Book Lounge by Libby

Starting the new year off right with our MOST anticipated books of 2023! This list was so hard to narrow down and we're surely missing a lot of releases, but here are some of the titles we cannot wait to read this year. Emma, Joe, and Jill also chat about our undying love for Santino Fontana, the struggle in pronouncing character names from fantasy books aloud, a term we're coining "murder-coms," Joe's chat with Grady Hendrix, MLMs, gothic stories and manifesting the release of the next Crescent City book from Sarah J. Maas.Jill’s Picks  The Teachers by Alexandra Robbins  I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai  Reckoning by V (formally Eve Ensler)  Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer  How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix  The Golden Frog Games by Claribel A Ortega  She is a haunting by Trang Thanh Tran  The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor  VenCo by Cherie Dimaline  Kiss me in the Coral Lounge by Helen Ellis   Emma’s Picks  Happy Place by Emily Henry   A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon  Silver in the Bone by Alexandra Bracken   A Twisted Love Story by Samantha Downing   Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong   Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey (and Unfortunately Yours)   A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand   Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison   Bring Me Your Midnight by Rachel Griffen   The Brothers Hawthorne by Jennifer Lynn Barnes    Joe’s Picks  In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune  For You and Only You by Caroline Kepnes  The Only One Left by Riley Sager   The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q Sutanto  Old Babes in the Wood by Margaret Atwood  Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby  The Male Gazed by Manuel Betancourt  The Sun and the Void by Gabriela Romero Lacruz  Zero Days by Ruth Ware  Readers can sample and borrow the titles mentioned in today's episode on OverDrive.com or in Libby. Library friends can shop these titles in OverDrive Marketplace here.We hope you enjoy this episode of the Professional Book Nerds podcast. Be sure to rate, review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen! You can follow the Professional Book Nerds on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok @ProBookNerds. Want to reach out? Send an email to professionalbooknerds@overdrive.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join Joe for a conversation with Grady Hendrix! They talk about his new book, How to Sell a Haunted House, writing structure, Lemony Snicket, and just what it takes to empty out the clutter of a life gone by.Readers can sample and borrow the titles mentioned in today's episode on OverDrive.com or in Libby. Library friends can shop these titles in OverDrive Marketplace.We hope you enjoy this episode of the Professional Book Nerds podcast. Be sure to rate, review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen! You can follow the Professional Book Nerds on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok @ProBookNerds. Want to reach out? Send an email to professionalbooknerds@overdrive.com. We’ve got merch! Check out our two shirts in The OverDrive Shop (all profits are donated to the ALA Literacy Clearinghouse). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the podcast, the Professional Book Nerds are here to share the prompts for 2023's reading challenge! We read some completed entries from last year's challenge, share the prompts for this year, and tell you what prompt we're most excited about. This episode marks an important milestone for Emma and Joe, too! :)This year's challenge includes: Greek myth retelling  A popular YA series  Book you ONLY picked for the cover  Book with a map  Audiobook narrated by the author  The highest or lowest rated book on your TBR  A book with a bilingual character  A cookbook & make a recipe  Read a poetry collection  Read a friend’s FAVORITE book  A book by an author with a pen name  A book about found family  Books mentioned in this episode: We are the Brennans by Tracey Lange The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener Cemetery Boys by Aidan Thomas Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller Verity by Colleen Hoover The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno- Garcia It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte There, There by Tommy Orange Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall Readers can sample and borrow the titles mentioned in today's episode on OverDrive.com or in Libby. Library friends can shop these titles in OverDrive Marketplace here. We hope you enjoy this episode of the Professional Book Nerds podcast. Be sure to rate, review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen! You can follow the Professional Book Nerds on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok @ProBookNerds. Want to reach out? Send an email to professionalbooknerds@overdrive.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on the pod, Joe chats with Ana Reyes about her debut title (and Reese's Book Club January pick) The House in the Pines. They talk about writing twists, researching in your hometown, and why she thought TS Elliot was her mother's enemy!Readers can sample and borrow the titles mentioned in today's episode on OverDrive.com or in Libby. Library friends can shop these titles in OverDrive Marketplace.We hope you enjoy this episode of the Professional Book Nerds podcast. Be sure to rate, review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen! You can follow the Professional Book Nerds on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok @ProBookNerds. Want to reach out? Send an email to professionalbooknerds@overdrive.com. We’ve got merch! Check out our two shirts in The OverDrive Shop (all profits are donated to the ALA Literacy Clearinghouse). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's episode, Jill is joined by Sydney and Jane to share juvenile and young adult titles that showcase body diversity. They share what (if any) representation they saw when they were kids, discuss of these types of books for young readers, and even offer some romance novels with fat bodies for those adults looking for something to read.Books mentioned in this episode:Bodies Are Cool by Tyler Feder Starfish by Lisa Fipps 45 Lbs (More or Less) by Kelly Barson Taking Up Space by Alysen Gerber My Eyes Are Up Here by Laura Zimmerman Beautifully Me by Nabela Noor Smaller Sister by Maggie Edkins Willis How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland Dark and Starless Forest by Sarah Hollowell Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone The Brown Sisters books by Talia Hibbert Any book by Olivia Dade Brontorina by James Howe Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle Hilda Must be Dancing by Karma Wilson Laxmi's Mooch by Shelly Anand Eat Your Heart Out by Kelly deVos Fat Angie by E.E. Charlton-Trujillo Dumplin by Julie Murphy Puddin by Julie Murphy Pumpkin by Julie Murphy Dear Sweet Pea by Julie Murphy Every Body Shines by Cassandra Newbould The Other F Word ed. By Angie Manfredi We hope you enjoy this episode of the Professional Book Nerds podcast. Be sure to rate, review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen! You can follow the Professional Book Nerds on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok @ProBookNerds. Want to reach out? Send an email to professionalbooknerds@overdrive.com. We’ve got merch! Check out our two shirts in The OverDrive Shop (all profits are donated to the ALA Literacy Clearinghouse). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aubrey Gordon, co-host of Maintenance Phase, comes on the Professional Book Nerds to talk about her new book "You Just Need to Lose Weight!" and 19 other myths about fat people. She and Jill discuss some of the myths contained in her book, Taylor Swift's "Anti Hero" music video, and ways to break free from yet again setting a diet-related New Year resolution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2023 is almost here, and with it comes a new month of amazing books we can't wait to read!Emma’s Picks  Spare by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex   Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica   Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo   The Villa by Rachel Hawkins  Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey   Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn   Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert    Jill’s Picks  You Just Need to Lose Weight by Aubrey Gordon  Regrets Only by Kieran Scott  The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz  Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor  They’re Watching You by Chelsea Ichaso  Sorry, Bro by Taleen Voskuni  River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer   Joe’s Picks  City of Nightmares by Rebecca Schaeffer  Love, Pamela by Pamela Anderson  What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall  One – Simple One-Pan Wonders by Jamie Oliver  The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff  The Survivalists by Kashana Cauley  Please Report Your Bug Here by Josh Riedel  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emma chats with Scarlett St. Clair about her new book, Queen of Myth and Monsters! They discuss where the action picks up with Adrian and Isolde after King of Battle and Blood, morally grey characters, what growth we might see for these characters in this world in future books, Grimm retellings, how librarians helped Scarlett enjoy reading romance, and more.Note: We had some audio difficulties with this episode. We don't think it impacts the conversation, but we apologize that it isn't the best. Book's mentioned in this episode:Hades x Persephone seriesAnastasia by Sophie LarkGrimm retellings (The Rose Elf)We hope you enjoy this episode of the Professional Book Nerds podcast. Be sure to rate, review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen! You can follow the Professional Book Nerds on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok @ProBookNerds. Want to reach out? Send an email to professionalbooknerds@overdrive.com. We’ve got merch! Check out our two shirts in The OverDrive Shop (all profits are donated to the ALA Literacy Clearinghouse). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emma, Joe, and Jill discuss the best books they read this year! Join for a lively conversation about the books the nerds loved the most. We loved these books so much that Joe refers to "before" and "after" this book, Jill loves a title so much she'd marry it if she could, and Emma owns five print copies (soon to be seven) of one of these titles. Let us know what books YOU loved this much by sending us an email or a comment on social media. Emma’s Picks  A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson  Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison  The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith   Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid   Book Lovers by Emily Henry   House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J Maas  The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager   Happy Place by Emily Henry    Joe’s Picks  Jackal by Erin E. Adams  The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers by Adam Sass  Lock Every Door by Riley Sager  Witchlings by Claribel A. Ortega (Book 2 May 2023!!)  Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer  I Woke Up Dead at the Mall by Judy Sheehan   Wicked Little Things by Justin Arnold  Holes by Louis Sachar   Jill’s Picks   The Honeys by Ryan La Sala  Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng  Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid  Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey  The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead  The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager  Piranesi by Susanna Clarke   Catch up on our conversations with some of the author's mentioned!Interview with Emily Henry Chat with Riley Sager Justin Arnold Curating the Vibe with Rachel Harrison   Erin E. Adams Other Books Mentioned: The Only One Left by Riley SagerFinal Girls by Riley SagerSurvive the Night by Riley SagerHome Before Dark by Riley SagerLock Every Door by Riley SagerThe Golden Frog Games by Claribel A. OrtegaWe hope you enjoy this episode of the Professional Book Nerds podcast. Be sure to rate, review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen! You can follow the Professional Book Nerds on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok @ProBookNerds. Want to reach out? Send an email to professionalbooknerds@overdrive.com. We’ve got merch! Check out our two shirts in The OverDrive Shop (all profits are donated to the ALA Literacy Clearinghouse). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's guest is Evette Dion, author of the new book Weightless. Jill and Evette discuss navigating the world in a fat body, medical fatphobia, reality TV, and Evette recommends some books about body positivity and fat liberation.Books mentioned in this episode:Landwhale by Jes BakerHunger by Roxane GayBad Fat Black Girl by Sesali Bowenanything by Marianne KirbyBelly of the Beast by Da'Shaun HarrisonFearing the Black Body by Sabrina Strings Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices