Mallory's December Pick: Rural Stories by Writers of Color

Brea and Mallory name their most anticipated books for November and December! Plus, they interview the filmmaker behind the new documentary The Librarians, Kim A. Snyder. Email us at readingglassespodcast at gmail dot com!

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The Librarians

 

Books Mentioned - 

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab

Somebody is Walking on Your Grave by Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowell

November

Bitter Honey by Lolá Ákínmádé Åkerström
Literary fiction, mother-daughter relationship, Swedish pop star whose mother is trying to protect her from the past

Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Literary fiction, family curse, a woman whose family believes she is another family member reincarnated

Lucky Seed by Justinian Huang

Literary fiction, matriarch of a wealthy family is pushing her gay nephew to produce an heir for the family

Next Time Will Be Our Turn by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Literary fiction, woman learning the truth of her glamorous grandmother’s star crossed queer love story

That’s Not How It Happened by Craig Thomas
Literary fiction, family whose lives get adapted into a movie and chaos ensues, creator of HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER

The White Hot by Quiara Alegría Hudes
Literary fiction, bad-mom trope, generational trauma, Siddhartha reimagining

Queen Esther by John Irving
Return to the world of The Cider House Rules

 

The Amberglow Candy Store by Hiyoko Kurisu, translated by Matt Treyvaud
Magical realism, a fox spirit who sells magic healing treats to humans

Deeper than the Ocean by Mirta Ojito
Literary fiction, multigenerational, immigration, family ties

The Eleventh Hour by Salman Rushdie
Short stories, magical realism

Palaver by Bryan Washington
Literary fiction, family, healing

The Pelican Child by Joy Williams
Short stories, the struggle of living

Days at the Torunka Cafe by Satoshi Yagisawa, translated by Eric Ozawa
Literary fiction, set in Tokyo, three people find literal and emotional nourishment

The Botanist’s Assistant by Peggy Townsend

Mystery, cozy, research assistant to a botanist must solve a murder

The Mysterious Death of Junetta Plum
Historical mystery, Jazz Age Harlem, woman and her orphaned charge must solve a murder

The Perfect Hosts by Heather Gudenkauf
Thriller, someone dies at a “pistols and pearls” gender reveal party, secrets

Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino
Thriller, satire, competitive real estate market, woman who has lost out on 11 houses will do anything to get her dream home

With Friends Like These by Alissa Lee
Thriller, group of college friends who have been playing a killing game known as The Circus for 20 years

The Burning Library by Gilly Macmillan
Thriller, dark academia, Scotland, rivalling secret orders of women battling to find a medieval manuscript, murder

Turns of Fate by Anne Bishop
Fantasy, contemporary, paranormal detective, start of series

The Nameless Land by Kate Elliot
Fantasy, epic, sequel to The Witch Roads

The Merge by Grace Walker
Sci fi, dystopian, a world where the separate consciousnesses of two people can be put in one body

Brigands and Breadknives by Travis Baldree
Third book of Legends and Lattes

I, Media by Ayana Gray
Historical fiction, retelling, Greek mythology, villain origin story

Aphrodite by Phoenicia Rogerson
Historical fiction, retelling, Greek mythology

Beasts of the Sea by Iida Turpeinen, translated by David Hackston
Historical fiction, Finland, triple timeline, 1700s naturalist, 1850s Alaskan governor finds mysterious skeleton, 1950s museum curator

Last Call at the Savoy by Brisa Carleton
Historical fiction, historian investigating story of first female celebrity bartender

The Mad Wife by Meagan Church
Historical fiction, 1950s housewife, motherhood, identity

The Place Where They Buried Your Heart by Christina Henry
Horror, child disappearance, scary house, woman returning home to confront childhood mystery

The Villa, Once Beloved by Victor Manibo
Horror, gothic, Philippines, diaspora, intergenerational trauma, demons

Second Chance Romance by Olivia Dade
Contemporary romance, small town, plus size heroine, second chance, grumpy/grumpy

Blackthorn by J.T. Geissinger
Dark romance, gothic, paranormal, forbidden, grumpy/grumpy, enemies to lover, dark magic, touch her and die

The Marriage Narrative by Claire Kann
Contemporary romance, reality TV, marriage of convenience

Son of the Morning by Akwaeke Emezi
Romantasy, spicy, set in the Black South, queer, magic

Ember Eternal by Chlore Neill
Romantasy, thief with secret magic, court intrigue/imperial politics

Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Kremphotlz
Romantasy, plant witch and grumpy alchemist must save their small town from a magical plague

The Bookshop Below by Georgia Summers
Romantasy, disgraced bookseller restores a magical bookshop and enters dark underworld of dark ink magic and shady collectors

Book of Lives by Margaret Atwood
Memoir

Cher: The Memoir, Part Two

The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation by Jim Clyburn
Memoir

Queen Mother: Black Nationalism, Reparations, and the Untold Story of Audley Moore by Ashley D. Farmer
Biography of woman who helped found modern Black nationalism and who led the fight for reparations

We Did OK, Kid by Anthony Hopkins
Memoir

Star of the Show: My Life on Stage by Dolly Parton
Memoir

Bread of Angels by Patti Smith
Memoir

100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist’s Guide to a Happy Life by Dick Van Dyke
Autobiography

Black-Owned: The Revolutionary Life of the Black Bookstore by Char Adams
History, the role of Black-owned bookstores in Black political movements throughout U.S. history

Thirst Trap by Gráinne O'Hare
Literary fiction, queer, friendship, moving from late 20s to early 30s

Where There's Room for Us by Hayley Kiyoko
Queer YA romance in reimagined queernorm Victorian England

The Dramatic Life of Jonah Penrose by Robyn Green
Queer romance, Red White and Royal Blue but in the London theater scene

As Many Souls as Stars by Natasha Siegel
Queer romantasy, sapphic, witch and demon caught in game across multiple lifetimes

Petty Lies by Sulmi Bak, translated by Sarah Lyo
Horror, epistolary, four characters locked in a cycle of vengeance

December

The Snake-Eater by T Kingfisher
Fantasy, contemporary, horror, woman leaves the city to live in her late aunt’s house, an ancient god comes to collect on aunt’s unfulfilled promise

The Birdwater by Jacquelyn Mitchard
Literary fiction, journalist investigates a former classmate who is accused of murder

The Time Hop Coffee Shop by Phaedra Patrick
Magical realism, magical coffee which grants you a wish, protagonist wishes to revisit her past so she can change the present

House of Day, House of Night by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones
Reprint of early novel - series of interconnected short stories

The Jaguar’s Roar by Micheliny Verunschk, translated by Juliana Barbassa
Historical fiction, parallel timelines - one is an Indigenous girl in the 1800s who is kidnapped, and another that is a modern woman’s search for her

Tailored Realities by Brandon Sanderson
Fantasy, short stories

Dawn of the Firebird by Sarah Mughal Rana
Fantasy, woman must secretly join enemy’s magical school after her clan is killed, djinn, vengeance

We Will Rise Again edited by Karen Lord, Annalee Newitz, and Malka Older
Spec fic, short stories, essays, protest, resistance, hope, interviews

The Mating Game by Lana Ferguson
Paranormal romance, wolf shifter, Christmas, contemporary

Tender Cruelty by Katee Robert
Dark romance, Hera/Zeus, Greek retelling, spicy

The Dark is Descending by Chloe C. Peñaranda
Third in romantasy trilogy

The Sea Captain’s Wife: A True Story of Mutiny, Love, and Adventure at the Bottom of the World by Tilar J. Mazzeo
History, Gold Rush–era, maritime adventure, Mary Ann Patten - first woman captain of a merchant ship

Galapagos by Fátima Vélez, translated by Hannah Kauders
Weird fiction, queer, group of artists who are dying of AIDS embark on a surreal final voyage through the Galapagos Islands

Song of Ancient Lovers by Laura Restrepo, translated by Caro de Robertis
Fantasy, retelling, mythical love story, Queen of Sheba and King Solomon

Cape Fever by Nadia Davids
Horror, gothic, psychological, historical, 1920s, maid finds herself entangled with the spirits of a decaying manor, secrets

An Anthology of Rural Stories by Writers of Color edited by Deesha Philyaw
Short stories

Winter Stories by Ingvild Rishøi
Short stories

Secrets of the First School by TL Huchu
Final Edinburgh Nights book

Better in Black: Ten Stories of Shadowhunter Romance by Cassandra Clare
Short stories

The Happiness Collector by Crystal King
Spec fic, a historian’s dream job in Italy takes a dark turn when she discovers her employers aren’t human

The Last Vampire by Romina Garber
YA dark fantasy, boarding school, Pride and Prejudice meets Crave

The Library of Fates by Margot Harrison
Romantasy, two former classmates race to find a rare book that can foretell your future if you confess a secret from your past

A Grim Reaper's Guide to Cheating Death by Maxie Dara
Cozy fantasy mystery, when a killer targets her brother, a grim reaper risks everything to save him

Romantasy Cocktails by Jassy Davis
Cooking

A Steep and Savage Path by JJA Harwood
Romantasy, vampires, dark romance, enemies to lovers, journey to the underworld

We Who Will Die by Stacia Stark
Romantasy, Ancient Rome, Rome-antasy, vampires, slow burn, magic creatures, gods

An Arcane Inheritance by Kamilah Cole
Fantasy, dark academia, magic university, secret society

Murder in Manhattan by Julie Mulhern
Mystery, historical, female reporter solving crimes in the glamorous world of the rich and famous in 1920s Manhattan

Her Time Traveling Duke by Bryn Donovan
Romantasy, time travel, grumpy-sunshine, love spells brings a Regency duke to modern times

Seeing Other People by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
Paranormal romance, two people literally haunted by their exes

Everyone in the Group Chat Dies by L.M. Chilton
Mystery, funny, 90s serial killer, TikTok true crime investigator

Twin Tides by Hien Nguyen
YA horror, long-lost twin sisters unravel the mystery behind their mother's disappearance