S4, Chapter 12: Exciting Upcoming Releases (July - December 2026)

Today, we are looking into the the future and talking about upcoming releases that are grabbing our attention.  Beloved authors and personalities are publishing new books between now and Christmas. We are excited to share them with you!  Happy listening!

Julia's Books

• Everybody's Perfect by Jo Walton (June 30, 2026)
• Happy Snacking, Don't Die!: Foraging and Vegan Recipes with Black Forager by Alexis Nikole Nelson (September 22)
• The Lost Spectacular by Zoé Duhaime (September 29)
• Ungrateful Immigrant Daughter by Katya Suvorova (September 29)
• Simple Kitchen Magic by Rebekah Moyer (October 27)

Stephany's Books

• The Great Wherever by Shannon Sanders (July 7)
• Country People by Daniel Mason (July 7)
• Miss Beresford and the Beast by Mimi Matthews (August 4)
• Paper Ghosts by Sarah Addison Allen (September 1)
• The Oxford Guide to Scandals and Lies by Kate Westbury (September 1)
• The Paradox Club by Charlie Lovett (September 1)
• The Museum of Lost Things: True Tales of Fabled Treasures, Legendary Cities, and Mythical Creatures That Vanished from History by Sam Kean (September 15)
• The Haunting of Greys Court by Alison Weir (October 29)

Other Mentions

• A Perfect Hand by Ayelet Waldman
• The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare by Kimberly Brock
• Piranesi by Susannah Clarke
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
• The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
• Alexis Nikole (Instagram)
• S4, Chapter 11: Summer Vibes
• The Belles of London series by Mimi Matthews
• Ebby (Rebekah) Moyer (Youtube)
• The Lost Book of the Grail by Charlie Lovett
• Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

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Intro/Outro music:  Summer Fling by L-Ray Music

Transcript

Speaker 2 0:05

Hello, listeners and fellow book lovers. Welcome to the Book Snug, a bi-weekly conversational podcast about books and the reading life. My name is Stephany.

Speaker 1 0:16

And I'm Julia.

Speaker 2 0:18

We're a mother and a daughter who love reading and talking about books: the ones we adore and the ones we don't. We're delighted you're here, so grab your favorite hot drink or ice cold beverage and settle in for another cozy bookish chat.

Speaker 1 0:36

Hi Mom.

Speaker 2 0:37

Hi Julia.

Speaker 2 0:38

How are you? Good. I'm good.

Speaker 1 0:41

Good. Uh, happy summer, officially.

Speaker 2 0:44

Yes. Summer Solstice was on Sunday. So we are truly in the summertime. Even though I've been behaving like it's summer since Memorial Day weekend.

Speaker 0:53

Well, and you've been out of out of school. Right. We're not in schooling for summer break.

Speaker 2 1:04

I've been on summer break.

Speaker 1 1:05

Lucky. Hi, friends and listeners. Welcome to The Book Snug. Um, if you are new here, this is just a place where we gab and chat about books and bookish reading stuff. Yeah. It's a little chaotic. Yeah. If you're returning listeners, thank you so much for joining us today. As always. Before we get into our conversation, are you drinking anything, Mom? Well, let me guess, Earl Grey.

Speaker 2 1:33

It is not Earl Grey. I found a tea that Stash makes. It's a black tea, but it's peach. And it's been perfect for summer mornings. So I'm enjoying it. I have a full cup in my mint green yeti sitting here on the coffee table. So I plan on sipping while we talk about books. How about you? What are you drinking?

Speaker 1 1:54

Well, the peach tea sounds really good, but can you guess that it's water?

Speaker 2 1:59

Yeah, I was gonna say, is it H2O?

Speaker 1 2:03

Yeah. All I want is sugary drinks, so I'm trying to keep myself really like water. On the straight

Speaker 2 2:11

It's that time of year that you really need to be careful that you get enough.

Speaker 1 2:14

Yeah. Even though like today's lovely, like it's not too hot. I feel like it's it's cool. You're not gonna walk out and die. But definitely summertime is where I feel like I just like - there's an image out of a SpongeBob movie where he just is shriveled up and he says, I just I need water, like I'm dying. And that's what I feel like in the summer. Just totally just desperate for water. Well, listeners, friends, every year we begin our show in January looking at the upcoming book releases from January to June.

Speaker 2 2:44

Yes.

Speaker 1 2:44

And it's one of our favorite episodes to do because oh my gosh, it's so much fun to look at what's coming up.

Speaker 2 2:49

Yes.

Speaker 1 2:49

Well, we have hit June, which means now we're looking at upcoming releases from now until the end of the year. Right.

Speaker 2 2:56

Right. Although I didn't have much luck with November and December. So even though we're saying till the end of the year, my selections don't go that far.

Speaker 1 3:05

Yeah. And mine are October is the latest that they're gonna go. So it'll take us pretty much there, but I know that there's gonna be some that we'll miss along the way. Well, why don't we just dive right in to the books that we've picked?

Speaker 2 3:23

Okay, that sounds good to me. I will say I'm a little bit trepidatious because several of the books that I picked for the first part of this year I have read and have not had good luck with.

Speaker 1 3:36

Yes.

Speaker 2 3:37

So I want to say up front that I have been much more cautious with picking books. I've picked a lot of books from authors I've read from before and enjoyed because I just I don't think I'm unique in saying that I crave good reading experiences that are entertaining, that make me think, that feel good when I'm done, even if the story is not necessarily a feel-good story. I don't feel like I've wasted my time or dumped garbage into my brain. So I was a little bit nervous about picking the books this time around because when I bring books to the show like this, I do plan on reading them or I hope that I will get a chance to read them. So I want to pick books that I'm gonna like.

Speaker 1 4:24

Right.

Speaker 2 4:24

I think this list I have here really reflects the type of reading and the type of authors that I do tend to gravitate toward. So I just wanted to put that little public service announcement or disclaimer out there that I was very careful about the books I picked this time around.

Speaker 1 4:40

Yeah. Well, as so I'm gonna be looking off of my Amazon wish list, which is where my books are pulling from. But in so, and so looking at that, I had The Perfect Hand in my list, which is one that we talked about.

Speaker 2 4:52

 Yes.

Speaker 1 4:52

And so I remember how you had talked about how you'd started that book and really liked it and then like didn't by the end. So I am a little bit more reserved, which may or may not be why I have some odd selections in my list. But I think also a disclaimer is important that at least for me, some of the books that I'm going to talk about, the fiction one specifically, I don't know the authors. Like, I don't know anything about anything. And so maybe we just make a broad statement about that, about some of these authors that are brand new to us regardless.

Speaker 2 5:25

And I think too that we have to say, of course, we have not read these books.

Speaker 1 5:28

Right. So these are not recommendations.

Speaker 2 5:30

Right. We are just bringing books to the show that sound good to us that we want to bring to your attention, but we're not saying that they're going to be. Or they're five-star reads, or that they're even worth your time.

Speaker 1 5:42

Well we're just saying that these books look and sound interesting or have caught our eye, or something like that.

Speaker 2 5:50

I think that we have made it very clear where we stand with this episode. I do want to say one thing about The Perfect Hand since you brought it up. It is a book I brought to the show when we did our first half of the year anticipated reads. I did read it. I did enjoy it. I enjoyed the first part much, much better than the last part. But it is a well-written book and it is a story worth reading. I just felt like it was wrongly represented in the marketing and in the blurb.

Speaker 1 6:23

Yeah.

Speaker 2 6:23

It felt like the author changed, changed the project of the book in the middle and went a direction that we were not, none of us were expecting. Yeah.

Speaker 1 6:35

Yeah. That's confusing.

Speaker 2 6:36

Including the characters. So just beware of that. It's not going into the story is the what you're getting at the beginning, is not what you're getting at the end. Okay.

Speaker 1 6:45

Yep.

Speaker 2 6:46

So that's another little public service announcement if you're thinking about reading that book.

Speaker 1 6:51

Yep.

Speaker 2 6:52

Okay. Now I think we can dive in.

Speaker 1 6:55

Well, why don't you get us started, Mom? What is your first one?

Speaker 2 6:58

Okay. By the time I think this episode goes up, you will only have a little bit of time to wait for these first two books. The first book I have is The Great Wherever. This comes out July 7th. And it is written by Shannon Sanders or Saunders. It is literary fiction. It sounds like it's going to be family drama or a family portrait over several generations, but it focuses on a young urban woman, a woman who lives in the city. And she finds out that she's inheriting part of the family farm that has been in the family for generations. And when she gets there, she realizes that the farm comes with a couple of ghosts. I think they're ancestor ghosts. And she gets to know some of her family members who are still living on the farm and in the area. And then secrets come to light, and there's a lot of discussion about family history and inheritance, identity. I think there's some tragedy and loss, and then how you move forward from all of that. So this just sounds kind of like just general fiction about a family, but it has a little bit of magical realism because of the ghosts, lit fic, which makes me think there's going to be a lot of character focus and the writing should be good.

Speaker 8:22

Yeah.

Speaker 2 8:23

So that's why I'm picking this. It just sounds good to me.

Speaker 1 8:26

I wonder.... So the summary that you just read sounds, it's reminding me of The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare by Kimberley Brock.

Speaker 2 8:34

Yeah.

Speaker 1 8:34

And so I'm really curious how much of a comp it will be, how similar that that will be.

Speaker 2 8:40

I won't be able to tell you that. I was kind of waiting to read The Lost book of Eleanor Dare 'til we went to the beach in September. So I won't be able to give you a comp right away. But they do sound like they're gonna be similar. It's a similar kind of plot or story arc.

Speaker 1 8:58

Yeah.

Speaker 2 8:59

That's the Great Wherever coming out July 7th. Tell us about your first book, Julie.

Speaker 1 9:05

Yeah, so my first one. First of all, I just need to point out that it's the cover that caught me on this one. Okay. The book is Everybody's Perfect by Joe Walton. And apparently Joe Walton is a Hugo award-winning author, which I have never heard that before, but Hugo is fantastic for fantasy.

Speaker 2 9:25

Yes. Uh, and science fiction. Yeah. And I feel like I know that name, but I can't think what other books were written by the author. I have no idea. Okay, so tell us about the story.

Speaker 1 9:37

Well, first, the cover is it looks like Carnival masks from Venice.

Speaker 2 9:40

Oh, okay.

Speaker 2 9:41

So, it's dark and moody and fantastical. But let me read the Amazon thing here because it's just going to it just sounds like it's going to be easiest. So, it's Piranisi meets Swords Point in an elegant relay race through fantasy Venice from Hugo Award-winning author. So, the Serenissima is built from mist and belief, a mythical shadow sister to Venice and Crossroads of the Nine Worlds. When a laborer called Tyri has a dream that Sieranissima will have a doge and that they will marry the sea, he tells it to a fortune teller named Kadasha. She tells her apprentice, a gondolier called Tadio, who tells a cop named Gom, h eard it from five people that morning already. And by that point, it's already settled into the bones of the Serenissima, more than half faded. So Everybody's Perfect is a gentle, shifting, structurally inventive narrative of startling beauty that will make you think, rethink everything you know about fantasy. Okay. So it sounds like very limited plot, almost like Piranesi. Yeah.

Speaker 1 10:38

But just exploring fantasy, what it means to be a fantastical story in a fantastical Venice.

Speaker 2 10:45

So kind of like meta.

Speaker 1 10:47

Yeah, kind of.

Speaker 2 10:49

Well, I love Piranesi. So as soon as you said that, I thought, yeah, that sounds interesting. It also means that you're not really getting what you think you're getting because that is how Piranesi is.

Speaker 1 11:01

Right. There's an element of it too that almost sounds like the Starless Sea, where it almost feels like it's gonna take you in like 10 different directions all at once, and you don't know where you ended up until you got to the end.

Speaker 2 11:15

I missed when this was coming out.

Speaker 1 11:17

This is coming out June 30th, so this will probably be out right around the time that this episode comes out. Yes, yeah, absolutely. But yeah, so that one is Everybody's Perfect by Joe Walton. And I just I think the the nebula nebulousness of it is what's really interesting to me. Of the the plot is like not a plot, and so I I just am very, very intrigued.

Speaker 2 11:38

The comp to Piranesi is what is fascinating me the most because I I loved Piranesi. I thought that was a great book. Very imaginative.

Speaker 1 11:49

Yes.

Speaker 2 11:50

Okay, my next book is Country People: A Novel . This is by Daniel Mason, who wrote Northwoods a couple years ago, which is a literary fiction story. Country People comes out July 7th, also. This is literary fiction. It is a heartwarming tale of connection and self-discovery. A man who is kind of lost with what he wants to do with himself - I think he's working on a doctorate on Russian folk tales, hasn't completed it yet, really is kind of wandering around trying to figure out what he's gonna do with his life. He does have a family. They decide to move to this little town in the woods in Vermont. And he gets to know the local community, which is filled with very eccentric characters, and he also hears about a mystery, which is a very ridiculous local legend that may be more truth than fiction. So this is kind of touted as comedic. It has some funny aspects to it. There's a lot of focus just on the absurdity of small town life. But the the mystery also is intriguing me. Barnes and Noble quotes: "Joyous, absurd, and life-affirming, Country People is a luminous exploration of marriage and parenthood, the nature of belief, and the power of stories, and the ways in which we find connection in an increasingly fragmented world." I just think it's gonna be a fun read. It is literary fiction again. So I'm expecting more depth with the character development and again, very good writing. So I don't know. I've been waiting for this one. I knew this one was coming out for a while, and I would definitely like to pick it up and read it. I have not read Daniel Mason before. I also have not read Shannon Sanders before. These are two authors I haven't read. But they at least.... Daniel Mason has a history already with writing and being well respected for his writing. So I feel like I can probably trust him with a story. Country People: a Novel coming out July 7th.

Speaker 1 14:18

I wonder how well it would fit in like the fall. Like how fall/ autumnal is it?

Speaker 2 14:25

It depends. It depends on the season.

Speaker 1 14:27

 Yeah. If it's summertime, it could probably feel very summery.

Speaker 2 14:27 Speaker 2 14:30

Well, right, depending on the writing. I don't know. I don't think it addresses a seasonal aspect in the story.

Speaker 1 14:38

Right. But I just based on what you've just kind of said about it, I it just is not giving me like small town New England vibes, but like cozy. In the fall. So I'm curious how that -

Speaker 2 14:51

Not that it needs to be a loony star hollow type of experience.

Speaker 1 14:58

Yeah. So my next one is a weird one.

Speaker 2 15:03

Okay.

Speaker 1 15:04

So I have two cookbooks in my list.

Speaker 2 15:07

Do you?

Speaker 1 15:08

I do.

Speaker 2 15:08

Okay.

Speaker 1 15:09

For all of the cooking that I'm doing in my life at the moment. However, I this, well, both of the cookbooks, I'll say, are from people that I follow online.

Speaker 2 15:18

Okay.

Speaker 1 15:19

This first one is called Happy Snacking Don't Die by Alexis Nicole Nelson. Now she is known online as the Black Forager, which is why the title is Don't Die.

Speaker 2 15:30

Okay.

Speaker 1 15:31

Because she's teaching you how to find things that you that are safe to eat.

Speaker 2 15:35

Out in the wilderness.

Speaker 1 15:36

Correct. But you can also eat bad things that will kill you. Yes. Okay. So this is coming out September 25th. She does a series online where she takes two plants that look identical and asks you if one is a treat or one is a threat.

Speaker 2 15:50

Okay.

Speaker 1 15:50

Or a treat or something like that. Okay. And talks you through how one is going to kill you and the other is not. But anyway, in this cookbook, not only does she help you identify different plants that you can use, and it she also breaks it down seasonally. So what are the things in like the spring or in the summer, like right now? But then it's also like different recipes of how to use them or how to store them or what to do with different things about them. So some examples of this would be in spring, the book will teach you how to pickle magnolia flowers and turn Japanese knotwood into a refreshing granita.

Speaker 2 16:26

Okay.

Speaker 1 16:26

Summer is for frying up milkweed buds, making Juneberry hand pies and crafting rose water baklava. And with the fall, you'll be making savory mushroom dishes like Maitaki steak and bacon. And we like mushrooms in this house, so that sounds cool.

Speaker 2 16:39

Yes, I do know that.

Speaker 16:40

And then in the winter, to cozy up with pine shortbread cookies and oyster mushrooms chowda.

Speaker 2 16:45

Oh.

Speaker 1 16:46

So I think this will just be really interesting. And I mean, Ben likes to forage. So he's big into mushrooms and understanding, you know, learning the different types of mushrooms and where they grow and that kind of a thing.

Speaker 2 16:59

And what you can eat and what you can't.

Speaker 17:01

Right. And identifying the wild berries at the land of the cabin. And so foraging is something that's really interesting to both of us.

Speaker 2 17:08

Do our friends know that Ben is a trained chef?

Speaker 1 17:12

No, maybe I should say that.

Speaker 1 17:13 Speaker 2 17:13

Okay. S

Speaker 1 17:14

So listeners, my husband is a classically trained chef. Yeah. Does not work in kitchens anymore, but is very interested in food and really likes the farm to table element of like here's mushrooms that we found locally and how do we use them?

Speaker 2 17:30

Yes.

Speaker 1 17:30

In really good dishes. So foraging, he's he has actually looked at can he find mushrooms at the land that he can then sell over to restaurants in terms of foraging. But yeah, this comes out in September and I'm really excited about it. And we can include Alexis's social media stuff in the show notes as well if you're interested. Yeah, we can do that.

Speaker 2 17:50

Yeah, we can do that. That is a very interesting cookbook, not your standard basic recipes where you buy your food at the grocery store and put something together. Although, I'm not dissing that. I love cookbooks. I love cooking and baking, and I get most of my food at the grocery store, not in the summer. In the summer, with all the foods, the stands, the vegetable and fruit stands around, I do a lot of shopping.

Speaker 1 18:16

You have a little bit of a garden at work sometimes.

Speaker 2 18:19

Sometimes, not this year. This year the garden is not gardening.

Speaker 1 18:22

Right, right.

Speaker 2 18:25

Well, I'm going to recommend a huge departure from a cookbook.

Speaker 1 18:30

Okay.

Speaker 2 18:31

In the last show that we did, we were talking about summer vibes and we were doing different prompts. And one of the prompts was A Guilty Pleasure, which was a book or a type of book that we like to read that would make us feel guilty. I think the prompt was "ice cream". Was that ice cream? It doesn't matter. I mean, if you're really interested, you can go listen to that episode. But, I shared that my guilty pleasure, quote unquote, was Beauty and the Beast Retellings as a plot in historical romance. And, I have a Beauty and the Beast retelling as a historical romance to share today. That was a very, very long introduction to get to this book. Mimi Matthews, who is a closed door romance writer, usually writes historical romance, has a new series starting in August. I think it's called the Daughters of Somerset series.

Speaker 1 19:39

Okay.

Speaker 2 19:40

This first one is called Miss Beresford and the Beast, coming out August 4th. I've already read many Mimi Matthews books, so I know that I'm in safe hands with her. They're not spectacular, they're not going to blow your mind, but they are just fun, entertaining pieces of fluff, which I need in my life occasionally. I'm expecting a good time. In this particular Beauty and the Beast retelling, we have a spirited Victorian beauty with a fondness for fairy tales who unwittingly falls under the power of a beastly scandal- plagued nobleman. There is also a cursed village involved. So I think it's just gonna be fun. I'm not expecting, like I said, to have my mind blown, but I am expecting to have a good time.

Speaker 1 20:30

Yeah.

Speaker 2 20:31

And so I will probably be picking this up. This feels like a beach read to me.

Speaker 1 20:35

Yeah. She tends to do closed door romances.

Speaker 2 20:38

Always. I mean, I've never read one that wasn't. That doesn't mean they aren't out there, but none that I have read have been open door.

Speaker 1 20:45

Yeah. I read The Siren of Sussex. Was that the one with the horses and the it's the first series?

Speaker 2 20:54

It's the first book in a series about young women who ride horses. Yes. And I forget what the series is called.

Speaker 1 21:02

But yes. But that one was lovely, and I really enjoyed that. And I think I have Bell of Belle of Belgrave Square, I think is the second one. That was in my To Read Before Baby pile that never got read. But I just I enjoyed that story. So I'm excited to read the other one.

Speaker 2 21:19

I have read that entire series. I wish I could remember what the series series is called, and I enjoyed it very much. So I'm looking forward to this. And again, this is called Miss Beresford and the Beast by Mimi Matthews coming out August 4th.

Speaker 1 21:34

Okay, so my next one, this comes out October 2nd. So I guess a lot of mine are more late fall than some of your releases. This is another incredible looking cover. And this is The Lost Spectacular by Zoe Duhaime.

Speaker 2 21:51

Okay.

Speaker 1 21:51

I think I'm gonna say that it looks like the deluxe edition is coming out. So I don't know if this is already available or not.

Speaker 2 21:59

Okay.

Speaker 1 22:01

So we'll we'll just have to fact check that. But it does say that it's available September 29th.

Speaker 2 22:07

Okay. So you're talking specifically about the pretty cover, sprayed edges.

Speaker 1 22:13

I'm not sure.

Speaker 2 22:14

Okay.

Speaker 1 22:17

If this is already available, we'll do what we need to do with this. But anyway, this is The Night Circus Meets the Midnight Library.

Speaker 2 22:25

Okay.

Speaker 1 22:26

Okay. A dazzling ode to the life-changing power of books as childhood loves uh lovers turned rivals chase each other through the stories that shaped them, leaping through classic literature and famous paintings and private letters and family dinners until all that's left is to confront the grief that they've been running from and decide whether they might face it together instead.

Speaker 2 22:45

Okay. So it's fantasy with romance.

Speaker 22:48

Yeah. It's a mysterious, ever-changing festival glittering with everything lost. So a single pearl earring and apple orchards, first drafts of stuff, shipwrecks, that kind of stuff.

Speaker 2 23:04

So that's where The Night Circus comes in.

Speaker 1 23:07

Yeah. The Spectacular - found only by invitation or in the pages of misprints is the most precious thing in the world. And so it sounds like the two characters have different perspectives on what to do with this Spectacular and how to navigate it and what to do with it. And then that's kind of where the quote unquote competition from the Night Circus comes from.

Speaker 2 23:27

Okay.

Speaker 1 23:27

But then also the life lessons out of the Midnight Library. Now, I didn't like the Midnight Library, so I'm not sure I would like whatever element that they're trying to get out with. What the grief is or loss.

Speaker 2 23:37

But yeah, you might want to approach it with some care. Like if you're worried about triggers, look those up.

Speaker 1 23:43

Yeah. But if it's a book about a fantastical carnival or fantastical place, 100% I'm there. I'm there. So again, that's Amazon is saying the deluxe version is what's available, but we'll I can double check and do what we need to do.

Speaker 2 24:00

It doesn't matter. I mean that is that's coming out.

Speaker 1 24:03

That is Zoe Duhaim. Again, I'm not sure if I'm saying her last name correctly.

Speaker 2 24:08

Okay.

Speaker 1 24:09

Um, or if she has anything else out on the market, but that's coming in September.

Speaker 2 24:16

I also have a book coming out in September. I have many books coming out in September. The first one is by an author that you and I both love.

Speaker 1 24:24

Oh.

Speaker 1 24:25

Sarah Addison Allen. And her book is called Paper Ghosts. So, if you're familiar with Sarah Addison Allen, you know that she writes magical realism. All of her stories have some kind of magical component. Ghosts or just strange magic, like people have strange magical powers that are not overwhelming, but they just enhance everyday life. And this, I don't know really know what the plot is. I don't know what's happening here. I just know this is a story of a family of women who carry secrets and then eventually have to come to terms with the past. There are ghosts in this story, and I think that's where the magical realism comes in for the most part. So Barnes and Noble says this is "part ghost story, part love story, and steeped in magical realism. Paper Ghosts will transport you to a place where old secrets echo through the years, and love finds a way of bringing us home". I have read every Sarah Addison Allen book. I have loved every single one to different degrees, but I would recommend every one of them. And I know her writing, I know how she tells a story, and I know what to expect, and I think it's gonna be good. I have every belief that I'm going to enjoy this reading experience. So that's Paper Ghost by Sarah Addison Allen. I'm surprised you didn't pick this. I thought for sure when you saw it, you would write it down. I didn't see it on my list.

Speaker 2 26:02

Oh, you didn't? Okay.

Speaker 1 26:03

Now it could have been one of those things where like I saw the cover and didn't see the author.

Speaker 2 26:08

I will say the cover of this book is kind of boring. It looks like there's just feathers on it. So maybe it just didn't catch your eye.

Speaker 1 26:16

Yeah. But well, and maybe it's not the final cover either. Because sometimes people do that, that if it's that far out, they're just it's a temporary cover. So but no, I have liked Sarah Addison Allen. I would like to finish Garden Spells, but that's going to be put on hold for the time being.

Speaker 2 26:35

Again, trigger warning. Sometimes you're caught off guard by what's going on in a book and you just might not be in the right headspace for it.

Speaker 1 26:44

Speaking of trigger warnings and appropriate headspace, my next book is a memoir.

Speaker 2 26:50

Okay.

Speaker 1 26:50

Okay. It will be released September 29th as well. It is Ungrateful Immigrant Daughter, a memoir from the child of a mail order bride.

Speaker 2 27:00

Oh, okay.

Speaker 1 27:01

By Katya Sororova.

Speaker 2 27:03

Oh, so she's an Eastern European male order bride.

Speaker 1 27:06

Now I know very, very little of this the background of getting to this story. I just happened to see a singular Instagram post or video, and it's what threw me down this rabbit hole. But they're saying a perfect read for fans of the jaw dropping twists of 90-Day Fiance. I'm assuming that's the male order bride part.

Speaker 2 27:26

Okay.

Speaker 1 27:27

And the emotional gut punch of I'm Glad My Mom Died.

Speaker 2 27:29

Oh my gosh.

Speaker 1 27:29

So it's gonna be all over the place.

Speaker 2 27:31

Yeah.

Speaker 1 27:32

So I'll just read the two paragraphs here. Growing up undocumented in Houston, Texas, Katya Sororova learned that keeping her family together meant dodging the police, enjoying her mother's many husbands, and babysitting her younger sister instead of finishing the third grade. Her understanding of her life shifted dramatically at 17 when Katya discovered her mother's advertisement in a forgotten Eastern European mail order bride catalog from the 1990s. As she grew older, Katya came to better understand what her mother had risked when she smuggled herself and her then three-year-old daughter from Russia to the US. And so then it is gonna explore all the different themes that come out of that and untangling Katya's whole childhood.

Speaker 2 28:11

So it was her mother who was a male order bride? Sounds like it's going to be traumatic.

Speaker 1 28:19

Yeah, it sounds like it's gonna be hard. But I think it also asks some very prevalent questions in terms of some of the geopolitical stuff that's happening.

Speaker 2 28:27

Yes.

Speaker 1 28:27

And looking at things from a different perspective than maybe we might be seeing. So I think it's going to be hard. This is one that I would like to listen to if she ever does an audio. I think reading it would be fine, but I like these stories to hear from the author themselves.

Speaker 2 28:40

Right, especially if they do the narration.

Speaker 1 28:42

Yeah. So, like I said, trigger warnings. I think that's going to require very specific headspace for that one. But that's coming out end of September. Okay. Do you have something later, maybe for the next one?

Speaker 2 28:54

I do. And this is definitely right up my alley, this next book. It's called The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies. This is by Kate Westbury, and it is also coming out September 1st. I am having a hard time summarizing the synopsis of this book on my own. So I am just going to read what Barnes Noble has as their synopsis. Though Gin, who is a brilliant debutante, and Sydney, a former spy with a difficult history, have little in common, the British Security Service is keen to unite Gin's charm and Sydney's espionage experience. There's a Soviet spy at the university, and the agent tracking them down was poisoned. MI5 wants Gin and Sydney to pick up the trail and identify the informant before more sensitive information is compromised. As a team, the pair of undergraduates clash in personality, upbringing, and taste, but have a connection neither can deny. Gin and Sydney must unite their respective talents to follow the clues before they're caught in the trader's crosshairs. If the sparks flying between them don't blow up the operation first. So, it's gonna be like a mystery spy situation.

Speaker 1 30:16

Yeah.

Speaker 2 30:16

With two undergraduates at Oxford, and they're trying to figure out who the informant is, but they're also falling in love. So, I just think that sounds like fun.

Speaker 1 30:25

Yeah.

Speaker 2 30:26

I love a little bit of romance mixed up in my stories. I prefer it that way rather than at the forefront.

Speaker 1 30:32

Right.

Speaker 2 30:33

So this is just my kind of romance story. There's other stuff going on.

Speaker 1 30:38

Right, right.

Speaker 2 30:39

That is the Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies, and that's coming out September 1st.

Speaker 1 30:45

Okay. Now that sounds like a lot of fun.

Speaker 2 30:47

Yeah, and I love the academia setting. I like the story, the timeline is after World War II. I really like the interwar and then the post-war years. Especially in England because there was a lot of struggle there. So I'm looking forward to this. I think this will be fun. Okay, Julia. What do you have for us? You have fiction, nonfiction, another cookbook.

Speaker 1 31:13

It's another cookbook.

Speaker 2 31:14

Okay.

Speaker 1 31:16

Now this one is beautiful. Like, look at the cover, mom.

Speaker 2 31:20

Oh, yes. It is. And it's gold foil. So it's supposed to shimmer. Green with gold foil.

Speaker 1 31:24

Yeah. Okay. So this is Simple Kitchen Magic: Whole Food Recipes and Remedies for a Holistic Life. This is by Rebecca Moyer, also known as Ebbie Moyer online.

Speaker 2 31:34

Okay.

Speaker 1 31:35

So I follow Ebby. What drew me to her is she does a lot of how to make your own kombucha, but why you're making your own kombucha and why it's important that you do it correctly.

Speaker 2 31:46

Okay.

Speaker 1 31:47

So she's not just on the sourdough train because it's sourdough, but she's like, when you make your sourdough, you're not just.... like you're doing it for this purpose.

Speaker 2 31:56

Okay.

Speaker 1 31:56

Right. So not to pit people against each other, but there's somebody online who makes sourdough strawberry chocolate chip bagels. And at that point, the sourdough doesn't matter because it's covered in everything else.

Speaker 2 32:07

Right.

Speaker 1 32:08

Yeah. And so Ebbie is very much like, we're using this for a health purpose. So we want to make sure we get the benefits out of it while it still tastes really, really good. I love Ebbie's whole feel about her too. She feels like a little forest fairy, very holistic, which is something that I'm drawn to. So she makes quote unquote tinctures, which is just like ginger and lemon and et cetera, for feeling better. Nothing that's like woo-woo or weird.

Speaker 2 32:33

Right. I make my own ginger tea all the time and drink it.

Speaker 1 32:36

Yeah. And so I really like the idea of having recipes like that in my back pocket to pull from instead of like, oh, I have a cold, let me take some cough drops. Well, I have a cold, let me take do some of this instead. Using food for healing.

Speaker 2 32:55

Right. Instead of for health. I mean, not just when you're not feeling well at all about it. To stay healthy.

Speaker 1 33:01

Right. And so this could open up a whole other conversation of holistic, naturopathic versus like Western medicine. But the point is, is that the food that I've seen her make online looks really good. I like her philosophy behind the food. Her cookbook looks beautiful, and that's as simple as that.

Speaker 2 33:18

Yeah. I would be tempted to buy it just because it's so pretty.

Speaker 1 33:21

Well, yes. I mean, the recipes just look really good too. And all of it, all of it. Like I said, little forest fairy. And so totally my vibe.

Speaker 2 33:30

Well, Julia, I think you're at the end of your list. I am not at the end of my list. So I have three more books I want to talk about.

Speaker 1 33:37

Okay.

Speaker 2 33:38

And, I know for sure that you are going to want to hear about one of them. So I'll save that till the end. And I'm going to talk about these two.

Speaker 1 33:46

Okay.

Speaker 2 33:46

I have two fiction and one nonfiction.

Speaker 1 33:49

Okay.

Speaker 2 33:49

If you find another book that you want to talk about, just let me know.

Speaker 1 33:54

I will.

Speaker 2 33:54

Okay. So the first book I want to mention is called The Paradox Club. This is written by Charlie Lovett. I've read another book by him years ago called The Lost Book of the Grail. He tends to write about missing pieces of weird history. And, then it becomes like this search adventure story. So the Lost Book of the Grail, of course, had to do with the Holy Grail that took place in England. This is about a young woman named Tess who finds a puzzle that was created by her late father. And with the finding of this puzzle, she becomes involved in a secret society responsible for guarding knowledge that has power to reshape human history. Some people in this secret society want that power for nefarious purposes, as you can guess.

Speaker 1 34:50

Oh, sure.

Speaker 2 34:51

And this becomes like a race to figure out the puzzle, keep the bad people from doing bad things, and perhaps save the world.

Speaker 1 35:02

Great.

Speaker 2 35:02

This comes out September 1st. Barnes and Noble says "The Paradox Club blends scientific intrigue, buried histories, and escalating danger into a propulsive mystery, perfect for readers who love secret societies, intellectual puzzles, and revelations that upend everything we think we know." So this sounds like a good time.

Speaker 1 35:25

Yeah.

Speaker 2 35:26

Another book I think that might could be a comp to this is Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour bookstore. I think Robin Sloan wrote that, but I would have to look up the author. But this is just kind of sounding similar to me. Where somebody stumbles upon a secret society completely by an accident and then gets drawn into tons of drama.

Speaker 1 35:52

Right. Yeah.

Speaker 2 35:53

Is really what that sounds like. Like I said, I've read Charlie Lovett. I know what his writing is going to be like. So I think this will be a good time. And it's been a while since he had a book come out. So I'm looking forward to seeing what he's come up with.

Speaker 1 36:06

Yeah.

Speaker 2 36:08

The nonfiction book that I want to recommend, and you might be interested in this too, Julia, is called The Museum of Lost Things: True Tales of Fabled Treasures, Legendary Cities, and Mythical Creatures that Vanished From History.

Speaker 1 36:23

Oh.

Speaker 2 36:24

This is written by Sam Keane, and it is coming out September 15th. And because this is nonfiction, I am just going to read the Barnes and Noble blurb. "Perhaps the single most common theme across all of history is loss. The loss of lands, loss of sacred objects, loss of languages, of rites, of life. The past groans with disappearances of all kinds. This enthralling narrative collects the most spellbinding tales of these experiences and weaves them into a thoughtful meditation on what it all means across the sweep of human history and the scope of human lives." So he investigates the city of Troy, the tomb of Genghis Khan, the Library of Alexandria, several animals that have gone extinct. That's the type of book this is.

Speaker 1 37:19

Love that.

Speaker 2 37:20

"It's provocative, surprising, and above all entertaining. This globe-trotting narrative acknowledges the sheer scale of humanity's losses, celebrates the treasures we have managed to retain, and reveals why they continue to captivate us centuries later." I just think this sounds good.

Speaker 1 37:38

Yes.

Speaker 2 37:39

I think this would be a great audiobook. It would feel almost like a podcast.

Speaker 1 37:43

Yes. I agree. I would really enjoy that. Oh man. I have just stumbled upon somebody online who is, first of all, looks like your stereotypical archaeological scholar, but he's always sharing about the coolest archaeological discoveries that are happening and talking about all of that fun stuff. So I 100% would dive right into that book. Hook, line, and sinker - take me out. Like it would be great.

Speaker 2 38:07

I'm gonna read the long title one more time.

Speaker 1 38:10

Okay.

Speaker 2 38:10

The Museum of Lost Things True Tales of Fabled Treasures, Legendary Cities, and the Mythical Creatures That Vanished From History by Sam Keane, and that is coming out September 15th. And I have one more book to share, and I think this is the one that you will really be interested in.

Speaker 1 38:30

Okay. Well, the last two have got my attention.

Speaker 2 38:32

Okay. Well, Alison Weir has a new book coming out October 29th.

Speaker 1 38:37

I know that name.

Speaker 2 38:38

She is a very productive and famous historical writer, both of fiction and nonfiction, specifically English history.

Speaker 1 38:51

Yes.

Speaker 2 38:52

She wrote a whole bunch about Henry VIII and his wives, but she's written about a lot of things.

Speaker 38:58

I have one or two of her wives that she's written for King Henry. And I think, I think I could be totally wrong on this. I think she did a nonfiction Ann Boyelyn, too, that I have.

Speaker 2 39:10

Probably. She's done several nonfiction. She's very respected. She has a fiction story coming out called The Haunting of Grays Court. This is a tutor ghost story. But the book itself, it's hard to find a good description. I couldn't even find it on Barnes and Noble's website. I couldn't find it on Amazon. The only place I could find it listed- I even looked on Black Wells and Waterstones for England.

Speaker 1 39:39

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 39:40

And couldn't find it anywhere. Goodreads was the only place that had any kind of synopsis.

Speaker 1 39:45

Interesting. When is this one coming out?

Speaker 2 39:46

It's coming out October 29th. So I'm going to read what Goodreads has listed for this: "Oxfordshire present day. When a young woman grieves the loss of her mother, she is invited to stay with her aunt, the custodian of a historic house, until she recovers. Soon she becomes entangled in the mysteries of the beautiful but eerie Greys Court. Nobody lives here except Lucy and her aunt, but there are footprints in the dust, an inexplicable scent of roses, and visions of a weeping woman in black silk. Then the nightmares start. In them, a wooden platform, a red-stained white cap, and an overwhelming sense of dread. Something or someone is haunting Greys Court, and it may be trying to communicate with them. What is this house trying to tell her? And what and can the past ever stay buried?"

Speaker 1 40:44

Bring it on, that sounds so good.

Speaker 2 40:45

I think comes out October 29th, and I think it's a perfect fall read.

Speaker 1 40:50

Oh my gosh, yes.

Speaker 2 40:51

So, that is The Haunting of Greys Court by Allison Weir.

Speaker 1 40:55

Oh, that one sounds so good.

Speaker 2 40:56

Yeah. And that is the end of the list of books that I have. I had many, many others I could share, but these were the tippy top of what I was interested in.

Speaker 1 41:07

Yeah. And I think I just am not as antingmuch w to be reading, I think very little is catching my attention.

Speaker 2 41:13

Right.

Speaker 1 41:14

So I know that there's a whole plethora of good stuff coming out.

Speaker 2 41:17

Yeah. But your mind is on other things.

Speaker 1 41:20

My mind has no energy, right?

Speaker 2 41:22

Well, and you have lots of big stuff coming up.

Speaker 1 41:24

Yes.

Speaker 2 41:24

You're you'll be going back to work.

Speaker 1 41:27

Yeah. Don't remind me.

Speaker 2 41:28

You will be moving soon. Yes.

Speaker 1 41:30

Yeah.

Speaker 2 41:30

Yes. So a lot. My my life is very steady. Everybody around me is going bananas, but yeah. I mean, to to be honest, my parents moved in May.

Speaker 1 41:44

Yes.

Speaker 2 41:46

My youngest son, Aaron, and his wife Paige moved in June.

Speaker 1 41:50

Yes.

Speaker 2 41:50

Mark and Lexi are moving in July, and you guys are moving into August. And it has just been b ack-to-back work.

Speaker 1 42:00

Yeah.

Speaker 2 42:01

So anyway. I think that's a good list of books. And I can say I feel very comfortable reading all of these and not feeling like I'm gonna be bamboozled or really disappointed.

Speaker 1 42:15

Dude, there's nothing more disappointing than that. I know. Or frustrating.

Speaker 2 42:21

Okay. Well, what is coming up next? I think that we are going to do a Summer ween episode.

Speaker 1 42:28

Okay.

Speaker 2 42:29

And we're just gonna talk about scary stories, some horror. We might have a guest on the show who reads a lot of horror.

Speaker 1 42:36

A lot of horror.

Speaker 2 42:37

He also reads a lot of hard horror, which is really not my jam.

Speaker 1 42:42

No.

Speaker 2 42:42

And it's not your jam, Julia.

Speaker 1 42:44

No.

Speaker 2 42:44

And I have a feeling it's not really our readers' jam, but he might be able to give us some insight into places to start if if you're interested.

Speaker 1 42:52

I don't even say I read horror, like at all. I do ghost stories - maybe is the tip of like the most horror I do.

Speaker 2 42:58

They can be scary. Ghost stories can be really scary.

Speaker 1 43:01

For me, there's a difference between a ghost story and like Stephen King, like It horror. Do you know what I mean? Like there is a difference.

Speaker 2 43:08

And I think for me, too, there are specific types of horror that I feel are horror. Like body horror is to me like a no-go. I don't like to go there.

Speaker 1 43:20

Right.

Speaker 2 43:20

But I love psychological horror. I love psychological horror. And I like stories that give you that really uneasy feeling. Like you can't even pinpoint what it is about the story that is not right, but it's not right. And you feel it in your soul. I love books like that.

Speaker 1 43:40

I started None of This is True. Uh-huh. And I got that feeling. And I'm like, okay, we're done. Granted, I was listening to it, but like, well, that's the best way to take it in, is listen to it. No, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 2 43:51

The reason that we are talking about horror and calling it Summerween is there is a tradition in July to read scary books.

Speaker 1 44:02

Yes. In the book community.

Speaker 2 44:04

So we're going to jump on the bandwagon and do a spectrum of horror from things that are maybe a little bit spoopy to full-on scary.

Speaker 1 44:16

Yeah. I might not make it a full way in that spectrum. I'll have to, you guys will have to leave me somewhere along the journey.

Speaker 2 44:22

So I think that's what we're going to have happen next. But please do not 100% count on it, because we have really been flying by the seat of our pants, just trying to figure life out and schedules out. And Julia still is not reading so it makes it hard to talk about present books or books in real time.

Speaker 1 44:46

Yeah.

Speaker 2 44:47

Yeah. If friends, you are enjoying our relaxed, homey discussions about the books we're reading and the books we're excited about. Or not reading.

Speaker 1 44:59

Or not reading. Yeah.

Speaker 2 45:00

You could rate us and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or just tell your friends and family about us.

Speaker 1 45:08

Yeah.

Speaker 2 45:09

And I think that's it. Thank you, friends, for spending part of your day with us today here in The Book Snug. And we hope that you join us again in the next chapter, whatever that will be.

Speaker 1 45:23

Bye, friends. We'd love for you to continue today's conversation with us at the Booksnug underscore podcast on Instagram and at the Booksnug Podcast on Facebook. All of our episodes can be found wherever you listen to podcasts, as well as at our website, thebooksnugpodcast.puzzsprout.com, where show notes for every episode can be found. We'd love to hear from you. Email us at the Booksnug Podcast at gmail.com.

Speaker 2 45:52

As C.S. Lewis, one of our favorite authors, famously said, you can never have a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me. And we wholeheartedly agree.