Books and BS Podcast

Welcome to a particularly exciting episode of Books & BS! In this episode Alyssa and Eb give an update on their hectic month, they finally discuss the book recommendations they gave each other, AND they interview best selling author Nisha J. Tuli. You might know her for her Artefacts of Ouranos series (Trial Of The Sun Queen) or her rom com, Not Safe For Work. In this episode we chat with her about her upcoming book release for STORM BREAKER, a YA Dystopian releasing on May 5. We ask her about her writing process, where she draws her inspiration from, and she teases some of her upcoming projects she'll be annoucing real soon!

As always, this episode is spoiler-free. Below are a list of the books we discuss with links to purchase from Indie Bookstores.

Trial Of The Sun Queen - Nisha J. Tuli

Legendborn - Tracy Deonn

Red City - Marie Lu

Katabasis - R.F. Kuang

Yellowface - R.F. Kuang

The Poppy War - R.F. Kuang

Babel - R.F. Kuang

Shield of Sparrows - Devney Perry

Rites of the Starling - Devney Perry

When The Moon Hatched - Sarah A. Parker

Praise - Sara Cate

Starside - Alex Aster

Martyr! - Kaveh Akbar

The 57 Bus - Dashka Slater

The Thursday Murder Club - Richard Osman

Big Swiss - Jen Beagin

Lights Out - Navessa Allen

The Women - Kristin Hannah

The Nightingale - Kristin Hannah

Crucible - B.B. Reid

Storm Breaker - Nisha J. Tuli

Too Cold For Comfort - Nisha J. Tuli

Not Safe For Work - Nisha J. Tuli

Welcome back to another epsidoe of Books & BS. In this one you'll hear Eb and Alyssa talk about the realities of business ownership and life, the bizarre books they've been enjoying, and all things Amazon: the latest kindle news, their predatory practicies, and more.

As always, this episode is spoiler-free. Here are all the books discussed in the episode, with links to purchase each from an indie bookstore:

On Wings of Blood - Briar Boleyn

The Poet Empress - Shen Tao

Red City - Marie Lu

The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin

Know My Name - Chanel Miller

When We Lost Our Heads - Heather O'Neill

Martyr! - Kaveh Akbar

Welcome back to another chaotic episode of Books and BS. Today you're going to hear about our parenting woes, our witchy Hollywood theories, the books we've been reading and our top five favorite female main characters. As always this episode is spoiler free. Below are the books we discuss:

Flock - Kate Stewart

On Wings of Blood - Briar Boleyn

Not In Love - Ali Hazelwood

Problematic Summer Romance - Ali Hazelwood

The Lion Women of Tehran - Marjan Kamali

Legendborn - Tracy Deonn

The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin

When We Lost Our Heads - Heather O'Neill

Score - Kennedy Ryan

Shield of Sparrows - Devney Perry

Our Vicious Oaths - N.E. Davenport

Throne of Glass - Sarah J. Maas

From Blood and Ash - Jennifer L. Armentrout

Crescent City - Sarah J. Maas

Can't Get Enough - Kennedy Ryan

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

Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson

Parable of the Sower - Octavia Butler

Dawn - Octavia Butler

The Brit - Jodi Ellen Malpas

Atonement - Ian McEwan

The Women - Kristen Hannah

Lights Out - Navessa Allen

Your two favorite hosts are back after an extra week off, and we've got an extra long episode for you because of it! You're going to get some updates on Alyssa's trip, Eboni's daugther and everything they've been reading (including Eb branching out a bit)!

We also talk about the SJM controversy, what our plans are for the release of ACOTAR 6+7, and we give you a bunch of teasers for our SCORE midnight release.

Here's a list of the books mentioned in the show:

Black. Single. Mother. - Jamilah Lemieux

The Book of Azrael - Amber V. Nicole

Beauty and the Demon - Aurora Ascher

Guardian Demon - Aurora Ascher

Crucible - B. B. Reid

City of Mirth and Malice - Alexis L. Menard

Reel - Kennedy Ryan

Score - Kennedy Ryan

Long Shot - Kennedy Ryan

Pucking Around - Emily Rath

Flock - Kate Stewart

Dante - Sadie Kincaid

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

Blood At The Root - LaDarrion Williams

Ashes At The Altar - LaDarrion Williams

Endpapers - Jennifer Savran Kelly

Someday, Maybe - Onyi Nwabineli

Moonrise Over New Jessup - Jamila Minnicks

Last Night At The Telegraph Club - Malinda Lo

Fevered Star - Rebecca Roanhorse

Mirrored Heavens - Rebecca Roanhorse

Not In Love - Ali Hazelwood

Lion Women of Tehran - Marjan Kamali

The Topeka School - Ben Lerner

ACOTAR 6

ACOTAR 7

Your two favorite hosts are back with another chaotic episode! In this one, Eb and Alyssa finally share their book recommendations with each other, they connect over their shared New York experience (upstate for Alyssa, city for Eb) and they discuss the importance of intentional diversity efforts. This episode is spoiler free! You can see a full list of the books discussed in this epsiode, including links to purchase them from indie stores, below:

The American - Jodi Ellen Malpas

The Wolf King - Lauren Palphreyman

The Night Prince - Lauren Palphreyman

Pucking Around - Emily Rath

From Blood and Ash - Jennifer Armentrout

Dire Bound - Sable Sorensen

The Book of Azrael - Amber Nicole

Love - Toni Morrison

The House of Eve - Sadeqa Johnson

Men We Reaped - Jesmyn Ward

Audre and Bash Are Just Friends - Tia Williams

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

Better Living Through Birding - Christian Cooper

My Funny Demon Valentine - Aurora Ascher

House of Bane and Blood - Alexis L. Menard

Lights Out - Navessa Allen

Atonement - Ian McEwan

Atmosphere - Taylor Jenkins Reid

How To Be An Antiracist - Ibram X. Kendi

We're thrilled to welcome our first ever podcast guest to the show, Fayelee Overman! Fayelee is one of the book sellers at That's Novel Books and friends with our hosts, Eboni and Alyssa. In this episode they discuss the Super Bowl half time show, their top 5 book boyfriends, what they're currently reading, and so much more. Please note: the last 20 mintues of the podcast will have heavy Throne of Glass series spoilers. All other major spoilers have been edited out.

Books shared in this episode:

Knight in the Moth - Rachel Gillig

Crescent City - Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass - Sarah J. Maas

This Could Be Us - Kennedy Ryan

From Blood and Ash - Jennifer Armentrout

Pucking Around - Emily Rath

Heated Rivarly and Game Changer - Rachel Reid

Spark of the Everflame - Penn Cole

Legendborn and Oathbound - Tracy Deonn

The Wolf King - Lauren Palphreyman

Gild - Raven Kennedy

Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros

God of Malice - Rina Kent

The Brit and The Enigma - Jodi Ellen Malpas

Reel - Kennedy Ryan

The Most Wonderful Time - Jayne Allen

Exit West - Moshin Hamid

You're Not Supposed To Die Tonight - Kalynn Bayron

Cincerella Is Dead - Kalynn Bayron

Love - Toni Morrison

Frostblood - Elly Blake

Apprentice To The Villain - Hannah Nicole Maehrer

The Book of Alchemy - Suleika Jaouad

In this episode, Eboni and Alyssa get NSFW. There's a lot of discussion around dark romance and various kinks, so proceed with caution. They also discuss what they're currently reading, Black History Month, the anti-intellectualism movement on BookTok, and a whole lot more. Books mentioned in this episode include: Trials of a Sun Queen by Nisha J. Tulli The Ritual by Shantel Tessier House of Bane and Blood by Alexis Menard Twisted Game by Eva Ashwood God of Malice by Rina Kent How We Show Up by Mia Birdsong Whispers Of The Lake by Shanora Williams What We Can Know by Ian McEwan Atonement by Ian McEwan The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese Reel by Kennedy Ryan The Most Wonderful Time by Jayne Allen

Welcome back, book babes! This episode Alyssa and Eboni are sharing what they've been reading, a look at their "2025 wrapped," they're discussing a little online drama that happened when Alyssa vague-posted something, and they're sharing some tips on how to read more this year. Of course, they mention a lot of books in the episode, and they kept it spoiler free. Find them below with links to get them at That's Novel or other Indie Bookstores!

Heat Of The Everflame by Penn Cole

The Brit by Jodi Ellen Malpas

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult

The Mad Wife by Megan Church

Wilderness: Volume 1 by Jim Morrison

The Hellbent Series by Penelope Douglas

Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland

Alchemised by SenLinYu

How We Show Up by Mia Birdsong

Trials of the Sun Queen by Nisha J. Tuli

Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig

Sociopath by Patric Gagne

ACOTAR by Sarah J. Maas

The Legendborn Series by Tracy Deonn

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

A Light In The Flame by Jennifer Armentrout

Half The Sky by Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Beloved by Toni Morrison

The Book of Alchemy by Suleika Jaouad

The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron

Welcome to the Books and BS podcast, a That's Novel Books production hosted by Alyssa and Eboni. We're a bookstore owner and manager living and reading in Charlotte, NC, and we love to talk about books, business and a whole lot of bs. This episdoe we're introducing ourselves and talking about our top 5 books of the year. Don't worry, we've bleeped out any spoilers. We're excited to be on this reading and gabbing journey with you!

Follow us on Instagram: @booksandbspodcast