I'm sharing a list of all the new books for this week, some life updates, and my take on the Kate Middleton of it all.  Literary Tea Party is a community-exclusive literary lifestyle podcast where we brew the finest blend of discussions on new book releases, standout books, reading, lifestyle, and even pop culture.
Get the full episode plus more when you join the BiblioLifestyle Community!  For more information, to join, or log in, visit: https://bibliolifestyle.com/community

EPIGRAPH LITERARY FESTIVAL
Mark your calendars, register to attend, and join us from April 24th - 26th, 2024, for a fun virtual event!  Get reader-approved recommendations, see some authors, and watch your TBR explode!  For more information visit: epigraphlitfest.com.  See you there!

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How well do you know your friends?  Dive into a gripping tale of friendship, betrayal, and a mysterious disappearance in Leah Konen's "Keep Your Friends Close."  In the novel we meet Mary, who is isolated and in a custody battle, and she is yearning for a friend.  She meets the charming Willa and their friendship seems fated, until she shares a secret about her ex, George, when Willa disappears.  Two months later, Mary encounters Willa, now Annie, with a new family.  When George is found dead and Mary is a suspect, she questions Willa's involvement.  So Mary must determine if Willa is a friend or foe before it's too late.
BOOK:
Keep Your Friends Close by Leah Konen on Amazon or Bookshop.   
SHOW NOTES & BOOKLIST:
Find the episode show notes and a list of all the books mentioned here.
MORE RESOURCES:
Visit bibliolifestyle.com for more information and resources to help you in your reading journey.
JOIN THE COMMUNITY:
Join the BiblioLifestyle Community & the Bring Your Own Book (BYOB) Club for a fun, online book club experience!  Come and share books you've read, get inspiration for what to read next, make friends, and encourage each other along the way.  Learn more and join the community: bibliolifestyle.com/community.

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Sharing my experiences with living in tune with the seasons and ideas and opportunities for you to embrace spring and be present this season.  Spring is not just a transition from winter to summer; it's a fresh start, a rebirth, and it encourages us to restart or open new chapters in our lives.
SHOW NOTES & BOOKLIST:
Find the episode show notes and a list of all the books mentioned here.
MORE RESOURCES:
Visit bibliolifestyle.com for more information and resources to help you in your reading journey.
JOIN THE COMMUNITY:
Join the BiblioLifestyle Community & the Bring Your Own Book (BYOB) Club for a fun, online book club experience!  Come and share books you've read, get inspiration for what to read next, make friends, and encourage each other along the way.  Learn more and join the community: bibliolifestyle.com/community.

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Sun of Blood and Ruin is a Zorro-inspired historical fantasy that intertwines Mesoamerican mythology and Mexican history.  Set in an alternate 16th-century colonial Mexico, the novel follows a Mestiza woman named Leonora.  Leonora possesses the ability to transform into a panther, and we see her as she joins forces with an Indigenous alliance to resist Spanish control.
BOOK:
Sun of Blood and Ruin by Mariely Lares on Amazon or Bookshop.   
SHOW NOTES & BOOKLIST:
Find the episode show notes and a list of all the books mentioned here.
MORE RESOURCES:
Visit bibliolifestyle.com for more information and resources to help you in your reading journey.
JOIN THE COMMUNITY:
Join the BiblioLifestyle Community & the Bring Your Own Book (BYOB) Club for a fun, online book club experience!  Come and share books you've read, get inspiration for what to read next, make friends, and encourage each other along the way.  Learn more and join the community: bibliolifestyle.com/community.

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From a thrilling mystery to keep you guessing, a fantasy you can escape into, and travel back in time with historical fiction or romance to make you swoon, these six books will keep you turning the pages!
LINKS MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE:
- Sign up and download The BiblioLifestyle 2024 Spring Reading Guide.
- The 2024 Spring Reading Guide Shortlist: Get access to all 93 books that were under consideration for the guide, get "books like" recommendations, plus bonus categories and genres when you join the BiblioLifestyle Community.
SHOW NOTES & BOOKLIST:
Find the episode show notes and a list of all the books mentioned here.
MORE RESOURCES:
Visit bibliolifestyle.com for more information and resources to help you in your reading journey.
JOIN THE COMMUNITY:
Join the BiblioLifestyle Community & the Bring Your Own Book (BYOB) Club for a fun, online book club experience!  Come and share books you've read, get inspiration for what to read next, make friends, and encourage each other along the way.  Learn more and join the community: bibliolifestyle.com/community.

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The mythological and the mysterious are intertwined in Yangsze Choo's novel "The Fox Wife."  The story is set in 1908 Manchuria (in northeast China,) and we meet a fox spirit named Snow who assumes a human form to track down the person responsible for her child's death.  Also in the novel, we meet Bao Gong, a retired teacher and detective who has a special gift to sniff out the truth and identify fox spirits.  So when Bao is hired to investigate a mysterious death, we see how the worlds of both Snow and Bao Gong begin to converge.
In this episode, Yangsze generously revisits her books "The Night Tiger" and "The Ghost Bride," two favorites of mine.  She also shares more about her  Malaysian roots and how they breathe life into her work, offering readers a chance to consider the intricate ties between humans and nature. Plus you'll get some great book recommendations and lots more.
BOOK:
The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo on Amazon or Bookshop.   
SHOW NOTES & BOOKLIST:
Find the episode show notes and a list of all the books mentioned here.
MORE RESOURCES:
Visit bibliolifestyle.com for more information and resources to help you in your reading journey.
JOIN THE COMMUNITY:
Join the BiblioLifestyle Community & the Bring Your Own Book (BYOB) Club for a fun, online book club experience!  Come and share books you've read, get inspiration for what to read next, make friends, and encourage each other along the way.  Learn more and join the community: bibliolifestyle.com/community.

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Peel back the layers of a diverse Palestinian American community in Baltimore.  That's what you can expect in "Behind You Is the Sea" by Susan Muaddi Darraj.  "Behind You Is the Sea" follows three main families - the Baladis, the Salamehs, and the Ammars - each navigating their own challenges living in America.   We also see the intersection of class, socio-economic and generation divides, and religious differences.  Plus how through struggles and transformations, stereotypes about Palestinian culture are challenged while also exploring themes of family, honor, and identity.  So in this episode, Susan shares insights into the lives of her characters who are caught in the midst of both personal, cultural, and generational tides in Baltimore. 
BOOK:
Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj on Amazon or Bookshop.   
SHOW NOTES & BOOKLIST:
Find the episode show notes and a list of all the books mentioned here.
MORE RESOURCES:
Visit bibliolifestyle.com for more information and resources to help you in your reading journey.
JOIN THE COMMUNITY:
Join the BiblioLifestyle Community & the Bring Your Own Book (BYOB) Club for a fun, online book club experience!  Come and share books you've read, get inspiration for what to read next, make friends, and encourage each other along the way.  Learn more and join the community: bibliolifestyle.com/community.

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If you love classic horror movies and 90’s nostalgia then you’re in for a treat because Emily Ruth Verona joins me on the couch to talk about her debut horror thriller "Midnight on Beacon Street."  In the novel, we follow a babysitter named Amy who is hired to watch two children while their mom goes on a date.  But Amy's world is turned upside down when a group of obnoxious teens arrives for a party, supernatural occurrences start happening, a mysterious caller hangs up as soon as she answers the phone, and one of the children she's babysitting finds himself standing over a dead body.  So in this episode, Emily and I talked about her new book, and we had so much fun playing some 90's classic horror movie trivia filled with fun facts, classic lines in movies, and lots more.
BOOK:
Midnight on Beacon Street by Emily Ruth Verona on Amazon or Bookshop.   
SHOW NOTES & BOOKLIST:
Find the episode show notes and a list of all the books mentioned here.
MORE RESOURCES:
Visit bibliolifestyle.com for more information and resources to help you in your reading journey.
JOIN THE COMMUNITY:
Join the BiblioLifestyle Community & the Bring Your Own Book (BYOB) Club for a fun, online book club experience!  Come and share books you've read, get inspiration for what to read next, make friends, and encourage each other along the way.  Learn more and join the community: bibliolifestyle.com/community.

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Set in pre-Civil War New Orleans, we follow Ady, an enslaved girl who joins a secret resistance movement run by women who are fighting against slavery and sabotaging the Confederacy.   That's what you can expect in "The American Daughters" by Maurice Carlos Ruffin.  So in this episode, Maurice shares insights into "The American Daughters" and our conversation unravels the layered relationships between Ady and her mother, Sanite, and Lenore, a free Black woman and owner of the Mockingbird Inn which is a cover for a secret resistance movement.  Maurice also shares more about his writing process and his intentions while sharing how he uses documents and journals within his narrative to serve as a bridge between the past, present, and future. We also discuss his previous works "We Cast a Shadow" and "The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You."  Wrapping up, we peek into Maurice's upcoming projects and he shares a great list of book recommendations.
BOOK:
The American Daughters by Maurice Carlos Ruffin on Amazon or Bookshop.   
SHOW NOTES & BOOKLIST:
Find the episode show notes and a list of all the books mentioned here.
MORE RESOURCES:
Visit bibliolifestyle.com for more information and resources to help you in your reading journey.
JOIN THE COMMUNITY:
Join the BiblioLifestyle Community & the Bring Your Own Book (BYOB) Club for a fun, online book club experience!  Come and share books you've read, get inspiration for what to read next, make friends, and encourage each other along the way.  Learn more and join the community: bibliolifestyle.com/community.

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How do you prepare loved ones for your inevitable disappearance?  We unravel all this plus more in Joma West's novel, "Twice Lived."  In the novel, we follow a troubled teen, torn between two families and lives, while also navigating the challenges of shifting between parallel worlds.  As Canna and Lily face their final shift, they must prepare both families for their inevitable disappearance. "Twice Lived" is a coming-of-age fantasy that explores themes of family, friendship, loss, acceptance, and the unpredictable nature of life.  So, in this episode, Joma and I talked more about her book, and we had so much fun playing a game where Joma decides what world she would like to live in.
BOOK:
Twice Lived by Joma West on Amazon or Bookshop.   
SHOW NOTES & BOOKLIST:
Find the episode show notes and a list of all the books mentioned here.
MORE RESOURCES:
Visit bibliolifestyle.com for more information and resources to help you in your reading journey.
JOIN THE COMMUNITY:
Join the BiblioLifestyle Community & the Bring Your Own Book (BYOB) Club for a fun, online book club experience!  Come and share books you've read, get inspiration for what to read next, make friends, and encourage each other along the way.  Learn more and join the community: bibliolifestyle.com/community.