Books and BS Podcast

Welcome to episode 18 of the Books & BS Podcast! This week our hosts Eb and Alyssa are sharing their experience hosting and interviewing best-selling author LaDarrion Williams, talking about their recent romantasy/fantasy/fiction/scary reads, and discussing the drama around the release of Threshing Day by Rebecca Yarros.

As always, this episode is spoiler free! All books discussed during the episode are listed below with links to purchase them at indie bookstores.

Ashes At The Altar - LaDarrion Williams

Bones At The Crossroads - LaDarrion Williams

Insatiable - Leigh Rivers

Voracious - Leigh Rivers

Restitution - Leigh Rivers

Flock - Kate Stewart

Gild - Raven Kennedy

Kiss Of The Black Flame - Helen Scheuerer

Threshing Day - Rebecca Yarros

Interesting Facts About Space - Emily Austin

Chasing The Boogeyman - Richard Chizmar

We Could Be So Good - Cat Sebastian

A Court Of Frost And Starlight - Sarah J. Maas

Lethal Kiss - Taylor Grothe

American Hagwon - Min Jin Lee

The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

Jackal - Erin E. Adams

Your two favorite hosts are back with another episode! In this one you'll get some reading updates, a rant about larger companies that release books early, and a fun little trendy game. As always, this episode is spoiler free. All the books we discuss are listed below, with links to indie shops where you can purchase them!

Tourist Season - Brynne Weaver

Hunting Season - Brynne Weaver

Knave And The Moon - Rachel Gillig

Burn Of the Everflame - Penn Cole

Bones At The Crossroads - LaDarrion Williams

Mazywood - Tananarive Due

The Only Good Indians - Stephen Graham Jones

I Hope This Finds You Well - Natalie Sue

Dominicana - Angie Cruz

Interesting Facts About Space - Emily Austin

We're back with another fun episode, but PLEASE NOTE: this one does have about 5 minutes of spoilers in it. At about th 53 minute mark we begin sharing some of our theories for the upcoming release of Burn Of the Everflame by Penn Cole until the 60 minute mark. If you have not read this series so far and do not want spoilers, please skip this portion of the episode! Everything else is safe :)

We get an update from Eb and Alyssa on how the start of school is going for the kids, and then we get right into sharing our recent reads - of which there's a lot of good ones! After that we're back to discussing book influences, speficially focusing on book reviews and how nuanced they can be.

Below are a list of the books mentioned in the episode with hyperlinks to purchase them from an indie bookstore!

Darkness In Bloom - Chloe Hurst

The Wolf Den - Elodie Harper

Bloot At The Root - LaDarrion Williams

Bones At The Crossroads - LaDarrion Williams

Silver Elite - Dani Francis

Broken Dove - Dani Francis

Fire Bird - Juliette Cross

Tourist Season - Brynne Weaver

Heat Of The Everflame - Penn Cole

Burn Of The Everflame - Penn Cole

For Whom The Belle Tolls - Jaysea Lynn

The Belles Of Wrath - Jaysea Lynn

True Biz - Sara Nović

Mother Tongue - Sara Nović

Score - Kennedy Ryan

The Strangers - Naomi Alderman

The Body Is Not An Apology - Sonya Renee Taylor

Mazywood - Tananarive Due

In this week's Books & BS episode Eb and Alyssa are back and sharing a whole lot of fantastic reads, personal life updates and, of course, some unhinged thoughts about misandry and other topics. We get into Black Romance Book Festival, hear some updates on Eb's mother, talk about our latest reads, we get a DCC update from Eb, and we start talking about our thoughts on book influencers, especially as it relatest to charging for a post.

This episode is spoiler free! Check out all the books we discuss, with links to purchase from indie bookstores, below!

Rhapsodic - Laura Thalassa

A Strange Hymn - Laura Thalassa

Huntsman - Naima Simone

The Eye Of The Bedlam Bride - Matt Dinniman

This Inevitable Ruin - Matt Dinniman

Leather & Lark - Brynne Weaver

Spark Of The Everflame - Penn Cole

Fleischman Is In Trouble - Taffy Brodesser-Akner

While We Were Burning - Sara Koffi

Glow Of The Everflame - Penn Cole

Pucking Ever After Volume 1 - Emily Rath

Pucking Ever After Volumne 2 - Emily Rath

Heat Of The Everflame - Penn Cole

For Whom The Belle Tolls - Jaysea Lynn

Welcome back to another episode with your favorite hosts, Eb and Alyssa. This week we're giving y'all an update on everything that's been going on and why we're one week late with this new episode (so sorry and we love you forever!). We're also ranting about special editions and some of the latest book to movie adaptation drama.

As always this podcast is spoiler free. Check out all the books mentioned below:

Assistant To The Villian - Hannah Nicole Maehrer

The Butcher's Masquerade - Matt Dinniman

Bonds Of Hercules - Jasmine Mas

The Serpent And The Wings Of Night - Carissa Broadbent

Six Scorched Roses - Carissa Broadbent

The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King - Carissa Broadbent

My Friends - Fredrik Backman

The Nightingales - Emil Wilson

Blood At The Root - LaDarrion Williams

Bones At The Crossroads - LaDarrion Williams

Ashes At The Altar - LaDarrion Williams

The Witches of Cambridge - Alice Hoffman

People Love Dead Jews - Dara Horn

On Sundays She Picked Flowers - Yah Yah Schofield

Spark Of The Everflame - Penn Cole

Burn Of The Everflame - Penn Cole

Fleischman Is In Trouble - Taffy Brodesser-Akner

Children of Blood and Bone - Tomi Adeyemi

We're thrilled to have another new guest on this episode: That's Novel Bookseller Dezanii! We were lucky enough to snag an advanced reader's copy of Mazywood, Tananarive Due's newest book coming out September 22. Tananarive Due is one of Dezanii's favorite authors, so she devoured the book and joins us to discuss this book as well as another one of her favorites, The Reformatory. Jumping off from this discussion, we talk about what it's like to read stories featuring Black trauma as Black readers, and its importance for everyone's reading journey.

We also hear from Alyssa and Eb on their latest reads. Just a heads up: there is a minor spoiler from 34-36 minutes for the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, so skip that section if you'd like to avoid!

As always, here are the books we discussed this episode:

Blood & Betrayals - Jeanette Rose

For Whom The Belle Tolls - Jaysea Lynn

The Belles of Wrath - Jaysea Lynn

The Gate of Feral Gods - Matt Dinniman

The Butcher's Masquerade - Matt Dinniman

Annihilation - Jeff VanderMeer

Another Appalachia - Neema Avashia

My Friends - Fredrik Backman

A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Backman

Beartown - Fredrik Backman

Sunrise On The Reaping - Suzanne Collins

Anxious People - Fredrik Backman

Us Against You - Fredrik Backman

My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You I'm Sorry - Fredrik Backman

Britt-Marie Was Here - Fredrik Backman

Sadako And The Thousand Paper Cranes - Eleanor Coerr

Yesteryear - Caro Claire Burke

The Reformatory - Tananarive Due

Mazywood - Tananarive Due

The Nickel Boys - Colson Whitehead

Reel - Kennedy Ryan

Ace of Spades - Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Love - Toni Morrison

All About Love - bell hooks

Women, Race & Class - Angela Davis

This week's episode as a whole lot of great book recommendations thanks to Eb and Alyssa getting a bunch of quality reading time in the past few weeks! On top of that, they're returning to their Amazon swaps discussion, with recommendations for alternatives for audiobooks and e-readers for those looking to move away from supporting Amazon as it relates to books.

This episode is spoiler free - check out all the books discussed below!

Mazywood - Tananarive Due

The Reformatory - Tananarive Due

Pleasure, Please - Ashley Cobb

Enigma - RuNyx

Gothikana - RuNyx

Blackthorn - J.T. Geissinger

Ruthless Creatures - J.T. Geissinger

Carnal Urges - J.T. Geissinger

Savage Hearts - J.T. Geissinger

Brutal Vows - J.T. Geissinger

Nero - S.J. Tilly

Butcher & Blackbird - Brynne Weaver

Harvest Season - Brynne Weaver

Tourist Season - Brynne Weaver

Blood and Betrayals - Jeanette Rose and Alexis Rune

A Brush With Love - Mazey Eddings

Cemetary Boys - Aiden Thomas

Mirrored Heavens - Rebecca Roanhorse

Honey And Spice - Bolu Babalola

Sweet Heat - Bolu Babalola

Love In Color - Bolu Babalola

This Is How You Lose The Time War - Amal El Mothar and Max Gladstone

Annihilation - Jeff Vandermeer

Shutter Island - Dennis Lehane

Storm Breaker - Nisja J. Tuli

Eb and Alyssa are back in a solo episode this week, and boy is it a fun one. They start off hot with some celebrity gossip and how to respond to cat callers before moving into a check-in to see where they are 6 months into the year. They also chat about the recent bookish trademark drama that's taken over the internet.

This episode is spoiler-free. All books discussed are listed below with links where you can purchase them from indie bookstores.

The Brit - Jodi Ellen Malpas

The Book of Alchemy - Suleika Jaouad

The Poet Empress - Shen Tao

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me - Ilona Andrews

The Women - Kristen Hannah

The Resurrection - Jodi Ellen Malpas

Chain-Gang All-Stars - Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

How We Show Up - Mia Birdsong

The Lion Women of Tehran - Marjan Kamali

Payback's A Witch - Lana Harper

The School for Good Mothers - Jessamine Chan

Evicted - Matthew Desmond

Mirrored Heavens - Rebecca Roanhorse

A Brush With Love - Mazey Eddings

Carl's Doomsday Scenario - Matt Dinniman

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook - Matt Dinniman

Losers Part 1 - Harley Laroux

Losers Part 2 - Harley Laroux

Enigma - RuNyx

A big heads up before you begin this episode: THERE ARE SPOILERS. Around 1 hour 20 minutes, we begin discussing the Kindred's Curse Saga by Penn Cole in more depth. If you have not finished all three books in this series, we do not recommend listening past that point unless you are okay with spoilers!

This week we're thrilled to have special guest Andrea McRae on the podcast! Andrea is one of the booksellers at That's Novel and the reason why over half of our staff is obsessed with The Kindred's Curse Saga by Penn Cole. Following Cole's announcement of Burn Of The Everflame, the final book in the series, we have her on to discuss the series as a whole and her hopes for the final book.

Books we mention with links to purchase them at indie bookstores:

Red Rising - Pierce Brown

The Neverlist - Jade Presley

Dungeon Crawler Carl - Matt Dinniman

When The Moon Hatched - Sarah A. Parker

The Ballad of Falling Dragons - Sarah A. Parker

The Island Women of the Sea - Lisa See

Bride - Ali Hazelwood

Mate - Ali Hazelwood

The School For Good Mothers - Jessamine Chan

The Push - Ashley Audrain

Verity - Colleen Hoover

Tender Is The Flesh - Agustina Bazterrica

Payback's A Witch - Lana Popović

Spark of the Everflame - Penn Cole

Everything Is Tuberculosis - John Green

The Anthropocene Reviewed - John Green

The Fault In Our Stars - John Green

Looking For Alaska - John Green

Hollywood, Ending - John Green

Burn of the Everflame - Penn Cole

Welcome back to another fun episode of Books & BS with your favorite hosts, Eb and Alyssa. In this one you'll get some fantastic reading updates from each, but we've got another special treat: Charlotte romantasy author Marissa Serrao is joining us and giving us all the nitty gritty of what working with Amazon as an indie author is like. We're talking royalties, Kindle Unlimited, selling on TikTok, receiving edits, the pros and cons of indie publishing vs. trad publishing, and the true grind it takes to be an indie author full time. It's a long one, but full of great discussion.

As always, this episode is spoiler free, but all the books we discuss, with links to purchase them from independent bookstores, are listed below:

Outlander - Diana Gabaldon

When The Moon Hatched - Sarah A. Parker

Starside - Alex Aster

Stormside - Alex Aster

Fury Bound - Sabel Sorensen

Dire Bound - Sabel Sorensen

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me - Ilona Andrews

Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros

The Poet Empress - Shen Tao

I Probably Should Have Gone To Therapy - Darah DeWalt

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - Ocean Vuong

Martyr! - Kaveh Akbar

This Time Tomorrow - Emma Straub

The Midnight Library - Matt Haig

Not Safe For Work - Nisha J. Tuli

Then She Was Gone - Lisa Jewell

Mate - Ali Hazelwood

The School For Good Mothers - Jessamine Chan

The Island of Sea Women - Lisa See

Between Mischief and Magic - Marissa Serrao

Between Salt and Serenades - Marissa Serrao

Between Broomsticks and Beating Wings - Marissa Serrao