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Kalyani Saxena (kull yah nee)

@bookishyani

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boston bookworm 📚
✍️ reviews and book coverage💕
words in @nytimes @washingtonpost @npr @wbur
💌 [email protected]
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took a brief hiatus from my reclusive bookworm life to chat with the absolutely charming and talented @veschwab about The Fragile Threads of Power ✨🥹

This series has been with me since I was a lil college freshman and it was so surreal to get to talk about Kell, Lila, and Rhy in front of an audience of 450 (‼️) amazing fantasy fans.

We talked about the literary Schwabeverse, Kell’s sexy glowup, and also the joys (and anxieties) of revisiting a story beloved to so many 🫶

I had an absolute blast and will be hoarding the memories for the next 5-10 business years ✨ by @bookishyani

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3 years ago

can confirm you are not seeing things and that is IN FACT me staring with heart eyes at THE romance legend Beverly Jenkins. I was so so honored last night to get to speak to her (along with two other industry icons) Jasmine Guillory and Ali Hazelwood about all things romance for @wburcityspace.

I truly cannot remember a time I have laughed this much. It was one of the best nights with an AMAZING crowd. I firmly believe that romance fans are the best people to hang out with.

we spoke about diversity in romance, the importance of embracing smut, monster romances, and that the in between stage of being a panster and an outliner is a pantyliner??? reader i lost it!

truly one of my favorite nights ever and I'm so grateful to have spent it talking about romance.

swipe to see everyone celebrate Beverly's birthday!! (yes it was in fact yesterday!) taken in WBUR CitySpace by @bookishyani

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3 years ago

had a wonderful evening chatting all things yellowface with the indomitable @kuangrf tonight!!

this book made me say wtf every other line. it’s maddening, enraging, and utterly thrilling. I recommend you buy and inhale it in one sitting immediately 📚👀💛

(thanks to @harvardbookstore for organizing 💕) taken in Harvard Book Store by @bookishyani

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3 years ago

what an absolute gift and honor to report for @wbur’s 2026 Makers cohort. I had a wonderful time profiling Maria Pinto @aravensgrace, a naturalist and writer, who looks at the fungi on a forest floor and sees a whole world 🍄🍄‍🟫🌳

so grateful to my wonderful editors @dianna_bell and Tania Ralli who lead with kindness, curiosity, and warmth (always)

and the amazing team @wburcityspace who pulled off a fantastic special night showcasing the talents of the seven artists of colors honored in this year’s cohort.

if you haven’t already, highly recommend reading through all the profiles at wbur.org/makers

behind the scenes!

the makers celebration @wburcityspace 💖 such a beautiful night with a brilliant cohort

introducing maria 🍄‍🟫🍄 by @bookishyani

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7 days ago

new cara bastone (I loved) 💖💘 + new hand knit neck scarf (I also love) 🧶💕

Cara Bastone’s romances make me feel like I’ve swallowed a flashlight and am a lit up from the inside. warm just so warm ☀️ by @bookishyani

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2 months ago

penny for your thoughts? (sheep. it’s all sheep. always sheep) 🐑🍀❤️ taken in Killary Sheep Farm by @bookishyani

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3 months ago

🚨✨🚀 a crumb of your attention please? because a hot new summer book blurb has entered the villa (am I using this right? I don’t watch love island)

for @npr’s summer edition of books we love, I wrote about Into The Blue a romance novel I’d call a sneaker and a sizzler (in that it snuck up on me, delivered an emotional wallop, and then has lingered in my mind ever since) I’d say more but I think the blurb does it for me pretty well!

I like romance novels that are a) hot b) a little traumatizing and c) well written! Into the Blue by @emma.c.brodie has it all babes 😏 happy reading (and crying)!* ✨💫🌟

And don’t forget to check out the rest of the books on this great list!

*also I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t address genre conventions - that this is a romance novel yes! but it’s also more of a happy for now than a HEA (for plot reasons I really can’t tell you) by @bookishyani

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4 months ago

had a wicked delightful time unpacking wuthering heights and its (many many many) adaptations this weekend with film critic @splicedpersonality and Brontë scholar Deborah Lutz @deborahsuzannelutz @wburcityspace this week

To prep for this event, I spent two weeks deep in the world of Wuthering Heights - consumed by a story that was strange and unsettling and that I wasn’t sure I liked very much. Still I had so many questions - about theme and resonance and genre (like why is this categorized as a romance!!! its a revenge story! why is everyone named the same thing! why is everyone being so weird towards each other! did exorcisms exist in the Victorian era and why didn’t anyone in this family try one?)

it’s no mean feat writing a story people are still talking about a hundred years later and retelling again and again, often poorly (emerald fennel I’m looking at you). props to you emily brontë you did your big (and weird) one! 🥀

and thank you as always to the superstars at @wburcityspace that make moderating events such a joy :) by @bookishyani

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4 months ago

it’s the middle of the dang reading year!!! I’ve been intending to do a formal list of my favorite 2026 reads so far but instead I’ve mostly been whispering recommendations in DMs like some kind of gremlin book librarian living under a bridge where instead of paying a toll you have to just listen to me talk about the stories I’ve loved

so here’s a visual stack of some of my favorite 2026 reads so far ‼️✨✍️📝 (books that either release this year or books I’ve read this year)

and of course a moment for the titles I adored but don’t have physical copies of:
More Than A Mistress by Mary Balogh
The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones by @lexcanroar
The Very Definition of Love by @sgbenoit
The Sword Dance by @jeannielinauthor
There is No Antimemetics Division by qntm

here’s to these books and many more bangers in the next six months :) by @bookishyani

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4 months ago

happy summer! I was thrilled to get to write up a little reading guide for @wbur’s arts desk ft some titles (with ties to New England) that I’m excited to pour over in the heat ✨☀️🧚

and as a bonus they let me wax a little poetic about the euphoria of reading outside this time of year in a place as beautiful as New England.

I hope you find a title on this list that keeps you company outside this summer (even as the bugs gnaw on your extremities)

(and thank you to my lovely editor @dianna_bell for putting me on the job 🫡) by @bookishyani

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4 months ago

happy start of summer reading season from me and my new (‼️‼️‼️) pressed flowers kerchief 🌸💕

handknit by me :) and pattern by amy christoffers by @bookishyani

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4 months ago

had to pay my respects to the romance gods at their hq (@therippedbodice) today!!! 💕🌸💕💌

(squealed, giggled, grinned etc etc ‼️)

swipe also to see my cousin (who gamely accompanied me and urged me to buy the bucket hat) do his best✨ performative male ✨ cosplay by @bookishyani

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6 months ago