Spill the Novel Tea #1: Five Prize-Winners and a Debut Novel

Our April 2025 reads,

Welcome to our first edition of Spill the Novel Tea. We’re so excited to talk books with you!

In April, we tackled one reread and five new books — including a new all-time favorite! We also realized that five of the six authors featured in this roundup are literary prize winners or nominees: a Booker shortlist finalist, a Pulitzer finalist, two Nobel prize-winners, and an International Booker nominee. It was so interesting to think about how these stacked up against one another.

This month, Neha was experiencing a huge book hangover after reading Jane Austen’s Emma (which we’ll be discussing on the podcast next week!) and, in a complete 180, ended up reading a few books that highlighted alone-ness and isolation through exploration of traumatic experiences. Shruti’s reads were more eclectic, but almost all of them revolved around the past — in various ways, these books considered the ghosts of our pasts, and how they continually alter our understanding of the present.

We also couldn’t resist reviewing a buzzy new film, and a highly anticipated play!

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