Hi, everyone! We were supposed to meet tonight for our first Chain Gang All Stars bookclub conversation, but over half of the people who previously said they could come have told me they can no longer make it! So I’m moving it to this Friday, one of the other popular times! Same time: 7pm cst!

Here is the updated link: https://us05web.zoom.us/j/83792331566?pwd=gbtzzDkWJ5jMymkwAlAnZdWn4P0wWf.1

Reminder, this one is the book club discussion so everyone is invited. We will discuss the entire book.

Our other two meetings will be discussing abolition itself. Those will take place on November 13th and December 4th! Links to come!

See you Friday!

Hello to all of you founding Apothecary members! I just wanted to take a minute to thank you all so much for joining up on this new membership tier. I know some of you are former Dark Travelers who upgraded, some of you are free members who upgraded, and some of you are new to the platform. You have no idea how much I appreciate you all supporting me and joining our community, and I am excited to make something really fun for everyone! I was honestly overwhelmed (in a good way) to see how many people jumped on this, so thank you again!

If you are new, you will find we are a laid back, kind, supportive community of readers who love talking about books, Legos, and whatever else comes to mind over on Discord. As Apothecary members who sign up before November 15, 2026, you will all be getting the inaugural January 2027 Fantasy Box. However, your Dark Traveler benefits start now! You will all be seeing posts for your exclusive weekly reading update vlog, early YouTube video access, the Dark Traveler Discord channel (should you choose to join Discord), and are all eligible to participate in our monthly pick a book for me.

You all have an exclusive channel on Discord as well, separate from the Dark Traveler channels, where I will post some teasers and keep some chatter about the book box going, but I will also post everything here through Bindery if you're not a Discord person. If you do want to give the Discord a try, here's a link!

In the meantime, especially if you are new, I am very open to feedback and requests. If you have any ideas to make the membership better for you, or have anything you may want to request for the boxes, do let me know - I'm always open to ideas!

Again, welcome, thank you, and I'm so excited to start working on this! Happy reading!

I got a new favorite history book plus I started a series by one of my favorite authors... here's everything I've been reading plus some other news. Feel free to hit me up in the comments with your plans for the week!

READING

REVIEW

A PEOPLE'S TRAGEDY: THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION 1891-1924 by ORLANDO FIGES (narrative popular history)

Progress: 421/824

Holy hell balls y'all this, so far, is up there with some of my favorite THICC BOI history books. For those of you that read The Coming of the Third Reich by Richard J. Evans when it was a book club pick, the format and style will feel very similar. The main difference is Figes is more opinionated than Evans, but that's also a product of the topic and all of the competing interpretations of events (Nazi history doesn't need to be as spicy, they damn themselves quite clearly in every way).

Figes has such command as a writer and flows from top-down to bottom-up history smooth as hell, plus he has a great eye for the interesting bits and engaging stories. Only halfway through but I can't see my opinion of it changing much. It bangs.

THREE ASSASSINS by KOTARO ISAKA (dark thriller)

Progress: Finished

This was trying to be both a dark comedy and a psychological thriller and I'm not sure it was very good at either but ultimately it was a fine time, even if I will never think about it again.

20TH CENTURY BOYS by NAOKI URASAWA [The Perfect Edition Vol. 4] (manga/seinen thriller)

Progress: Chapter 11 of 22

This continues to be killer stuff from top to bottom. Every plotline, new character, and big set pieces hit. It's like if Stephen King's Stand by Me (aka The Body) was also a global conspiracy thriller spanning multiple decades. I'm currently in the middle of The Big F'n Event and I'm completely hooked.

DRAGON KEEPER by ROBIN HOBB [Rain Wild Chronicles #1, The Realm of the Elderlings #10]

Progress: Page 80/473

This is considered by many to be the weakest of RotE but I don't give a damn about all that I'm just vibing with Hobb like I always do. No clue what to think yet other than I quite like the stuff with the dragons (super high brow commentary there).

PREVIEW

The Wolves of War by John Gwynne is locked in for the Fiction Sickos Book Club in November, with the History Sickos Book Club vote looking like Yakuza by Andrew Rankin is running away with it.

EVERYTHING ELSE

• Publication News: Hoping that very soon I will be able to reveal who the cover artist for our second book will be! We were very spoiled for choice so I'm sure y'all will love 'em.

• Game of the Week: Hmmmmm...

• Show of the Week: Starting S4 of Slow Horses and am almost done watching the new limited series of East of Eden (love all the Cathy, she's the best).

• Movie of the Week: I watched The Invite over the weekend on a whim and Olivia Wilde really directed the shit out of that thing. Very anxiety inducing, not at all what I expected, and pretty damn awesome.

I have had such a great time over here on Bindery. I love what the publishing side of the company does, and I have really enjoyed the platform. Being able to provide longer form content, and build a great community of book lovers has been so much fun! Over the last few months, I have seen some great growth with my current membership tier, The Dark Travelers. I knew I wanted to offer a new membership tier, and I wanted it to be something that would offer something cool, while hopefully helping out less known authors or books, as well as some local businesses.

So after some thought, I figured out a great way to do these things that I am really excited about. Allow me to introduce the Apothecary Tier, a quarterly book box that gives you all the great benefits of the Dark Travelers, while also getting you a quarterly themed book box!

As you can see above, each quarter will be a different theme and genre. Each box will come with a book that is a lesser known book or author (or both!) within the genre noted that month, as well as some extra goodies to enjoy while reading! If possible, I will buy the books direct from the author, and when not possible through my local independent bookstore. Items included will also be from local businesses as much as possible! And in addition to the book box, you get all the benefits of the Dark travelers: a weekly reading update vlog, early access to the weekly YouTube video, private Discord channels, and the ability to pick a book for me to read each month!

Now, of course, there will be some rules, so here is the fine print!

• Obviously, you need to be comfortable sharing a shipping address with me!

• You need to be a member for 2 months before the first book ships. For the January Fantasy box, memberships need to be in by November 15! All members get immediate Dark Traveler status on signing up.

• No skips are available - I am a one man show here, and this is already a lot of logistics! If you already have the book, or are not interested, you will be getting a new book that you can resell, donate, or give away!

• I am initially offering this internationally, with the initial shipping from the US being covered by me. However, any extra duties, tariffs or taxes that are charged in your country will be up to you. If shipping becomes prohibitively expensive I will address that later, but I did want to at least offer this to start.

• Cancellation follows the same policies as any Bindery membership tier.

The schedule will be as follows starting in January 2027, with books shipping mid month:

• January: Fantasy Book

• April: Sci Fi Book

• July: Surprise book and genre!

• October: Horror Book (nothing too extreme!)

This is super exciting, and I am really pumped to offer this and have more members join our community while supporting authors, artists, and indie bookstores! If you have any questions please let me know, and I hope to see some of you sign up! Happy reading!

Today is the last day to upgrade your membership and get an arc of Cracks, the next book from our publishing imprint.

Why do paid subscribers get arcs?

The community membership fees go into the production of our books and community support is what helps us compete with Big 5 publishers. It only makes sense that you, our biggest supporters, get to read the book early! We know you won’t stop shouting about it!

You are the champions of diverse stories. We are constantly reminded that publishing needs to be more diverse. Our work here helps get these necessary stories into the world! Your early reviews are so important.

In addition to arcs, paid subscribers also get the book tea early (secrets incoming!) , access to exclusive posts and snail mail club is going monthly for $12 and up subscribers starting in Jan!

Today and is a great day to support indie publishing!

I want to share some more early reviews of Cracks!

Okay, let me know if you’ve already preordered below!

Voting for November reads are now live! As always, I think these are some pretty banger choices… I hope you guys are just as excited as I am! Voting will end on 10/31 and everyone will get two votes, one vote for fantasy and one vote for thriller/horror!

I'm not looking forward to all the ACOTAR fever this week. If you too would rather read a book by a marginalized author than the latest release from an author who has unapologetically used a Black woman's death to promote her work, here are some recommendations!

She Isn't Herself Tonight by Hailey Piper 4.5/5 stars

Put this on your TBR if you enjoy weird girl lit with horror elements. This was my first Hailey Piper, but it definitely won't be the last. I loved the exploration of how we are pushed to become who others want us to be instead of being loved as we are.

Venus Vanishing by Rebecca Birrell 4.5/5 stars

Put this on your TBR if you enjoy sapphic historical fiction. Our main character is an artist who is just trying to live and make art in a society that is increasingly hostile to her (1930s Germany).

Scorpion Deep by CG Drews 4/5 stars

Put this on your TBR if you enjoy gothic coming of age stories and/or stories with asexuality rep. I think this was actually my least favorite CG Drews books, but that's just because so many of their other works were homeruns for me.

First Generation by Meghana Karanjkar 3/5 stars

Put this on your TBR if you enjoy stories about being an outsider. I really enjoyed the first story that featured a character trying to make it home for a family holiday but being forced to keep up with the daily grind as her coworkers don't celebrate that holiday. The other stories weren't as memorable for me.

And a few that I can't wait to get my hands on:

Public Access Afterworld by Jane Schoenbrun

Why this interests me: it seems to be technology horror and also queer.

Savage Lake by Nick Medina

Why this interests me: it features a haunted cabin in the woods.

You're No Better by Andrew Joseph White

Why this interests me: it's an Andrew Joseph White work...that was enough to get me to preorder. This one features the child of a serial killer trying to outlive that legacy.

I have seen YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING and I am here to add to the discourse. This will be full of spoilery thoughts, and I do think that if you're planning to see it, you should try to go in as fresh as possible. Save this and come back when you've seen it. This will probably be a bit rambling, as I'm still gathering my thoughts. Let us explore them together!

I spent a lot of the runtime of this film trying to square the Elizabeth Holmes on the screen with the one I knew from dozens of interviews and profiles about her as the founder of Theranos. Previously, she leaned in (lol) to the girlboss aesthetic that was on the rise at the time. Here, she's a naive, misunderstood girl, exactly the image she and her husband Billy want to project. Or is she?

The movie starts off as a fairly standard documentary, out to answer the question "Is Elizabeth Holmes a liar?" However, it very quickly starts to feel like you are stuck in an M.C. Escher drawing. Absolutely every scene has you trying to figure out if she's for real or not. There are many shots of Nathan Fielder visibly trying to do this math in his head, which then cut to an extreme closeup of Holmes smiling, wide-eyed, back, inviting you to scrutinize her for any minute tell. You won't find any. The first thing I told my spouse after leaving the theater was, "I think she believes she did nothing wrong."

And that's the key. SHE believes it, so you believe in when she's telling you so. Then you leave that conversation and you wake up again in reality, where there's no possible way that's true. But she believes it so openly! Maybe I'm wrong? Let's talk about it again.

All this, however, turns out to not really be the main point of the documentary. Well, it is, but it isn't (do you see what I mean about Escher yet?) About an hour and a half in, I discreetly looked at my phone and wondered how we could only be halfway through. What more could there possibly be to show? And that is basically where the beat drops in this film.

Throughout the first half, there were glimpses of Holmes' husband, Billy Evans, and how deeply engrained in her life he is. At first he seems like a random chud, but as the movie rolls on, it becomes clear that he is in control.

At the same time, we discover that that Fielder has been keeping some important information from the audience. He shares the details with Amanda Seyfried, who played Holmes in "The Dropout." (We'll get there in a minute, I promise!)

Now, we have not one but two men trying to steer Holmes' life story in a way that will best suit them. But only one is presented as a villain. Certainly, what Evans is doing is orders of magnitude worse. Yet Fielder seems shocked when Seyfried points this out to him, though not in such direct words. He asks why he would try to protect Holmes, in nearly a mirror image of the shot where Holmes asks him why she would lie to him.

Holmes has been publicly paired with a man for the entire time she has been in the public eye. We already knew about Sunny Balwani, her former romantic and business partner at Theranos, and the questions about how much of Theranos was under his control vs Holmes'. Midway through the documentary, Holmes' father rather casually says everything went off the rails when Holmes was raped as a young woman, and this is never referenced again. Now, we have Evans and Fielder vying for narrative control.

Has Holmes' entire life and career trajectory been shaped by controlling, abusive men? Is that on purpose, using them as a shield? We are back in the Escher drawing. There's a woman-to-woman urge to tell her to get the fuck out, and there's a (feminist?) urge to insist she is actually playing them all. Again, when she is speaking to you directly, you 100% believe what she is saying. Then the scene cuts, and you aren't so sure anymore.

Back to Seyfried for a minute. Seyfried and Holmes don't actually look all that much alike, but when she is doing reenactments with Fielder, you can practically feel reality slipping, two lenses coming in and out of focus. I had to actively remind myself who was on screen. In the non-reenactment scenes, she is not letting these men off the hook. No matter how defensive and evasive they are, she pushes. She doesn't always make headway, but her astonishment - and occasionally anger - are a relief after Fielder's stone-faced approach.

Oh my god, this is already so long and we haven't even talked about the "Who's on First" scene. I am gonna think about that scene for the rest of my life. Fielder shows Holmes and Evans the classic comedy routine, and Holmes simply...doesn't get it. But that can't be possible, right? It's so simple, that's why it's funny. But Fielder has to explain it to her, and she seems to just accept the explanation without grasping it.

This scene ties back to one where Holmes is trying to explain that everything that went wrong at Theranos was a misunderstanding over the word "can." As in, everyone thought she meant the machine can do all these things right now, and she meant it theoretically can do all these things. Like, Holmes and Evans really want us to believe that this misunderstanding persisted through hundreds of interviews and profiles and no one spotted it, no one tried to correct it. Holmes mind "just works differently," they insist. They are trying to ask why you would punish a neurodivergent person, but without actually using that word. So, there's another layer on the question of how in charge of her own life Holmes is. Maybe she doesn't understand that these men are taking advantage of her, if she's autistic? They let that hang there for you to grapple with, along with all the other concerns about her agency.

At the end of the film, however, the biggest question for me was, why was she the one who was punished for this? Out of every Silicon Valley CEO who has made big promises that turned out to be half truths or complete lies, why is she the only one in jail? Why is she the one who lost control of her narrative and her life? Everything we saw in the film answers these questions and also evades them entirely, making this all perfectly Elizabeth Holmesian.

Okay, on to the book reviews for the week. As always, books marked with an * were gifted to me by the publisher.

Punished by Ann-Helén Laestadius, translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles* - This is a story about a people I know nothing about - the Sámi people indigenous to what is now Sweden. It is told in dual timelines: the 1950s, when Sámi children were forced to go to a "nomad school," and the 1980s, when those children are adults grappling with the abuse they faced at school. The prose is pretty stark, leaving the reader nowhere to hide from the pain. Although the characters are all from the same village and went to the same school, they had different experiences and drastically different reactions to it. Nearly a week later, I'm still thinking about particular scenes - not necessarily the most violent ones, but the most emotionally complex ones.

Espíritu by Aiden Thomas* - Yay, we are back with Yadriel and Julian, yay! I loved how this book expanded on Cemetery Boys, both in terms of the lore of the world and in the emotional fallout of the events in the first book. I particularly liked new character Angel. Let more queer characters make bad choices! Let them be messy! My one concern with this book is that the characters felt younger than 17 to me. I can't recall if Cemetery Boys felt like that or not, but I was definitely reading thinking they were like 14 or 15.

Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher* - A perfect Halloween season read. What a great twist on existing lore, bringing in the creep factor of the post-Civil War rural south. It is pretty intense on the gore - I had to do some deep breathing to get through a few passages, as I always find body horror worse on audio than in print. At the same time, the descriptions of the critters and the MC Sonia's paintings of them were often quite lovely. I liked how Sonia was depicted as smart and capable and still way out of her depth (I mean, who could possibly be in their depth in these situations, really). I thought the mystery element was pretty obvious, but I still wanted to know how they were going to get out of everything.

There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm* - How do you fight an enemy you can't remember? Repeatedly, it turns out. At first, this book seems like lightly connected vignettes, but then everything coalesces into the big bad and we're off to the races. I loved our no nonsense main character Marie Quinn and her commitments to both bureaucracy and refusing to let humanity die. Unfortunately, the story got confusing toward the end, and the final battle was kind of anticlimactic.

One Good Thing

Washington Spirit vs Gotham FC

The Spirit are in the playoffs! We've now entered the time of year when an unhealthy percentage of my mental health rests on how well 11 women kick a ball around. Yay sports!

Anyway, here's Donut trying to claim my latest order of mica pigments for himself.

Donut the orange and white cat laying on a pile of small bags of powdered pigments.

It’s me. I know. I’m reading reviews of Cracks again. Here for the second to last time to remind you that the last day to upgrade to secure your arc of our next book, Cracks is tomorrow! (And be the first to find out which of my very favorite authors blurbed!)

Check out what readers are saying below!

Thank you for 150 Netgalley reviews! Early reviews are so important!

PS. I heard preorder incentive are coming soon so maybe preorder now :)

Your next round of bookish content just got a whole lot easier! 🎨📖

The November Canva Templates are ready for you to download! Whether you’re creating book reviews, sharing your monthly TBR, posting book recommendations, highlighting your favorite reads, or planning your next book club post, these templates are ready to make your content a little prettier and save you some time.

✨ Tap the link to download your 46 November Canva Templates 

And remember, your membership also gives you access to all of our Canva Templates from previous months, so your template library just keeps growing! 📚💕

Happy creating and reading! 🫶📚

#TheFirstEditions #CanvaTemplates #BookishCanvaTemplates #BookstagramTemplates #BookishContent

November is bringing cozy reading, growing TBR piles, book club discussions, and… 46 brand-new Canva Templates! 📚✨

If you love creating bookish content but don’t always have the time or patience to design everything from scratch, we’ve got you covered.

🍁 Grab 6 FREE November Canva Templates

We’ve put together 6 November Canva Templates that are completely FREE for you to download and use for your own bookish content.

Whether you’re a bookstagrammer, book blogger, librarian, book club leader, author, or simply someone who loves sharing what you’re reading, these templates are designed to make your November content a little easier and a lot more fun.

Tap the link to download your Six Free November Canva Templates!

✨ Want ALL 46 November Templates?

If you’re ready to take your bookish content to the next level, The First Editions is where you want to be!

Members get access to all 46 November Canva Templates, PLUS every Canva Template we’ve released in previous months.

So instead of choosing just a few favorites, you’ll have an entire growing library of bookish templates at your fingertips. 🎨📖

And yes… you can absolutely use them for all those books sitting on your TBR that you definitely plan to read eventually. We won’t tell. 😉

Happy creating and reading! 💕📚

What kind of bookish Canva Template would you love to see us create next?

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Happy Filipino American History Month!

The 2026 theme for FAHM from the Filipino American National Historical Society is “Beyond the Margins: Centering Intersectional Filipino American Histories.” To celebrate, five incredible authors have joined me to tell us their favorite part about sharing FAHM stories with their readers, books that have shaped them, and more. From a queer cyberpunk The Great Gatsby reimagining to a middle-grade time travel adventure to a swoon-worthy YA sapphic romance to an adventurous fantasy duology with elemental magic to a heartwarming YA romance debut, you'll find the perfect FAHM reads below. 🫶

K.M. Fajardo, author of Local Heavens (published with Bindery!):

"A brilliant reimagining of Fitzgerald’s classic tale of glamour, desire, and desperation, Local Heavens examines the guardrails of morality… and the price of desire."

Q: What is your favorite part about sharing Filipino culture and characters with your readers?

A: I like exploring all the nuances of the Filipino experience. I'm proud and grateful that I get to write Filipino protagonists that I rarely grew up seeing. I also like writing Filipino characters who are just as much heroes as they are flawed, messy, and difficult. The Philippines has undergone centuries of colonization, violence, trauma and multiple foreign invasions, and this has shaped Filipino thinking and society a lot. I'm often drawn to characters who must confront their discomfort and deconstruct their colonial upbringings or the model minority myth.

As Filipinos, we are very community oriented people and I cherish that, especially as a diaspora Filipino, born and raised in the west. In the Filipino households I grew up in, it didn't matter if you were blood-related. You were welcomed as family, no matter your background, and I try to reflect that warmth when I write. Our culture is not without its flaws and while I'm interested in discussing this in my work, what I truly appreciate most about writing Filipino stories is getting to pay homage to all the labour and love our communities contribute to each other and society.

Q: What do you hope readers take away from your story?

A: In LOCAL HEAVENS, my cyberpunk reimagining of THE GREAT GATSBY where Nick Carraway is a Filipino-American hacker, the Philippines is not represented as a poor country in the Global South, but as a burgeoning tech hub at the forefront of a lot of innovation. In many parts of the west, they are still not taken seriously, even though the Americas are the ones in decline due to corporate and political corruption. As a cyberpunk fan, I chose to write this because I felt that classic cyberpunk tropes have always placed the US and East Asia on a pedestal. I wanted the chance to blend futuristic world-building with Filipino culture and put it on display because our culture is so rich, with so much to offer. If you grew up entrenched in western media, preconceived biases about the Global South and a general lack of representation might stop you from experiencing that. If there's anything I hope readers take away from LOCAL HEAVENS, with regards to Filipino culture, I hope it's curiosity and appreciation.

Q: Which book(s) do you recommend to celebrate Filipino American History Month?

A: For the classics, there is a collection of short stories by Nick Joaquin, The Woman Who Had Two Navels and Tales of the Tropical Gothic, which I found to be a less daunting starting point into Filipino literature before tackling José Rizal's Noli Me Tangere which was a very pivotal literary work in the history of Filipino revolution and liberation. For contemporary works, I often go back to Isabel Yap's speculative short story collection, Never Have I Ever, which blends myth and modern voice beautifully.

Q: What is a story that has had a significant influence on your life?

A: The first time I ever read a book with a Filipino protagonist was Randy Ribay's Patron Saints of Nothing. It had a profound impact on me as a YA novel about a Filipino-American teen who finds out his cousin in the Philippines was killed but his family refuses to talk about it, which prompts him to visit the Philippines and learn more about what really happened. It was a poignant exploration of family, class and the corruption in Filipino society, told in a way that reaches younger audiences without pulling any punches. I'm very grateful for this book. It made me realize that in my entire lifetime of writing, I had never written a Filipino protagonist before and it changed the trajectory of my work for the better.

Marie Miranda Cruz, author of A Boy Called Hero:

A Boy Called Hero is "a time-travel adventure story about finding ways to make a difference, connect with others, and be true to yourself no matter where (or when) you are."

Q: What is your favorite part about sharing Filipino culture and characters with your readers?

A: My favorite part about sharing Filipino culture and characters with my readers is hearing their reactions to the story, the setting—and best of all, to the history I’ve shared in A BOY CALLED HERO. I love seeing their eyes light up when I tell them my stories are set in the Philippines, especially Filipino readers, because seeing yourself and your culture in the pages of a book is so special.

Q: What do you hope readers take away from your story?

A: Primarily, to enjoy and remember them. For those who have read EVERLASTING NORA, I hope they think about their own perceptions of what home means to them. And for A BOY CALLED HERO, I hope readers will know that we can all influence change in our world, no matter how small our role may seem.

Q: Which book(s) do you recommend to celebrate Filipino American History Month?

A: There are so many! For picture books, WHEN LOLA VISITS by Michelle Sterling, BEA’S BALIKBAYAN BOX OF TREASURES by Christine Alemshah, and OUR NIPA HUT by Rachell Abalos. For middle grade and young adult, GHOUL SUMMER by Tracy Badua, ISABEL IN BLOOM by Mae Respicio, AT LAST SHE STOOD by Erin Entrada Kelly, NEST OF TONGUES by Randy Ribay, and WILD SONG by Candy Gourlay.

Q: What is a story that has had a significant influence on your life?

A: That’s a great question!! I don’t think I can pin it down to one particular story but a collection of stories I’ve heard from family over the years, particularly from my mother, paternal grandmother, and my mother-in-law. I loved asking them about what they remember of their childhood and what their lives were like during and after WW2, or how they met the loves of their life. These stories offered me a window into experiences that molded them into the women they became. They also inspired me to dig deeper into history in order to understand the world their experiences reside in. This collection of life stories from the most important women in my life helps me navigate my own and inspire my writing.

Samantha Bansil, author of Black Salt Queen and Bird King Rising (published with Bindery!):

"Filled with passion, romance, betrayal, and divine magic, Black Salt Queen journeys to a gorgeous precolonial island nation where women—and secrets—reign."

Q: What is your favorite part about sharing Filipino culture and characters with your readers?

A: Ultimately, I love that it connects me to fellow Filipinos and makes others like me feel seen. I wrote the Letters of Maynara duology first and foremost for myself. I wanted the literary world to host more characters who looked like me—flawed, three-dimensional heroes rather than side characters in someone else’s story. This is exactly the kind of representation I was craving growing up, and a part of me heals each time I get a message from a Filipino reader saying how proud they are to have my books on their shelf.

Q: What do you hope readers take away from your story?

A: I hope readers will walk away from my story with more questions than answers. With my sequel, Bird King Rising, in particular, I set off to write an untidy ending. In the world of Maynara, there are no cookie-cutter villains. Everyone has a bit of good and bad in them, and the path to victory is very much lined with misdeeds.

More than providing readers a temporary escape, I want the story to linger in their heads for a while. I want my flawed, often frustrating characters to haunt them as much as they have haunted me.

Q: Which book(s) do you recommend to celebrate Filipino American History Month?

A: For more Filipino-inspired fantasy, I’d highly recommend The Stormbringer Saga by Gabriella Buba (perfect if you’re looking for more world building with cultural specificity and delicious A:TLA vibes). I’d also recommend Midnights with You by Clare Osongco—this YA romance had me sobbing at times and made me feel so seen. Finally, The Villa, Once Beloved by Victor Manibo is the best Filipino gothic I’ve ever read and ideal for spooky season.

Q: What is a story that has had a significant influence on your life?

A: Time and time again, I keep thinking about Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. I loved the vivid descriptions, inclusion of different cultures/languages, and strong female characters. It taught me so much about writing craft and fantasy world building. I still have a copy in my childhood bedroom, with its well-worn spine and crinkled pages. It was my favorite book when I was younger—and one I’d happily turn back to for a re-read.

Erin Baldwin, author of Good Luck, Babe!:

In Good Luck, Babe!, "two former best friends find themselves fake dating on their favorite race-around-the-world reality TV show competition." It's a YA sapphic romance that's perfect for fans of Heated Rivalry and The Amazing Race.

Q: What is your favorite part about sharing Filipino culture and characters with your readers?

A: I love seeing how pervasive—and honestly beloved—Filipino culture is. Obviously, I love connecting with Pinoy readers, but I’m especially delighted when someone who isn’t Filipino shares something they love about our culture. I totally understand how that can be flattening (we’re more than just ube, jolibee, and half of bruno mars), but I’ve had enough people of all ages and backgrounds share their connection to The Philippines with such genuine enthusiasm that I can’t help but feel proud!

Q: What do you hope readers take away from your story?

A: There are so many little moments in this story that I think people can relate to. Whether it be through wanderlust, loss, neurodivergence, or a love of reality tv, I hope readers come away from Good Luck, Babe! feeling seen and understood in some way.

Q: Which book(s) do you recommend to celebrate Filipino American History Month?

A: Shannon CF Rogers’ forthcoming YA, Half a Life Apart (gorgeous cover, also!); It’s Different This Time by Joss Richard; and Some People Need Killing: A Memoir of Murder in My Country by Patricia Evangelista

Q: What is a story that has had a significant influence on your life?

A: Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix sparked my love for reading and writing. Without that book, I wouldn’t be who I am today, so though MPH isn’t Filipino, she’s always welcome as my +1 to the line-dancing-and-karaoke potluck church party!

Trish Caragan, author of Smile for the Camera:

Smile for the Camera is a YA romance in which "a Filipina American teen enlists the help of a guitarist to win a photography competition without her family's knowledge." It's perfect for fans of Jenny Han and swoon-worthy summer romances.

Q: What is your favorite part about sharing Filipino culture and characters with your readers?

A: My favorite part about sharing Filipino culture with readers is celebrating everything that makes Filipino culture special: the food, customs, traditions, clothing styles, and so, so much more. In Smile for the Camera, I incorporated all my favorite Filipino food like pancit, sinigang, and Polvorón as well as conversations in Tagalog and traditional gestures such as the mano po. Writing all these aspects is truly meaningful because I can spotlight this huge part of my identity.

My favorite part about sharing Filipino characters with readers is highlighting Filipino characters in moments of joy and love. Growing up, I’d read all these fun, exciting YA romance books but never saw myself represented in these sweet romances. It made me wonder if people like me could ever get these joyful stories. I never want anyone from my community to feel this way, so I’ve made it my mission to write YA romance books about Filipinos being the stars of the show and getting their Happily Ever Afters. In writing Smile for the Camera, it was so important to me to give Emilyn this special romance with Jase, a boy who listens to her closely and supports her dreams and art just as she does for him. It was truly special to write about a Filipina American having these fun summer adventures and cute, tender moments with a guy who cares about her just as much as she cares about him. By writing Filipino characters, I can give Filipinos stories where they see themselves being loved and happy.

Q: What do you hope readers take away from your story?

A: I want my readers to embrace everything that makes them happy. The things that bring us joy help us embrace our self-worth and motivate us to pursue our dreams. In some parts of Smile for the Camera, Emilyn finds herself bored and miserable. However, whenever she works on her photography portfolio, she finds herself being much happier and excited. Even when she’s frustrated by her presentations or her photo editing, she’s much more invested and learns a lot about herself. This passion motivates her to step out of her comfort zone, become more independent, and figure out who she really is. Additionally, even though she thinks her parents won’t approve of Jase, she still hangs out with him because he makes her happy, especially since they both understand each other’s artistic struggles and inspire each other to grow. As a result, Emilyn makes many wonderful memories that she greatly cherishes. And I want my readers to do the same—follow happiness, make the best memories!

Q: Which book(s) do you recommend to celebrate Filipino American History Month?

A: I’m so happy I live in a time where there’s so many books to recommend for this special month! The ones that come to mind are Stars, Stripes & Summer Nights by Celeste Dador, Merry Ex-Mas by C.C. Dador (also Celeste!), and Midnights With You by Clare Osongco. I’m a huge advocate of stories about Filipinos being loved, and these books perfectly show this in the most beautiful way. I also recommend This is Not a Personal Statement by Tracy Badua. This book also tackles familial expectations, scheming, and the concept of utang na loob, everything that Emilyn also deals with in Smile for the Camera.

Q: What is a story that has had a significant influence on your life?

A: As far as general writing goes, Sarah Dessen’s This Lullaby and Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before were major influences. I read This Lullaby when I was seventeen, and I loved the main couple’s banter and chemistry so much that I wanted to write books that gave readers that same joy. And writing romance gave me the same joy! When I saw To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before on shelves, I was awestruck that an Asian girl was on such a cute and pretty cover. I thought, I can do that? I can write YA romance books with female leads who look like me? Sarah Dessen inspired me to write YA romance while Jenny Han inspired me to write books with leads who share my identity.

As for books with Filipino characters, Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala made a huge impact. This was truly the first book I read with a Filipina as a strong female lead. It’s a murder mystery, but a cozy murder mystery! And I was happy to see a Filipina character in such a cozy story. I absolutely loved seeing all the Filipino food and Tagalog; it was so meaningful to see my culture illuminated. Naturally, I felt a huge connection to the main character Lila because her experiences as a Filipina American and her relationship with her family were similar to mine. Additionally, it brought me joy to see the Filipina lead being loved.

*Signed copies of Smile for the Camera are available at Moonstone & Mist Bookshop, and the audiobook is out by Tantor Media on November 24!

Thank you so much to Kris, Marie, Erin, Sam, and Trish for joining me in celebrating Filipino American History Month! Their books are absolutely incredible and available for purchase now. 💕

If you're looking for another spectacular read to celebrate Filipino American History Month, I highly recommend Lygia Day Peñaflor's Beautiful to See You (Again). "When Tia finds a way to revisit the happiest days of her life—and her first love—she must choose whether to surrender to the pull of the past or look to the future."

Lygia and I will celebrate Beautiful to See You (Again) live on Instagram (@ofpagesandprint) on November 21 at 2:00 PM PT. We hope you join us! 🥳

Happy Sunday book buddies!

Coming at you a little late after sleeping in a bit this morning. We went out for dinner & a movie last night, then came home and watched another movie. Needless to say, we needed a few extra zzz's this morning.

We saw You Can See Everything, the new Nathan Fielder documentary, last night, and WOW. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll keep this vague. The fact that Elizabeth Holmes gave someone like Nathan such exclusive access to her and her family is wild to me. It's such an interesting documentary, and it definitely had us talking all the way home.

Since we last chatted I finished Dracula, and, spoiler alert, I loved it! It's the best example of epistolary fiction that I've ever read. You realize when reading just how many liberties films have taken over the years. The 90s version is by far the most true to the story that I've seen, though it also embellishes the original story quite a bit. I've heard the same is true about the full cast Audible exclusive, so I doubt I'll be listening to that. In my opinion, the original needs no improvement. 4.75⭐️s

I'm starting The Next Ship Home on audio today in hopes that I can catch up with the rest of the BBFL before the end of the week. I usually prefer to read BBFL book club books with my eyes so that I can stop and engage in the chat rooms, but I'm super behind and don't want to miss out on this great read.

Y'all, I finished Lonesome Dove, and I don't know what to do with myself. I can't stop thinking about (aka mourning) these characters. How is it possible to make a 900 page book feel too short? I needed more time with Gus, Call, and the gang. I tandem read the audio and Kindle version this week, switching from one to the other because I couldn't bear to be parted from the story. I definitely enjoyed the audiobook (newly narrated by Will Patton), but I much preferred reading this one with my eyes. ∞⭐️s

I tried listening to The Buffalo Hunter Hunter this week and promptly put that aside after realizing it's the type of book that requires reading with your eyes. I confirmed this with Lorin, my go-to Stephen Graham Jones expert. She acknowledged that some of his books are best read with your eyeballs, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter being one. I'll go back to this when I get a chance to sit down with this big book.

I started (and nearly finished) The Whitechapel Full Moon Society on audio after putting The Buffalo Hunter Hunter aside. It's enjoyable, but I've got such a book hangover after finishing Lonesome Dove that nothing seems as good. I am enjoying the atmosphere though; it reminds me of Olesya Salnikova Gilmore's books.

Up next is my October Let's Go to the Library read which I picked up from the library on Thursday. The theme this month is a book with a god or goddess which wasn't easy to find, but I'm excited about the book I chose. You'll have to wait to see what book made the cut!

ICYMI:

• Real, raw thoughts about one of my most anticipated reads

• The Lonesome Dove book hangover is real, and based on the comments I'm not the only one

• My most recent 5⭐️ Reads made a splash over on FB! (my first viral video there!!!)

• Books to read next if you loved The Calamity Club (long form or short form)

• My thoughts on The Witches of Cambridge

Hear It Here First:

In case you haven't heard, the BBFL Book Club is reading Jane Eyre in November. Please join us!

I'm recording the November TBR video today, so be sure to stay tuned to find out which books got the most votes!

I'll be sharing an in-depth YT version of 5 Books You Couldn't Pay Me To that should ruffle some feathers. Stay tuned for the drama. 😜

And of course, the end of the month is coming, which means I'll soon be sharing November historical fiction look-ahead content across platforms.

Lastly, the November newsletter will go soon, so be sure to sign up if you haven't already.

Happy reading, y'all!

xoxo

c

The Sunday Prescription

One reading topic, one week of plans, and plenty of books administered weekly for chronic readers.

Symptoms: The ten before the end

Happy Sunday everyone! Hope you are all doing well, and getting some time to read a good book this week! Next Sunday is November first, and as the year is ending, everyone is talking about their ten before the end, or ten books that they want to read before the end of the year.

Now I participated in this last year, and I think I actually got pretty close - I want to say I read 9 out of the 10 I proposed in October. But as I sat around looking at my shelves and thinking about it this year, I decided not to post anything about it, and not to really consider doing it this year. And contrasting this October with last October has been a big reason why.

Last year, I was being much more prescriptive with my reading. I was doing monthly TBR's, and generally sticking to them. I give my reading a lot of structure. Now that works really well for some people, but for me, I found myself struggling with it. As I've talked about before, I consider myself a reasonably feral mood reader, and a few months back I decided that to embrace that even further I was going to be cutting back on ARCs. ARCs were a big part of my struggles, because they have deadlines and due dates. So this October, I had one ARC to read (Victorious by VE Schwab) that I was so excited to read, our book club books that I was excited to read, and then I have just let the mood reading run wild. It has been so much fun! I have read a few books I wanted to read last October, but never got to. I've been able to jump into some highly anticipated stuff, and even though I have been reading at my own pace, I have noticed I'm so much more excited to read this month. Contrast that with last year, and

So this year, the idea of doing a ten before the end just struck me as something that I didn't want to do. I'll read 10 books before the end of the year, but I'm not sure what they'll all be, and that has me really excited! now, to be fair, I do know a few of them:

• Two will be our last two books club books of the year, The Demon Star and Scion.

• Two will be the Fable book club books. In November we'll be doing Boudicca's Daughter, and for December I'm not 100% sure quite yet!

• Two will be our Dark Traveler pick a books for November that will be The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

However, everything else is...who knows! I know I want to sneak a few nonfictions in there, I have some great stuff on my TBR, and I also know that book 5 in the Gael Song series, Son of the Serpent, is coming out in November. I'm so excited to see where I find myself over the next few months.

I preach a lot on my channels about how reading is an individual experience that we all share, and that we should all read what we want, how we want. I know for me, leaning into the feral mood reader side of me has been so much fun the last month, and I'm looking forward to continuing to embrace that. But I know for some of you, reading with a plan is more fun, and for some it's somewhere in between! So what are you: feral mood reader, strict planner, or somewhere in the middle?

The Rx: What I'm Reading and Doing

So there is a lot going on! First and foremost I am really excited to announce a new tier option for everyone here on Bindery called The Apothecary! This is going to be a quarterly book box that will start shipping in January 2027. Each quarter will feature a book and some extra goodies, with the following themes:

• January: Fantasy

• April: Sci Fi

• July: A surprise book/genre!

• October: Horror

Here are the details/rules for the new option:

• Obviously, you need to be comfortable sharing your shipping address with me!

• Cost is $12/month

• You must be a member for 2 months before you get your first shipment

• At the outset, I am going to offer this international as well (I ship from the US), and I will pay for the up front shipping costs. However, there may be extra import duties or costs on your end that would be your responsibility to cover.

• There will be no skips - I'm a one man show here, so skips would not be feasible. If it is a book you already have or don't want to read, you are welcome to sell or give away!

I have already had more folks sign up than I expected, and I appreciate you all so much for supporting me and being a part of our community!

Book clubs continue on! We're wrapping up Japanese Gothic, and The Demon Star is looming for November. I'm very excited for that one. For our Fable book club, we will be reading Boudicca's Daughter by Elodie Harper. This is a standalone historical fiction that follows the meteoric rise and devastating fall of the Iceni warrior queen Boudicca through the eyes of her youngest daughter. Excited to read it, and hope to see some of you there!

Our Monthly Reading Challenges are wrapping up for the year here soon. Remember, to be eligible for the $25 Bookshop.org gift card, you need to either be in the StoryGraph Challenge, or let me know what you read in our Discord channel by October 31. November's reading challenge will be to finish a series. For this, you get a bonus entry for each book in a series you read. So if you read and finish a trilogy, that's three entries for the gift card! For me, I'm thinking of doing either The Jasad Crown, or A Day of Fallen Night.

I'm having a ton of fun with The Bone Season, and so many of our Dark Travelers are either reading or have read this one, so the discussion is great. I'm finishing that as soon as I hit send on the newsletter here. I'm also loving The Castle and the Cloister so far. Really excellent! Up next...who knows!

Hobby wise, in the wood shop I'm finishing up a couple built ins and a writing desk, and then in November/December will be starting some built ins in my basement for Lego and record displays. And speaking of Legos, I have The Shire set that just showed up that I'll be starting here soon.

If you are not on our Discord server, you should consider hanging out! I do exclusive giveaways there, and I have some really exciting ones planned for the next few months (including a full hardcover set of the Villians series by VE Schwab and more)! I don't really do giveaways on IG/TT because I like to reward you all in our community, so be on the look out for those. We have two giveaways running right now!

Hope you all have a great week of reading and life, and I'll see you next week!

Want More In-Depth Access?

If you enjoy getting into the details with me about reading, then consider upgrading to The Dark Travelers or Apothecary tiers! My Dark Travelers get an exclusive Discord role and channels, a weekly deep dive reading update video, early access to YouTube videos, and each month they get to pick a book for me to read. This can be a book they want to read with me, or something they want me to try for them. I then do a member's only review when I'm done. It's super fun and a great tight knit group that I really enjoy talking books with, and I'd love to have you part of it!

The apothecary is a quarterly book box I'm starting in January 2027! You get all the benefits of the Dark Travelers above, as well as a quarterly themed book box. Thank you to everyone who has joined already!

Time to share your thoughts, rating, and recommendations for our October book pick! We've also added a "shelf" section where you can look at the previous book responses because the recommendations section for Fishbone Cinderella is a treasure trove.

Can't wait to see the feedback for this one and then on to Piranesi (so, soooo excited for that!)

Here's the site: https://4fb.club/survey/2026-10-book-survey

To see the Shelf, click on the icon on the top left :)

New here? Say hi. Answer the question below and I (or another member) will reply with a recommendation.

Hey hey, Sickos! The November poll for the History Sickos Book Clubs will be live later today, and I'm going full dictator mode for the Fiction Sickos for reasons I will explain in a moment. You can go vote on the History poll in the appropriate Discord channels (scroll down #history-vote). The poll will run for 72 hours so get your vote in ASAP.

If you're not seeing the book club channels, make sure you've linked your Bindery subscription to Discord via the Account Settings page. Those vote/discussion channels unlock at the Sicko plus paid tiers, so if you're a "Follower", you'll need to upgrade. Along with the book club forums you also get access to a ton of other channels for various genres, book recommendation requests, movies/TV, buddy reads and much more.

DEAR LEADERS' FICTION BOOK CLUB PICK

There's an author who has been so generous with their time with me and it's time for me to do 'em a solid. If you've seen the finished copy of the A Complement of Scoundrels paperback (and if you haven't, wtf), you possibly noticed the blurb from John Gwynne on the cover. It's obviously a huge score to have such a respected author like Papa Gwynne call your imprint's first novel "beautifully constructed" on the cover. On top of that, I really want to read this new doggone book of his, so in November we are reading...

THE WOLVES OF WAR by JOHN GWYNNE (WOLFHEART CHRONICLES #1)

Here's the summary for it:

The Clans once lived freely, honouring their gods and traditions. Then the northern invaders unleashed a tide of blood and fire. Now the Clans are a conquered people.
Ivan cares not for wars or kings. His only concern is the safety of his family, especially his daughter Halia, whom he would protect with his life. Halia has been trapped in her own body since birth, yet at night she has dreams of running with wolves and speaking with fae creatures of the forest. Many believe her cursed, but Halia's awakening powers may be the only way she and her family can survive the coming storm.
For the wolves of war are stalking the horizon. Two princes have become mortal enemies, and an iron-toothed witch haunts the shadows. As mighty nations clash, Halia must master her strange magic to protect those she loves. To do so, she must accept a terrifying truth.
Sometimes, the only way through the darkness is to embrace it.

HISTORY SICKOS BOOK CLUB OPTIONS

And here are the four history book options we have to choose from this round...

Yakuza: A 400-Year History of the Japanese Underworld by Andrew Rankin

"... the first comprehensive history of the yakuza, from their emergence out of seventeenth-century samurai gang culture to the present day... Featuring a lively cast of extortionists, smugglers, hit men, and corporate crime lords, Yakuza is a fascinating tour of Japan’s sprawling mob syndicates and the cultural traditions with which they are so deeply intertwined."

River Kings: A New History of the Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Roads by Cat Jarman

An acclaimed bioarchaeologist, Catrine Jarman has used cutting-edge forensic techniques to spark her investigation into the history of the Vikings who came to rest in British soil... Told as a riveting history of the Vikings and the methods we use to understand them, this is a major reassessment of the fierce, often-mythologized voyagers of the North—and of the global medieval world as we know it.

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Today in the United States, there are more than five hundred federally recognized Indigenous nations comprising nearly three million people, descendants of the fifteen million Native people who once inhabited this land... Now, for the first time, acclaimed historian and activist Roxanne Dunbar-Ortizoffers a history of the United States told from the perspective of Indigenous peoples and reveals how Native Americans, for centuries, actively resisted expansion of the US empire... Spanning more than four hundred years, this classic bottom-up peoples’ history radically reframes US history and explodes the silences that have haunted our national narrative."

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

Since it was first published in 2010, it has been cited in judicial decisions and has been adopted in campus-wide and community-wide reads; it helped inspire the creation of the Marshall Project and the new $100 million Art for Justice Fund; it has been the winner of numerous prizes, including the prestigious NAACP Image Award; and it has spent nearly 250 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list... Most important of all, it has spawned a whole generation of criminal justice reform activists and organizations motivated by Michelle Alexander’s unforgettable argument that “we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.”

Happy voting, Sickos!