October Shared Picks: Kwan Berry and Catriona Ward

Brea and Mallory talk about their most anticipated books for September and October! Email us at readingglassespodcast at gmail dot com!

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Readathon - 9/13

Glasser Book Club Pick - The Bewitching

Books Mentioned -

The Good House by Tananarive Due

Another by Paul Tremblay

September

 

Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy
Nonfiction, memoir, mother/daughter relationship, India

Hot Desk by Laura Dickerman
Romance, book world, rival book editors

Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross
Set in the Divine Rivals universe

All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert
Memoir, love, queer, addiction, codependency

The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown
New Robert Langdon book

History Matters by David McCullough
Essay collection

Awake by Jen Hatmaker
Memoir, grief, divorce, infidelity, marriage

What Can We Know by Ian McEwan
Sci fi, a hundred years in the future an academic searches for a mysterious poem read out loud in 2014

What a Time to Be Alive by Jade Chang
Grieving broke young woman accidentally become viral self help guru

It’s Me They Follow by Jeannine Cook
Magical realism, bookstore owner helps people find love through books but is lonely herself

Best Woman by Rose Dommu
Literary fiction, family dramedy, coming-of-age, trans protagonist, wedding drama

The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy
Literary fiction, female friendship across 25 years

Vianne by Joanne Harris
Sequel to Chocolat

Whatever Happened to Lori Lovely? by Sarah McCoy
Literary fiction, 1950s actress leaves to become a nun

Life and Death and Giants by Ron Rindo
Literary fiction, teenage boy who is almost eight feet tall and changes people who meet him

The Healing Hippo of Hinode Park by Michiko Aoyama, translated by Takami Nieda
Literary fiction, feel good, Japan, people get emotionally healed by a hippo ride at a playground

We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad
Weird fiction, both prequel and sequel to Bunny

One of Us by Dan Chaon
Horror, historical, 1915, orphaned twins on the run join a carnival

Dinner at the Night Library by Hika Harada, translated by Philip Gabriel
Literary, Japan, food, Tokyo library/cafe that is only open at night and serves meals inspired by books by dead authors

A Different Kind of Tension by Jonathan Lethem
Short stories, literary, surreal, specific

Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood
Literary, woman with strange disease starts to lose grip on reality in pandemic

Little Movements by Lauren Morrow
Literary, race, class, art, small town, choreography

Sympathy Tower Tokyo by Rie Qudan, translated by Jesse Kirkwood
Sci fi, Japan, near future, architect designing a skyscraper for housing criminals becomes friends with chatbot

The Killer Question by Janice Hallett
Mystery, amateur sleuth must solve a murder set during pub trivia, clubs are revealed through trivia questions, texts, and emails

A Killer Wedding by Joan O’Leary
Mystery, matriarch of ultra-rich Irish family is found dead at expensive wedding

A Murderous Business by Cathy Pegau
Mystery, queer, historical, NYC

A Rather Peculiar Poisoning by Chrystal Schleyer
Historical cozy mystery, turn of the century, two brothers vie for the same woman, one gets poisoned

The Librarians by Sherry Thomas
Mystery, four librarians band together after two patrons show up dead

The Belles by Lacey N. Dunham
Thriller, dark academia, historical, 1950s, secluded college

Old Money by Kelsey Miller
Thriller, returning to a small town twenty years later to solve murder of family member

Hot Wax by M. L. Rio
Thriller, rock and roll, road trip

Witch You Would by Lia Amador
Contemporary romance, paranormal, low stakes, witches

Sweet Heat by Bolu Babalola
Contemporary romance, second chance, wedding drama

The Austen Affair by Madeline Bell
Paranormal romance, feuding stars of an Austen film adaptation accidentally travel back in time

It Seemed Like a Good Idea by Lauren Blakely
Contemporary romance, small town, rom com, grumpy/sunshine, bodyguard, mistaken identity, forbidden romance, only one bed

Every Step She Takes by Alison Cochrun
Queer contemporary romance, travel, Portugal, sapphic, “practice” relationship that turns real

It Had to be Him by Adib Khorram
Gay contemporary romance, spicy, second chance, former classmates reuniting in Italy

Lady Like by Mackenzi Lee
Historical queer romance, Regency, two women vying for the same duke fall in love with each other

The Most Unusual Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy by Roan Parrish
Gay contemporary romance, New Orleans, low stakes, ghosts, toasty, haunts

By the Horns by Ruby Dixon
Second book in Royal Artifactual Guild series

Witch of the Wolves by Kaylee Archer
Romantasy, witches, werewolves, Victorian, enemies to lovers

Spellcaster by Jaymin Eve
Romantasy, slow burn, dark academia, enemies to lovers, spicy, magic

What Fury Brings by Tricia Levenseller
Romantasy, spicy, princess in matriarchal fantasy world must kidnap a husband to become queen

The Shattering Peace by John Scalzi
Old Man’s War, book 7

A Ruin, Great and Free by Cadwell Turnbull
The Convergence Saga, book 3

The First Thousand Trees by Premee Mohamed
Annual Migration of Clouds, book 3

Sunward by William Alexander
Low stakes sci fi, found family, space, courier training androids

Extremity by Nicholas Binge
Sci fi horror, time travel, police procedural, end of the world, Philip K Dick meets True Detective

Thief of Night by Holly Black
Sequel to Book of Night

The Formidable Miss Cassidy by Meihan Boey
Fantasy, horror, supernatural creatures, historical, Singapore, governess

Fate’s Bane by C.L. Clark
Novella, sapphic romantasy, tragic, adventure, warring clans

A Land So Wide by Erin A. Craig
Historical romantasy, gothic, Scottish fairytale retelling, Canadian wilderness

The Macabre by Kosoko Jackson
Queer horror, art history, gay, fantasy, cursed paintings

Saltcrop by Yume Kitasei
Sci fi, cli fi, dystopian, two sisters on search for third

The Maiden and Her Monster by Maddie Martinez
Sapphic romantasy, Jewish folklore, gothic horror, golems

The Faerie Morgana by Louisa Morgan
Fantasy, Morgan le Fay reimagining

The Summer War by Naomi Novik
Fantasy novella, young witch trying to undo spell

Among the Burning Flowers by Samantha Shannon
Fantasy, prequel to Priory of the Orange Tree

Uncharmed by Lucy Jane Wood
Romantasy, low stakes, witches, found family

Acquired Taste by Clay McLeod Chapman
Horror, short stories

The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre by Philip Fracassi
Horror, funny, final girl, slasher

Spread Me by Sarah Gailey
Horror, erotic, novella, sci fi, mysterious specimen in remote lab breaks free

Play Nice by Rachel Harrison
Horror, haunted house

Fiend by Alma Katsu
Horror, powerful family with evil secrets

We Are Always Tender with Our Dead by Eric LaRocca
Horror, queer, small town, New England, violence, gore

Galloway’s Gospel by Sam Rebelein
Horror, cult, small town

Why I Love Horror by Becky Spratford
Nonfiction anthology with essays about horror

The October Film Haunt by Michael Wehunt
Horror, cult horror movie, filmmaking

You Weren’t Meant to be Human by Andrew Joseph White
Queer horror, Alien meets Midsommar

What Stalks the Deep by T. Kingfisher
Sworn Soldier, book 3

I Want to Be Where the Song Is by Mary J. Blige
Memoir

Still Bobbi by Bobbi Brown
Memoir, makeup industry

The Improbable Victoria Woodhull: Suffrage, Free Love, and the First Woman To Run for President by Eden Collinsworth
Women’s history

Articulate: A Deaf Memoir of Voice by Rachel Renee Kolb
Memoir

Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Education of an Artist by Daniel Pollack-Pelzner
Biography

Truly by Lionel Richie
Memoir

Night People: How To Be a DJ in ’90s New York City by Mark Ronson
Memoir

Super Natural: How Life Thrives in Impossible Places by Alex Riley
Science, creatures who live in extreme environments

Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach
Science, human body

October

The Irish Goodbye by Heather Aimee O’Neill
Literary fiction, sisters returning home, Long Island, family secrets

Overdue by Stephanie Perkins
Literary fiction, librarian protagonist, couple agrees to a month of dating other people before they get married

Tom’s Crossing by Mark Z. Danielewski
Epic Western, 1980s, Utah, two friends determined to rescue a pair of horses

The Devil is a Southpaw
Literary fiction, story within a story, teen escaping from a detention center

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

Bad Bad Girl by Gish Jen
Auto-fiction, mother-daughter relationship, China, moving to US

Soyangri Book Kitchen by Jee-hye Kim, translated by Shanna Tan
Literary fiction, woman opens bookstore/cafe and transforms community

Heart the Lover by Lily King
Prequel/sequel to Writers and Lovers

The Lucky Ride by Yasushi Kitagawa, translated by Takami Nieda
Magical realism, a depressed man takes a magical taxi that changes his life

The Land of Sweet Forever by Harper Lee
Short stories, essay collection

Bog Queen by Anna North
Literary fiction, forensic anthropologist investigates strange ancient body found in bog

Minor Black Figures by Brandon Taylor
Literary fiction, NYC, queer, Blackness, art world

Menu of Happiness by Hisashi Kashiwai, translated by Jesse Kirkwood
Kamogawa Food Detectives, book 3

We Had a Hunch by Tom Ryan
Mystery, 3 former famous teen detectives return home to solve a new murder

Mockingbird Court by Juneau Black
Shady Hollow, book 6

Mirage City by Lev AC Rosen
Evander Mills, book 4

The Wayfinder by Adam Johnson
Historical fiction, Polynesian Islands, young girl on quest to save her people

Christmas at the Women’s Hotel by Daniel M. Lavery
Sequel to Women’s Hotel

The Women of Artemis by Hannah Lynn
Greek retelling, Amazon warriors building an army to fight abusive men

I am Cleopatra by Natasha Solomons
Cleopatra reimagining

The Haunting of Paynes Hollow by Kelley Armstrong
Horror, strange inheritance, lakefront cottage, secrets, something in lake

The Unveiling by Quan Barry
Horror, survival horror, film scout on cruise to Antarctic, gets stuck

Girl Dinner by Olivie Blake
Horror, dark academia, exclusive sorority with secrets

Herculine by Grace Byron
Horror, woman stalked by malevolent force flees to commune of trans women in Indiana

The Last Witch by C.J. Cooke
Historical horror, 1400s Austria, witchcraft, witch hunts

If the Dead Belong Here by Carson Faust
Horror, Indigenous Southern gothic, family ghosts, search for missing kid

King Sorrow by Joe Hill
Horror, dark academia, rare book thief, dragon who wants blood

Crafting for Sinners by Jenny Kiefer
Horror, queer, religious cult, crafting

The Hong Kong Widow by Kristen Loesch
Historical horror, 1950s Hong Kong, competition between mediums in a haunted house

Futility by Nuzo Onoh
Horror, Nigeria, women summoning spirit to get revenge on bad men

Her Wicked Roots by Tanya Pell
Horror, queer reimagining of Rappaccini’s Daughter

The Graceview Patient by Caitling Starling
Horror, autoimmune disease, experimental medical trial at weird hospital

Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward
Horror, abandoned ranch of infamous movie star becomes refuge for teen runaways…but with a price

The Salvage by Anbara Salam
Horror, historical, gothic, Scotland, haunted shipwreck

The Devil She Knows by Alexandria Bellefleur
Sapphic paranormal romance, deal with a sexy demon

Mate by Ali Hazelwood
Sequel to Bride

When I Picture You by Sasha Laurens
Queer contemporary romance, sapphic, music, forced proximity, workplace romance

Julia Song is Undateable by Susan Lee
Contemporary romance, high powered CEO hires dating coach

Thirsty by Lucy Lehane
Gay vampire romance, rom-com, screwball comedy, enemies to lovers

Cover Story by Mhairi McFarlane
Contemporary romance, fake dating, office culture

Dealing with a Desperate Demon by Charlotte Stein
Paranormal romance, bookstore owner, demon, magic

And Then There Was the One by Martha Waters
Historical romance, 1930s England, murder mystery

Our Vicious Oaths by N.E. Davenport
Romantasy, magic, political intrigue, enemies to lovers

The Ordeals by Rachel Greenlaw
Romantasy, elite magical college, deadly trials, dark academia, supernatural creatures

Cinder House by Freya Marske
Romantasy, queer, Gothic romance, sapphic, Cinderella retelling

The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri
Romantasy, historical, sapphic, medieval folklore, Britain, knight and witch

Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber
Fantasy, romantasy, dark academia, historical, Los Angeles, magic

The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
Fantasy, romance, genre-bendy, reluctant lady knight and historian travel through time to rewrite their fates

When They Burned the Butterfly by Wen-yi Lee
Fantasy, sapphic, reimagining of the secret societies of postcolonial Singapore

All That We See or Seem by Ken Lie
Sci fi thriller, hacking, technology, virtual reality mystery

Red City by Marie Lu
Fantasy, romance, alternative Los Angeles, magic warfare, dystopia

Witches of Dubious Origin by Jenn McKinlay
Low stakes fantasy, books, witches, magic, New England

The Women of Wild Hill by Kirsten Miller
Fantasy, modern day witches waging war on the patriarchy

Psychopomp and Circumstance by Eden Royce
Fantasy, Southern gothic, historical, post Reconstruction, family funeral drama

Kill the Beast by Serra Swift
Fantasy, The Witcher meets Howl’s Moving Castle

Queen Demon by Martha Wells
Rising World, book 2

A Mouthful of Dust by Nghi Vo
Singing Hills, book 6

The Uncool by Cameron Crowe
Memoir

Vagabond by Tim Curry

Memoir

Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey through the Space-Time Continuum by Michael J. Fox and Nelle Fortenberry
Memoir

Joyride by Susan Orlean

Memoir, creativity

Pride and Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution by Amanda Vaill
History

The Man of Many Fathers by Roy Wood Jr.
Memoir

Queer Enlightenments: A Hidden History of Lovers, Lawbreakers, and Homemakers by Anthony Delaney
History

The Zorg: A Tale of Greed and Murder That Inspired the Abolition of Slavery Siddharth Kara

Letter from Japan by Marie Kondo and Marie Iida
Nonfiction, Japanese customs that inspired Kondo’s philosophy