August Reading Round Up: Summer is Over, the Ber Months Have Arrived — The Spicy Librarian Podcast

Dark romance and romantasy podcast The Spicy Librarian is back with the August reading roundup — summer is over, the ber months are here, and we read an unreasonable amount of books. We're debriefing our summer reads, defending our choices, and getting very hyped for the MaasVerse deep dive coming in September ahead of a vey exciting release…

Summer is drawing to a close, holidays have been had, and we are ready to welcome the ber months with open arms and a very long reading list.

This week on The Spicy Librarian Podcast we are debriefing everything we read over August, looking ahead to our MaasVerse deep dive, and already getting hyped for all things autumnal.

Katie opens with a passionate defence of Nightshade & Daybreak by Autumn Woods — a dark academia slow burn that divided the room and we are still not over it. Then we get into the full August roundup covering dark romance, contemporary, thriller, romantasy and everything in between — from Grave Matter by Karina Halle and Body Count by Codie Crowley to Twisted Hate by Ana Huang, Dominion by Jean Kwok, and Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman.

Then we turn our attention to September — a deep dive into the MaasVerse is coming, and we cannot wait.

We're also discussing the August book club picks across dark romance, romantasy and contemporary, and dropping the September book club lineup, so stay tuned!

Timestamps

06:08 — Nightshade & Daybreak: Katie's Defence11:26 — Welcome to the Ber Months16:29 — August Reading Roundup35:12 — September TBR & The MaasVerse Deep Dive47:24 — August Book Club: The Voice, Dominion & How to Kidnap a Fake Date50:32 — September Book Club: A Bargain So Bloody, Friends with Monsters & Just Another Dead Boy

Books Discussed:

Nightshade & Daybreak — Autumn Woods (dark academia, slow burn)Grave Matter — Karina Halle (dark romance, paranormal)Us Dark Few & Us Deadly Few — Alexis Patton (dark romance)Twisted Hate — Ana Huang (enemies to lovers, contemporary romance)To Cage a Wild Bird — Brooke Fast (dystopian, romantasy)Dominion — Jean Kwok (romantasy)Just Another Dead Boy — Kelly McCaughrain (contemporary)The Only One Left — Riley Sager (thriller)How to Kidnap a Fake Date — Effie Campbell (dark romance, fake dating)Broken Country — Clare Leslie Hall (literary fiction)The Ghost Writer — Julie Clark (thriller)The Chain — Adrian McKinty (thriller)Thirst Trap — Gráinne O'Hare (contemporary romance, queer)So I Met This Guy — Alexandra Potter (contemporary romance)The Lure of Wolves and Whispers — Amanda Connolly (romantasy)Slip Stream — Madge Maril (sports, contemporary)First Flight Final Fall — C.W. Farnsworth (contemporary romance, sports romance)Body Count — Codie Crowley (horror, queer)Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch — Codie Crowley (horror)Friends with Monsters — Albany Walker (dark romance)Tide — Carian Cole (dark romance)Daddy Issues — Kate Goldbeck (contemporary romance)You Girls Play Nice — K.D. Aldyn (thriller)Dungeon Crawler Carl 1, 2 & 3 — Matt Dinniman (fantasy, LitRPG)Yesteryear — Caro Claire Burke (literary fiction)Around the World in 80 Dates — Jasmine Burke (contemporary)The Voice — Maggie Ray Jones (contemporary romance)

August Book Club:The Voice — Maggie Ray Jones (contemporary romance)Dominion — Jean Kwok (romantasy)How to Kidnap a Fake Date — Effie Campbell (dark romance, comedy)

September Book Club:A Bargain So Bloody — Vasilisa Drake (dark romantasy)Friends with Monsters — Albany Walker (dark romance, paranormal)Just Another Dead Boy — Kelly McCaughrain (contemporary)