Sexy & Spiteful: the best books to read this summer

By Brittany Luse,

Liam McBain, Neena Pathak, Veralyn Williams

Published June 18, 2025 at 9:32 AM EDT

It's summer! Which means Brittany is going to be: 1) outside, 2) chilling, and 3) reading. So it's once again time for It's Been a Minute's annual summer books episode! Celebrated romance authors Bolu Babalola and Emily Henry return to the show to discuss with Brittany their summer reading recommendations, ranging from spiteful and salacious to sweet and spicy.

Books discussed in the episode:

Sweet Heat by Bolu Babalola

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Lush by Rochelle Dowden-Lord

Casanova LLC by Julia Whalen

The Wickedest by Caleb Femi

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

Matriarch by Tina Knowles

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Brittany Luse

Brittany Luse is an award-winning journalist, on-air host, and cultural critic. She is the host of It's Been a Minute and For Colored Nerds. Previously Luse hosted The Nod and Sampler podcasts, and co-hosted and executive produced The Nod with Brittany and Eric, a daily streaming show. She's written for Vulture and Harper's Bazaar, among others, and edited for the podcasts Planet Money and Not Past It. Luse and her work have been profiled by publications like The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vulture, and Teen Vogue.

Liam McBain

Liam McBain (he/him) is an assistant producer on It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders. He's interested in stories at the margins of culture.

Neena Pathak

Veralyn Williams

Veralyn Williams (she/her) is a Peabody and Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist who has been asking hard questions about our world since she picked up her first microphone in 2004. Now she brings her skills (and ears) to her role as executive producer of programming at NPR.