Season 2, Episode 1: Our Most Anticipated Reads
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Summary
Our hosts discuss, round-robin style, the Fall 2026 books they’re most excited about. Get ready for new titles from beloved authors, piping hot tropes (dark academia, anyone?), and even a few academic titles. Gird your wallets and hide your already-full bookshelves; this episode’s coming for them!
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Intro
nicholae: You’re listening to the We Reads podcast where we: nicholae,
Jen: Jen,
Sofia: and Sofia talk about books, the authors we love and how our identities show up while we’re reading.
Jen: These books have brought us joy, nourished us and changed us for the better. We’re excited to discuss them with you!
nicholae
We talk a lot about the books that we love, our old favorites, formative reads, things that we return to over time, things that have stayed with us and that we've carried across time. You know, we've talked about some of our favorite books from childhood, how we got into reading, but there's also like what's coming up, what's next, you know, what's on the horizon. And we wanted to devote an episode to some of our most anticipated reads for some part of the upcoming year. By the time this episode comes out, it'll probably be somewhere in the summer, maybe early, maybe mid, maybe late we will see how things play out but we definitely wanted to talk a little bit about the reads that we're excited about and also talk a bit about how we discover things that we want to read as well so I would love to know from both of you what are you looking forward to reading this year
Jen
Yes. Listeners, y'all can't see, but the way Sofia looked at the camera just now cracked me up. um You know, Sofia and I were talking a little bit off mic about the challenges of sometimes finding how we find the stuff that's coming out. And for my own experience. So I stopped using Goodreads, don't know, probably last year, um which until then, that's all I had been using to track my reading, to kind of figure out what I wanted to read or upcoming, and obviously seeing what my friends were reading and adding stuff based on like what looked good on that. But I went fully paper slash analog as of last year, and I use a physical notebook,
sofia
Oh, for real? I didn't even know that.
Jen
Yes. Yes. And in fact, in fact, yes.
sofia
Oh, we're going to get to see it on camera. Sorry, everybody.
Jen
Sorry, y'all. I don't know. I mean, just have to be friends with cool people to see stuff like this.
nicholae
Y'all are missing out
Jen
But this is like my little journal.
nicholae
Well,
sofia
Oh, shit.
Jen
Mm-hmm.
sofia
So you're using stickers. So, okay, let's describe for everybody.
Jen
Yeah.
sofia
Jen has a blank journal, but there's um rows of the actual book covers.
Jen
Yes. There's rows and I print out the book covers with a little Canon Ivy mini printer.
sofia
Oh, you're one of those.
Jen
And it's just like a little, I am, I am.
sofia
yeah
nicholae
this This is beautiful. it could not be me, but I love it It's so beautiful.
Jen
It brings me so much joy.
sofia
Could not be me.
Jen
Yeah.
sofia
I'm always jealous of the people it is for, but I'm like, I can't.
Jen
yeah You know, it got me and it got me also excited to read because I think the way Goodreads displayed what I had already read kind of in this hidden like you read it and it was all just about either what I was reading or what was coming up next just kind of made me sad.
sofia
Hmm.
Jen
I was like, I want to celebrate that I read stuff. So being able to physically turn a page was exciting.
sofia
Yeah.
Jen
um But that means I was like, where do I find what's coming next? i was I was struggling a little bit.
sofia
I mean, well, I'm just curious really quick. Are you off Goodreads because of Amazon?
Jen
Yes. Yes, pretty much.
sofia
Good for you. Yeah. Yeah.
Jen
And which I'm very excited now because nicholae and I think Sofia, you were using it too. Pagebound was something y'all shared.
sofia
Well, was I using it?
Jen
yeah
sofia
I just like log on. Like every time someone's like, yeah, here's a new here's a new book app and then I'll log on and then immediately forget I have it and never look at it
nicholae
You were on it.
Jen
You were on it.
nicholae
These are my 15 emotional support book tracking apps.
sofia
again. I'm on so many. ah Oh, the one we're on right now is Pagebound. And it's cute. It's cute.
Jen
It is.
sofia
But again, i forgot I was on it.
Jen
I like it better.
sofia
yeah Oh, you like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jen
i like it better than Goodreads. So like I'm starting to use that to catalog what I want to read because this little journal is cute for what I've read, but I still was like, where do I put what I want to read next?
sofia
Mmm.
sofia
Yeah, that's fair.
Jen
But yeah, I was in like a middle place of like, I don't know where to find stuff.
sofia
Mmm.
Jen
So I have a few things, but, um and I'll just kick off with one of those. One, um The House of Gardenias by Isabel Cañas.
Jen
Apologies if I'm saying, Cañas, thank you.
sofia
Oh, Cañas the same one. Well, I don't know if that's actually how you pronounce it.
Jen
Mm-hmm.
sofia
That's just how I said it in my head. um What else did she write?
Jen
Yes, Vampires of El Norte, Haunting of Alba Diaz.
sofia
Yes.
Jen
Yes. She has another one coming out. And it's actually a gothic YA, which I did not expect from her.
sofia
Oh, interesting.
Jen
um It's about 16-year-old Minerva who spent her whole life in the slums of the capital city of an unnamed country that resembles colonial Mexico.
Jen
um and she forms an unlikely duo with a an acerbic widow. um And they're both survivors in their own ways. And a viceroy sweeps back into power on a wave of horrific bloodshed, um which I think they must do something about. So it sounds like an interesting premise. And I've pretty much read um ah not everything, but like a lot at this point of what she's written. So like that's one of my that comes out in September 2026. And I was like, oh, I will be reading that.
sofia
I mean, her books always sound so good, but they also sound so scary.
Jen
Oh, no.
sofia
Are they scary? I don't know. i So I actually haven't read any of them yet.
Jen
I honestly, so The Haunting of Alba Diaz is the one I read most recently, and I loved it. It's so not scary.
sofia
Oh, okay.
Jen
It's really like, it's actually quite beautiful. There's moments of suspense, but truly, i think you would really like it. Yeah.
sofia
Okay.
Jen
Yeah.
sofia
I'll give her a try then.
Jen
Yeah.
sofia
Let's see, one of mine. Okay, i Sorry, guys, I'm realizing everybody I'm about to select is white. And that's a problem.
Jen
A. I mean, and be like that.
sofia
But here we are now. Yeah, so if you guys have read the Robert Jackson Bennett series, did I tell you about that one?
Jen
The Tainted Cup series.
sofia
Yes!
Jen
Everybody loves that.
sofia
Oh my god, because they're so good!
Jen
But Michael loves that. But it's on my list.
sofia
Yeah, yeah,
Jen
Yeah.
nicholae
Wait, what are they? What genre are they? i haven't read them.
sofia
um It's mystery fantasy, I guess. So it's it's like a Sherlock Holmes-like character. um But it's this... I think she's blind. This blind... like um I don't know how old she is, but like somewhere in her mid mid-life. And it takes place in like a fantasy world, but it's kind of like a, oh my God, what's that word for, steampunk that's the word i was looking for it's like a steampunk kind of world um but like the magic is so interesting and wild like if you've read any of his works i'm sure you would be like oh yeah his mind like goes in these really interesting places where you're you just never experienced anything like it So it's about this um detective. ah forget what they're called now because they all have, you know, different names in the world that they're in And she gets a a new assistant and she's she gets moved to this backwater town and assigned this assistant.
um And she kind of just like, she's a little less... even less social than Sherlock Holmes, if that's possible, where she just like stays in her little hut and doesn't talk to anybody and just like goes through papers. It's just like constantly reading like all these papers that her assistant goes around and collects for her. And he's kind of like the, her feet on the ground. He's the one who does all like the interviewing of people and the yeah hunting down the clues and everything and then she he brings it back to her and then her brilliant mind puts everything together um but the first book is a tainted cup and um the murder they have to solve is like a guy dies because a tree starts growing out of his body and then you go from there and i just don't to tell you anything else because it's so good
Jen
Mmm. Ooh. Mmm.
sofia
anyway the third book in the series is coming out oops i did not see when that it's supposed to come out let me look up really fast must
Jen
I think you're right though. It's like sometime this fall.
sofia
oh august actually august so soon yes i'm very excited what about you nicholae what's a book you're looking forward to
Jen
That is.
nicholae
While I'm trying to kind of narrow it down, there are a few. There's a new Claudia Rankine. always wonder how you say her last name.
sofia
Oh,
nicholae
Is it Claudia Rankine?
sofia
that sounds right.
nicholae
wow Anyway, Claudia Rankine has a new book that's coming out called Triage. And there's a new Susan Stryker book who is a, I think, a fairly well-known trans studies historian.
nicholae
And then i think maybe on... the more fiction side there is a new Aiden Thomas, a new one of the Cemetery Boys books called maybe Espiritu, I believe is what it's called.
Jen
Oh.
nicholae
And there's a new Andrew Joseph White novel, i I assume it's probably YA adjacent, but he wrote Hell Followed With Us and The Spirit Bares Its Teeth, which I really enjoyed both of those.
sofia
Who's?
nicholae
So a couple fiction, a couple nonfiction.
sofia
I guess we should have said this earlier, but I was like, what if we had done like one, one, one, one but have you done all of yours, nicholae, right now?
nicholae
No, no, there's, i mean, there's more. i i probably, okay, hold up.
sofia
Okay. No, no, no. That's fine.
Jen
Oh, great.
sofia
That's good. Let's let's keep rotating. Yeah.
Jen
Yeah, I like that.
sofia
Jen, do you have another one?
Jen
I do. Okay, so this is one that I do think will probably be be spooky. Maybe spookier.
sofia
Okay. So I just won't listen.
sofia
That's fine.
Jen
Did you read The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson?
sofia
I did try, but you know, I think it was a little depressing at the time I tried to read it.
Jen
Either of you?
Jen
Extremely.
sofia
And so I was like, m I don't think I can do this right now.
nicholae
And you didn't like that?
sofia
but i So I haven't tried again. Huh? No, you know we're like the opposite in terms of that.
nicholae
You didn't like that? I'm like, oh, it's happy? Never mind.
Jen
But see, i I'm with you, Sofia, because I started trying to read that book. And then I was kind of like, you know, think I will come back to this. And I haven't gone back to it yet.
sofia
Oh, so you haven't gone back to it. Okay.
Jen
Not yet. But Micaiah has a new book coming out this fall called The Unhaunting. which looks like a haunted house book. And i'm very excited because I am here for the Southern Gothic.
ah I just, I love, as as we've talked about, like we we collectively have thought about reading a book as ah as a trio, like Mexican Gothic. So me, anything with houses and like the unsettling, the and the uncanny and the home as a site of imagination is always gonna pull me in.
So, The rough blurb for this, I shouldn't say it's rough. It's going to sound rough because I'm reading it and summarizing it, but it's not. It's well written. But the blurb is, at the end of the Civil War, a daughter of the Confederacy made what she thought was an innocent wish to build a house where nothing bad could happen. But peace came at a price.
sofia
Uh-oh
Jen
And 170 years later, Chantel and her friends are about to discover where all that darkness ended up um Yeah, so I am very excited. Chantel is the main character. and um her best friend Avery tells her that he's inherited a house big enough to make their dreams of a sanctuary come true. She's too cautious to be optimistic, smart, Chantel, you know. A lifetime of loss, her father to the Iraq war, her brother to police violence and her mother to suicide. Whew. That's a lot. Has taught her cynicism. And even though Avery swears the house has never experienced a tragedy. Avery, come on now. She goes along expecting everything from black mold to evil spirits.
sofia
oh
Jen
But not only is the house in better shape than they expected, it makes them better. um It makes them. Better Chantel's. Okay. There is an error in this book. I'm like, that sentence just don't make sense. That's not me. um So this seems to be an eerie, calm haunted house. And so I'm kind of it excited to see where Micaiah takes that. The cover looks really cool.
sofia
Mm-hmm.
Jen
It's got this striking red background with with what looks like butterflies slash moths fluttering around a dis like disembodied house that's just floating in the middle of the the cover.
Jen
um So that's The Unhaunting by Micaiah Johnson.
sofia
Oh, no, thank you.
Jen
I'm very excited to read that.
sofia
I’m sorry.
Jen
Oh my gosh. That's valid.
nicholae
Wait, Jen, since you're in your haunted house era, have you read House of Leaves?
Jen
Yes.
nicholae
I mean, that's sort of an iconic one.
Jen
No, okay. That is, that is definitely one that needs to go up there. Cause it is, you're right. It's on everybody's list. And I don't know. i just haven't, I will, I will read that.
Jen
That's my work.
nicholae
it's It's a lot, but I think it's it was a very formative one for me, is what I will say.
Jen
Okay. Noted.
nicholae
And it's like part of my... You know how we all sort of have an imaginary of like certain... So if like when you're thinking about the haunted house or the the house that is in some way uncanny, like we all have our kind of imaginaries around what that is. And for me, House of Leaves is that, which is the house that's like bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.
Jen
Oh, I love that.
nicholae
So there's stuff going on in there that like you can't know until you're in there and it changes.
Jen
Hmmm Okay. Okay. that's I'm excited. Excitedly twiddling my fingers over here. Yes, I will be reading that.
Okay, nicholae, tell us more. What's coming up? What else are you excited for?
nicholae
Oh, another one. Yes, another one. Well, I will say i will briefly, since I kind of went through mine quickly, and I have more to mention, but I will just say that the the Andrew Joseph White book that I'm excited about is called You're No Better. And it is apparently about a, quote, trans autistic teen whose father is a serial killer.
i mean, come on, daddy, like,
Jen
yeah
nicholae
Sounds like a fun ride, if you're asking me.
Jen
Okay, wait. nicholae, not to interrupt you. Have you heard of Victorian Psycho by Virginia? i can't remember.
nicholae
Yeah, yeah, I haven't read it, but I have.
Jen
Okay. I feel like you would be into I just finished it. Highly disturbing, but 10 out of 10 read. And hearing that, it it doesn't feature a trans character, but just hearing the like serial killer aspect made me think, oh, they might like this. And it's a short book, so.
nicholae
Yeah. I don't know if that counts for my pick. Should I say another one?
Jen
Yeah.
sofia
Yeah, say another one.
nicholae
Okay. The other one that I'm very excited about is Stephen Graham Jones' is Off the Reservation.
sofia
Oh, yes.
nicholae
don't know that it's a sequel, but it's you know back on the Blackfeet Reservation, kind of the same world as The Only Good Indians.
Jen
Yeah.
nicholae
And from what I recall, it it follows a group of activists who are I think trying to repatriate the bones of ah of a kid who was sent to and like an Indian school of some kind. And so it's probably going to be dark and weird and traumatic. So it's going to be right up my alley. Over to you, Sofia.
sofia
um I think it's called Deadbeat by Leigh Bardugo.
Jen
Mm.
sofia
but The final end to the trilogy, I think.
nicholae
Oh, I heard about this.
sofia
Yes, yes, yes. Of the first book being Ninth House.
Jen
Mm.
sofia
I can't remember what the second book is called. um
Jen
Hell Bent, right?
sofia
Oh, yes, you're right. Hell Bent. Did you guys read it?
Jen
It's on my list.
nicholae
on my list.
sofia
But you read Ninth House. You haven't read Ninth House. Oh, okay.
Jen
Not me. Not yet.
sofia
And you haven't read nicholae? Or you have?
nicholae
No, no.
sofia
Oh, okay. I think you would both like it if you're in the mood for a dark academia. um Because the first book is about, i think her name is Alex, and she um ends up at Yale somehow going going to school at Yale. And then she gets exposed to a bunch of magic. There's like, you know how there's like all those secret societies at Yale and apparently the other Ivies or something or whatever.
Jen
Yes.
sofia
i don't know. So apparently she ends up at, there's this bunch of secret societies that are all about magic at Yale and she gets roped in and it's, It's a fun ride. I think I read it like really fast because i was like, what's happening? Oh my God, I got it now. Yeah, it was that kind of a read. And this is the, and the problem is i didn't go back and reread it before Hell Bent. So I kind of forgot some of the things that happened. I forgot some of the characters. And then when went back and read Hell Bent, like it was still good and I finished it, but it didn't feel the same way. And I was like, I probably should have reread Ninth House first. do you guys reread before you finish like the next book in a trilogy if it takes a while to come out?
Jen
You know, i have just stopped reading trilogies because that's what, that's what, wait, what did I read?
sofia
ah No, you haven't. You used just started The Raven Scholar that you told me to read.
Jen
oh dead you're right. But you know what? In my defense, I didn't know. i read that stupid thing because it doesn't.
sofia
Oh, yeah. It doesn't seem like it's a trilogy. It didn't say anywhere.
Jen
it did It didn't. And I did feel bamboozled by the end. I said, how dare you? And no, I will not reread The Raven Scholar when it comes out. going just read The Winter Fox or whatever.
sofia
oh you're just going to keep going.
Jen
is them Yeah, yeah.
sofia
But like, for example, I don't remember any of the Murderbot.
Jen
Correct. Same.
sofia
And so I haven't read any of the like starting from whenever, not this most recent one, but like the previous book I haven't even read because I don't, I'm like, Oh, but what happened? What happened at the end of the last one? I don't know.
Jen
Yes. I am several behind, like several books and novellas behind on Murderbot. Agreed.
So, y'all, this is where I twisted the assignment a little bit because outside of those two previous books I mentioned, everything else I'm excited about ah did come out this year or is – But it's not. It's already out. I just haven't read it yet. So this is now what I'm excited to read later on, hopefully this year slash this fall.
sofia
Mm.
Jen
um And that next one is going to be Year of the Murr by L.D. Lewis. I cannot wait. L. has a way of writing that just arrests me every time. I mean, I haven't read a bad short story from her. And for this to be her first novel and for it to sound this good. Like, I'm so here for it. So it's been billed as a a sort of Little Mermaid-esque retelling. ah But do not let that get you twisted. this is This is not The Little Mermaid. It is asking what would happen to Ariel's granddaughter um if if things were different. So in particular, the blurb says, The fairy tale mermaid Ariel might have gotten her happily ever after, but her granddaughter Yemi is having a much harder time. Her father, the king of Ixia, was assassinated years ago. Her mother is slowly dying of a poisoned wound, and she faces whispers and sighs from her own people. Yemi has been raised as the shield of the kingdom and is soon to inherit the throne. But she cannot shake her fury at how Ixia has treated her family after they've after all they've sacrificed. Only her patient mother and steadfast personal bodyguard and fiancé, Nova, help Yemi reign in that fury most of the time.
And then there's a coup. And then there's like her being stripped of title and being forced into exile and then turning to Ursula, the sea witch for what I believe is vengeance. And so what I've heard from early reviews of friends who've read this book is that Yemi is like reading it the whole time. It's like, oh, baby, what is you doing? But also in that like
sofia
Mm-hmm.
Jen
let Yes, let people be messy. In particular, let Black women be messy and make really bad decisions and choices in books. I've seen a number of Goodreads reviews where people will be like, this character was so frustrating, so annoying. Oh, they made such bad... Their decisions were so bad. That's the point, boo-boo. I'm trying to read about somebody making mistake after mistake. And I'm like, oh, baby, what is you doing?
nicholae
Mm-hmm.
Jen
But I'm turning the page because I get it. so I am very excited for Year of the Mer. Um, yes, that's by L.D. Lewis and it's already out.
Jen
Go buy it. It's beautiful. Oh my God.
sofia
I was going to say - that cover.
Jen
Stunning. The sprayed edges. There's art on the inside that is stunning of both Yemi and Nova, I think. Ugh. Stunning.
sofia
Oh, I didn't even think to open the book. I just like have seen it in the bookstore a bunch. Okay.
Jen
Which is real. That's fair. But yeah, it's got like when you open it, it's like in covers and and opening. cut Like it's, ugh, beautiful.
sofia
Okay.
Jen
Beautiful.
Jen
Okay, nicholae. What you got next?
nicholae
Oh, back to me. um
Jen
Yeah.
nicholae
I think also on my list is a book by Wole Talabi, who is a Nigerian writer, and it's called The Fist of Memory.
Jen
Yes.
nicholae
It's a speculative thriller, is what I'm seeing.
Jen
Yes.
sofia
Hmm. Hmm.
nicholae
There's mysterious alien spacecrafts, memory, assassins, astronomers... There's definitely like Afro futurist political spec fic vibes. So I think it'll be it'll be a good one for me. I haven't read anything by them before, but it stood out to me when I was looking through upcoming releases.
Jen
That's such a great one. Yes, that is also, I'm excited to read that.
sofia
Oh, Jen, the one I'm really excited for is the romantasy from Talia Hibbert.
Jen
Yes, wait, is that coming out this fall though?
sofia
I don't know, but it it is showing up in this list from Book Riot for of the most anticipated BIPOC books of 2026.
Jen
Okay.
sofia
And it has a title and it's called The Last Thorn.
Jen
Okay.
Jen
I am so ready. Yes.
sofia
Yes, yes, yes.
Jen
Love Miss Talia. Mm-hmm.
sofia
But there's no... Oh, okay. Here. ah It says, A Spicy Magical Beauty and the Beast Retelling.
Jen
Mm-hmm.
sofia
She hasn't had a new adult book in five years.
Jen
Right.
sofia
So...
Jen
monster The monster girlies. Gonna eat good with this one.
sofia
It's going to be so fun. I can't wait. do you have another one?
Jen
so exciting. I do. And this is one I think we're both excited about.
sofia
Oh, okay.
Jen
um Again, this is another one that's like, it just came out. So it's a little bit of a cheat, but I haven't read it yet. And I'm excited to. um The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee.
sofia
Oh, yes.
Jen
Oh, my God.
sofia
That looks so good.
Jen
It looks so good. Space opera, a corporate samurai fighting beneath merciless stars and death is always a mere breath away. Like Fonda, if she can do any, she's that she can write a book. OK, like the Greenbone saga was to this day. It's still my favorite trilogy, probably one of my favorite fantasy trilogies ever. um she can do no wrong. I bought this book immediately, immediately when it was released.
And look, I'm lying. My partner bought it because he was out and he was like, I'm going to buy this because I know we both want to read it. And then I was like, yes, thank you. So, but what a partner.
sofia
what a partner what a dream
Jen
What a dream. What a dream. Yes, I'm lucky, y'all. My partner and I read pretty much almost the same books.
sofia
i mean honestly that's the thing i'm most jealous about
Jen
Valid. Because I don't have, like, we we bought we share so many books. Like, I don't have to worry.
sofia
And you can be like, ah someone built in for me to talk to about this.
Jen
Yeah, it's so true. He was the one that got me to read Raven Scholar because he read that first.
sofia
And I'm reading it right now, guys. And my God, it's so good.
Jen
It is.
sofia
I'm mad that it's a trilogy.
Jen
It's really good. I know. I'm so upset. Rude, Antonia Hodgson. How dare? And yet, I'm going to read that second one. Mm-hmm.
sofia
I will.
Jen
Okay. nicholae, back to you.
nicholae
So this one doesn't totally fit. When I was looking at lists, I wasn't always able to see when it was coming out. And sometimes I would search and it would say, oh, it's coming out on this date. And then you would see it's already out or it's... Sometimes I mix things up too. So this one does not technically count, but it's even better for everyone because you can actually go read it right now. Even as of this taping, it's out. ah But the new... uh sunyi dean who wrote the book eaters which i really enjoyed it's called the girl with a thousand faces
sofia
Oh, yes.
sofia
Oh. Was the book eaters um creepy and scary?
nicholae
well i don't know if i'm the right judge it it is unsettling in certain ways
sofia
Yeah, that's true.
sofia
Okay.
nicholae
So do with that what you will, Sosia.
sofia
Sure.
nicholae
And so I don't know if that one really counts. There's another one that will certainly be out by the time the episode launches.
sofia
No way, but tell us, tell us about the,
nicholae
Wait, wait, wait. Oh, yeah, yeah.
sofia
yeah
nicholae
um So apparently, I don't know a ton about it other than the the description of the plot, but it's supposedly a historical dark fantasy set in Hong Kong. And she arrives with no memory of who she is. And she is what is known as a ghost talker. So I don't know what that means, but it sounds intriguing to me.
Jen
Hmm. Uh-huh, uh-huh. Damn.
nicholae
And then another one that I will mention that I will mention it now just because it also kind of doesn't count because it will be out by the time the episode drops, but it is related to someone we talked about on the episode already. Silvia Moreno-Garcia also has a book that will be out in July called The Intrigue. And so as you can tell, listeners, I say we'll be out in July. It's before July now. But when you're listening to this, it will be after July. Or it will be July.
Jen
I'm always impressed at how she just, that I feel like she has a book every year or every other year. And I'm like, how do you do it?
nicholae
Yeah, imagine.
Jen
And they're always so good. Because I just read The Bewitching by her last year. like, you have another one coming? That's amazing.
sofia
I said, yeah, I'm impressed. Usually the only authors who can do that are um romance.
Jen
Right, right, right, right.
sofia
Well, good for her and good for her readers.
Jen
Yes.
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sofia
um Okay, this book is also already out now because it came out in April, but it sounds really interesting and I actually hadn't seen it before. So maybe it needs some love. um deathly fates by Tesia Tsai and it's a book about chinese folklore oh jen there's um a necromancy priestess who must take i'm reading the book riot description who must take a dangerous job retrieving the corpse of a prince for a big commission to take care of her ailing father
Jen
hmm hmm
sofia
But when she reanimates the dead prince, he doesn't respond to her like reanimated corpses usually do. Instead of obeying her, he comes back as himself, but he needs life force or qi to stay on the earthly planet. So they got a journey around the countryside, purifying evil spirits for qi for the prince, and of course uncovering some secrets along the way that could threaten the entire kingdom.
nicholae
Of course.
Jen
and Wait, what was that called again? Ooh, that's going on my list. That sounds really fun.
sofia
Of course, Deathly Fates by Tesia Tsai, and it's got a fun cover too.
I think it might be YA actually, but maybe that's why I didn't see it before.
Jen
I love that.
sofia
You got another one, Jen?
Jen
I do. And this one is sci-fi. i know I'm a little Miss Fantasy over here, but I was like, let me put a sci-fi in there so I don't. So I do something a little different. um This one is really interesting. It's called Sublimation by Isabel j Kim.
sofia
Oh, I saw that too. Mm-hmm.
Jen
Right. This is going to come out June 2026. So not out currently, but very soon. um The tagline is doppelgangers, corporate intrigue, heartbreak, betrayal and the harsh permanence of the border.
Sublimation is a thrilling debut for fans of Severance that asks, What You'd Sacrifice for a Different Life from Award-Winning Author Isabel J. Kim. And so the loose premise is that when people immigrate, they leave copies of themselves behind. So one person enters their new country and the other one stays at home.
sofia
Whoa.
Jen
Right. And the main character um left home, um left Korea at 10 years old and never spoke to their other self again.
sofia
Okay.
Jen
And some people, the the description says like other people do keep in touch with their other self. But this person like severed, um went by, you know, just their middle name Rose in America and never imagined going back to Korea until her grandfather died and her Korean instance called her home for the funeral. And what she doesn't know is that that other self plans to steal her body and life. it It sounds... oh yeah
nicholae
Yeah, that sounds good.
Jen
Right? So that is Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim. I will definitely be reading that.
sofia
Wow.
sofia
nicholae, you got one?
nicholae
looking. Skip me.
sofia
Okay. I just looked at something and it is called The Felicity Complex. Although doesn't it comes out in August. No, sorry.
Jen
Hmm.
sofia
July. End of July. Sorry. It's written by August Clark. um
Jen
Hmm. Ooh.
sofia
And it's about a woman grown in a lab. Oh, similar. Okay. ah Grown in a lab to serve the desires of the billionaires hiding from nuclear apocalypse in a luxury underground bunker. Alongside five other vat women she contends with her elite guests expectations and assumptions and with the sinister plans of the vault's designers in what sounds like a satirical righteously angry spin on fallout, that tv show
Jen
Oh, that sounds dope. Oh, wow.
sofia
uh-huh i think august clark has another book that was someone told me was really good but i never got around to reading it i forgot what
Jen
That name sounds super familiar. I don't know the book, but yeah.
sofia
Let me see. Let me see if I can find it.
sofia
Oh, yes. The book is Metal from Heaven.
Jen
Oh, is it sci-fi or fantasy?
sofia
ah Oh, it's it's a dark queer political fantasy novel about a young woman seeking revenge on the factory worker who murdered her family. a Sorry, factory owner who murdered her family during a strike for better working conditions.
Jen
Hmm.
sofia
That sounds good.
Jen
That sounds good, too.
sofia
I better add it to my list.
Jen
Right?
sofia
OK, do you have a one now?
nicholae
Yes, this one is a little more academic. It's the new book by Alexis Shotwell, who wrote Against Purity. Is that what it was called?
sofia
purity.
nicholae
Yeah, Against Purity. And that was a book that i really enjoyed when it came out several years ago. the new one is called Liberation is Other People. and from what i've read i mean i would just read anything but from what i've read it argues against problems being able to be solved through like recourse to guilt or purity or personal virtue um and instead for Needing to approach problems through like collective struggle and solidarity and interdependence. So that's one that I'm excited about.
sofia
Wait, what's it called again?
nicholae
Liberation is other people.
sofia
Oh, okay. Oh, that sounds good.
Jen
it does we need a good mix you know get some good academic titles in there so I have another one this is another one that I I just bought so it's out in 2026 um haven't read it yet but I'm very excited it's called Weavingshaw by Heba Al-Wasati and you probably you probably heard of it
sofia
Uh-huh.
sofia
Oh, one of my friends really loved that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She told me to read it, but I don't really do Gothic. So I think it's kind of, okay.
Jen
really
sofia
I tried to read, um what's her face? I can't remember. She just wrote a Immorata is her new book.
Jen
Oh, don't know that title.
sofia
Am I saying that right?
Jen
And look, that just goes to show I'm talking about really, and I don't know this other big comic title.
sofia
Wait, who's he? Oh, fuck. I don't remember. Okay. Anyway, but I just remember reading a book and it was um for some reason it was like a very like rainy book because it was gothic.
Jen
Mm.
Jen
Mm. Uh-huh.
sofia
And I think there was a lot of rain in the book for some reason. And it was also rainy here. And I was like, God, I can't be in more rain even in the book. Forget it.
Jen
That's so funny. Oh my gosh. I get it. I do get that though. But that's cracking me up because it's almost like, it's not the same, but I feel that way about things about like Christmas. I don't like reading or seeing things about Christmas when it's Christmas for whatever reason. So sometimes like the idea that you the book mirrors your world and you're like, no, I'm not interested. Yeah.
sofia
I mean, often that that is my issue with the book.
Jen
That's real. That's real. You might like this one, though. It says, so I feel like this also has a dark academia vibe. So that's why I'm wondering if it might still be interesting to you, too.
sofia
Oh, right.
Jen
um
sofia
Yes, yes, tell us.
Jen
It says, and it's going to be, oh, brother. Okay, I didn't know this until just the second. It's going to be a trilogy. So maybe, I don't know.
sofia
Oh, God, guys.
Jen
I know.
nicholae
Never mind.
Jen
Never mind. We're out. um It's the first book of a fantasy romance trilogy with a young woman who can see the dead. And she strikes a deal with a magnetic and dangerous purveyor of dark secrets to save her brother's life.
sofia
Mmmh.
Jen
um So three years ago, Lena Al-Sayer woke with a terrible power. She can see the dead. She's since hidden herself from the world, knowing that if she ever reveals her curse, she'll be locked away in an asylum. But when her beloved brother Rami falls fatally ill, Lena is faced with a terrible choice. Either let him die or buy the expensive medicine that will save his life by bartering the only valuable thing that she has, which is her secret. So the Saint of Silence, who's a ruthless merchant who trades in confessions and is shrouded in unearthly rumors of cruelty and power, accepts her bargain but for a deadly price. Lena has to find the ghost of the last Lord of Weavingshaw or lose her freedom to the saint forever. So I'm thinking, it it like, she has to go to this manor house. Okay, so maybe it's not dark academia. I think it's like she has to go to the manor house.
sofia
Haunted house is what it sounds like.
Jen
Yeah. I'm like, Sofia, read this. You'll love it.
sofia
No.
Jen
um
sofia
No, thank you.
Jen
But there is romance. There's an enigmatic pull towards the Saint ofSsilence. of The house begins to entomb them. ah I'm so basic. We know me by now. I mean, just if it's got houses doing stuff.
sofia
You're not basic, but you we know what you mean.
Jen
Yeah, I have a I have a flavor, a book flavor.
sofia
Uh-huh.
Jen
It's houses doing stuff. So, yes, that is Weavingshaw by Erba Huff. ah sorry, excuse me, Heba Al-Wasiti. And it came out in February. So it's out.
sofia
okay i got one now um okay Freya Marske who's written like a ton of books now um she has one called Bodies of Magic coming out in september i know me neither and this one is a magical medical school murder mystery
Jen
Mm.
Jen
Yes.
Jen
Ooh, didn't know she had a new one coming.
Jen
That's so unique. Ooh.
sofia
Uh-huh. This latest cohort of healer mages are about to embark upon the grand exam. Ooh, five days, five cases, five candidates who must all pass or fail together. But on day one, they discover the dead body of one of their classmates who would have beaten them all had she still been alive. Ooh.
Jen
Ooh.
sofia
o Okay.
Jen
Okay.
sofia
I'm
Jen
yeah
sofia
nicholae, you have one?
Jen
Wait, no, wait, before we go on, I'm just like, oh I thought you were going to read more about it.
sofia
Cool.
Jen
Sorry.
sofia
No, no, no.
Jen
I just want to be like, it's giving, it's giving like the Grey's Anatomy in turn, like, don't know.
sofia
That was all I had.
sofia
who
Jen
I was a big Grey's Anatomy fan.
sofia
No, me too.
Jen
So this is, okay. Yes, this is speaking to me. I will be reading this.
sofia
If there's a character like Christina, oh oh my God, I'm done.
Jen
I'm right.
sofia
Uh-huh.
Jen
Say less. Okay. Sorry. Now, nicholae.
nicholae
Does the new paperback version of the new translation of Capital account. No, it doesn't, everyone. I'm not going to talk about that. But that is coming out this summer. ah And then assume presumably they're going to be translating volume two. Anyway, of Capital. There's three volumes. I'm not going to talk about Capital anymore.
sofia
Oh my God. Three volumes.
nicholae
You need to like you need to like tell me to no longer...
sofia
A trilogy.
nicholae
I know it's a trilogy. Capital is a trilogy.
Jen
Wow.
nicholae
It was a planned tetralogy.
sofia
No wonder I'm not interested.
nicholae
In fact, I believe.
sofia
boy.
nicholae
There were supposed to be four volumes, so...
sofia
Yeah.
Jen
has
nicholae
Jen's not reading that.
Jen
Mmh mmh.
nicholae
I mean, maybe for other reasons, too.
Jen
Sorry.
nicholae
You don't need to. um But I'm subjecting myself to it, as listeners know, and as I am going to try not to talk about anymore for the rest of the season.
Jen
yeah
nicholae
So the one that I have, and i don't have any more after this, but maybe I'll find some more as we're talking, is I've never read anything by this person, but their name is Eden Kincaid. It's another academic title called Disorienting Phenomenology, Queer Space and Trans Life. And from what I'm reading from the description, it says that they use aspects of everyday life for trans people like bathrooms, airport security, institutional environments, you know, workplaces, et cetera, to think about how people trans people move through space and how embodiment and perception and power impact like the phenomenology of trans life basically so like basically experience subjective experience and that sounds very cool to me since i'm generally thinking about but also in some work that i'm maybe going to do at some point about you know, the cis imaginary and cis normativity and how that impacts not just like trans subjectivity in existence, but like how we're able to move through different kinds of spaces and space like expansively defined.
So that's mine.
sofia
That sounds good, too.
Jen
Yeah.
Yeah. I can bring us home or bring myself home with this last one that feels like coming home to me because y'all know how much I loved Baldur's Gate 3. They are doing a series of novel tie-ins. Ah
nicholae
What?
Jen
And I know T. Kingfisher is going to be writing the first one, which is about Astarion. So that comes out this September. And there's not like a lot of a description for it, but it it's it just says the roguish charlatan Astarion will free himself from a centuries long fate of servitude or die a second time trying in this decadently dark fantasy adventure. And I think it's going to be voiced by the same or the audio book will be read by the same actor who played Astarian. So that's probably what I'm going to do is read the audiobook or listen to the audiobook um this is lower on my list because I I mean I loved Baldur's Gate 3 but I also feel like it did what it set out to do the game for me told complete stories for everybody so I don't always love going back in time sometimes because like this is not going to talk about a star in I think post game I think it's a prequel of sorts and I'm like oh but I know i know what happened to him. But I also think it'll be fun to be in his head for a while because he is a very compelling character. Outside of just being like one of the favorite romances for a lot of people, I think as a character, what he goes through and kind of his journey and stuff we didn't even get to get into in the narrative parts of the game would be interesting.
Because I would do.
sofia
Did you say romance?
Jen
Yes, Baldur's Gate 3 has romance.
sofia
Oh my.
Jen
Yeah.
sofia
Okay. I might have to read it. I mean, I'm never going to play, but.
nicholae
Not just romance. Sex.
Jen
Yeah, true. Yes. Yes. There is human sex and bear sex. So there's like...
sofia
Oh.
nicholae
And there's tentacles.
sofia
ah Never mind.
Jen
And there are tentacles.
nicholae
I don't know if there's tentacle sex, but there are tentacles.
Jen
There is tentacle sex.
sofia
okay.
nicholae
Oh, hey.
Jen
um
sofia
ah No, negative.
Jen
It's something for everybody.
sofia
Okay.
Jen
um So yeah, I would i don't know, Sofia. I think you'd like it. But obviously, there's a lot of non-romance stuff in the game. So you probably...
sofia
Oh, I don't mind. I mean, i love also, i don't think a lot of the books I mentioned today, actually, none of them are romance, but.
Jen
Well, you know was thinking the game. i was like, you should play it one day.
sofia
oh Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I know.
Jen
And and I wonder who you'd romance.
sofia
I'm just like not a video game player. You know what i mean?
Jen
Yeah. And it's a long game. That's the problem. It's going to take like 70 plus hours.
sofia
huh. I just. Yeah, no, thank you.
Jen
I kind want to make, I want, like we could do a co-op. We we could all three do a co a co-op campaign. You could play together.
nicholae
Ooh, yeah. That would be fun just for Sofia's commentary.
sofia
Okay.
Jen
That would be so fun. Yes. I would love that.
sofia
I'll try it once, but um and we'll see what happens.
nicholae
Patreon exclusive.
sofia
Okay.
Jen
yeah yeah yeah
sofia
I do have one more book, and then we should talk about what we've been reading.
Jen
yeah
sofia
um Okay. The last book I'm going to talk about is coming out in October, so it's an actual fall release. Becky Chambers. As You Wake, Break the Shell. If you've read any of Becky Chambers' work, they're all like cozy fantasy sci-fi. um they They really are cozy though. They really give you that warm feeling But not in like a cheesy, corny way, usually um. This one is, oh, sorry, it is part of a duology. um But it's, and I'm reading from the Lit Hub description. It's told in alternating timelines between present meet cute and future domestic bliss. It follows two humans on the misnomered planet of fortune. Signy is a botanist who bioprints medicine and for those who need it, even if their resource poor world won't allow that kind of mutual aid. And Cora is, this must be a made-up world word, a Rorqual pilot who has an unusual connection with her living ship, the kind of connection that could ruin her flying career.
Jen
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
sofia
Her search for an unorthodox aid is what brings her into Signy's shop, and the rest is future history. But even if we have an idea of how it ends, Chambers will no doubt take us on several emotional detours to reach our destination.
sofia
That's true, she does do that.
sofia
Okay. What are you guys reading?
Jen
That sounds fun.
sofia
I know.
Jen
and i like a sentient ship.
sofia
It does sound fun, right?
Jen
And I haven't, i feel like I keep saying this, but that's her works also the monk.
sofia
Me too.
Jen
She did the monk and robot books, right?
sofia
Yes. Yep.
Jen
Yeah. I still need to read those.
sofia
Oh, those are the coziest and they're so short. You could do that in like less than an hour, I feel like.
Jen
Ooh. All right. I'm going bump them up because I've been reading a lot of long stuff and it's nice to mix it up.
sofia
Maybe. yeah Just because they're like... Yeah. Yep.
Jen
Yeah. Yeah.
sofia
Okay. What are you reading currently or did you just finish?
Jen
Oh my God, y'all. I did. I mean, I kind of spoiled it, but I just finished Victorian Psycho. Oh my God. It is so unhinged.
sofia
I gotta look this book up because I've never heard of it.
Jen
I was.
Jen
it but Okay, the prose was beautiful, and i I grabbed it in part because I've seen it on a number of lists about I'm reading things with gothic Victorian flair as of late. um But it's very unreliable narrator. um If you like homes that carry heavy things, this is definitely going to give you that. It's not a haunted house book. You're basically in the mind, in the sort of direct POV of this very unwell woman who has reasons for being unwell um that are narratively central to the house that she goes into. um It's absurd, at times hilarious, deeply disturbing. Do not read this if you don't, if you're not okay with like slasher blood stuff, because there's a lot of body stuff in this book that I was like, Oh, I can't believe that got published. Like, oh.
nicholae
So this is for Sofia, for sure.
Jen
Yeah, totally. Yeah. Yes. But, you know, I felt it was another one of those books that I think will stay with me. um Maybe in some ways, not the best ways, but but also in like a, what do you do when you really follow someone who's just like got very few redeemable qualities, but you can also kind of understand like, oh, what brought this person to this place? Like everyone in the book is really not a good person. So it's like a book to read if you if you care about the prose, which I was reading for, and like the the Victorian vibes.
But there's a lot of other stuff that if that's not your jam, I would not. You don't have to go there. It's also now a movie or it's going to be a movie. I won't be watching it. But you know if someone else is prefer, you know, we prefer movies, you could do that. I think later this fall it comes out.
sofia
Fun, fun. And by fun, I mean not for me, but... everybody Actually, no, that does remind me of what I just finished, which was The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan.
Jen
Yeah.
sofia
It's actually also very gory and bloody. um
Jen
Really? Oh, okay.
sofia
Yes. Yeah, i like as I was reading, I was like, oh, I wasn't... this is And there's a lot of animal death, sorry.
um It's kind of like a werewolf story.
Jen
Hmm.
sofia
There's a lot of demons and so ah that inhabit people. It's, like I said, extremely bloody. i guess it's a little gothic too because it's, yeah, they're like hunting this beast and um it takes place in like the 1700s, 1785.
Actually, it has a parallel timeline as well. So there's that and it's,
Jen
Wait, like in a real location or in a fantasy world?
sofia
No, no, no. Actually, it's, oh, sorry i sorry. I should have said it's like historical fantasy.
Jen
Oh.
sofia
But there's like also horror, which is why i was surprised.
Jen
Hmm.
sofia
I guess I didn't realize it was horror when I was reading it. And then when I started reading it, I was like, oh, this is horror. And i actually, was going to text you guys. I was like, I think you guys might like this. But I managed to finish the book. So I guess it wasn't like that. It's more like a horror in the, like, I guess it's like sort of of a werewolf story in a way.
Jen
Hmm
sofia
but like scary werewolves, not like hot romance werewolves.
Jen
yeah yeah
Jen
important distinction yeah
sofia
yeah
nicholae
Inside you, there are two werewolves.
Jen
yeah
sofia
And also there's like, it's, it's pretty queer, but it's, someone was saying in one of the reviews that they found it a little, um, um they found it misogynistic and i can't quite tell if it is or not.
Jen
Hmm.
sofia
Like i can't tell if that was like on purpose by the author because it is clever to an extent and it does feel like a um untrustworthy narrator.
Jen
Mm-hmm.
sofia
But yeah, I'm not quite sure. And it seems like there's going to be more books to come because also the ending was very unsatisfying.
Jen
Mm.
sofia
Yeah, but lots of twists and turns.
Jen
These damn sequels and......serieses!
sofia
I know. and they don't tell you. And you're like, then and then I know.
Jen
no They hook you.
sofia
And then it did say it was a love story, but honestly, it's really not. It's more like an in lust story.
Jen
Oh. Okay. see Yes. Thank you for saying that. Because if I do read it, I would have gone in with certain expectations. Okay.
sofia
What about you, nicholae?
nicholae
i just started i mean i just started i'm like two pages in nk jemisin's the city we became which i said i was going to read at some point who knows if it was while we were recording or some other time but listeners you may recall that i said i was going to be reading this and now i am and i know i'm gonna love it i love her work
Jen
Hmm.
Jen
Hmm.
sofia
Oh.
Jen
Hmm.
Jen
Mm-hmm.
nicholae
And I'm also reading this book by Rua Williams called Disabling Intelligences, which is kind of an extended critique of artificial intelligence technologies, but also particularly discourse around them through the lens of disability studies particularly arguing that you can't understand like AI hype or the harms of AI or even the intelligence of artificial intelligence, which it is not intelligence at all, can't really be understood apart from the history of eugenics, which I think is really fascinating. So I'm reading it with a group of people.
It's good.
Jen
That sounds really fascinating.
nicholae
It's very short. it's ah It's actually a very quick read. I know it sounds like quite theoretically dense, but it's actually short and very readable and accessible.
Jen
you say the title?
sofia
Can you say, was gonna say the same
Jen
yeah
nicholae
Yeah, Disabling Intelligences.
Jen
Got it.
sofia
Okay.
Jen
That sounds so good. Now everybody has a fun a bunch of fun things to read, both upcoming and already out.
sofia
It's true.
Jen
Thank you all for rocking with us. And I guess we will see you in our next episode. Bye-bye.
nicholae
Take care.
Show Notes
We hope you enjoyed this episode! Below, you’ll find links to topics & resources that came up during our episode.
Books, Authors, and Media Mentioned
Books
The House of Gardenias, Isabel Cañas (2026 Release)
Vampires of El Norte, Isabel Cañas
The Possession of Alba Diaz, Isabel Cañas
The Tainted Cup series, Robert Jackson Bennett (2026 Release for A Trade of Blood)
Triage, Claudia Rankine
Changing Gender, Susan Stryker
Cemetery Boys: Espíritu, Aiden Thomas
Hell Followed With Us, Andrew Joseph White
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth, Andrew Joseph White
You’re No Better, Andrew Joseph White
The Space Between Worlds, Micaiah Johnson
The Unhaunting, Micaiah Johnson
Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
House of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski
Victorian Psycho, Virginia Feito
Off the Reservation, Stephen Graham Jones
The Only Good Indians, Stephen Graham Jones
Ninth House, Leigh Bardugo
Hell Bent, Leigh Bardugo
Deadbeat, Leigh Bardugo
The Raven Scholar, Antonia Hodgson
The Murderbot Diaries, Martha Wells
Year of the Mer, L.D. Lewis
The Fist of Memory, Wole Talabi
The Last Thorn, Talia Hibbert
The Last Contract of Isako, Fonda Lee
The Green Bone Saga, Fonda Lee
The Book Eaters, Sunyi Dean
The Girl with a Thousand Faces, Sunyi Dean
The Intrigue, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Bewitching, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Deathly Fates, Tesia Tsai
Sublimation, Isabel J. Kim
The Felicity Complex, August Clark
Metal From Heaven, August Clark
Against Purity, Alexis Shotwell
Liberation is Other People, Alexis Shotwell
Weavingshaw, Heba Al-Wasati
Immorata, Ava Reid
Bodies of Magic, Freya Marske
Capital, Karl Marx
Disorienting Phenomenology, Queer Space and Trans Life, Eden Kincaid
As You Wake, Break the Shell, Becky Chambers
The Red Winter, Cameron Sullivan
The City We Became, N.K. Jemisin
Disabling Intelligences, Rua Williams
Credits
Hosts: Sofia Leung, nicholae cline, and Jen Brown
Audio Engineer: Aaron Yin
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