Looking for honest book reviews and book recs? You've come to the right place.

Today’s featured book is Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao. A woman inherits a pawnshop where you can sell your regrets, and then embarks on a magical quest to find her parents with the help of a young physicist who wanders into the shop.

If you’d like to read it, you can purchase a copy: Bookshop.org | Amazon 

(Using Apple Podcasts on desktop and can’t click? Copy/paste this link into your browser: https://bookshop.org/lists/season-one-featured-books)

Other featured books:

• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: Bookshop.org | Amazon 
• The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern: Bookshop.org | Amazon 
• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke: Bookshop.org | Amazon 

This episode is hosted, produced, and edited by Verdell Walker. Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You can find more details and the full license information at Audionautix Creative Commons Music.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Amazon. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase of any of my book recs.

Instagram: @thebookuppod

YouTube: @TheBookUpPodcast

Substack: https://thebookuppod.substack.com/

Shop: The Book Up Bookshop

Looking for honest book reviews and book recs? You've come to the right place.

Today’s featured book is The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. In this genre-bending sci-fi thriller, an unnamed civil servant and an Arctic explorer pulled from the past fall in love and face a time-jumping government conspiracy.

If you’d like to read it, you can purchase a copy: Bookshop.org | Amazon 

(Using Apple Podcasts on desktop and can’t click? Copy/paste this link into your browser: https://bookshop.org/lists/season-one-featured-books)

This episode is hosted, produced, and edited by Verdell Walker. Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You can find more details and the full license information at Audionautix Creative Commons Music.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Amazon. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase of any of my book recs.

Instagram: @thebookuppod

YouTube: @TheBookUpPodcast

Substack: https://thebookuppod.substack.com/

Shop: The Book Up Bookshop

Looking for honest book reviews and book recs? You've come to the right place.

Today’s featured book is Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn. In this fun, fast-paced thriller, a group of retiring assassins find out they are on their employer's hit list and have to fight back.

If you’d like to read it, you can purchase a copy: Bookshop.org | Amazon 

(Using Apple Podcasts on desktop and can’t click? Copy/paste this link into your browser: https://bookshop.org/lists/season-one-featured-books)

Other featured books:

• Kills Well with Others by Deanna Raybourn: Bookshop.org | Amazon 
• Thelma [film] - rent or buy on Amazon Prime

This episode is hosted, produced, and edited by Verdell Walker. Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You can find more details and the full license information at Audionautix Creative Commons Music.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Amazon. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase of any of my book recs.

Instagram: @thebookuppod

YouTube: @TheBookUpPodcast

Substack: https://thebookuppod.substack.com/

Shop: The Book Up Bookshop

Some stories are too good to fit into just one book. In this Series Spotlight, I’m diving into The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee — giving an overview of the series, what makes it stand out, and why I think it’s worth the commitment.

The series is comprised of 3 books, a novella, and a short story collection: 

• Jade City: Bookshop.org | Amazon 
• Jade War: Bookshop.org | Amazon 
• Jade Legacy: Bookshop.org | Amazon 
• The Jade Setter of Janloon (novella): Amazon 
• Jade Shards (short stories): Amazon 

(Using Apple Podcasts on desktop and can’t click? Copy/paste this link into your browser: https://bookshop.org/lists/series-spotlight-the-green-bone-saga-by-fonda-lee)

This episode is hosted, produced, and edited by Verdell Walker. Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You can find more details and the full license information at Audionautix Creative Commons Music.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Amazon. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase of any of my book recs.

Instagram: @thebookuppod

YouTube: @TheBookUpPodcast

Substack: https://thebookuppod.substack.com/

Shop: The Book Up Bookshop

Looking for honest book reviews and book recs? You've come to the right place.

Today’s featured book is The Naturalist Society by Carrie Vaughn. In this academic fantasy, a young widow taps into a world-changing power and fights to discover herself.

If you’d like to read it, you can purchase a copy: Bookshop.org | Amazon 

(Using Apple Podcasts on desktop and can’t click? Copy/paste this link into your browser: https://bookshop.org/lists/season-one-featured-books)

Other featured books:

• The Glass Slide World (The Naturalist Society) by Carrie Vaughn: Bookshop.org | Amazon 

This episode is hosted, produced, and edited by Verdell Walker. Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You can find more details and the full license information at Audionautix Creative Commons Music.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Amazon. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase of any of my book recs. 

Instagram: @thebookuppod

YouTube: @TheBookUpPodcast

Substack: https://thebookuppod.substack.com/

Shop: The Book Up Bookshop

Looking for honest book reviews and book recs? You've come to the right place.

Today’s featured book is The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. In this literary thriller, the worlds of a privileged family and a blue collar town collide when a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp.

If you’d like to read it, you can purchase a copy: Bookshop.org | Amazon 

(Using Apple Podcasts on desktop and can’t click? Copy/paste this link into your browser: https://bookshop.org/lists/season-one-featured-books)

This episode is hosted, produced, and edited by Verdell Walker. Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You can find more details and the full license information at Audionautix Creative Commons Music.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Amazon. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase of any of my book recs.

Instagram: @thebookuppod

YouTube: @TheBookUpPodcast

Substack: https://thebookuppod.substack.com/

Shop: The Book Up Bookshop

Looking for honest book reviews and book recs? You've come to the right place.

Today’s featured book is Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang. In this dark academic fantasy, the first woman ever admitted to a prestigious order of mages and her janitor-turned-assistant unravel a secret conspiracy that could change the practice of magic in her world forever.

If you’d like to read it, you can purchase a copy: Bookshop.org | Amazon 

(Using Apple Podcasts on desktop and can’t click? Copy/paste this link into your browser: https://bookshop.org/lists/season-one-featured-books)

Other featured books

• Babel by RF Kuang: Bookshop.org | Amazon 

This episode is hosted, produced, and edited by Verdell Walker. Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You can find more details and the full license information at Audionautix Creative Commons Music.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Amazon. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase of any of my book recs.

Instagram: @thebookuppod

YouTube: @TheBookUpPodcast

Substack: https://thebookuppod.substack.com/

Shop: The Book Up Bookshop

Welcome to The Book Up! 📚🎙️

Hey bookworms! I’m Verdell Walker, and I’m so excited to introduce The Book Up, a weekly book review podcast where I share my honest, unfiltered thoughts on my latest reads—all in 15 minutes or less.

If you love books and want quick, insightful reviews to help you decide what to read next, this podcast is for you! Hit follow now so you don’t miss the first episode dropping on April 22, 2025.

🎧 Listen, subscribe, and get ready for your next great read!

This episode is hosted, produced, and edited by Verdell Walker. Music by Jason Shaw on Audionautix.com, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You can find more details and the full license information at Audionautix Creative Commons Music.