Always Be Reading: TBR Top Up Three [Season Three Finale]

It’s time for a TBR refresh! In this episode - the season 3 finale! - I’m sharing the books currently on my to-be-read list, along with a few upcoming releases that have caught my eye.

Whether you're looking to add to your own stack or just want to hear about what’s on my radar, tune in for a mix of anticipated reads and spontaneous picks. Always Be Reading!

Episode Overview In this To-Be-Read (TBR) refresh, I stack up a fresh selection of highly anticipated books. This episode dives into a rich mix of genres, honest mid-read updates, and why you should never be ashamed to DNF a book that doesn't spark joy.

Genre Deep Dives: Exploring the boundaries of Cli-Fi (climate fiction), Asian "healing fiction" with a bit of a bite, non-fiction historical mapping, and the subversion of the dark academia/magical boarding school trope. The Power of Subversion: A discussion on how veteran speculative fiction authors breathe fresh life into overly played-out fantasy tropes.

Reading Reflections: Candid critiques on narrative craft, balancing heavy theoretical prose with lighter reads, and the mechanical shift when a romantasy novel hits its final act. Here are the books I’ll be chatting about today: A Guardian & A Thief: | Amazon Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon: | Amazon The Conjuring of America: | Amazon A Deadly Education: | Amazon Other books discussed: Water Moon: | Amazon (listen to my review from S1 here ) The Temeraire Series - Book One is "His Majesty's Dragon": | Amazon The Knight & The Moth: | Amazon The Knave & The Moon: | Amazon Other links: TBR Top Up #2 BONUS EPISODE: Cozy Fantasy Books — Low Stakes, High Comfort Reads Cozy Fantasy — Low Stakes, High Comfort (Substack post) (Using Apple Podcasts on desktop and can’t click?

Copy/paste this link into your browser: This episode is hosted, produced, and edited by Verdell Walker. Music by Jason Shaw on , 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 and Amazon.

I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase of any of my fiction and nonfiction book recs, at no extra cost to you! ​P.S. Looking for a playful way to tend to your reading life?​ Join​ the community newsletter and receive a free The Book Up Bingo Card to add a little ​m​ore cozy to your ​bookish goals and TBR pile! ​Sign up here: CONNECT WITH THE BOOK UP Stories bring us all together, and there’s always room in my reading nook for everybody.

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