Ep 369 - Most Anticipated Books for August and September!

Reading Glasses

Brea and Mallory talk about their most anticipated books for August and September, test out coaster bookmarks, and give advice for people who hate hardcovers. Email us at readingglassespodcast at gmail dot com!

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Books Mentioned -

Loneliness and Company by Charlee Dyroff

The Girl Who Slept with God by Val Brelinski

August

There is a Rio Grande in Heaven by Ruben Reyes Jr
SFF short stories

Jellyfish Have No Ears by Adele Rosenfeld, translated by Jeffrey Zuckerman
Literary fiction about deafness

There’s Nothing Wrong With Her by Kate Weinburg

Literary fiction, mental health, funny, chronic illness, speculative

Hum by Helen Phillips
Sci fi thriller, dystopian, marriage, motherhood, selfhood

The Axeman’s Carnival by Catherine Chidgey

Literary fiction, funny, bird protagonist

We Were Pretending by Hannah Gersen
Literary fiction, female friendship, mushrooms, Canada

Times Agent by Brenda Peynado

Grief, motherhood, late stage capitalism and pocket worlds (a geographically small world hidden within our reality)

Clickbait by Holly Baxter

Debut literary fiction, hilarious, life falling apart

The Italy Letters by Vi Khi Nao

Queer literary fiction, epistolary, Las Vegas, queer love

Godzilla and the Song Bird by Manzu Islam

Historical fiction, Bangladesh, brothers, cinema

There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak

Historical fiction, multiple timelines, Gilgamesh

The Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable

Historical fiction, music, violins, Venice, 1700s

Mystery Lights by Lena Valencia

Literary short stories set in the desert

One Hundred Shadows by Hwang Jungeun, translated by Jung Yewon

SFF, magical realism, Seoul, capitalism

The Sunforce by Sascha Stronach

Queer fantasy, sequel to The Dawnhounds

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston

Queer romance, two disaster bisexual exes on a European tour

How to Leave the House by Nathan Newman

Gay literary fiction, small town secrets, quirky characters

The Palace of Eros by Caro de Robertis
Queer Greek myth retelling of Psyche and Eros

Voyage of the Damned by Frances White
Queer romantasy, murder mystery on a magical ship

Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore
Queer spooky romance, ghosts

Wild Failure by Zoe Whitall

Queer feminist short stories

The Other Ones by Fran Hart

YA spooky queer romance

Rise and Divine by Lana Harper

Lesbian witch romance

Prince of the Palisades by Julian Winters

Gay YA romance, Los Angeles

A Bahn Mi for Two by Trinity Nguyen

YA sapphic foodie romance

A Grand Love - Stories for Grandparents of Trans Grandchildren by Janna Barkin

Nonfiction

Queer as Folklore - The Hidden Queer History of Myths and Monsters by Sasha Coward
Nonfiction

Confounding Oaths by Alexis Hall

Gay romantasy, historical

Hers for the Weekend by Helena Greer
Sapphic opposites-attract romance, fake dating

Come Out, Come Out by Natalie C. Parker
Queer YA horror, trans characters, ghosts

Full Shift by Jennifer Dugan and Kit Seaton

Queer YA graphic novel, werewolves
You’re the Problem, It’s You by Emma R. Alban

Gay enemies-to-lovers Victorian romance

The Unmothers by Leslie J. Anderson

Folk horror, small town, female rage

The Dark We Know by Wen-yi Lee-Ya

YA horror, queer, small town, an Entity

Helga by Catherine Yu

YA horror, satire, science experiment makes a girl and she escapes into the world

Sacrificial Animals by Kailee Pedersen

Horror, Chinese mythology, returning to a small town

The Madness by Dawn Kurtagich

Horror, feminist Dracula retelling

The Volcano Daughters by Gina Maria Balibrera

Historical fiction, sisterhood, El Salvador, California, Paris, ghosts

Blackheart Man by Nalo Hopkinson

Fantasy, magical island, witches, demons, polyamory, myths

The Silence Factory by Bridget Collins

Historical fiction, gothic, powerful family, magic silk, 1800s

Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid

Feminist Macbeth retelling

Peggy by Rebecca Godfrey

Imagined life of Peggy Guggenheim

The Story Collector by Evie Woods

Historical fiction, book about books, Ireland, small town, fairies (not horny ones)

The Seventh Veil by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Historical fiction, 1950s Hollywood

The Ghost Cat by Alex Howard
Historical Fantasy, 1910s, cat who becomes a ghost who witnesses history

Truly Madly Magically by Hazel Beck

Book 3 of Witchlore Series

Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud

Horror novella, historical sci fi, hospital experiments

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
Sci fi, cat sidekick, veteran protagonist, trapped in a fantasy dungeon video game

Asunder by Kerstin Hall

Fantasy, Sabriel meets Witch King

She Who Knows by Nnedi Okorafor
West African SFF novella in the Who Fears Death universe

The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki, translated by Jesse Kirkwood

Japanese cozy fantasy, talking cats, magic coffee shop

A Werewolf’s Guide to Seducing a Vampire by Sarah Hawley

Supernatural romance, werewolves, vampires

Glass Houses by Madeline Ashby

Sci fi thriller, AI, deserted island, women in tech, near future whodunit

The Phoenix Keeper by S.A. Maclean

Romantasy, cozy, magic zoo

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djeli Clark

Fantasy novella, gods, assassins, magic city

The Coven by Harper L. Woods

Vampire romantasy

Strange Folk by Alli Dyer

Fantasy, Appalachia, magic estranged family, debut

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

Fantasy, Goose Girl reimagining, Brothers Grimm, magic, murder

Full Speed to a Crash Landing by Beth Revis

Sci fi novella, sexy space heist

The Leap Year Gene of Kit McKinley by Shelley Wood

Historical sci fi, time traveling, genetics

Bite by Bill Schutt
Micro history of teeth

I Want to Die But I Still Want to Eat Tteobokki by Baek Sehee, translated by Anton Hurr

Nonfiction, sequel

Everyday Rituals by Pearl Katz

Nonfiction about the power of routine and ritual

Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallow Marlowe

Debut romance, cryptid hunter and producer learn to fall in love again while looking for Mothman and aliens

Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks

Opposites attract romance with a mortician and a widow

Dark Restraint by Katee Roberts

Smutty minotaur/Ariadne romance

Second Tide’s The Charm by Chandra Blumberg
Second chance marine biologist romance, sharks!!!

The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava

Workplace Native rom-com

Queen of Dreams by Kit Rocha
Poly romantasy, sexy people fighting ancient evil

House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias

Thriller, coming of age, teens seeking vengeance for a murder

The Antique Store Detective by Clare Chase
Cozy mystery, small town, antiques

Better Left Buried by Mary E. Roach
YA thriller, teen girls solving mysteries in an abandoned amusement park

Eye of the Beholder by Emma Bamford
Thriller, inspired by Vertigo, Scottish highlands, beauty industry

Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson
YA mystery, historical island mansion, queer

Wordhunter by Stella Sands
Mystery, detective with uncanny ability to analyze words and speech patterns

Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown
Thriller, secret society, upper class secrets

Dear Hanna by Zoje Stage

Follow up to Baby Teeth

I Need You to Read This by Jessa Maxwell

Mystery, advice columnist solving her predecessor’s murder

Highway Thirteen by Fiona McFarlane

Interconnected short stories about the same serial killer

Talking to Stranger by Fiona Barton
Thriller, detective and reporter racing each other to a solve a murder

We Love the Nightlife by Rachel Koller Croft
Thriller, vampires, toxic female friendship, 1970s London disco scene

Scrap by Calla Henkel
Thriller, true crime obsessed artist hired by insanely wealthy family with dark secrets

The Naturalist’s Daughter by Tea Cooper

Historical thriller, platypus mystery!!!

September

Babe in the Woods by Julie Heffernan

Graphic novel, literary, motherhood, lost in the woods, memory

We’ll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida, translated by E. Madison Shimoda

Literary fiction, Japanese, healing power of cats

Dawnland by Tess Callahan

Literary fiction, Cape Cod, family secrets

Where the Forest Meets the River by Shannon Bowring
Queer literary fiction, Maine, small town, grief

Please Fear Me by Jennifer Love
Queer literary fiction, teen runaway, circus, coming of age
Still Life by Katherine Packet Burke
Queer literary fiction, queer friendship, trans characters, womanhood

Playground by Richard Powers
Literary fiction, multiple POVs, ocean setting

Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White
YA thriller, trans protagonist, Appalachia, classism, ghosts

Celestial Monsters by Aiden Thomas
Book 2 of Sunbearer duology
This Fatal Kiss by Alicia Jasinka
YA poly romantasy, magic, fairytales
Old Wounds by Logan-Ashley Kisner
YA trans horror, small town, monster, sacrifice
Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune

Sequel to The House in the Cerulean Sea

The World is Not Yours by Kemi Ashing-Giwa

Sci fi novella, space horror

Spells to Forget Us by Aislinn Brophy

Witchy YA sapphic romance
A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft

Dark academia sapphic romantasy

At the End of the River Styx by Michelle Kulwicki
Queer YA Horror, curses, monsters

Love and Sportsball by Meka James
Sapphic sports romance

Flamboyants - The Queer Harlem Renaissance I Wish I’d Known by George M. Johnson

Nonfiction

The Haunting of Moscow House by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore

Gothic horror, historical Russia, haunted house

The Night Guest by Hildur Knutsdottir, translated by Mary Robinette Kowal
Horror, Iceland, grief, possession

So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison
Horror, vampires, female satisfaction

Such Lovely Skin by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne

YA horror, doppelgangers

Ruin Road by Lamar Giles
YA horror, curses, high school

Dearest by Jacquie Walters
Stressed mom horror

We Are Hunted by Tomi Oyemakinde
YA horror, White Lotus meets Jurassic Park

The Thirteenth Child by Erin A. Craig

YA horromance, dark fairytale

Sweetest Darkness by Leslie Lutz
YA horror, psychic teen, abandoned hotel

Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton

Horror, Southern gothic, demons, angels

In the Garden of Monsters by Crystal King
Historical fiction, Hades and Persephone retelling, gothic romance, evil garden

What We Sacrifice for Magic by Andrea Jo DeWera
Historical fiction, witches, 1960s, Minnesota, family, small town

The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk

Historical fiction, 1913, Poland, WWI, sanitarium

The Vampire of Kings Street by Asha Greyling

Historical fantasy, 1800s New York, vampires, law

The Light Between Us by Elaine Chiew

Historical speculative romance, 1920s Singapore

The Booklover’s Library by Madeline Martin
Historical fiction, London, mother-daughter relationship, books

The Shadow Key by Susan Stokes-Chapman
Historical fiction, 1700s Wales, gothic, isolated estate, secrets

The Mesmerist by Caroline Woods
Historical thriller, 1890s Minneapolis, woman banding together to stand a serial killer

The Lantern of Lost Memories by Sanaka Hiiragi, translated by Jesse Kirkwood
Cozy Japanese fantasy, magical photo studio, afterlife

Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood

Debut cozy fantasy, witches, burnout
Bringer of Dust by J.M. Miro

Sequel to Ordinary Monsters
Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Sci fi epic, space, aliens, politics

An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson
Dark academia, magic school, dark fantasy

We Need No Wings by Ann Davila Cardinal
Fantasy, grief, love, flying
The Scarlet Throne by Amy Leow

Political epic fantasy, talking cats, demons, power and corruption

Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell
Sci fi, world with no white people

This Will be Fun by E. B. Asher
Cozy quest romantasy, Prince Bride comp, friendship

Lucy Undying by Kiersten White
Fantasy, Dracula retelling, gothic

Bright I Burn by Molly Aitken
Historical fantasy, Ireland, witches
Vilest Things by Chloe Gong

Sequel to Immortal Longings

Haunt Sweet Home by Sarah Pinsker

Horror, ghosts, reality show, TV production, new adult

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig
Fantasy, magic, hope

The Cottage Around the Corner by D.L. Soria

Romantasy, mage-witch rivalry, rom com, small town

The Village Library Demon Hunting Society by C.M. Waggoner
Librarian solving supernatural murders

The Midnight Club by Margot Harrison
Fantasy, dark academia, friend reunion

Space Oddity by Catherynne M. Valente
Sequel to Space Opera
Buried Deep and Other Stories by Naomi Novik

Fantasy short stories

Horror for Weenies by Emily C. Hughes
Nonfiction, crash course in horror movies

The Extinction of Experience by Christine Losen
Nonfiction, how to experience being human in a digital world

Bone of the Bone by Sarah Smarsh
Nonfiction, essays on the working class

Magically Black and Other Essays by Jerald Walker

Nonfiction on Black culture

By the Fire We Carry by Rebecca Nagle
Nonfiction, fight for Native land

Book and Dagger by Elyse Graham

Nonfiction, WWII librarian spies

The Book Swap by Tessa Bickers
Bookish second chance romance
Sunshine and Spice by Aurora Palit
Opposites attract fake dating, cooking

My Vampire Plus One by Jenna Levine
Fake dating rom-com with a vampire

A Jingle Bell Mingle by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone

Christmas rom-com, forced proximity

The Worst Duke in London by Amalie Howard

Historical romance, Bridgerton meets 10 Things I Hate About You

The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel
Mystery, old friends reunite in a Hitchcock-themed hotel, murder

Guide Me Home by Attica Locke
Third in Highway 59 trilogy

Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie R. Rendon

Thriller, Native woman solving disappearances and murder

Passiontide by Monique Roffey
Thriller, local island women banding together to solve murder

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
Father/daughter murder solving, thriller

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees by Patrick Horvath and Hassan Otsmane Elhaou
Graphic novel thriller, Richard Scarry meets Dexter
William by Mason Coile
Sci fi thriller, cyber noir, psychological thriller, house haunted by AI

Bitter is the Heart by Mina Hardy
Horror, generational trauma, evil mom

The Curse of the Dead Man’s Diamond by Christyne Morrell

Middle grade mystery, haunted manor, ghosts

Snake Oil by Kelsey Rae Dimburg

Literary thriller, wellness culture, female ambition

The Most Famous Girl in the World by Iman Hariri-Kia
Thriller, satire, celebrity culture, obsession

The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco by Michelle Chouinard
Mystery, granddaughter of a serial killer must solve copy cat murder