Books & Bites Podcast, Ep. 107
JCPL librarians bring you book recommendations and discuss the bites and beverages to pair with them.
On this episode, we discuss books with dragons. It’s one of the prompts on the Summer-Fall Books & Bites Bingo reading challenge.
Our picks include a slow-burn romantasy, a speculative fantasy that takes place during the 1950s and 1960s, and a YA sci-fi and fantasy mashup.
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Michael’s Pick
Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame by Neon Yang
This novella tells the story of Yeva, the fabled masked guildknight of Mithrandon. Yeva is sent on a mission to the neighboring country of Quanbao to find a dangerous storm dragon.
While Yeva searches for signs of the dragon, she begins to open up to Lady Sookhee, the young girl-king of Quanbao. Through their growing friendship and slow-burn romance, Yeva starts to rediscover parts of herself she long buried.
Pairing: Dragon’s Milk Ice Cream Float
Carrie’s Pick
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
Alex Green is a child when her aunt Marla turns into a dragon during the Mass Dragoning of 1955, when over 600,000 women transform into fire-breathing, fantastical creatures.
Alex’s parents adopt the baby daughter Marla leaves behind. They tell Alex that Beatrice is her sister, that she never had an aunt. Dragoning is a forbidden, shameful topic.
Just before Alex enters high school, her mother dies, and she must care for Beatrice on her own while trying to get an education.
Alex comes-of-age grappling with loss and filled with rage at a society intent on silencing women.
Pairing: Ultimate Vegan Grilled Cheese
Jacqueline’s Pick
The Last Dragon on Mars by Scott Reintgen
Thirteen-year-old Lunar Jones lives at a relocation clinic on Mars with other orphans. As others leave the now uninhabitable planet, Lunar and the orphans have no way off.
Barely surviving, Lunar braves dangerous storms and other scavengers to retrieve technology, space suits, or anything he can sell to buy food. But something goes wrong, and Lunar is thrust into an underground world with an unknown dragon.
This novel is for readers looking for an action-packed space adventure with dragons.
Pairing: Dragon Flame Meringue Cookies