Rachelle joins us for her debut episode to talk about Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. She and Lesley touch on strained family dynamics, how cool astronauts are, and an epic ending that kept a whole book club on the edge of their seats.

Jake and Katie talk about the top ten reasons you should reconsider a descent into hell to rescue your thesis professor (eg. a lot of math, chthonic dogs, an eventual rivals to lovers romance). Their only cited source is R. F. Kuang's dark academia book, Katabasis. 

Katie and Sara both read a cozy, funny fantasy romance by M. Stevenson called Behooved. It's a LadyHawke situation.

Cherie reviews an action-packed dark sci-fi novel called Not That Kind of Good Guy by John Ringo.

Kathy discusses power, identity, and the cost of change in Red Rising, a 2014 action-packed dystopian sci-fi novel by Pierce Brown that is the start of a seven book saga.

Jake, Dani, Lesley, and Katie talk about some of their favorite vampire reads from this year. We cover Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab, Hungerstone by Kat Dunn, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones, and Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove. There's something on this list for everyone! 

Dani brings Shadow of the Leviathan by Robert Jackson Bennett, a science fiction series and a retelling of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes that features a locked room mystery, murder by tree, and a surprising amount of algae. 

Erline reviews one of her must-read authors, Stephen King, and has some things to say about Never Flinch, the latest in the Holly Gibney series.

Avid Discworld fan Cherie joins us to provide three possible entries into the beloved universe of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. 

Local author Dr. Regina Sims joins us to talk about the history of Juneteenth, her connection to the holiday, and how all of that culminated in her writing a children's book called Juneteenth: A Celebration of Freedom.