You May Contribute A Verse

Jess Yoon stands on business. And she's doing way more than sitting in her little room, typing away. She's tapping into her inner child to great effect!

She manifested a Little Golden Book into being and now her Blackpink biography is out in the world! Her picture book Jeong Is Jeong JUST released this month (February 2026), AND her junior novelization of K-Pop Demon Hunters comes out next month! 

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This episode’s book reviews: 

 

SLEEP TIGHT, DISGUSTING BLOB by Huw Aaron

SEALS ARE JERKS by Jared Chapman

 

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!! 

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Now with 100% more consternation! Or less. Not sure where we landed on consternation.

Steph Lau has gotten some good experiences over the years. Some published, some TBD. But at least we have thus far been graced with ABOMINABLE SNOW DANCER, and will be graced with MEDUSA'S PET ROCK later this year! And more to come!

Steph, you'll have to come back on so we can talk more about pancakes and pastries. 

 

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This episode’s book reviews: 

THE CAVE DOWNWIND OF THE CAFE by Mikey Please

DESERT QUEEN by Jyoti Rajan Gopal, illustrated by Svabhu Kohli

 

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

 

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

 

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!! 

 

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

We make it so today with author Jan (J.E.) Thomas, author of The AI Incident and Control Freaks. Lots of good habit discussion, some Star Trek, and exactly how you can be a certified Human Author. Jan is a delight!

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This episode’s book reviews: 

HOW TO GROW A FAMILY TREE by Bea Birdsong, illustrated by Jasu Hu

THIS BOOK IS ON FIRE! by Ron Keres, illustrated by Arthur Lin

CASSINI'S MISSION by Katie Venit, illustrated by Julia Blattman

 

 

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

 

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

 

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!! 

 

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Today's second-timer is our last-timer of 2025! Matt Forrest Esenwine graces us once again with his delightful, radio-ready voice for a soothing exit to the year. 

In addition to Matt's twelve other books (some of which you can hear about in our first conversation from 2021), this year Matt released his anthology A Universe of Rainbows: Multicolored Poems for a Multicolored World.

We don't get to talk a ton about anthologies, so this was a delight! 

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This episode’s book reviews: 

JOVITA WORE PANTS by Aida Salazar, illustrated by Molly Mendoza

THIS BOOK IS PERFECT by Ron Keres, illustrated by Arthur Lin

MY DAD IS THE BEST by Fran Pintadera, illustrated by Joan Turu

 

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!! 

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Karyn Friedman-Everham (Josh's agent sibling - hi, Joyce!) has a fascinating story that's a little bit backwards from how most of us approach our debuts, but that's what makes her story fascinating and very endearing! 

Her 2024 debut was Otter Oughta Know, followed in October 2025 by Chesed. Two different paths, one cool convo!

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This episode’s book reviews: 

NUNU AND THE SEA by Isabella Kung

ERNO RUBIK AND HIS MAGIC CUBE by Kerry Aradhya, illustrated by Kara Kramer

 

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

 

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

 

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!! 

 

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!