September Book Club Discussion: Villa Coco

You're So Right

Caitlin and Rachael host a late September book club episode discussing Villa Coco, blending literary critique with personal anecdotes about motherhood, reading

Key takeaways

• Caitlin attributes her unfinished read to postpartum brain fog and a misplaced Kindle, noting she can only focus on short formats or TV recaps right now
• Both hosts found Villa Coco beautifully written but frustratingly slow, with repetitive scenes that buried the compelling plot until the final 40 pages

Main topics

• Villa Coco book review
• Postpartum brain and reading habits

Notable quotes

"I'm so fucking dumb after having a baby. Like my brain does not work. I cannot focus."

Conclusion

Listeners gain both a candid literary critique of Villa Coco and relat

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:20) Okay. Hi. Hi, everyone. Hello. Welcome Speaker 2 (0:24) to our late book club. We're only five days. Buongiorno. Speaker 1 (0:29) Buongiorno. Is that how you say hi in Italian? Speaker 2 (0:32) It is. Buongiorno. Actually, this weekend, I felt very connected, tapped in to the Italian culture because I was on our camping trip, as you know. Right. Speaker 1 (0:43) Right. And we Speaker 2 (0:44) were with some of our... closer friends from school and they're an Italian family. And so I was just like immersed in the Italian accent all weekend. She brought out her homemade tomato sauce. Speaker 1 (0:59) Tomatoes. Speaker 2 (1:00) And so I really was just feeling it. So I'm excited. Speaker 1 (1:03) I Speaker 2 (1:03) love Speaker 1 (1:03) that. Excited. Okay. Let's Speaker 2 (1:04) chat. Speaker 1 (1:05) Okay. I think we just have to dive in. So first things first, I haven't finished the book. Speaker 2 (1:09) I knew you weren't going to. Speaker 1 (1:11) Okay. Here's the thing. Listen. Tell Speaker 2 (1:13) them why. It's not because you didn't like it. No. Speaker 1 (1:17) Okay. It's a multi-layered. First of all, like I'm so fucking dumb after having a baby. Like my brain does not work. I cannot focus. No, it's actually crazy. It's crazy how that happens. It's Speaker 2 (1:28) crazy. Speaker 1 (1:29) And I remember when I had my middle daughter, I actually didn't start reading on a Kindle until she was like. Speaker 1 (1:37) Older than six months. Speaker 2 (1:38) Right. Because before that, you could only watch like trash TV. I can only watch trash TV Speaker 1 (1:43) and I can only read like vulture recaps of TV shows that I don't even watch. It's just something or I'm off Reddit too. But my brain can't fucking focus. So even if I'm reading, also in the middle of the night when I'm feeding, I like this. Like sometimes I think if somebody saw me, they'd think I was on fentanyl. Because Speaker 2 (2:00) I'm like leaned over. You're doing the lean. With Speaker 1 (2:02) my eyes closed. Okay. So that's one. I'm so dumb. Two, I lost my Kindle somewhere. It was on my bed and I heard a thunk. But I don't know where it thunked. And I can't find my Kindle. Speaker 2 (2:14) I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude, but like how many places could there possibly be if you know it's on the floor by your bed? I looked Speaker 1 (2:20) under my bed on both sides. Okay. Speaker 2 (2:23) I Speaker 1 (2:23) don't know where it had been on my bed. So I'm like, maybe it went behind. Well, Speaker 2 (2:28) okay. This has happened to me before actually. And it sounded like it hit the floor because of the thunk, but actually it just hit like the baseboards behind my headboard. So it like hadn't made it all the way down to the floor. Speaker 1 (2:41) Okay. Speaker 2 (2:41) But check like, you know, where your mattress lays, obviously like the slats, it could be just resting there. Speaker 1 (2:46) Okay. I'm going to check there also. Cause like, I don't want to really look all the way under my bed because what's happening under my bed is none of my business. Speaker 2 (2:54) No, no, you don't need to, you don't need to see that with fresh eyes. No. Yeah. Speaker 1 (2:58) So, and I don't, I will read on my phone in an emergency, but I don't like to me, if I'm reading in bed, it is not preferred to be on my phone. Speaker 2 (3:07) Right. And what about, um, like a paper book? Is that? not an option or i Speaker 1 (3:12) guess i could because technically she's already asleep so i don't have to worry about with when i was putting my middle daughter down i went into the kindle because i would read while she was still awake and so the kindle light wasn't too bright for her right what about a little book light that clips on clips on Speaker 2 (3:26) that's what i my kids haven't it's very now yeah it's very fun i've been i've been really on a paper book train lately and i'm really preferring it i Speaker 1 (3:34) do love a paper book the only thing i think of too is like once she's older if i'm like holding her It's more distracting. And a tube. Speaker 2 (3:41) That and yeah, totally. And like the paper, like the pages get distracting and like they get distracted by light. Speaker 1 (3:49) Exactly. No, Speaker 2 (3:50) but it's so true. Like the brain power that is required. I remember going back to work after my first and he was, I mean, he was older than she is. He was like four and a half months. And I struggled so hard just to like get a basic task done. Speaker 1 (4:05) I Speaker 2 (4:06) was so like. quick and efficient before. And I remember sitting with my principal and the counselor and they were like my people. And they just looked at me at one point during our meeting and they were like, are you okay? Cause you, you, you used to be good at this. Speaker 1 (4:23) Were you like, no. Speaker 2 (4:25) Direct quote. You used to be good at this. I was like. Oh Speaker 1 (4:27) my Speaker 2 (4:27) God. I was like, no, I actually, I cannot tap into like very large parts of my brain. Like they are just. A thousand. Speaker 1 (4:33) They're shut off. Locked Speaker 2 (4:34) away. Inaccessible. Yes. I don't know how to get there. It's Speaker 1 (4:37) like manacled. Like my brain has been sealed off and vaulted and it's the parts that work that have been sealed off. And it's exactly gray mush that is accessible. Speaker 2 (4:49) Well, and it's tough because this book that we read for October, Villa Coco, was a little, it was, it Speaker 1 (4:55) wasn't Speaker 2 (4:56) heavy in like material, but it was not like a light, easy breezy read. Speaker 1 (5:00) Okay, here's the thing about this book. We started and I was like, I'm into this. Like, this is delightful writing. This is an interesting setting. What a quirky character the Baronessa is. And then I think the reason why I couldn't get into the book is it was just the same. over and over and it was it's like okay you set the scene with these people I get it but now what's happening to move on to something like yes what's happening like Speaker 2 (5:27) no I agree and it's funny because I know that this writer first of all the writer is from San Francisco which I didn't realize I was holding the book at gymnastics practice and somebody was like oh he's a Speaker 1 (5:38) local and Speaker 2 (5:39) I guess he is married to a man from Italy so Speaker 1 (5:43) that all makes sense um Speaker 2 (5:45) but Also, like, he's a very prized author. He's written a lot of books before and has, like, won awards. Like, he's a very good author. I don't know if this is his usual style because this is my first book by him. And you didn't like it Speaker 1 (5:58) at all. Speaker 2 (5:59) Well, it was okay. I really skimmed, like, the second half once I realized, okay, the plot is not the point for this book. Right, right. Some books are very plot forward where... the story is really what matters and I feel like for this book that wasn't really the focus it was more right it was Speaker 1 (6:13) just the setting more Speaker 2 (6:14) the setting and the characters and stuff like that but I agree with you I thought it was very slow moving and it just was very repetitive there were lots of Speaker 1 (6:22) guests lots of lots Speaker 2 (6:24) of people coming in and out but it was kind of always the same thing Speaker 1 (6:28) I don't feel like I Speaker 2 (6:29) got a deep enough dive on any one particular character. And that's the Speaker 1 (6:33) thing. Like, I love quirky characters. I really like this book should have been a book I loved and wanted to return to. But it felt like there wasn't enough. It was just, you know, sometimes when you take a bite of a sweet and you're