TRBG Yap Session

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[00:01:02] Oh, alarm. Hello, girly pops. We're back with another episode of The Reading Black Girls Podcast. I'm Kayla. I'm Alex. I'm Nish. And I'm Aziza. And we're The Reading Black Girls. Still. Thanks. Yes. Nothing's changed. Same old, same old. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

[00:01:26] Now, we are switching up the way that we're doing some podcast situations here. We used to just do reviews, but now you're going to get the opinions. Okay? Maybe some hot takes. Maybe some things that you disagree with. And that's fine. To be wrong. And if you do disagree, put it in the comments below. Oh, yeah. Let the girls know. Let us know. Let us know. Let us know. If we're wrong. Like, you guys are wrong. Okay. Well, how? Prove it. No, for real. How? And point to the text. Let me show it.

[00:01:58] No, that's right. So, first, first, we're just going to be talking about a few things. Some recent books we've been reading. Hopefully, maybe you've read them, too. And if so, then welcome to the community of bad B readers. Yeah. Thank you.

[00:02:25] Okay. Well, I'll start with our first question. Okay. It is currently, who knows when this is going to drop. But it is currently August 23rd? It is August 23rd, baby. We're halfway through the year. 2025 has somewhere to be. Don't know where, but it has somewhere to be. So, for the past seven and a half, no, it's been, we're eighth month. We're almost done with

[00:02:52] the eighth month. Sorry. We're eight months in. What is everyone's unexpected favorite read of this year so far? Well, I got it. Okay. Perfect. So, I read This Side of Beautiful by Tai. And she was at Black Romance Book Fest. I'm almost positive. I had never read any of

[00:03:20] her stuff before, but this is her most recent release. And it is, I was boohoo crying. I'm not even joking. The cry count was a one, two, three, four, five. And I'm almost positive I hit six. That's real. Whoa. No. Really? Don't let a book make me cry. It's my favorite now. But it's a romance. Very tortured souls.

[00:03:47] She's a musician. He's a musician. Like, it was giving me very much seven days in June vibes. But make them musicians. Exactly. It was tea. Exactly. And it was just so beautiful. Like, their love story and their healing, more importantly, was everything. So, if you have not read that book, you should. It's a vibe star. And it will make you cry.

[00:04:13] And my unexpected favorite read of the year is Grown Women by Sarai Johnson. I, this wasn't on, like, any list of mine. Like, I think Nish either told me to read it or, like, I saw it on, like, her fable. And I was like, oh, like, tea. Like, and then I went to see if it was at my library. And it was there. And I got the audio book. And I literally listened to it in, like, a day. Probably, like, 24 hours. And it was just, like, I really needed, like,

[00:04:41] a women's fiction, like, historical fiction moment. Like, ugh. And I didn't know how badly I needed it. It just really got into the layers. Yes, it's generational. It's, like, four generations. It constantly is going back and forth. It's multi-POV. Like, all these women are alive at the time. And it's, like, I don't know, just getting in their heads. Like, it was really rough at some moments. You can imagine, like, it having historical elements and stuff. But, like,

[00:05:07] I don't know. It's just that whole, like, matriarchal, like, feel. Like, your duty as a daughter and then your duty as a mother. Like, and it all, like, was a cycle. It was really, it was really good. I wish I could have given it, like, six stars. It was that good. Wow. And it's, like, I need to read more women's lit. Like, I need to read more just, like, fiction. I love it. It's, like, let's get it back there. Let's get to it. Let's get back to it. I agree, Alex. Grown Woman was my other one. So good. Oh. But we write there with it.

[00:05:37] Okay. Write some of these down. Okay. I'm kidding. My unexpected favorite read, and I like that it was, like, an unexpected. Like, you know, sometimes you just crack open a book, and you're like, eh. And then they suck you in. Yeah. Yeah. So, my favorite unexpected read this year was Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon.

[00:06:00] And that one came out in 2021. But it's, like, a sci-fi fantasy style book. And y'all know I went in raw. I know what it was about. But I had... And it was a sci-fi. I can only imagine, like, your head was spinning. Oh. And I think, like, a couple pages in, I was like, wait. Time out. Let me read what this is about, because I didn't know what was happening.

[00:06:29] I felt like I needed some context. But that book was so good. Like, it really stuck with me. Not just the characters. Because there was really three main characters. A mom and her two children. But just the storyline. Like, it was so interesting. It's basically this woman who's raised in a religious cult.

[00:06:54] In modern day. And she runs away. And she is raising her children in the woods. Um, but her body starts to transform. And she turns into, like, this... She gets these powers, almost. I'm not going to say anything else about it. If any of that sounded interesting to you, go pick up that book. I really cannot speak highly enough about it.

[00:07:22] And I actually think River Solomon is now one of my favorite authors. Because this is the second book I've read from them. And they always have characters in their stories that are, um, queer. Or, um, gender fluid. Like, the children. You didn't know their, uh, genders. Like, the whole story. Which I thought was really interesting and added to it. Like, their names were Howl and Feral.

[00:07:52] Which I loved. I just thought that was so cool. Howl and Feral. And she would just, she would just be like, children. Beautiful. She would give people ideas. Right? So she would just be like, children. Like, she would just call them children. Um, but that was... That book was so, so, so good. Loved it. Wish I could have given it six stars. Okay. Definitely wanting to get into more sci-fi. So I'm going to... Yeah. I'm going to have to bet up, sister. You know I got some recs. Okay.

[00:08:18] So me, my favorite unexpected read this year, and I'm pretty sure I've said this to y'all before, The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali. She is a Iranian author. And this is like a historical fiction that takes place during the Islamic Revolution in Iran. And it's these two teens who fall in love with each other by sending each other notes in a stationary shop. And then they get separated. You love that. You love that trope.

[00:08:47] That is not the first book you've eaten up that is that same. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. It's all in love on a page. Like, pen pals? That is your thing. I do love pen pals. It's like, oh my... It's like, it's forbidden. It's sweet. It's tragic. It's devastating. And the writing is just so beautiful. And it, like, captures you from the very beginning. But you, like, really get fully engrossed.

[00:09:15] And I, like, I love writing that's so vivid. That makes you feel like you're there. And I, and there were just so many things happening. But it was fantastic. And that just, I'm like, okay, next book, The Lion Woman of Tehran. And I really picked up this book because one of my goals this year was to read five books from my backlist. So books that were published before 2020. And this was published in 2019. So, okay. Okay.

[00:09:42] And I was just like, okay, let me pick it up real quick. Because the way I have not touched my goals since I wrote them in January. Oh, no, sister. I'm screaming. It's the life of a mood reader. Like, I don't know who I thought I was at the beginning of the year. But let's be serious. We were hopeful. I'm going to read whatever I want. Yeah. You kind of have to because, and I was saying this recently to someone.

[00:10:05] I'm like, if I'm reading, if I 30% in or if I force myself to read it, a book I'm not enjoying, I will be in a slump. Yeah. I'll be in a slump. So that's the, that's the like straight way to get into a slump. Yeah. Direct way. You're forcing yourself. Read something you don't like. And honestly, I feel like we've had so many hits this year. Like, I was looking at Fable earlier because I was trying to like prep a little bit for our podcast. Just a little.

[00:10:35] And my average is like a 4.4. Like, and I've read 65 something books this year. Like, period. They're hitting. Yeah. Because I feel like we're being more selective. And we're really like, I'm only going to read this book if I really want to. Because literally. That's it. Yeah. Because who, who going, who going to check me? Who going to check me? Yeah. Who's forcing you to read this book? Exactly. Nobody. Yeah. I feel like we talked about this like last year.

[00:11:05] We were like, dang, something about 2024. Like, the books just weren't hitting last year. I don't know. It was so many three stars. So many. Like, meh. Honestly, 2.5 to three stars. Too many. It would be a nice. Yeah. Yeah. But this year? Oh, honey. You're just dishing out the fives. Oh, yeah. Make it rain. Make it. Make it rain. Okay. So, of course, favorite. Let's flip it.

[00:11:34] Least favorite. Unexpected least favorite. Like, a book you thought you would really like. Okay. Real. I feel like they're always unexpected. Because it's like, I have taste. Right. We're only going to read what we want to read. Correct. And so, I. The book I picked. It was. It's a short story. People were talking about it. Sinners. Think sinners. Think Lovecraft Country. It's Ring Shout. And there was really nothing wrong with the story. Okay. Same.

[00:12:04] I just don't think I care for racist white people turning into monsters. I don't think I liked that. Like, it was just. That's what it's about? It was really crazy. I didn't know. It was. It was part of. The story. Spoiler. Yeah. And then they go on to attack black people. Yes. What? The black people get. The Clu. The Clu. The Clu. The Clu Cluxes. They're called Clu Cluxes. Yeah. I'm. It was. Kind of crazy. It was. It was a whole like ritualistic thing. It was. Yeah. It was crazy. It was crazy. Mind you.

[00:12:33] If you love a crazy story. You're probably going to really love this book. Yeah. Yeah. But. Something about it. It didn't hit the way that I thought it would. Same. So I agree Kayla. Yeah. That's one of my ones. I think I gave it like a 3.75. I think I gave it a three. But. And again. This is nothing against. Yeah. The author. That's just. I just don't think that's my cup of tea. I loved Lovecraft Country though. Like the show. Not the book. I love. To be clear. I loved the show. And so I was like. Oh yeah. This is.

[00:13:03] I'm going to eat this up. And it just. It just didn't hit for me. But that's okay. Not everything is for everybody. Right. Well. I'll tell you mine. And honestly. I don't really know what was going through my head when I picked it up. Let me be for real. You do just be. Doing stuff. Sometimes. Sometimes. And you know what it was. I'm taking my back to. Taking me back to when I was actually thinking about this. So. I read a note on an execution. And let me not even say I read it. I read like.

[00:13:33] Three chapters. And then I. I DNF'd it. Because it's on. Is that a nonfiction? No. Oh. No. You think I would force myself to read a nonfiction book? You didn't have to laugh. You. You. Sometimes like nonfiction. It's about. It was. This national. Like. Award winning. Book. Okay. Okay. I don't know who was writing the awards. It was terrible. Nothing was happening.

[00:14:02] And the thing is. On the. Like. In the summary. It sounds so intriguing. Because it's like. Three different POVs. It's about this guy who's on death row. Because he's a serial killer. Mind you. I love thrillers. So I was like. Ooh. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I could get into this. Like. I've read. Courtroom dramas and such before. And. Apparently. It was supposed to be. Like. The story about him was being told. In all these different POVs. Of all the different women. That he interacted with.

[00:14:32] In his life. So like. His. His daughter. His mother. His. Whatever. And. Like. I think one of the victims. Not sure. Because I didn't get that far. Um. Nothing was happening. If you're gonna. If you're gonna hype it up like this. You're gonna tell me that this book won 50 awards. I better feel like I'm winning 50 awards. When I crack that thing open. That's real. And. I. Hated that for me. So. I DNF'd it.

[00:15:02] That said. Clearly there's. Thousands and thousands of other people. Who would disagree with me. But. You know. I think I'm right. It's okay. It's okay. That's what an opinion's for. Right. Everybody got one. Mm-hmm. Thank you. Just like buttholes. Oh my. I was hoping. Have you heard that saying? That was supposed to stay in your head. And I was actually hoping. No one was gonna finish. I was thinking. Bruce. Bruce cut that. Nah. No.

[00:15:32] He's keeping it. He might even amplify it. Level. Maybe I will slide past this part. Okay. Quick. Quick. Okay. Alec. Z. Which one? Go ahead. Well. My. Least. Favorite. Read. Of the year. Was Flirting Lessons. By Jasmine Guillory. I. Fuck it. Okay. Why? Tell us why. And honestly. Okay. We know the reason why.

[00:16:02] Kind of. You know why. But now. Go ahead and share it with the people. Mm-hmm. I could not. I could not. I could not. Deal with. It didn't feel authentic. Like when you say there was nothing happening. There was nothing happening with them. I have absolutely no clue why the two main characters. Were attracted to each other beyond like physical attraction. And I didn't know how they looked.

[00:16:32] It just. Let me calm down. Let me calm down. Right. Bring it back down. Let me bring it back down. Yeah. Bring it in. Woo. Bring it in. It just didn't feel. She was livid. Boy was I. It just. And then I was excited to read this because it was a sapphic romance. And I was like oh. Right. Yes. Like hell yeah. Love that. Of course. Right. It just didn't. Well for one. If I'm not mistaken. Jasmine Guillory is not a queer person.

[00:17:01] So I already am not a huge fan of people writing about like a lived experience that they haven't actually lived. So it just. There were some things that I was like oh. Oh. Oh. Like I just wasn't. I wasn't. I was not having a good time. I read the whole thing. I'm. And I'm sure other people. And I'm sure other people would like enjoy it because like it was cute.

[00:17:29] It just to me there was not a lot going on. And the. I just was. I just wasn't a fan. So I think I gave that one a three. Real. Agreed. Alex. I have to pick Just Our Luck by Denise Williams. It was just. And I'm a silly girl. I can read silly romances all day every day. I don't take a lot of things seriously.

[00:17:56] But that was one book that was just too silly. Just too silly. The premise is like this girl who messes everything up in her life surprisingly wins the lotto. And she's with this like he's not the owner of the bakery store right. He's like the grandson. He's like taking over it. He. He has other aspirations in life. It just. I didn't think they should have been together. It didn't make sense that they were together.

[00:18:24] And it kind of felt to me like the main character was just like throwing money at all her problems. And you know like at the end of the book. I just felt like she didn't learn anything. And you know I hate that. You know I hate that. I hate when like a book literally ends exactly how it kind of begins. Like the character didn't necessarily grow at all. And I'm like okay. And it's like Denise doesn't have a lot of. I don't have a lot of five star favorites by her. But like I feel like I had.

[00:18:53] Like a couple four. Right. Like four stars that I did enjoy. But that one I really didn't. Just too silly. Couldn't get into it. That's fair. That's fair. Mm-hmm. All right. Well let's go back to the faves. Because you know I love talking about things that we love. What is one book that y'all have read that you feel like needs to literally be made immediately. Into production. On the screen. Get them to Hollywood.

[00:19:24] ASAP. Oof. There's so many. So many. There are several. I know it is. This day and age it feels like all of the shows and movies. All the shows and movies have a lot of like literature source material. Like everything's based off a book. And we're just not seeing enough black stories. Stories by people of color. We're not seeing enough. Oh. We're just getting the same thing over and over and over again. We're just getting Frankenstein. Pride and Prejudice. Over and over again. Like I'm sure they're probably going to do Little Women again.

[00:19:54] How many times do we need? I think we need. How many times do we need a small town thriller? Right. With like a white people small town thriller. How many? Can we do something? Shannora. Enough. Hello. Call her up. Shannora. Quick. Because she's got material. Kristen O'Berry. Call her. Okay. There's so many. There's so many. Okay. But just off the dome. Okay. Just fire off. Mine has to be seven days because I just need that. I know. Need that. It was supposed to be.

[00:20:24] But I just need someone to fix that for me. I think it'll come. I feel like that one. I think it will too. It's like. We'll see it. It's a classic at this point. No? Yeah. High key. High key. High key. For us it is. That went platinum. That went triple platinum. Okay. Triple platinum. It's about to go quadruple because I'm about to reread it again. It got an Oscar, a Grammy, a Tony. Oh, it's an EGOT winner? Yeah. It is.

[00:20:57] Yeah. No, Alex. We need to see that. And I know that the universe is working on that. Yeah. For us. Specifically. Us too. Someone needs to call Netflix because we're seeing all these like teen dramas, stuff at university, stuff. Hello. Legend born. Hello. And I need. That needs to be the first thing. And I need, I need, I need it to be at least 10 episodes each season. Oh my God. How many reasons?

[00:21:26] Like I need them to split each book into two. Exactly. Right. No. Do a half and a half. No. Give us. But I can't do, I can't. I can't do two years in between each season. Exactly. Yeah. So just one season for each book. Cause think about the second, think about the third season. Yeah. Oh. Oh. Oh. I just got excited. I feel like I'm being gluttonous. Right. Like I would be so sad when it ends, but. I would be so sad. I know.

[00:21:55] But if we had creative control, I'd be like, okay, boom. The season finale of legend born. What's up next? Right. Like create a spinoff. Ooh. Give us, give us a little bit more about the mother. A prequel. Yeah. Like three moms. The mom. Three moms. A prequel. Yeah. Their friendship. Their friendship as a, that would be fire. Tracy. Her back at college. And then like, I don't know, however it ends, like their progeny, like their kids.

[00:22:25] Like let's keep going. Like let's never end. Let's never stop. Let's just keep it going. Like what's called? What is it? Vampire Diaries. What's the spinoff? Legends. Literally like Vampire Diaries. Originals. Legends. Yes. Like that. Yeah. Yes. It's like their kids. Gagged. Gagged. And honestly. I didn't know that. Wow. It's pretty good. I'm excited. It's so good. I have to finish the originals. It's very CW, but like. I love CW. We love a CW. We love a CW.

[00:22:53] Actually, maybe the CW needs to pick up a legend horn cycle. Cause they, they do a good teen show down. I was about to say, it would be the perfect age group for that. Exactly. And they would keep it in budget. Like it would be what it needs to be. Yeah. We might get 20, 20, uh, season episodes. We might get. We might get 20 episodes. Whoa. Cause you know, they can only be 30 minutes. 30-ish. I'd watch every commercial break. I would like a 30 minute show. That would be so good.

[00:23:23] That would be so good. Wow. Should we pitch? Maybe one day. We can pitch that to somebody. Immediately. And low key, who I'm imagining for Brie. I need someone who's like similarly, who looks similar. Levy Simone. Is that her name? Who's in, um, she's in Forever on Netflix. She's such a good actress. Yeah. She is a really good actress. She's such a good actress. Or I need someone who looks like her similarly. Yeah.

[00:23:49] But I feel like I would want her to still be like a little bit younger. Cause yeah, Brie's like what? 16? Yeah. Like I want it to be like how they did the Percy Jackson like casting. Like let's start them off really young. We're really growing like a. Get that cast. People. Yeah. Those people on the phone. Cause I know they did a good job. They did a great job. Those people's fantastic casting. I'm not gonna go into this. Fantastic casting. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Let me reel it back in. Cause we can talk about Percy Jackson for a day. Yeah. All day.

[00:24:19] And I just started another series by Rick. Okay. Anyways. Um, I would say Blood Trials by Annie Davenport, I think would be a fantastic. It would eat. Adaptation. You could even do a movie. Not even a show. A movie would be. A limited series. Limited series would be tight. Yes. Because okay. Right after that, after they give her a deal for that, they gonna give her a deal for our vicious olds, but it's gonna be on HBO. It's gonna be on HBO. Oh, it's gonna be on HBO. Or Starz.

[00:24:49] It would be so good on HBO. Or Starz. Yeah. Because are you getting me? Any of you? Nia. Hello. Nia. Do you hear us? Hi. We've got ideas. We have a few ideas. We're gonna write something up for you. Oh, that would be Snow Tea. Oh, please. I'm getting so excited about all of our hyperlip. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oh, hypothetical. Honestly, let me tell you. You know what else I'd want to see?

[00:25:18] And I want them to put this on stars. And if I, if 50 has to be involved, then so be it. What are you gonna say? What are you gonna say? You know what I'm about to say? I know what you're about to say. Say it. The Delgados and the Infernos. Is it serious? Yes. And do you know how many seasons we would have? Immediately, yes. Endless. Endless. The universe. The universe that we would have? Yeah. Immediately, yes. Ooh. It's very good. That would be good. Yeah. The family.

[00:25:47] 50 may have to be involved. You would like to. That whole power universe. Yeah. But if it was. That's what it's giving. Like all of the different components of like the power universe. Yeah, that's what it's giving. Motorcycles. Car chases. Like. And the women. Highway shootouts. And the love. Highway shootouts. Highway shootouts. The money. Drive-bys. The money. Into the bag. Yeah. I just. What are the people with your belt? Family. Children. And you've had material for years. Love.

[00:26:18] The children. Yes. Oh my gosh. Loyalty. All that. Found family. Yeah. Brothers. So good. So good. So good. We've been reading such good books. This has been a good year. Yeah, 2025 is a pretty good year. Year for books. It's been a good year for books. But we still have some left to go. Like. We do have like four more months of 2025 to go.

[00:26:44] So like what are some of our fave like most anticipated for the rest of this year? Because we still got some hits. Yeah. Some big hitters. We do. We do. Our vicious oath. That's. Yeah. Comes out later this year. Yeah. Oh my God. Did you guys just see that. That specialty thing. Blood Moon. For Blood Moon. Yes. Oh my God. I'm not going to lie to you. I will. I'm so excited. Sprayed edges. I'm going to buy it. I'm not going to say. Because you get character art with it. You get. There's like inside page art as well. That's probably worth it. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:27:13] So she's going to sign it for me. Like. Love. Love. And I'm not going to say I'm anti sprayed edges. But the fact that every book is coming out with like. With that. Three different art. Yeah. It's kind of annoying because I don't want to have like hella of the same books. But. That one. You have to have it. Right. That one. Yeah. That one I need. These different editions man. It's getting crazy. Our vicious O's is getting sprayed edges. She's doing like a box collab as well. Let me tell you. Oh my God.

[00:27:43] I need it. Right. Yeah. Like. Thank you. They are getting to this money. Like. They know where to get us. As they should. They know exactly what to do. Make it special. Yeah. Make it real special. Um. Boomtown. Yep. By Nyxone. Yeah. I'm reading that now. Baby let me tell you. Gone. They're right when they say Pea Valley meets Gone Girl. Like they. That is. That is. I love. I love. Cricklitter. Cricklitter. Cricklitter. Yeah. No. It's really really good. It's really good. Yeah.

[00:28:15] Um. Okay. Boomtown. Girls Who Play Dead. You know. I love Joelle. We gotta. We gotta read Joelle. Yeah. That comes out. And then Eternal Ruins. That. That's exciting. Ty just. If you hear this sister. I've gotta. Send them art. We gotta read the first one. Honestly. I gotta do a reread. Let's do it. Yeah. We can do that with. Right before it drops. Cause. Yeah.

[00:28:44] That one's gonna be. I just know she's really good. She's about to get us. Cannot wait. She's about to get us again. Yeah. Oh absolutely. I don't know how many books are in this series but. Keep going. Give me as many as you can. You don't think it's gonna just be a duology? I hope it's not. Well. I don't want to hear that right now. That's negativity. Could be wrong. Could be wrong. That's negativity that I can't deal with. Right. Okay let me. Let's say three. Let's say a trilogy. Let's go for three. It could be a trilogy. Okay. They're in a.

[00:29:13] They're in like a college right? Right. Yeah. For years. For years. Maybe. Well no. She's just there to see what's going on with her sister. Remember. Yeah. Yeah. But maybe she's gonna say I want to go here. And maybe. I don't know. Remember how it ended? When things were changing with her towards the end. Yeah. We'll see. We. We'll see. We gotta see how this book. I just feel like. There's so many possibilities. I just remembered how it ended. That is crazy. And it was crazy. Yeah let's see how this second book starts. Oh my god. I forgot she liked. Not getting stressed out. Yeah. Okay.

[00:29:43] I forgot about it all over again. So this one I just found. In Deadly Company by L.S. Stratton. Is that a thriller? She writes thrillers. Okay. Me and Z read one of her other ones. Like there's a car on the front. I can't remember what it's called. But that book was crazy. Oh. That was good. And she also wrote like listen to what mother says or something. Haven't read that one. However. That first one alone. I'll definitely read this one. She's good. She's good for a lot. We had a good time reading that one.

[00:30:13] Whichever that other book was. Yeah. So many good books. What else we got? Would it be like The Wilderness? Yes. By Angela Florney. We do love a book about a good friend group. We haven't read one of those in forever. In a minute. In what's felt like forever. It's been a minute. Because I think the last one was what? Was that Wahala? No. No it can't be. The Sunsets in Singapore. Sunsets in Singapore. But that. Oh yes. Yes.

[00:30:43] I like the Wahala more. Yeah. Wahala. Because that was actually. That was insane. That was crazy. I have such good memories of us reading that. I need to stick with that one. I still think about that book. Right. Very excited for The Wilderness though. Yes. Okay. Catabases. Like. Rebecca. I knew Kayla was going to. I'm sorry. I'm skilled. Rebecca. Girl. Yeah. I'm skilled. Yeah. The Poppy Wars.

[00:31:12] Did we all read The Poppy Wars this year? We did. We did. We did. We did. That's crazy. That's crazy. Yeah. And I don't. We read it like earlier this year. Like way earlier. Like. And I don't think we've really talked about it. But yeah. That was also an unexpected fave this year. Oh absolutely. For sure. For sure. For sure. And it was like it was expected but unexpected. Oh yeah. Like if everybody's talking about this book being so good. Da da da. And they were like let's see. And they were like oh they're right. Okay. They were so good. They were so right. They were so right.

[00:31:42] But obviously. Because Arav Kwon can write. Genius. Yeah. Arav Kwon can. She's such a crazy lady. Love Babel. So. She put us through it. Oh she put us through. So many emotions. I feel like I cried each book. Like. I was in warning. It still brings like. Yeah. We were in war. We were in war. We were in war. We was in war. Yeah. War and mourning for most of those books. But I couldn't put it down. In Catabasis I'm.

[00:32:10] I'm really excited with this like dark academia moment. Like it's giving very like. You guys. Nish did you read Ninth House? So. Are you starting Ninth House? Me and. Me and dark academia have like a love hate. Yeah. It needs to really really. Get me. Oh my. From the job. And the problem is. Normally there's so many like. Systems within it. Like that. Yeah. You know secret society. Yeah. Where like they be taking too long to tell me. What's tea?

[00:32:40] Like I just kind of need to know a little bit more. Before I can commit. And they always like. You want you to commit. Mmhmm. Off. Off rip. Like. I need to know a little bit more. It goes at like the pace that like the main character is learning. And it's always like. A little slower. But I. Right. But they're just putting it together. I'm open. I will try it. That world building is actually slower than in fantasy. Dark academia is. Yeah. Yeah. And the thing is. That's true. At least in fantasy. You're basically kind of already in it. Yes. And you're like. Okay.

[00:33:10] Mmhmm. Yeah. And you're trying to figure it out. But. Like I said. When it starts. Yeah. You have. You're figuring out with the main character. And it's like. Damn. You ain't put the pieces together yet. Right. I'm like. Come on. Mish. Remember when we were reading Zodiac Academy. And it took us. Girl. Like two or three books. For us to even find out. The never ending. The power's were. That. That is a never ending series. I. Inclusive. After the. Ain't that like 20 plus. We got to book. What? Three or five. Maybe. Did we get that far? I think it was four. I think we did. I think it was four. Because of the fact that.

[00:33:39] There's just so little happening in each story. Yeah. It's crazy. Because they're like. If you read Zodiac Academy. Like all the way through. Go off. Good for you. And give us the synopsis. Because I won't be returning. Because we can't go back to that. I'm sorry. And they could probably sum it up in like a paragraph. Probably. Like here's what happened in the entire series. Correct. Probably. Correct. Because a lot of nothing was going on. So. Damn. Catabasis.

[00:34:09] Can't wait for you. Well I'm going to try. I'm so excited. Can't wait. Keep you posted. A TRBG like certified fave. Like not just as like an author. But as a person. Nikki Payne is our girl. Oh yeah. Oh my gosh. We love her bad. We love her so bad. We love Nikki Payne. That's our friend for real. She's all throughout the DMV. Yeah. Like going to events. We be like girl hey. She be like. Love to kiki with her. She's great. Love to kiki. Guts to spend. Wants to spend more time with her. We need to spend. Yes. We gotta spend more time with you. We have just a lunch. Just love you.

[00:34:39] A brunch for the girls. Best time. But she's got her new book. Princess and the P.I. We know she's a Jane Austen girl. Eats down. She is. Like she loves a retelling. I don't think that this is not a Jane Austen retelling. No. But she's been doing like. Like you know. Like those reels or Pinterest boards. Where they give you like the vibe of the book. And like the characters. The main character she said. Is Jacob Anderson. That's what we're supposed to envision. And I'm like. You got me. Huh. Yeah. Just like that. I need to know anything else. Exactly.

[00:35:09] That's all we need. Thank you. What did you. Other than that. We got Sweet Heat. If you ain't read that. If you ain't get the arc. You know. Get ready. It's coming. Get ready. She's coming. I DNF'd Honey and Spice a long time ago. But like this year I picked it back up. And I was living. Mm-hmm. So good.

[00:35:37] And I remember we went to Black Romance Book Fest. As Neesh said earlier. And Tia. We went to one of the panels. One of the talks. All the talks were great. But Tia was like. One of my favorite things is like banter. And someone who does banter really well. Is. Bolu Babaloa. Is that how you say her name? I think so. I think so. If I'm. But I apologize profusely. But her. Great banter. The banter. Honey and Spice was fantastic. Yeah. It was fantastic. So I'm very excited for Sweet Heat. I actually kind of want to reread Honey and Spice.

[00:36:07] For that very reason. It would be really good. The banter was unmatched. I think so. I feel like in romance. You do get good banter. But like. Hers was like masterful. Like. Yeah. She could teach a master class. Yeah. Because it feels. That tension. There's definitely an art with it. Like. It's not no like cringe. Like. There is no cringe. You're laughing out loud. And you're blushing and everything. And you're like. In the subtext. And you're like. Like yes.

[00:36:35] Make my feet kick under my blankie. Please. That's what I need. Yeah. So ready for Sweet Heat. Sweet. So ready for Sweet. That'll be a good one. And lastly. An arcane inheritance. Indeed. Yes. This is another Dark Academia. This is by. I'm more open to this one. Sister girl. Huh? I said I'm more open to this one. This is by sister girl who did. This ends in Ambers.

[00:37:06] Yeah. And. I loved this ending. Yeah. Exactly. Love that. You know it's been a lot of books about dragons. But that was a dragon. Where were the books with black dragons and black people? Yeah. We needed more of that. Okay. We needed black dragons. And that was it. Because there was plot. The sisters. You know we love a sister relationship throughout. I just. The magic. The LGBTQIA. A rep. As well. Yeah. She did that. It just. It had a lot of fabulous elements. Loved it. That's why I'm more open to this.

[00:37:36] To the story. She got that on her resume. Okay. And she ate that. Ooh. So excited for what the rest of this year has got. I don't know if they'll like knock our you know top reads off the list. But you know. We'll see. It's possible. I mean. It really is. I do still have. Y'all can accept the challenge to do. Right. The top reads have already been. Top. Top. Correct. So. It's just a great year for reading.

[00:38:06] 2025. Yeah. We'll remember it forever. So far. And there are like a ton of other books that we haven't even mentioned. Like. I'm thinking like. Birth of a Dynasty. So good. I'm trying to think what else. What's it called? Once Upon a Time in Dollywood. So good. There were. There's so many books that haven't been mentioned. But maybe we just need to do. Like a wrap up of 2025. Five. The summer I ate the rich. I'm living. Yeah. Right now. Zombies. Black. Please.

[00:38:37] Please. And it's YA. Please. She's eating the rich. Please. Please. That's all I need. Audrey and Dash are just friends. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. But this has been another episode of the Reading Black Girls podcast. We thank you for coming. We thank you for kiki-ing with us. And we will see you next time. Love you. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.