Ep 456 – Most Anticipated for March and April!

Episode notes

Brea and Mallory talk about their most anticipated books for the start of spring. Email us at readingglassespodcast at gmail dot com!

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Books Mentioned –

Coffin Moon by Keith Rosson

When Two Feathers Fell from the Sky by Margaret Verble

MARCH:

Trace Elements by Jo Walton and Ada Palmer

Life: A Love Story by Elizabeth Berg
Literary fiction, woman at the end of her life going on adventures and encouraging her friends to live fully

Ruins by Lily Brooks-Dalton
Sci fi, queer, archaeologist in search of ancient object that could upend her life and also all of civilization

The House of Hidden Letters by Izzy Broom
Literary fiction, woman buys cottage in Greece and finds bundle of old letters, parallel timeline

Wait for Me by Amy Jo Burns
Literary, parallel timelines of two female folk singers and their love stories

Python’s Kiss by Louise Erdrich
Short stories, fantasy, indigenous stories

Almost Life by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Literary, queer, sapphic love story that starts in Paris in the 1970s and spans decades

Celestial Lights by Cecile Pin
Literary, historical, space science, astronaut on landmark mission to a distant moon reflecting on his life

That’s What Friends Are For by Wade Rouse
Literary, queer, Palm Springs, older gay friend group obsessed with the Golden Girls, friendship

Darkening Song by Delphine Seddon
Literary, drama, music industry, two friends – a singer and her manager vying for fame and power

Once and Again by Rebecca Serle
Magical realism, women’s fiction, the women in this family can turn back time but just once

Lake Effect by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
Historical fiction, 1970s New York, family drama, mothers and daughters

Upward Bound by Woody Brown
Literary, adult care center in Southern California, characters with disabilities, friendship

Strange Girls by Sarvat Hasin
Literary, queer, sapphic, two college friends reuniting and forced to confront what happened between them years ago

Sisters in Yellow by Mieko Kawakami, translated by Laurel Taylor & Hitomi Yoshio
Literary, thriller, 1990s Tokyo, a Japanese Breaking Bad

American Han by Lisa Lee
Literary, family drama, Korean-American family, Bay Area, funny, immigrant experience

Whidbey by T Kira Madden
Literary, thriller, three women connected by the man who assaulted them who is now murdered

The Complex by Karan Mahajan
Literary, family drama between America and India, secrets, ambition, political ambitions

Westward Women by Alice Martin
Sci fi where women over 35 slow down and are drawn towards the Pacific Ocean until they reach it and disappear

Sakura by Kanako Nishi, translated by Allison Markin Powell
Literary, broken family healed by a shiba inu

Only a Little While Here by Maria Ospina, translated by Heather Cleary
Literary, climate fiction, four animals on an odyssey

I Love You Don’t Die by Jade Song
Literary, horror, fantasy, queer, death-obsessed young woman with depression gets drawn into a throuple

The News from Dublin by Colm Toibin
Short stories

Frida’s Cook by Florencia Etcheves, translated by Beth Fowler
Historical fiction from the POV of Frida Kahlo’s cook, female friendship, art

The Sisters of Book Row by Shelley Noble
Historical fiction about the women who saved NYC’s Book Row – a neighborhood of bookstores

My Grandfather, the Master Detective by Masateru Konishi, translated by Louise Heal Kawaii
Mystery, a Japanese Thursday Murder Club, cozy

Ruby Falls by Gin Phillips
Historical mystery, 1920s Tennessee, locked room murder mystery set entirely in an underground waterfall

Spellbound by Murder by Stacie Ramey
Cozy mystery, Charmed meets Gilmore Girls

The Keeper by Tana French
New Tana fuckin French!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Ghastly Catastrophe by Deanna Raybourn
New Veronica Speedwell mystery

Everyone in This Bank is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson
Mystery, fourth Ernest Cunningham book

The Secret Lives of Murderers’ Wives by Elizabeth Arnott
Historical thriller, three women who were married to murderers unite to catch a serial killer in 1960s California

This Story Might Save Your Life
Thriller, one half of a survival podcast shows up to find his cohost abducted and his search for her reveals both their secrets

How to Survive in the Woods by Kat Rosenfield
Thriller, Wild meets Sleeping With the Enemy, Maine, Appalachian trail, erotic tension, escaping a shitty husband

The Plans I Have For You by Lai Sanders
Thriller, female rage, cancel culture, two Asian American women on a quest for revenge

Mother is Watching by Karma Brown
Horror, dystopia, art, painting, art conservator’s obsession with a painting sucks her into a nightmare

You Did Nothing Wrong by CG Drews
Horror, haunted house, motherhood, family ties, new family, gothic

Nothing Tastes as Good by Luke Dumas
Horror, queer, weight loss treatments with murderous side effects

The Fortune Tellers of Rue Daru by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore
Horror, historical, 1920s Paris, fortune telling, family secrets, sinister ghosts

Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher
Horror, historical 1899 North Carolina woods, monstrous maggots!!!

Wretch: or, The Unbecoming of Porcelain Khaw by Eric LaRocca
Horror, tech-Gothic about memory technology, gay

You Should Have Been Nicer to My Mom by Vincent Tirado
Horror, family drama, demons, inheritance

Turn Off the Light by Jacquie Walters
Horror, haunted house, two women centuries apart bound by the same secret

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews
Fantasy, romantasy, reader wakes up to find herself in her favorite epic fantasy series, fantasy city

Seasons of Glass and Iron: Stories by Amal El-Mohtar
Fantasy, short stories

Hell’s Heart by Alexis Hall
Sci fi, queer, Gideon the Ninth meets Moby Dick, absolute Glasser nip holy shit

The Library of Amorlin by Kalyn Josephson
Fantasy, romantasy, libraries, librarian clashes with con artist, magical creatures

The Geomagician by Jennifer Mandula
Historical romantasy, a Victorian fossil hunter discovers a baby pterodactyl and  vows to protect him with the help of a fellow scholar and former fiancé

The Debtor’s Game by Isabella Mongeau
Fantasy, fae, court intrigue, dark romantasy

Innamorata by Ava Reid
Romantasy, gothic, dark academia, necromancy, forbidden library

River of Bones and Other Stories by Rebecca Roanhorse
Sci fi, short stories

The Fountain by Casey Scieszka
Sci fi, main character is immortal and returning home to the Catskills for the first time in almost 200 years

The Somewhat Wicked Witch of Brigandale by C.M. Waggoner
Fantasy, queer, cozy, magic, witches

Nobody’s Baby by Olivia Waite
Sci fi, book 2 of Dorothy Gentleman

A City Dreaming by Maurice Broaddus
Sci fi, Astra Black book 3

Butterfly Effects by Seanan McGuire
Fantasy, book 15 of InCryptid

Ruinous Creatures by Jessi Cole Jackson
Romantasy, sanctuary for magical creatures, secret magic, protagonist accidentally binds her fate with a vengeful stranger (who is hot duh)

A Widow’s Charm by Caitlyn Paxson
Cozy historical romantasy, widow blackmails a necromancer to bring her husband back to life but starts falling for him instead

The Fox and the Devil by Kiersten White
Romantasy, sapphic, Van Helsing’s daughter forms obsession with beautiful serial killer and entangles herself in an immortal romance

Honeysuckle by Bar Fridman-Tell
Fantasy, Welsh mythology, reimagining, gothic, romance, autonomy and consent

No Friend to This House by Natalie Haynes
Historical fiction, Greek retelling, Medea, feminist

Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser
Historical fantasy, Cinderella reimagining from the POV of the evil stepmother

The Beheading Game by Rebecca Lehmann
Historical fantasy, reimagining of Anne Boleyn

Son of Nobody by Yann Martel
Historical fantasy, reimagining of the Trojan War

You With the Sad Eyes by Christina Applegate
Memoir

Shut Up and Read: A Memoir from Harriet’s Bookshop by Jeannine A. Cook
Memoir, indie bookstores

Lost: Amelia Earhart’s Three Mysterious Deaths and One Extraordinary Life by Rachel Hartigan
Biography

Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! by Liza Minnelli
Memoir

Judy Blume: A Life by Mark Oppenheimer
Biography

True Color: The Strange and Spectacular Quest to Define Color – from Azure to Zinc Pink by Kory Stamper
Biography

Western Star: The Life and Legends of Larry McMurtry by David Streitfeld
Biography

Adult Braces: Driving Myself Sane by Lindy West
Memoir

A Lady for All Seasons by TJ Alexander
Queer romance, Regency, bigender protagonist, 1820s London

No Matter What by Cara Bastone
Contemporary romance, second chance, slow burn, rebuilding after an accident upends their lives

Anderson in Bloom by Jennifer Dugan
Queer romance, sapphic, florist, enemies to lovers, second chance rom com

To Cage a Wild Bird by Brooke Fast
Romanti-scifi, dystopian, enemies to lovers, prison where the wealthy hunt inmates for sport

The Fortune Flip by Lauren Kung Jessen
Contemporary romantasy, luck, rom-com, Chinese traditions, second chances

The Night We Met by Abby Jimenez
Contemporary romance, summer rom-com, mistaken identity

Love Song by Elle Kennedy
Contemporary romance, sports, forced proximity, friends to lovers

The Book Tour by Emily Ohanjanians
Contemporary romance, forced proximity, debut author and her grumpy publicist, rom-com, books about books

Just Friends by Haley Pham
Contemporary romance, childhood friends to lovers, summer

The Scoundrel and the Siren by Christy Carlyle
Historical romance, battling treasure hunters

The Feather Ways and the Great Crusade to Save America’s Birds by James H. McCommons
Nature

When the Forest Breathes: Renewal; and Resilience in the Natural World by Suzanne Simard
Nature

How to be Okay When Nothing is Okay: Tips and Tricks That Kept Me Alive, Happy, and Creative in Spite of Myself by Jenny Lawson
Self-help

Chain of Ideas: The Origins of Our Authoritarian Age by Ibram X. Kendi
Non-fiction

El Paso: Five Families and One Hundred Years of Blood, Migration, Race, and Memory by Jazmine Ulloa
Non-fiction

The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst
Romantasy, YA, cozy, teen girl spends the summer at a quaint Vermont inn with a magical secret

Hooked by Asako Yuzuki, translated by Polly Barton
Thriller, Japan, seafood, friendship, obsession

Where the Girls Were by Kate Schatz
Historical fiction, 1960s San Francisco, pregnant teen coming of age|

A Good Person by Kirsten King
Thriller, queer, Gone Girl meets Big Swiss

The Fourth Wife by Linda Hamilton
Horror, gothic, historical, The Hacienda meets Sister Wives, Mormons, Salt Lake City

Midnight on the Celestial by Julia Alexandra
YA romantasy, horror, magic, girl who can summon the dead forced to work on magical cruise ship, and the ship wants to murder people

Spoiled Milk by Avery Curran
Horror, queer, historical, dark academia, 1920s boarding school

Magic and Mischief at the Wayside Motel by Elizabeth Everett
Romantasy, cozy, magical hotel, magical creatures, single mom

Only Spell Deep by Ava Morgyn
Fantasy, horror, magic, witches, Rebecca meets The Craft

APRIL

Leave Your Mess at Home by Tolani Akinola – Literary fiction, family drama, Chicago, adult siblings, funny

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke – Sci fi mystery, Republican trad wife influencer wakes up in 1805 and hates it

Bumblebee Season by Eileen Garvin – Literary fiction, beekeeping, small town, Oregon

Love by the Book by Jessica George – Literary fiction, books about books, friendship, author protagonist

Last Night in Brooklyn by Xochitl Gonzalez – Literary fiction, NYC 2007, young woman who becomes tangled in her glamorous neighbor’s secret past

Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead by Mai Nguyen – Literary fiction, grieving mother starts working at funeral home and learns how to live again

Ghost Town by Tom Perrota – Literary fiction, 1970s New Jersey, writer telling the story of his life

Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell – Romance, contemporary, second chance

Go Gentle by Maria Semple – Literary fiction, NYC art world, life affirming, woman’s mid life transformation

The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer – Romantasy, book witch can jump into any book

American Fantasy by Emma Straub – Literary, romance, woman goes on cruise and falls for her teenage crush who is a member of a 1990s boy band

Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block by Jesse Q. Sutanto – Cozy mystery, almost divorced woman goes to culinary school to win back her husband and everything is suspicious when she arrives

No Way Home by T.C. Boyle – Literary, psychological thriller, Nevada

The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon – Cozy sci fi, near future where all appliances are sentient

Fat Swim: Fiction by Emma Copley Eisenberg – Literary fiction, short stories

My Dear You: Stories by Rachel Khong – Literary fiction, short stories

Liar’s Dice by Juliet Faithfull – Literary fiction, historical, 1970s Brazil, teen girl torn from sister needs to learn to survive

Dreamt I Found You by Jimin Han – Literary fiction, retelling of Korea’s Romeo and Juliet

Permanence by Sophie Mackintosh – Magical realism, sapphic, two women having an affair find a secret world where adulterers can live as couples

Love & Other Monsters by Emily Franklin – Historical fiction, 1800s Switzerland, Hamnet meets Pride and Prejudice

Honey in the Wound by Jiyoung Han – Historical fiction, magical realism, Korean family confronting effects of Japanese empire across decades

The Original by Priya Parmar – Historical fiction, reimagining of Katharine Hepburn’s life

The Bush Tea Murder by Ashely-Ruth Bernier – Cozy mystery, US Virgin Islands, food journalist

Last One Out by Jane Harper – Thriller, Australian ghost town, disappearance

One of You by Erin. E. Adams – Thriller, psychological horror, mysterious stranger torments two Haitian American sisters until they confront secrets from their past

A Killer in the Family by Amin Admad – Thriller, NYC elite society, arranged marriage gone wrong

The Lost Book of Elizabeth Barton by Jennifer N. Brown – Historical thriller, book about books, parallel timeline murdery mystery in an English country manor

The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke – Thriller, book about books, six writers on a private island competing to write the last chapter of a famous author’s book

The Girls Trip by Ally Condie – Thriller, friends go on a wilderness excursion and one of them disappears

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth – Thriller, serial killer in her 80s

Break Room by Miye Lee, translated by Joosun Lee – Thriller, psychological game show, novella

The Counting Game by Sinead Nolan – Thriller, Ireland, 1995, young girl goes missing playing mysterious game

Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker – Horror, historical, parallel timelines, Japan, 1870s, mythology, ghosts

Bodies of Work by Clay McLeod Chapman – Horror, revenge, novella, women’s rage

Morsel by Carter Keane – Horror, queer, Blair Witch Project meets The Ritual

Molka by Monika Kim – Horror, thriller, spy cameras, revenge, technology

The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer – Horror, Oregon wilderness, woman accepting house caretaking job on Craigslist

Odessa by Gabrielle Sher – Horror, historical family in Russia turns to dark magic to bring their daughter back to life

The Photonic Effect by Mike Chen – Sci fi, space opera

The Subtle Art of Folding Space by John Chu – Sci fi, quantum physics, dim sum, generational trauma

Stay for a Spell by Amy Coombe – Cozy romantasy, princess cursed to run a bookshop but she actually loves it

Thistlemarsh by Moorea Corrigan – Romantasy, historical, fairies, manor in English countryside in wake of WWI

We Burned So Bright by TJ Klune – Sci fi, older gay couple on a road trip before the world ends, novella

Year of the Mer by L.D. Lewis – Epic high fantasy reimagining of The Little Mermaid, queer

Death Meets Cute by J Penner – Cozy romantasy, witches, baked goods, necromancy

An Accident of Dragons by Cheri Radke – Queer cozy romantasy, high fantasy, adventure, dragons, pirates, tea

What We Are Seeking by Cameron Reed – Queer sci fi, trans protagonist, human stuck on fantastic planet

West of Wicked by Nikki St. Crowe – Fantasy retelling of Wizard of Oz

Certainty by John Twelve Hawks – Sci fi, AI, dystopia, young girl with high tech toy goes on the run

All Hail Chaos by Sarah Rees Brennan – Fantasy, Time of Iron book 2

The Faith of Beasts by James S.A. Corey – Sci fi, The Captive’s War book 2

A River from the Sky by Ai Jiang – Fantasy, Natural Engines book 2

The Rise of the Celestials by Kritika H. Rao – Fantasy, Divine Dancers book 2

Six Bullets and a Crown by Alexis Calder – Romantasy, magic, enemies to lovers, sexy gunslinger

The Impossible Garden of Clara Thorne by Summer N. England – Romantasy, queer, sapphic, cozy, spicy, gardening magic

Honor and Heresy by Max Francis – Horromance, gothic, dark academia, rivals to lovers, queer, haunted library

The Wicked Sea by Stephanie Jordan Gray – Romantasy, mermaids battling, warlock, enemies to lovers, forced proximity

Blood Bound by Ellis Hunter – Romantasy, dragon riders, high stakes, witches, magic, enemies to lovers

An Arcane Study of Stars by Sydney J. Shields – Romantasy, dark academia, rivals to lovers, historical, ancient secret societies

Bloodsinger by Juliette Cross – Romantasy, The Fire that Binds book 2

The Sea Spinner by Julie Johnson – Romantasy, Reign of Remnants book 2

The Ballad of Falling Dragons by Sarah A. Parker – Romantasy, Moonfall book 2

Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry – Romantasy, Shield of Sparrows book 2

How to Fake It In Society by KJ Charles – Historical gay romance, Regency London

The Paris Match by Kate Clayborn – Contemporary romance, travel, Paris, grumpy MMC, FMC learning to live again

Don’t Tell Me How It Ends by Adrienne Thurman – Contemporary romance, rom-com, FMC swears off romance but gets involved in sister’s matchmaking business

Big Girl Blitz by Danielle Allen – Contemporary romance, football, sports romance, plus size FMC, coming home to a small town

The Antiquarian’s Object of Desire by India Holton – Historical romance, cozy fantasy, history professors

Chasing the Fire by Paisley Hope – Contemporary romance, cowboy romance, ranch life

King of Gluttony by Ana Huang – Dark romance, Kings of Sin book 6

Cruel Angel by Rebecca Kenney – Romantasy retelling of Phantom of the Opera, spicy, New Adult

The Rough Side of the Mountain by Keisha Lance Bottoms – Memoir by the former mayor of Atlanta

This is Not About Running by Mary Cain – Sports memoir

Famesick by Lena Dunham – Memoir

Selling Opportunity: The Story of Mary Kay by Mary Lisa Gavenas – Biography

Small Town Girls: A Writer’s Memoir by Jayne Anne Phillips – Memoir

The Rolling Stones: The Biography by Bob Spitz – Biography

The Radiant Dark by Alexandra Oliva – Sci fi, Arrival meets Wild Dark Shore

Witch Queen Rising by Savannah Stephens – Romantasy, witches, vampires, New Orleans

The Duke by Anna Cowan – Historical romance, sapphic, spicy, alternate English history

Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces that Shape Your Life by Alex Mayyasi – Non fiction

Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About by Isabel Klee – Memoir