Smack and Gabi are back from being, um, busy and stuff, and we have a lot to catch up on! Smack goes feral and rabid for the first time since college over a Nebula finalist with an enormous cliffhanger and a contemporary werewolf black cat/golden retriever romance. Gabi “complains” about being trapped on a plane with hours of enforced reading time on her way to and from Brazil and recaps her vacation reading highlights. We also discuss our current and upcoming reads for the final month of Mysterious Galaxy Summer Bingo with a lot of anticipation for showdown throwdown. Most importantly, we are celebrating the release of Smack’s first novella, Death Valley Blooms, available as of today!! Order now at: https://www.mystgalaxy.com/book/9781966503125

Books discussed this episode include:

• Asunder by Kerstin Hall
• Teixcalaan series by Arkady Martine
• Death Valley Blooms by S. M. Mack
• Fan Service by Rosie Danan
• The Scholomance series by Naomi Novik
• The Geographer’s Map to Romance (Love’s Academic #2) by India Holton
• The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam (Hart and Mercy #3) by Megan Bannen
• Evander Mills series by Lev AC Rosen
• The Sunken Archive series by Sylvie Cathrall
• The Dragonfly Gambit by A.D. Sui
• The Clocktaur Wars series by T. Kingfisher
• Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal
• The Bane Witch by Ava Morgyn

Smack and Gabi recount their most enjoyable 2024 and most anticipated 2025 reads. There were truly an astonishing number of both, but of particular note is Heather Faucett’s Emily Wilde series which - with the third coming out shortly after this recording - was both one of our most highly anticipated of 2025 and among Smack’s 2024 favorites. She might even nominate it for a Nebula with her new powers! Smack also declared her favorite book of all time while we both are reminded how much Gabi is a sucker for pining dumb-dumbs. We have an ongoing book-buying avoidance challenge that got some modifications for the new year which will encourage our use of the libraries and there is a classic ITBR PSA for California residents in wildfire-vulnerable areas to download the Watch Duty app. All in all, when it comes to books it was a great 2024 and it’s shaping up to be a phenomenal 2025. Happy New Year!

2024 Reading Highlights and 2025 Most Anticipated Books & Authors:

• The Rising Worlds series by Martha Wells
• The Scholomance trilogy by Naomi Novik
• Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
• The Sky on Fire by Jenn Lyons
• Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Emily Wilde trilogy by Heather Fawcett
• Cerulean Chronicles by TJ Klune
• Caitlin Rozakis
• Starlight’s Shadow trilogy by Jessie Mihalik
• The Space Between Worlds series by Micaiah Johnson
• Parallel Worlds: A Journey through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos by Michio Kaku
• Mallory Dunlin
• Emily Lloyd Jones
• Mossa & Pleiti series by Malka Ann Older
• A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
• Finding Echoes by Foz Meadows
• Weather Warden series by Rachel Caine
• Sarah Beth Durst
• Love’s Academic series by India Holton
• Alexandra Vasti
• A Study in Drowning duology by Ava Reid
• The Lucky Ladies of London series by Faye Delacour
• The Sun Chronicles by Kate Elliott
• Breath of the Dragon (Breathmarked #1) by Shannon Lee & Fonda Lee
• The Sunken Archives duology by Sylvie Cathrall
• Dark Lord Davi duology by Django Wexler
• Hench series by Natalie Zina Walschots
• Hart & Mercy series by Megan Bannen

Smack and Gabi continue to face off in their 4th Annual Showdown Throwdown in which we compete to see who had the better reading experience during Mysterious Galaxy’s Summer Bingo. This round, Smack is up against a super fun dark academia trilogy that ended up being one of Gabi’s all-time favorite reads, Gabi has to contend with some nonfiction and memoir powerhouses that Smack read, and we both benefit from an incredible collection of speculative short stories.

In this part two of two, the books showdowned throwdowned include:

• A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland v. The Last Graduate (The Scholomance #2)
• The High Mountain Court (The Five Courts of Okrith #1) by A.K. Mulford v. The Undermining of Twyla and Frank (Hart and Mercy #2) by Megan Bannen
• Burning Girls and Other Stories by Veronica Schanoes v. Murdle: Vol. 1 (Murdle #1) by G.T. Karber
• Botanical Curses and Poisons: The Shadow-Lives of Plants by Fez Inkwright v. The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club #1) by Richard Osman
• What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo v. Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez
• The Rogue Crown (The Five Courts of Okrith #3) by A.K. Mulford v. The Night Ends with Fire (The Night Ends with Fire #1) by K.X. Song
• The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles (The Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti #2) by Malka Older v. Burning Girls and Other Stories by Veronica Schanoes
• American Resistance: The Inside Story of How the Deep State Saved the Nation by David Rothkopf v. A Deadly Education (The Scholomance #1) by Naomi Novik
• The Enchanted Hacienda by J.C. Cervantes v. The Golden Enclaves (The Scholomance #3) by Naomi Novik
• Capture the Sun (Starlight’s Shadow #3) by Jessie Mihalik v. The Mimicking of Known Successes (The Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti #1) by Malka Older
• Evocation (The Summoner’s Circle #1) by S.T. Gibson v. The Silvered by Tanya Huff
• Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah v. Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer