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TeaTimeReads December Pick: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

Hello everyone! We can’t wait to discuss our November read Arsenic and Adobo with all of you, but until that time comes we’re so excited to announce our December read, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna! We love this cozy story about found family and can’t wait to share it with all of you.

Here is the full summary for The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches:

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don’t mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she’s used to being alone and she follows the rules…with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos pretending to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.

But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and…Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he’s concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.

As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn’t the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn’t know she was looking for….

Links for The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

You can see our loose reading schedule below, but as always, feel free to read at your own pace.

Content Warnings for The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches: death, abandonment, estranged parents, sibling abuse, memory loss

We hope that you all are doing well and can’t wait to read this one with you all!

TeaTimeReads November Pick: Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala

Hi friends, we hope that you’re all doing well and enjoying our October pick Babel! We’re so excited to announce that our November pick will be Mia P. Manasala’s Arsenic and Adobo! 

Here is the full summary for Arsenic and Adobo:

The first book in a new culinary cozy series full of sharp humor and delectable dishes—one that might just be killer….

When Lila Macapagal moves back home to recover from a horrible breakup, her life seems to be following all the typical rom-com tropes. She’s tasked with saving her Tita Rosie’s failing restaurant, and she has to deal with a group of matchmaking aunties who shower her with love and judgment. But when a notoriously nasty food critic (who happens to be her ex-boyfriend) drops dead moments after a confrontation with Lila, her life quickly swerves from a Nora Ephron romp to an Agatha Christie case.

With the cops treating her like she’s the one and only suspect, and the shady landlord looking to finally kick the Macapagal family out and resell the storefront, Lila’s left with no choice but to conduct her own investigation. Armed with the nosy auntie network, her barista best bud, and her trusted Dachshund, Longanisa, Lila takes on this tasty, twisted case and soon finds her own neck on the chopping block…

Links for Arsenic and Adobo: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

You can see our loose reading schedule below, but as always, feel free to read at your own pace.

Content Warnings for Arsenic and Adobo: Murder, death, poisoning, evidence planting, police intimidation, police encounters, drug use, fatphobia, racism, physical assault, hospitals, domestic violence (implied), discussion of food

We’re really looking forward to reading this cozy mystery with all of you, and can’t wait to hear what you think!

TeaTimeReads October Pick: Babel by R.F. Kuang

Happy September! We hope that you’re all doing well and that the month is treating you well so far. We’re really excited to announce that our October TeaTimeReads pick will be R.F. Kuang’s Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: an Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution — we know that this is a highly anticipated read for many, so we’re really looking forward to reading it with everyone!

Here is the full summary for Babel:

Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation — also known as Babel.

Babel is the world’s center of translation and, more importantly, of silver-working: the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation through enchanted silver bars, to magical effect. Silver-working has made the British Empire unparalleled in power, and Babel’s research in foreign languages serves the Empire’s quest to colonize everything it encounters.

Oxford, the city of dreaming spires, is a fairytale for Robin; a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge serves power, and for Robin, a Chinese boy raised in Britain, serving Babel inevitably means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to sabotaging the silver-working that supports imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide: Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence? What is he willing to sacrifice to bring Babel down?

Babel — a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal response to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell — grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of translation as a tool of empire.

Links for Babel: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

We’ll be doing a loose reading schedule this month, but of course, feel free to read at your own pace.

Content Warnings for Babel: “period typical” racism, c slur, anti-asian rhetoric, antiblackness, war, gun violence, blood, murder, child abuse/neglect, slavery, colonization, gore, death of a parent, classism, sexism, suicide ideation, xenophobia, grief, hate crime, murder 
As always, we hope that you’ll join us and we’re looking forward to discussion our September pick, The Tea Dragon Society with you all later this month

TeaTimeReads: Portrait of a Thief Discussion Questions

Hello friends! We can’t believe that the month of August is almost over, time is flying. We have absolutely loved reading PORTRAIT OF A THIEF with everyone, and we’re super excited to share our discussion questions and thoughts with you!

A quick reminder that Mary is on an indefinite hiatus, and you can catch up with her on @bookswithmary!

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TeaTimeReads September Pick: The Tea Dragon Society series by Kay O’Neill

Hi friends! We’re so excited to announce that for our September TeaTimeReads pick, we’ll be reading THE TEA DRAGON SOCIETY by Kay O’Niell! With graphic novels being on the shorter side, we decided to read all three books in the series. We can’t wait to read and discuss with you!

Here is the full summary for The Tea Dragon Society:

From the award-winning author of Princess Princess Ever After comes The Tea Dragon Society, a charming all-ages book that follows the story of Greta, a blacksmith apprentice, and the people she meets as she becomes entwined in the enchanting world of tea dragons.

After discovering a lost tea dragon in the marketplace, Greta learns about the dying art form of tea dragon care-taking from the kind tea shop owners, Hesekiel and Erik. As she befriends them and their shy ward, Minette, Greta sees how the craft enriches their lives—and eventually her own.

Here is the full summary for The Tea Dragon Festival:

Rinn has grown up with the Tea Dragons that inhabit their village, but stumbling across a real dragon turns out to be a different matter entirely! Aedhan is a young dragon who was appointed to protect the village but fell asleep in the forest eighty years ago. With the aid of Rinn’s adventuring uncle Erik and his partner Hesekiel, they investigate the mystery of his enchanted sleep, but Rinn’s real challenge is to help Aedhan come to terms with feeling that he cannot get back the time he has lost.

Here is the full summary for The Tea Dragon Tapestry:

Join Greta and Minette once more for the heartwarming conclusion of the award-winning Tea Dragon series!

Over a year since being entrusted with Ginseng’s care, Greta still can’t chase away the cloud of mourning that hangs over the timid Tea Dragon. As she struggles to create something spectacular enough to impress a master blacksmith in search of an apprentice, she questions the true meaning of crafting, and the true meaning of caring for someone in grief. Meanwhile, Minette receives a surprise package from the monastery where she was once training to be a prophetess. Thrown into confusion about her path in life, the shy and reserved Minette finds that the more she opens her heart to others, the more clearly she can see what was always inside.

Told with the same care and charm as the previous installments of the Tea Dragon series, The Tea Dragon Tapestry welcomes old friends and new into a heartfelt story of purpose, love, and growth.

Links for The Tea Dragon Society: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Links for The Tea Dragon Festival: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Links for The Tea Dragon Tapestry: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

We’ll be doing a loose reading schedule this month, but of course, feel free to read at your own pace.

Content Warnings for The Tea Dragon Society Series: blood, violence, abandonment, injury/injury detail, animal cruelty, animal death, confinement, death, memory loss

We hope that you have a lovely rest of the month and we look forward to reading THE TEA DRAGON SOCIETY in September!

TeaTimeReads August Pick: Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li

Hi friends, we hope that you’re having a wonderful July so far and that you’re enjoying The Heartbreak Bakery! We’re thrilled to announce that our TeaTimeReads August pick is Grace D. Li’s debut novel PORTRAIT OF A THIEF!

Here is the full summary for Portrait of a Thief:

Ocean’s Eleven meets The Farewell in Portrait of a Thief, a lush, lyrical heist novel inspired by the true story of Chinese art vanishing from Western museums; about diaspora, the colonization of art, and the complexity of the Chinese American identity.

History is told by the conquerors. Across the Western world, museums display the spoils of war, of conquest, of colonialism: priceless pieces of art looted from other countries, kept even now.

Will Chen plans to steal them back.

A senior at Harvard, Will fits comfortably in his carefully curated roles: a perfect student, an art history major and sometimes artist, the eldest son who has always been his parents’ American Dream. But when a mysterious Chinese benefactor reaches out with an impossible—and illegal—job offer, Will finds himself something else as well: the leader of a heist to steal back five priceless Chinese sculptures, looted from Beijing centuries ago.

His crew is every heist archetype one can imag­ine—or at least, the closest he can get. A con artist: Irene Chen, a public policy major at Duke who can talk her way out of anything. A thief: Daniel Liang, a premed student with steady hands just as capable of lockpicking as suturing. A getaway driver: Lily Wu, an engineering major who races cars in her free time. A hacker: Alex Huang, an MIT dropout turned Silicon Valley software engineer. Each member of his crew has their own complicated relationship with China and the identity they’ve cultivated as Chinese Americans, but when Will asks, none of them can turn him down.

Because if they succeed? They earn fifty million dollars—and a chance to make history. But if they fail, it will mean not just the loss of everything they’ve dreamed for themselves but yet another thwarted at­tempt to take back what colonialism has stolen.

Equal parts beautiful, thoughtful, and thrilling, Portrait of a Thief is a cultural heist and an examination of Chinese American identity, as well as a necessary cri­tique of the lingering effects of colonialism. 

Links for Portrait of a Thief: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

Content Warnings for Portrait of a Thief: Death of a parent, hospitalization of a grandparent (minor), grief, violence, weapon descriptions 

We’ll be doing a loose reading schedule this month, but of course, feel free to read at your own pace!

We’re big fans of Portrait of a Thief on the blog, so we could not be more excited to take a deep dive into this story and its characters! Enjoy the rest of July and we’ll see you again in August.