Booked on Sundays

It's spooky season witches, and we are scared. Scared of what you may ask? The twist and turns, and utter chaos of Catriona Ward's The Last House on Needless Street, our read for this month. Questionably located in the Pacific Northwest, we explore a haunting story through many lens and we are throughly spooked. Trust me you'll want to read this one in the daylight hours only. Also, do not Google this book - as Google AI will give away the end, and you will want to find out for yourself. Per usual, we will continue with our Season 2 spoiler-free intros, where we will discuss our initials thoughts about the book before turning spoiler full in the second half of the show. We encourage you to tell us your own thoughts through a footnote, which you can submit here!

For more bookish content, check us out on instagram @bookedonsundayspod and on tiktok @bookedonsundays. Next month we are journey to outer space and back with Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino, Don't forget to book your Sundays!

Book blurb:

This is the story of a serial killer. A stolen child. Revenge. Death. And an ordinary house at the end of an ordinary street.

All these things are true. And yet they are all lies...

You think you know what's inside the last house on Needless Street. You think you've read this story before. That's where you're wrong.

In the dark forest at the end of Needless Street, lies something buried. But it's not what you think...

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We've woken up earlier than When September Ends - forgive us!!! This month we are back in action, chit chatting at the water-cooler, putting each other's staplers in jello, and generally oozing boredom due to the existence of "the corporation" - well, almost - it's really that this month we are discussing I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue, a book set in an office. And let's just say some of us don't totally agree with the blurbs that call it 'down right hilarious'.... Per usual, we will continue with our Season 2 spoiler-free intros, where we will discuss our initials thoughts about the book before turning spoiler full in the second half of the show. Have your own thoughts??? Submit a footnote!

For more bookish content, check us out on instagram @bookedonsundayspod and on tiktok @bookedonsundays. Next month we are bringing spooky back with The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward, Don't forget to book your Sundays!

Book blurb:

As far as Jolene is concerned, her interactions with her colleagues should start and end with her official duties as an admin for Supershops, Inc. Unfortunately, her irritating, incompetent coworkers don’t seem to understand the importance of boundaries. Her secret to survival? She vents her grievances in petty email postscripts, then changes the text colour to white so no one can see. That is, until one of her secret messages is exposed. Her punishment: sensitivity training (led by the suspiciously friendly HR guy, Cliff) and rigorous email restrictions.

Crackling with laugh-out-loud dialogue and relatable observations, I Hope This Finds You Well is a fresh and surprisingly tender comedy about loneliness and love beyond our computer screens. This sparkling debut novel will open your heart to the everyday eccentricities of work culture and the undeniable human connection that comes with it.

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Bet you thought our vampire obsession was over, right? WRONG. We are back with the original, yes original sexy vampire - Carmilla. Is she our queer queen? Our "bad at aliases" love? Our blood drenched goddess? Put down your garlic bread and find out. This month we are mouths agape (fangs sold separately) talking about Carmilla, by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, specifically the edition edited and forwarded by Carmen Maria Machado, and illustrations by Robert Kraiza. I call this out as we will make significant mention of elements of this particular edition in the episode. Per usual, we will continue with our Season 2 spoiler-free intros, where we will discuss our initials thoughts about the book before turning spoiler full in the second half of the show.

For more bookish content, check us out on instagram @bookedonsundayspod and on tiktok @bookedonsundays. We are taking our summer holiday in August, so we will see you all in September! Don't forget to book your Sundays!

Book blurb:

Isolated in a remote mansion in a central European forest, Laura longs for companionship—until a carriage accident brings another young woman into her life: the secretive and sometimes erratic Carmilla. As Carmilla’s actions become more puzzling and volatile, Laura develops bizarre symptoms, and as her health goes into decline, Laura and her father discover something monstrous.

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s compelling tale of a young woman’s seduction by a female vampire was a source of influence for Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which it predates by over a quarter century. Carmilla was originally serialized from 1871 to 1872 and went on to inspire adaptations in film, opera, and beyond, including the cult classic web series by the same name.

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Early summer feels like the best time for some thought-provoking sad girlhood vibes - right? Well if you think we are wrong, then you can just be the orange to our knife. This month we are disassociating mid-breakfast with a discussion of The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li. While this book ultimately devastated us (in the best way), this episode is still full of giggles, cutting (yet joking) accusations of which character we most embody, and quotes that make us put down our glasses of wine as we need our brains on for this book. Per usual, we will continue with our Season 2 spoiler-free intros, where we will discuss our initials thoughts about the book before turning spoiler full in the second half of the show.

For more bookish content, check us out on instagram @bookedonsundayspod and on tiktok @bookedonsundays. We'll see you next month for a discussion on Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. Don't forget to book your Sundays!

Book blurb:

A gripping, heartbreaking new novel about female friendship, art, and memory by the award-winning author of Where Reasons End.

Fabienne is dead. Her childhood best friend, Agnès, receives the news in America, far from the French countryside where the two girls were raised--the place that Fabienne helped Agnès escape ten years ago. Now, Agnès is free to tell her story.

As children in a war-ravaged, backwater town, they'd built a private world, invisible to everyone but themselves--until Fabienne hatched the plan that would change everything, launching Agnès on an epic trajectory through fame, fortune, and terrible loss.

A magnificent, beguiling tale winding from the postwar rural provinces to Paris, from an English boarding school to to the quiet Pennsylvania home where Agnès can live without her past, The Book of Goose is a haunting story of friendship, art, exploitation, and memory by the celebrated author Yiyun Li.

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This month is a testament to the last 15 minutes of every bookclub meeting where discussions of a singular shared book are over and it's just "omg have you read this" or "omg have you read that?". This month is a Bookish Roundtable, featuring yours truly - the Booked on Sundays crew. We discuss some of latest favorite reads, our reading preferences, and run through a few scenarios featuring previous book club books. We have opinions and we are ready to share them. No spoiler talk here - so precede without caution!

We want to hear your bookish thoughts too! For more bookish content, check us out on instagram @bookedonsundayspod and on tiktok @bookedonsundays. We'll see you next month where we will be discussing "The Book of Goose" by Yiyun Li.

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It's a whodunnit, and frankly, wholikedit?? you'll have to listen to find out!!! This month we turn back to murder mystery and one of life's greatest gifts, tea, in our discussion of Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto. Look forward to some laughs, oolong, and light-hearted criticism of this seemingly light-hearted mystery book. We will continue with our Season 2 spoiler-free intros, where we will discuss our initials thoughts about the book before turning spoiler full in the second half of the show.

For more bookish content, check us out on instagram @bookedonsundayspod and on tiktok @bookedonsundays. We'll see you next month where we will host a BOOKISH ROUNDTABLE featuring US!! Don't ask why, just accept it. We have opinions and we're ready to share them.

Book blurb:

A lonely shopkeeper takes it upon herself to solve a murder in the most peculiar way in this captivating mystery by Jesse Q. Sutanto, bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties.

Vera Wong is a lonely little old lady—ah, lady of a certain age—who lives above her forgotten tea shop in the middle of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Despite living alone, Vera is not needy, oh no. She likes nothing more than sipping on a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy detective work on the Internet about what her Gen-Z son is up to.

Then one morning, Vera trudges downstairs to find a curious thing—a dead man in the middle of her tea shop. In his outstretched hand, a flash drive. Vera doesn’t know what comes over her, but after calling the cops like any good citizen would, she sort of... swipes the flash drive from the body and tucks it safely into the pocket of her apron. Why? Because Vera is sure she would do a better job than the police possibly could, because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands. Vera knows the killer will be back for the flash drive; all she has to do is watch the increasing number of customers at her shop and figure out which one among them is the killer.

What Vera does not expect is to form friendships with her customers and start to care for each and every one of them. As a protective mother hen, will she end up having to give one of her newfound chicks to the police?

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It's our spiciest episode yet (and I don't just mean from these steaming hot takes!) and we are still on our vampire-kick! This month we turn to the coveted genre of romantasy with The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent. Look forward to lots of talk surrounding how the name Vincent may or may not be creepy, a mysterious confusing pantheon, and of course that the main love interest is so so big and our main character is so so small. We will continue with our Season 2 spoiler-free intros, where we will discuss our initials thoughts about the book before turning spoiler full in the second half of the show.

For more bookish content, check us out on instagram @bookedonsundayspod and on tiktok @bookedonsundays. We'll see you next month where we will discuss by Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Book blurb:

Human or vampire, the rules of survival are the same: never trust, never yield, and always – always – guard your heart.

The adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Oraya carved her place in a world designed to kill her. Her only chance to become something more than prey is entering the Kejari: a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself.

But winning won’t be easy amongst the most vicious warriors from all three vampire houses. To survive, Oraya is forced to make an alliance with a mysterious rival.

Everything about Raihn is dangerous. He is a ruthless vampire, an efficient killer, an enemy to her father’s crown… and her greatest competition. Yet, what terrifies Oraya most of all is that she finds herself oddly drawn to him.

But there’s no room for compassion in the Kejari. War for the House of Night brews, shattering everything that Oraya thought she knew about her home. And Raihn may understand her more than anyone – but their blossoming attraction could be her downfall, in a kingdom where nothing is more deadly than love.

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We continue Season 2 with the suspenseful, sweeping, romantic tale of Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Canas, and we have a lot to say about a book that borders the many genres of horror, romance, and historical fiction. Starting this episode, we begin with a spoiler-free section where we will discuss our initials thoughts about the book. Should we you choose to listen further, you'll hear our classic banter and strong opinions with a spoiler-full section per usual.

For more bookish content, check us out on instagram @bookedonsundayspod and on tiktok @bookedonsundays. We'll see you next month where we will discuss The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent!

Book blurb:

Vampires and vaqueros face off on the Texas-Mexico border in this supernatural western from the author of The Hacienda.

As the daughter of a rancher in 1840s Mexico, Nena knows a thing or two about monsters—her home has long been threatened by tensions with Anglo settlers from the north. But something more sinister lurks near the ranch at night, something that drains men of their blood and leaves them for dead.

Something that once attacked Nena nine years ago.

Believing Nena dead, Néstor has been on the run from his grief ever since, moving from ranch to ranch working as a vaquero. But no amount of drink can dispel the night terrors of sharp teeth; no woman can erase his childhood sweetheart from his mind.

When the United States attacks Mexico in 1846, the two are brought abruptly together on the road to war: Nena as a curandera, a healer striving to prove her worth to her father so that he does not marry her off to a stranger, and Néstor as a member of the auxiliary cavalry of ranchers and vaqueros. But the shock of their reunion—and Nena’s rage at Néstor for seemingly abandoning her long ago—is quickly overshadowed by the appearance of a nightmare made flesh.

And unless Nena and Néstor work through their past and face the future together, neither will survive to see the dawn.

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For our season 2 premiere, we have decided to turn back time - Cher style, and give you a sneak peek into our pilot/test episode, where we discuss a cult favorite A Court of Thorns and Roses or ACOTAR. This one is full of sass, giggles, and honestly wasn't supposed to be released. BUT here we are, it's a fun episode y'all. We are thrilled for you to hear our hot takes on re-reading A Court of Thorns & Roses.

Please note this episode contains spoilers for the full A Court of Thorns & Roses series!

For more bookish content, check us out on instagram @bookedonsundayspod and on tiktok @bookedonsundays. We'll see you next month where we will discuss Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Canas!

Book blurb:

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.

At least, he’s not a beast all the time.

As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

From bestselling author Sarah J. Maas comes a seductive, breathtaking book that blends romance, adventure, and faerie lore into an unforgettable read.

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Let's be honest, we were all Glossier girlies at some point in the last 8 years or so. As "Boy Brow" lovers and "Cloud Paint" fanatics - we were eager to dive into what makes Glossier - glossier. It's our first dance with nonfiction - is it a thought provoking critique on the beauty industry and start up culture or perhaps just a bit of lukewarm gloss? This month we are reviewing Glossy by Marisa Meltzer, and wrapping up Season 1 of Booked on Sundays!

For more bookish content, check us out on instagram @bookedonsundayspod and on tiktok @bookedonsundays. We'll see you next year for Season 2!

Book blurb:

At the center of the story lies Emily Weiss, the elusive former Teen Vogue “superintern” on the reality show The Hills turned Into the Gloss beauty blogger who had the vision, guts, and searing ambition needed to launch Glossier. She cannily turned every experience, every meeting into an opportunity to fuel her own personal success. Together with her expensive, signature style and singular vision for the future of consumerism, she could not be stopped. Just how did a girl from suburban Connecticut with no real job experience work her way into the bathrooms and boudoirs of the most influential names in the world and build that access into a 1.9-billion-dollar business? Is she solely responsible for its success? And why, eight years later, at the height of Glossier mania, did she step down?

In Glossy, journalist and author Marisa Meltzer combines in-depth interviews with former Glossier employees, investors, and Weiss herself to bring you inside the walls of this fascinating and secretive company. From fundraising to product launches and unconventional hiring practices, Meltzer exposes the inner workings of Glossier’s culture, culminating in the story of Weiss herself. The Devil Wears Prada for the Bad Blood generation, Glossy is a gripping portrait of not just one of the most important business leaders of her generation, but also a chronicle of an era.

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