Book Talk, Etc. — September Books on the Radar (2025)
Hosts: Tina (@tbr.et.c) & Hannah (@handpickedbooks)
Date: August 26, 2025
Episode Overview
In this episode, Tina and Hannah share upcoming book releases they're most excited about for September 2025. Expect lively banter, thoughtful TBR additions, under-the-radar gems, and a peek into their current favorites—plus a running theme of unique premises, dystopian settings, and more than a few murdererly retirees. The episode explores reading habits, annotation systems, millennial nostalgia, and deep dives into what makes a book "on their radar."
Key Discussion Points and Insights
1. Reading Habits & Print Book Joy (00:52–04:48)
- Annotation Routines: Tina discusses falling back in love with print reading and shares her annotation strategy of listening on audio, then revisiting in print for highlights and summaries.
- Quote: “I feel like I finally found an annotation system that works for me... writing little summaries at the end of the chapter so that I could remember, and it's just been so fun.” [03:03–03:43]
- Audiobook Insights: Noting the difference an audiobook narrator makes and the tandem of audio + print.
- Quote: "Oh, I wouldn’t have read that that way. But actually, because the narrator did that thing...I like how they did it." [04:48]
- Overlapping TBR: For once, Tina and Hannah have overlapping picks, theorizing it’s due to bookmail and reading from their own shelves.
2. Loving Lately — App & Pop Culture Picks
- Tina: Focused Friend Productivity App (By Hank Green) (05:38–08:10)
- A Pomodoro-style app gamified with a virtual "Bean" who knits as you focus. If distracted, the bean drops their needles and looks upset.
- Quote (Tina): "The bean has butt cheeks, you guys. I've never seen something cuter. Look at these cheeks." [07:15]
- Hannah: “Analyzing Every Easter Egg in The Summer I Turned Pretty” YouTube video by Sasha Raquel (09:30–11:31)
- Appreciation for deep-dive fandom content; recognizes how engaging with developing pop culture creates community and shared excitement.
- Quote (Hannah): “It's always kind of fun to be a part of something that's currently happening. And yeah, I've just been totally obsessed.” [10:33]
3. Featured Book Reviews
Too Old for This by Samantha Downing (Tina) [13:38–17:21]
- Premise: Lottie Jones, former criminal now elderly, is drawn back into trouble when a journalist starts poking around her past. Dark humor, church drama, and aging as invisibility.
- Quote (Tina): “Finally a book that hooks me right away. And I was not expecting what happened in the first five minutes to happen. And that is fantastic.” [14:50]
- Themes: Elderly protagonist, aging, overlooked women, care homes, darkly comic, bingeable thriller.
- Recommendation: Highly recommended, especially as a slump-buster.
Not Alone by Sarah K. Jackson (Hannah) [17:36–21:46]
- Premise: Post-apocalyptic novel where microplastic storms have devastated the world; a woman and her son struggle to survive, but violence abounds.
- Quote (Hannah): “This book was just drenched in sorrow…I still don’t feel completely right again after finishing it. It was sad. Sad. Like it was really, really sad.” [19:42]
- Critique: Evocative writing, but extremely bleak with graphic sexual violence; tone more akin to The Road than Bird Box.
4. September 2025 — Books on the Radar
(Books not yet read, but highly anticipated)
Tina’s Picks
- A Blood As Bright as the Moon by Andrea Mor Stabellini [23:59]
- Queer, gothic, vampire horror set in Frankenstein, Germany. Recommends for Silvia Moreno-Garcia or T. Kingfisher fans.
- To the Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage [28:55]
- Cherokee woman chases astronaut dreams; story of ambition, family, belonging over three decades.
- Discontent by Beatrice Serrano (Trans. Maya Faye Lethem) [32:49]
- Madrid-based satire of millennial corporate malaise; dark humor, team-building retreat nightmare.
- Sympathy Tower Tokyo by Ria Kudan (Trans. Jesse Kirkwood) [37:15]
- Bestselling speculative fiction from Japan: “Radical sympathy” for criminals, AI mentorship, moral struggles in future Tokyo.
- The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre by Philip Fracasi [41:10]
- Elderly “final girl” investigates killings in her retirement home; sharp, slasher-with-a-twist.
Hannah’s Picks
- What We Can Know by Ian McEwan [26:08]
- Dual timelines—present and far future after catastrophe—tied by a mysterious poem; literary dystopia.
- Happiness and Love by Zoe Dubno [30:31]
- Post-Rebecca’s death, returning NYC artist skewers the pretensions and emptiness of her former art crowd.
- Follow My Voice by Ariana Godoy [35:04]
- Agoraphobic protagonist finds connection through a disembodied voice—love and anxiety in digital isolation.
- Moonflow by Bitter Karella [39:33]
- Queer psychedelic horror; mushroom foragers, cults, faceless forest entities. “A wild time…gloriously queer psychedelic trip.” [45:57]
- The Fairy Morgana by Louisa Morgan [42:50]
- Arthurian fantasy centered on Morgan le Fay; magic, female power, and legend reimagined.
5. Thematic Trends and Tropes
- Moons & Mushrooms: Several books feature the moon or mushrooms, a detail the hosts humorously note as an emerging accidental trend.
- Unique Premises: Both hosts drawn to non-formulaic stories—not just the same tropes in new packaging.
- Translation Love: Noting more translated works on their radar for the month (e.g., Spanish and Japanese titles).
6. Memorable Quotes & Moments
- On LaCroix (Tina): “It feels like somebody thought of a fruit and then like burped and put it in the water.” [01:03]
- On book discovery (Hannah): “It's always kind of fun to have a book that has, like, under a thousand ratings and it just feels like you've found something because, like, what if it's a five star?” [22:05]
- On TBRs and reading as gambling (Tina): “That's what reading is, though. Truly... Gambling with books.” [22:28]
- On Moonflow’s wild cover (Tina): “That was not. You know, you could have given me a hundred tries, and I never would have even gotten close to guessing that.” [45:24]
7. Current Reads
- Tina: Best Offer Wins by Marissa Cascino (November release, accidental ARC read)—highly anxiety-inducing, home-buying drama, “I am literally getting hives reading this.” [47:18]
- Hannah: In the Family Way by Leni Katz Becker—suburban women in 1965, exploring wanted/unwanted pregnancies, mixed feelings about characters but “really interesting read so far.” [48:04]
8. Looking Ahead
Both tease a forthcoming Patreon episode recapping their Summer Bonanza reading picks:
- “Our patrons in September are going to get a full length bonus episode where Hannah and I really break down our Summer Bonanza picks, why they worked, why they didn't, and all of that.” [49:01]
Timestamps for Notable Segments
- Intro & Banter: 00:00–03:43
- Loving Lately – Focused Friend: 05:18–08:10
- Loving Lately – Easter Egg Video: 09:30–11:31
- Featured Review – Too Old for This: 13:38–17:21
- Featured Review – Not Alone: 17:36–21:46
- Books on the Radar Introduction/Themes: 22:34–23:53
- Book Picks & Discussion: 23:59–46:18
- Current Reads: 46:18–49:32
- Patreon Teaser & Outro: 49:32–end
Tone & Style
Friendly, irreverent, and deeply engaged—Tina and Hannah blend insightful commentary with relatable humor, making the overwhelming influx of new releases feel manageable and genuinely exciting.
For More
- Full book list & links in show notes
- Join the Patreon for bonus/detailed breakdowns of TBR challenges
- Connect at @booktalketc on Instagram/YouTube or individually at @tbr etc and @handpickedbooks
“Everything’s better with books.”