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Ep. 196: New Year, Fresh Reads with Sweetpea Flaherty

EQ: What books or trends do you think will define the reading experience for 2025, both for individual readers and the community your bookstore serves?

Today, we are back with the one and only Sweetpea Flaherty of King’s Books in Tacoma. Sweepea talks us through anticipated book releases for this spring. Get something to write with, because you’re going to want to take notes!

Support Bookstores

Support Libraries:

Nonfiction:

  • Dark Laboratory: On Columbus, the Caribbean, and the Origins of the Climate Crisis by Tao Leigh Goffe

  • Strike : Labor, Unions, and Resistance in the Roman Empire by Sarah E Bond

  • Authority by Andrea Long Chu

Memoir/Biography

  • Harder I Fight the More I Love You by Neko Case

  • Rachel Carson and the Power of Queer Love by Lida Maxwell

Picture Books

  • Make a Pretty Sound : A Story of Ella Jenkins—The First Lady of Children's Music by Traci N. Todd, Eleanor Davis

  • Make Your Mark : The Empowering True Story of the First Known Black Female Tattoo Artist by Jacci Gresham, Sherry Fellores

  • Yáadilá! : Good Grief! by Laurel Goodluck, Jonathan Nelson

  • Rise Up!: Powerful Protests in American History by Rachel C. Katz, Sophie Bass

Teen

  • They Bloom at Night by Tran Thanh Tran

Poetry

  • Strange Beach by Oluwaseun Olayiwola

  • Eternal Dice by César Vallejo

  • Buzzkill Clamshell  by Amber Dawn

Fiction

  • Life of Herod the Great by Zora Neale Hurston

  • Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor

  • Relationship Mechanic by Karmen Lee

  • Listen to Your Sister by Neena Vel

  • Stag Dance by Torrey Peters

  • Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

Great Gifts

  • Black in Blues : How a Color Tells the Story of My People by Imani Perry

  • Bookstore Romance : Love Speaks Volumes by Judith Rosen

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Ep. 186: Pumpkin Spice and Bookish Advice w/ Sweetpea Flaherty

EQ: Which books should be on your fall reading list this year, and how do they reflect and respond to today's societal and current events?

Get ready to spice up your fall reading list with the one and only Sweetpea Flaherty from King’s Books in Tacoma! We’re talking seasonal book cravings, why non-fiction suddenly gets so popular, and the must-read sci-fi and speculative fiction that’s heating up the shelves. Plus, Sweetpea spills the tea (or should we say pumpkin spice latte?) on debut authors, hidden gems, and the best cookbooks and gift sets to grab this season. We’ll also chat about creating the coziest autumn reading nook and why it’s time to decolonize that bookshelf. Join us for laughs, book talk, and a few tips on getting seriously cozy this fall!

Poetry Recs:

  • Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology, Rigoberto González

  • Forest of Noise, Mosab Abu Toha

  • Blues in Stereo: The Early Works of Langston Hughes, Langston Hughes

  • What Remains: The Collected Poems of Hannah Arendt, Hannah Arendt

Food & Drink Recs:

  • Good Lookin' Cookin' : A Year of Meals - A Lifetime of Family, Friends, and Food, Dolly Parton, Rachel Parton George

  • Modern Navajo Kitchen : Homestyle Recipes that Celebrate the Flavors and Traditions of the Diné, Alana Yazzie

  • Wild Chocolate : Across the Americas in Search of Cacao's Soul, Rowan Jacobsen

  • Our South : Black Food Through My Lens, Ashleigh Shanti

Memoir/Biography Recs:

  • Survival Is a Promise : The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde, Alexis Pauline Gumbs

  • Thousand Threads : A Memoir, Neneh Cherry

Nonfiction Recs:

  • Turning to Stone : Discovering the Subtle Wisdom of Rocks, Marcia Bjornerud

  • Erasing History : How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future, Jason Stanley

  • Message, Ta-Nehisi Coates

  • Black Utopians : Searching for Paradise and the Promised Land in America, Aaron Robertson

  • Last Stand of the Raven Clan : A Story of Imperial Ambition, Native Resistance and How the Tlingit-Russian War Shaped a Continent, Gerald Easter, Mara Vorhees

  • Resist : How a Century of Young Black Activists Shaped America, Rita Omokha

  • Serviceberry : Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, Robin Wall Kimmerer

Fiction Recs:

  • She Who Knows, Nnedi Okorafor

  • Absolution, Jeff VanderMeer

  • Mighty Red, Lousie Erdrich

  • Model Home, Rivers Solomon

  • Jamaica Ginger and Other Concoctions, Nalo Hopkinson

  • City and Its Uncertain Walls, Haruki Murakami

Great Gifts:

  • Visualizing Palestine : A Chronicle of Colonialism and the Struggle for Liberation, Jessica Anderson, Aline Batarseh

  • On Freedom, Timothy Snyder

  • Modern Magic : Stories, Rituals, and Spells for Contemporary Witches,  Michelle Tea

  • Korean Feminist Artists : Confront and Deconstruct, Kim Hong-hee, Kim Hyesoon

Do Your Fudging Homework:

  • Annie: Perpetual advice: support your local bookstore. If you don’t have one, support King’s Books via online orders on their website, kingsbookstore.com

    • If you’re a busy reader and haven’t yet, consider starting  your own book list with a rating system. I’ve found that it helps me not only track the books I’ve read, but also making better recommendations for others. 

  • Hope: Another call to decolonize your bookshelf–just pick 1 outside your comfort zone.

  • Sweetpea: jump into a world you know nothing about!

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Ep. 173: Perspectives From An American Librarian Abroad

EQ: How can school libraries effectively promote diverse representation, particularly of Black voices and histories, fostering greater social awareness and inclusivity?

In today’s episode we are joined by teacher-librarian Osa Oyegun, the whole school librarian (PS-12) at the American International School of Abuja, Nigeria. We discuss the power of representation in literature, the attack on books and libraries in the US, and ways to grow partnerships between the library and the community. Not to mention, we all throw a few book recommendations your way! Check out her curated list of Anti-Bias and Anti-Racist Resources.
Do Your Fudging Homework:

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