Ep 396 - Most Anticipated Books for the Start of 2025 + Clay McLeod Chapman!

Brea and Mallory discuss their most anticipated books for the start of 2025, and interview Clay McLeod Chapman about his new book WAKE UP AND OPEN YOUR EYES! Email us at readingglassespodcast at gmail dot com!

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Clay McLeod Chapman

Wake Up and Open Your Eyes

Books Mentioned -

Daughter of Daring by Mallory O’Meara

Catching the Big Fish by David Lynch

January

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

Wake Up and Open Your Eyes by Clay McLeod Chapman

Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire

Homeseeking by Karissa Chen
Historical fiction, love story, 1940s, Shanghai, Los Angeles, Chinese diaspora

Y2K by Colette Shade
Nonfiction, essay collection, 2000s

Good Girl by Aria Aber
Debut literary fiction, coming of age, Berlin nightlife, racial tensions

Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
Literary fiction, writing, publishing, reality mixing with fantasy

We Do Not Part by Han King, translated by E. Yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris
Literary fiction, hidden history, Korea

Black in Blues by Imani Perry
Nonfiction, Black history, the color blue

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

Fantasy, third in Fourth Wing series

Old Soul by Susan Barker

Literary thriller, Japan, mysterious lady killer

Blob by Maggie Su

Debut literary novel, weird fiction, sentient blob, woman looking for love

Flirting with Disaster by Naina Kumar

Romance, second chance, accidental marriage, Texas

Tartufo by Kira Jane Buxton

Funny literary fiction, small dying Italian village is saved by gigantic truffle

Mystery Royale by Kaitlyn Cavalancia

YA fantasy mystery, murder, family secrets, competition

Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson

Literary fiction, multi-generational family epic, mystery heirloom, racism

The Queen’s Spade by Sarah Raughley

Historical thriller, revenge, romance, Victorian England, kidnapped African princess

The Last Bookstore on Earth by Lily Braun-Arnold

Sapphic YA thriller, two teens fall in love in an abandoned bookstore in the apocalypse

The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill

Magical realism, trans protagonist, magic bookstore, time travel

The Rainfall Market by You Yeong-Gwang, translated by Slin Jung

Fantasy, magic to change your life, magic cat

Vantage Point by Sarah Sligar

Literary thriller, New England, family curse, digital haunting

Pretend We’re Dead: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of Women in Rock in the 1990s by Tanya Pearson

Nonfiction

All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall
Sci fi, dystopia, trying to save a museum from a flood

Immortal by Sue Lynn Tan

Romantasy, royal court, gods

We Could be Rats by Emily Austin

Queer literary fiction, sisters, family reconnection

February

Reading the Waves by Lidia Yuknavitch

Queer memoir

Loca by Alejandro Heredia

Literary fiction, queer, debut, NYC, friendship

Hungerstone by Kat Dunn

Carmilla reimagining

Soft Core by Brittany Newell

Literary fiction, coming of age, sex work, woman finding herself

Dengue Boy by Michel Neva, translated by Rahul Berry

Weird fiction, part mosquito part boy goes on journey through dystopian world

Mutual Interest by Olivia Wolfgang-Smith

Historical fiction, queer entrepreneurs in Gilded Age NYC

Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito

Thriller, black humor, murderous governess

The Echoes by Evie Wyld

Literary fiction, ghost protagonist, grief, relationships

Crush by Ada Calhoun

Literary fiction, debut, polyamory, relationships, marriage

The Lamb by Lucy Rose

Horror, folk horror, queer, gothic

Bibliophobia by Sarah Chihaya

Memoir, surviving mental breakdown through books

Little Mysteries by Sara Gran

Short stories, mystery

One Message Remains by Premee Mohamed

Sci fi, dystopia, short stories

Beta Vulgaris by Margie Sarsfield

Weird fiction, “vegetable gothic”

The Poorly Man and Other Things by Sam Rebelein

Horror short story collection set in world of his previous book Edenville

Idle Grounds by Krystelle Bamford

Literary fiction, thriller, family gathering, lurking darkness

The World After Gaza: A Short History by Pankaj Mishra

Nonfiction

Nothing Serious by Emily J Smith

Thriller, feminist, modern dating, murder

The Rose Bargain by Sarah Peyton Smith

Romantasy, Victorian England, fae

(S)kin by Ibi Zoboi

Contemporary fantasy, Caribbean folklore, inherited magic, novel in verse

The Forest King’s Daughter by Elly Blake

Romantasy, enemies to lovers, adventure, magic war

Dream Girl Drama by Tessa Bailey

Romance, hockey, spicy, family drama

Book Boyfriend by Emily Wibberly and Austin Siegemund-Broka

Romance, fantasy fans and fandom, workplace

A Circle of Uncommon Witches by Paige Crutcher

Romantasy, witches, curses, adventure

Deep End by Ali Hazelwood

Romance, diver and swimmer, Olympics

Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

Fantasy, third in series

Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray

Historical fiction, Black history, novelization of life of Jessie Redmon Fauset, Harlem renaissance

Back After This by Linda Holmes

Romance, funny, podcasting

March

Stag Dance by Torrey Peters

Novella collection, speculative fiction

Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One by Kristen Arnett

Literary fiction, clowns, funny, authenticity, finding yourself

Cover Story by Celia Laskey

Romance, sapphic, Hollywood

The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica, translated by Sarah Moses

Horror, post apocalyptic, body horror, creepy convent

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami

Sci fi, near future dystopia, dream monitoring

Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche

Literary fiction, story of four interconnected women, love

The Antidote by Karen Russell

Fantasy, “dust bowl epic”, prairie witch

Enemy of the Sun: Poetry of Palestinian Resistance edited by Edmund Ghareeb and Naseer Aruri

Poetry anthology

Sucker Punch of Scaachi Koul

Memoir of divorce

The Haunting of Room 904 by Erika T Wurth

Horror, psychic, haunted hotel

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

Historical horror, vampire

I’ll Love You Forever: Notes from a K-Pop Fan by Giaae Kwon

Nonfiction

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Fifth Hunger Games novel

Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley

Romance, funny, falling apart marriage, crime

The Love Simulation by Etta Easton

Romance, funny, competition, teachers

The Bane Witch by Ava Morgyn

Romantasy, thriller, Gone Girl meets Practical Magic

Malinalli by Veronica Chapa

Historical reimagining of life of Mexican interpreter, epic tale

Broken Country by Claire Leslie Hall

Literary, romance, suspense, small town secrets

Hot Air by Marcy Dermansky

Literary fiction, black humor, money, marriage, sex, revenge

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

Literary fiction, climate fiction, science researchers, Antarctica, secrets

Salt Water by Katy Hays

Thrillers, murder, family, secrets, Capri

Elphie by Gregory Maguire

Prequel to Wicked

The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue

Historical fiction, 1895, France

When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi

Sci fi, John fuckin Scalzi

Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

Nonfiction

Nowhere by Allison Gunn

Horror, disappearances in a small town

A Harvest of Hearts by Andrea Eames

Cozy fantasy, magic, love spell gone awry, talking cat

They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran

YA horror, Louisiana, small town disappearances, underwater monsters

Fable at the End of the World by Ava Reid

Sci fi, dystopia, queer romance, wasteland

The Burial Tide by Neil Sharpson

Feast While You Can by Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta

Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt

Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay

And Then I Woke Up by Malcolm Devlin

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