The Monthly Brew

Welcome to the monthly book club that I will be hosting at The Last Page Tavern. Over a year ago I took a venture and created a book club podcast and I loved it more than anything. Having a space to talk about books was such fun and I miss that time quite a bit. But over the past year life has gotten in the way and doing a podcast like that on my own was just a bit too much for me, between school, acting, and being a human I could not find the time.

So you are now at the new iteration of What I Was Thinking podcast, The Monthly Brew. Each month we are going to be tackling a new book together and hopefully we can have a fun conversation about it. Currently the idea is every week we will talk (I will post my ideas) about what we have read so far. And then I will post a final review of the book.

April 2025

The Measure

Nikki Erlick

Okay I am going to be honest. This month I did not take a vote like I did in Q1. There are two factors that have lead to this decision. First, is that I saw this book when selecting March and I really wanted to read it for book club. The second, I did not have time to took for a selection of novels and put it to a vote. (Life gets in the way)

Overall, I am excited because having a father die at 62 was a wake-up call that live is short and we never know when it is going to end. It seems this novel explores the idea of knowing when you are going to die and what that does to you? We shall talk more in the first taste.

Book Blurb

A story of love and hope as interweaving characters display: how all moments, big and small, can measure a life. If you want joy, love, romance, and hope—read with us.” —Jenna Bush Hager


A luminous, spirit-lifting blockbuster that asks: would you choose to find out the length of your life?

Eight ordinary people. One extraordinary choice.

It seems like any other day. You wake up, drink a cup of coffee, and head out.

But today, when you open your front door, waiting for you is a small wooden box. The contents of this mysterious box tells you the exact number of years you will live.

From suburban doorsteps to desert tents, every person on every continent receives the same box. In an instant, the world is thrust into a collective frenzy. Where did these boxes come from? What do they mean? Is there truth to what they promise?

As society comes together and pulls apart, everyone faces the same shocking choice: Do they wish to know how long they’ll live? And, if so, what will they do with that knowledge?

The Measure charts the dawn of this new world through an unforgettable cast of characters whose decisions and fates interweave with one another: best friends whose dreams are forever entwined, pen pals finding refuge in the unknown, a couple who thought they didn’t have to rush, a doctor who cannot save himself, and a politician whose box becomes the powder keg that ultimately changes everything.

Enchanting and deeply uplifting, The Measure is an ambitious, invigorating story about family, friendship, hope, and destiny that encourages us to live life to the fullest.

Reading Calendar

Part 1: Spring (Pages 1-123)
Part 2: Summer (Pages 124-188)
Part 3: Fall (Pages 189 – 266)
Part 4: Winter to end (267-353)

Blog Posts

March 2025

Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone

Benjamin Stevenson

Okay so this book was not recommended to me nor did I know what it was about before I put it on the list for March voting. I took a risk because I was in the mood for a mystery, and the past two books were rather heavy and I felt as if we needed something light as an option. I asked people to vote and I guess the name of this caught people’s attentions and it was the winner… by a long shot.

Also I got my from ThriftBooks and it was “Like New” which I agree! Not only is it great quality it was also the cheapest option for a physical copy!

Book Blurb

Knives Out and Clue meet Agatha Christie and The Thursday Murder Club in this “utterly original” (Jane Harper), “not to be missed” (Karin Slaughter), fiendishly clever blend of classic and modern murder mystery.

“A witty twist on classic whodunits… Stevenson not only ‘plays fair,’ he plays the mystery game very, very well.” — Maureen Corrigan, Washington Post

Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. Some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate.

I’m Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I’d killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it’s a little more complicated than that.

Have I killed someone? Yes. I have.

Who was it?

Let’s get started.

EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE

My brother

My stepsister

My wife

My father

My mother

My sister-in-law

My uncle

My stepfather

My aunt

Me

Reading Calendar

Part 1: Page 1-97 (up through Chapter 13)
Part 2: Page 98-193 (Chapter 23)
Part 3: Page 194-289 (Chapter 33)
Final Part: Page 290 – End

Blog Posts

The Last Page: Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone

Life Update: Why This Review is Late So, it’s April 2, and this book was supposed to be finished last week. Or, actually, Monday. But it wasn’t. Life has been busy. We went to New York City, a friend visited, we traveled to Florida, and weekends—my usual reading time—just disappeared. Plus, with school and classes,…

Test Test #2 – Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone

Hello everyone and welcome back to The Last page Tavern: The Monthly Brew. In this post we will be diving into the second part of the novel and let me tell you it, it gets better in this part. Part 2: Page 98-193 (Chapter 23) Humor So, I was nervous at the beginning of the…

Taste Test #1 – Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone

Okay, hey. Taste Test number one! I’m reading up to page 97 for this first section, which is roughly chapter 14. Let’s get into it. Part 1: Start – Page 97 (Up through Chapter 13) The 10 Commandments of Detective Fiction Before we even crack into the story, we get the 10 Commandments of Detective…

First Sip – Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone

Hello. Welcome back to The Last Page Tavern. You have arrived and survived to make it to the March Monthly Brew. How you doing? Take a deep breath. You know, we’ve made it to March. We’ve made it through two months. And here we go. This is part blog, part life, all book. No, I’m…

February 2025

Remarkably Bright Creatures

Shelby Van Pelt

This book was recommended to me by one of my friends on Facebook. I quickly read the description and I liked what I saw so I put it on the list of books to read. I threw it onto the February voting to see what would happen and it received the most votes by a landslide. I see that this book has something to do with grief and a woman left alone with her thoughts but it has a crime solving octopus? I am so interested and cannot wait to dive into this.

Goodreads Blurb

Remarkably Bright Creatures, an exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope, tracing a widow’s unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus.

After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors–until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.

Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.

Reading Calendar

Part 1: Page 1-87 (up until Nothing Stays Sunk Forever)
Part 2: Page 88-177 (Expect the Unexpected)
Part 3: Page 178 – 265 (A Rare Specimen)
Final Part: Page 267 – End

Blog Posts

The Last Page – Remarkably Bright Creatures

Part 4 – 266 to the End A Flood of Tears and a Perfect Ending Where do I even begin with the ending of this beautiful story. Tova, the sweetest lady I think I have ever read in the history of my reading journey. She spent 2 thousand dollars to replace the shirt she ruined,…

Taste Test #3 – Remarkably Bright Creatures

Okay so if I am going to be honest with you all, I just posted Taste Test #2 just a few hours ago (at the time of writing this) and I wanted to sit down and read a bit of the book, well come to find out I read the whole part already and it…

Taste Test #2 – Remarkably Bright Creatures

Part 2: Page 88-177 (up until Expect the Unexpected) Fully Immersed in Remarkably Bright Creatures I posted my taste test last week, and I have to say—using an audio-to-text transcriber has been a game-changer. It’s made my notes clearer and helped me track my thoughts as I go. I was able to add more detail,…

Taste Test #1 – Remarkably Bright Creatures

Hello and Welcome to the first taste test of Remarkable Bright Creatures. So, the way that I am taking notes is a little different for this book. I bought an audio recorder so I can take my notes a little easier because I found that putting the book down and writing my thoughts would take…

First Sip: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

It’s February, which means it’s time to dive into the next book club pick: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt! If you’re new here, I like to do a “first taste” before I even turn the first page—a quick glimpse at my expectations, thoughts, and general excitement about the book. This one was a…

January 2025

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

V. E. Schwab

I have had the pleasure of reading this book back in 2020 but I read 215 books that year so the details of it are a little hazy. I remembered that I loved the novel and for four years I have been thinking about rereading it but in a more analytical lens. So here we are! 2025 is going to start with this The New York Times Bestseller that has a 4.18 star rating on Goodreads. Link is here to TILOA

Blurb from Goodreads

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.

Blog Posts

The Last Page – The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Hello and welcome to the last formal post about The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Buckle up because this is going to be be a long post (Well it was supposed to be. I got the flu and it took a lot out of me). I have gone back and forth on how I wanted…

Taste Test #3 – The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Part 3: Part 4 & 5 – Pages 224 – 360 Hi everyone and welcome to Taste Test #3. I have no clue if people are actually reading these but I enjoy writing them. I am writing this on January 23rd, and my brain has already started thinking about the logistics of the next book…

Taste Test #2 – The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Pages 90-221 (Part 2 and Part 3) Taste Test #1 Questions answered Part 2: The Darkest Part of the Night Welcome to the second taste test for The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue! I truly hope you are enjoying this book as much as I am right now. I will be honest I am a…

Taste Test #1 – The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Pages 1-90 (Beginning of Book until End of Part 1) Welcome to the Taste Test! Be warned that there will be spoilers ahead! This discussion will go from the beginning of the book until the end of Part 1! So roughly about 90 pages depending on your physical read! For those that may be listening…

First Sip – The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Okay so I know this post was supposed to go live on Friday, but I had a friend visiting from out of town and then I was just to lazy yesterday to get to it. But I am here now and I promise moving forward will be a bit better. The Invisible Life of Addie…