tuning in guys. Make sure if you enjoyed this episode you leave us a review on iTunes. You can find the show on all major streaming platforms. You can find me on Instagram at Dishamazeppa. You can shop my Etsy shop, disha Mazeppa Designs. Find out everything you want to know about this show at DishaMazeppacom and if you or someone you know would like to be a guest, you can email BWPSpodcast at gmailcom and I'll see you guys, next time Bye. This podcast is hosted and produced by Disha Mystery Mazeppa. The book for the show was created by Crackswell.