Hello Inkmongers!

It is finally October, which means it is time to run our FIRST EVER Inkmonger Book Club!

This month, our book club pick is:

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

Before I get into the "why" of this selection, let me gather some context around it. As you may know, one of the goals of this Bindery community is to become a publishing imprint. Once Inkmonger has enough members, we'll be able to make real publishing decisions, and our community members will be a part of the process.

My dream for this community is to contribute to the literary tradition that Ursula K. Le Guin and other visionary speculative fiction (SF) writers founded: SF that asks important questions, imagines alternative worlds to the one we currently inhabit, and imagines equitable futures for humanity. How cool (exciting, fulfilling, mind-blowing) would it be for Inkmonger to publish a future winner of the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize?

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu was a 2022 finalist for the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction, and was chosen for that honor because of its place in the SF canon– in many ways, it's part of the continuation of Le Guin's literary lineage. The 2026 winner will be announced on 10/21, so reading a book from the Prize's backlog feels fitting this month.

"The Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction is an annual $25,000 cash prize given to a writer for a single work of imaginative fiction. This award is intended to recognize those writers Ursula spoke of in her 2014 National Book Awards speech—realists of a larger reality, who can imagine real grounds for hope and see alternatives to how we live now" (The Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction).

While this book was not selected as the winner of the Prize, it is the only finalist that I currently own a copy of (and that's quite important to me, financially).

I'll be starting my read of How High We Go in the Dark as soon as I finish my current read! I hope you'll read with me :)

Sam 🦑

Hello my friends! And a very happy Tuesday to you! I hope this week has been gentle and peaceful for you. This week is also Banned Books Week! So, I also hope you're squeezing in a banned book to read, too.

I wanted to share my TBR pile this morning, and talk nerd shit, if that's okay? I tend to keep my journaling, and personal curriculum, and "nerdy" stuff to myself, but I wanted to talk about it! I will start off with saying that I always make a TBR pile.... and I always go rogue. lol. Making a loose personal curriculum for Q4 is going to be my trial and error to see if I can make a TBR and stick to it. And if I can't? Well, oh well! Here's my October hopeful TBR stack:

Now, you might be asking why the hell Thirst was wrapped. lol. I have mentioned previously both here (I think) and on social media, that my friend Kelli created an Unhinged Reading Challenge a few years back. I adopted that challenge, and naturally being me, put a Queer twist to it and created the Unhinged Reading Challenge: Queer Edition. I wrapped (yes, on the floor, wrapped, I'm too old for that shit I have learned) like 500 books in my queer collection that are unread. With this, I separately wrapped all horror/spooky books in the Nightmare Before Christmas paper, and then all my Christmas/holiday books in Christmas paper to read according to the holiday. I attempted to start this in January of this year, but it just didn't stick. (I also started a personal curriculum for the first time this year too, and that didn't stick, either.. more on that later.) For Q4 of this year, I decided to tackle both - my personal curriculum AND the Unhinged Reading Challenge: Queer Edition, beginning with the horror books! Before I get into that, though, I'll share my blank monthly planner I created to track my reads for self accountability and ease. It's also hella rewarding to check something off at the end of the day, too!

I also color code everything for my own personal preference, too. This is my October breakdown - it also includes our breakdown of To Our Untamed Core that we're reading for our Q4 Book Club Pick. I give myself one week to finish one of the "spooky" books, and as you can see in week 1, October 4-10, I break it down even further by page count per day. This may not work with everyone, but it helps me stay on track, if that makes sense? And also, to pick up a fucking book every day! Sometimes we get so caught up in chores or feelings or doom scrolling, we go long periods of time without reading, and I don't like that for myself, because reading and books are a form of self-care for me.

If you noticed, I only wrote in the Unhinged Reading Challenge: Queer Spooky Edition books and our Q4 book breakdown. I still want to remain flexible with my other TBR selections and not give myself too many deadlines or rules to follow, because then I get the overwhelm and quit. lol

The other books I want to get to from the TBR hopeful photo I posted above are:

1. Pure Ox by Mateo Askaripour

2. Cemetery Boys: Espiritu by Aiden Thomas

I won't lie, I also have like fifty-eleven hundred other books side-eyeing me that I really want to read, too. But those are the ones I definitely want to read this month.

Let's talk planners, shall we? The Carpe Fucking Diem planner is a EOY 2026/2027 planner that is for every day purposes for me - work schedule/meetings/various appointments, etc. But I think I'm going to toy with the idea of incorporating my personal curriculum goals INTO that planner as a trial run for Q4 to see if I like it all together, or want to keep things separated. Sometimes, I also get bogged down by having too many things to keep up with, and then just... stop. And then feel bad months later for all the unused days, and then just don't pick it up again because of said guilt. lol. What a time. I also picked up a Wisconsin Poets weekly planner for 2027 with various poems from Wisconsin poets that includes some journal prompts. I'm going to use this planner exclusively for a "sentence a day" journal. I think sometimes for me as a writer, I don't know what to write and so I just don't, and then I never write for long periods of time; so I'm hoping this will get me writing again by writing on sentence a day as a daily recap or thoughts for the day.

One more journal, and I think I'm done sharing about journals for the day. lol. I purchased a binder ring that holds 100 index cards to create a "photo of the day" journal (I found it at Five Below, but they are literally everywhere) - and it has changed my day to day. I am aware of the little things that bring me joy and I remember to snap a photo, too! It's just a way to recap my highlights of the day. I also use my HP Sprocket photo printer for sticker photos (which can get expensive, to be honest) and sometimes I'll use washi tape or various stickers or write a little blurb, but the index cards are small, so it requires me to limit what I say. Big notebooks or even journals, with so much blank space, sometimes lead to anxiety of filling it up, and that ALSO gives me the overwhelm, so the index card size is perfect for me:

It's truly the perfect size and fits nicely for "on the go" purposes, too!

So, now tell me, what do YOU do to nerd out about? Are you also nerdy when it comes to planners and journals and color coding literally all the things? I also want to know, how do your TBR piles go, or do you just abandon ship and read whatever when the mood strikes? I fear that is me, but I try so hard to be a TBR person. lol

Thank you all for being here and allowing me the space to be nerdy. I appreciate you all so much, and hope the rest of your Tuesday is gentle and kind.

See you on Thursday for Trans Joy Thursday.

With all my trans joy,

Sawyer Cole

The darkness isn't empty. It's hungry. And as of today, you can hold a piece of it.

I’m so excited to announce the What Feeds Below: Void Vault is now available to purchase! This is our very limited pub day thank-you to the readers who've been waiting to descend into the Sixth Layer with us for months. 

What's inside the Vault:

• A paperback copy of the book with a bookplate signed by Tatiana herself

• A gorgeous handmade leather mushroom bookmark

• An exclusive Boozhoo Books “Women in Horror” sticker

• A bumper sticker to let everyone know you’re on your way to The Void

• The cutest erasable mushroom pen

• A mini cross-stitch embroidery kit, because you'll need something to do with your hands once you're too scared to keep reading

Thank you for supporting my imprint, for showing up for Tatiana’s work, and for trusting us to take you somewhere this strange and gruesome.

The Vault won't stay open long. Grab yours before it's gone.

Naomi, Tatiana, and Bindery

Welcome back to This Week on the Shelf. In this edition, we are talking a little ICYMI, a little bookish group chat, and whatever Link has decided she has opinions about this week.

Basically, everything we’d be talking about if we were sitting around together with coffee and an irresponsibly large stack of books.

📚 ICYMI: Around the Shelf

September is officially over, which means I wrapped up everything I read last month, and despite being in a bit of a reading slump, I still somehow finished 20 books. There were some major standouts, including Blacktail, All the Colors of the Dark, and Love Felt Like This.

I also shared the October new releases I’m most excited about because apparently, my TBR has not suffered enough.

And because October is officially here, we’re getting spooky.

My latest genre guide is all about Gothic horror and I discuss what actually makes something Gothic and where the genre overlaps with horror. I also give some book recs if you want crumbling houses, buried secrets, psychological dread, and an atmosphere that feels like something terrible happened here 100 years ago and nobody wants to talk about it.

Finally, in honor of National Audiophile Day, I shared some of the audiobooks I absolutely love, including the audiobook that turned me into an audiobook reader in the first place.

🎥 On YouTube

Two author conversations went up recently, and they're very different books, which is exactly why I love doing these interviews.

First, I sat down with Noah Brisk, author of The Tethered God, to talk about writing cinematic fantasy, creating a magic system intertwined with religion and politics, and building a world that doesn't stop to hold the reader's hand.

If your fantasy taste lives somewhere in the vicinity of Malazan, The First Law, and The Wheel of Time, you're going to want this one on your radar.

I also talked with Tom Ryan about Return to Breakneck Island, his follow-up to The Treasure Hunters Club.

We talked mysteries, found family, writing multiple timelines, and returning to a world readers already love without simply recreating the first book. I absolutely adored Return to Breakneck Island, so getting to dig into how Tom built this story was especially fun.

Both full conversations are up on my YouTube channel now.

💬 The Bookish Group Chat

Cozy mysteries are just SO GOOD in the fall. Give me a small town, an eccentric cast of suspects, an amateur detective who absolutely should not be involved in this investigation, and a murder that somehow still feels cozy? I'm seated.

So naturally, this article immediately got my attention: “I was asked to write a new Miss Marple, so I sent her to the Alps.”

Lucy Foley recently wrote about taking on one of Agatha Christie's most iconic characters, and I loved reading about how she approached writing Miss Marple while still making the story her own.

The part that stuck with me most was Foley explaining that she saw the novel as being in conversation with Christie's original books rather than simply trying to recreate them, and THAT is what I want from something like this.

I don't necessarily want another writer to imitate Agatha Christie. I want to recognize the character and the DNA of those stories while also understanding why this particular author was chosen to tell a new one.

And honestly? Sending Miss Marple to the Alps is already a pretty convincing argument.

Group chat question: How do you feel about modern authors writing new stories featuring classic characters? Are you immediately intrigued or would you rather the originals be left alone?

🐾 Link's Corner

This week, Link had to endure something truly exhausting...watching her mother rank 31 Stephen King books.

After spending October reading and rereading King, I finally ranked every Stephen King book I've read from #31 all the way to #1. You can listen now on Spotify or on YouTube at 9 pm ET.

Link would like everyone to know that my ranking is irrelevant because she has already identified the objectively best Stephen King novel: Fairy Tale. Obviously.

There is a very good dog named Radar. No further analysis required. Honestly, I can't even argue with her logic.

Until next week,
Brittany + Link 🐾

Indie supernatural thriller, murder mystery! Kalvin Ellis kicks up the suspense with plenty of "don't open the door" moments and grisly description. Perfect read for a spooky October night.

Tuesday might be our favorite day of the week! Here are some titles releasing today that we think you should add to your TBR (to be read) shelf.

Let us know in the comments which book release you are most excited for or which release you are grabbing today that's not mentioned!

It’s time for a giveaway! HUZZAH!

A Complement of Scoundrels by S.V. Lockwood has had an incredible first two weeks out in the world, and a huge amount of that is because of this community. Y'all showed up for this book in a massive way, so I wanted to kick a little something back your way.

I have TWO Spotify audiobook codes for A Complement of Scoundrels to give away!

The audiobook was produced by Tantor Media and narrated by the wonderful Gabrielle Baker, and I’m very excited to get a couple copies into your ears.

To enter the giveaway, be a “Kist Reads” Follower, Sicko, Sicko+, Mega Sicko or Sicko Society member and leave a comment on this post. It can be an emoji or whatever, you know the drill by now. I’ll randomly draw two winners, with each winner receiving one Spotify audiobook code, and reach out via email if you’ve won.

Thank you again for everything you’ve done to help make the launch of our first Kist Reads book such a success. Also make sure to enter the giveaway for one code on IG when that drops later this week to increase your chances. Good luck, Sickos!

*Terms & conditions below.

No purchase necessary. Must be 18 years of age or older. Void where prohibited by law. Spotify audiobook code redemption is subject to Spotify audiobook availability in your country.

How to enter:
Open to all “Kist Reads” Bindery members, any tier (including free “Follower” members). Comment to enter. Limit 1 entry per person.

Prize:
Two (2) Spotify audiobook codes for A Complement of Scoundrels by S.V. Lockwood. Two winners will each receive one (1) code.

Timing:
Runs 10/6/26 - 10/10/26

Winner Selection & Notification:
Two winners will be selected at random and notified via email within 3 days of the giveaway’s end. Winners must respond within 3 days to claim their prize.

Other Details:
By entering, you agree to these rules and all applicable laws. No cash substitute. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, or misdirected entries, email delivery issues, or issues related to Spotify account eligibility or audiobook availability.

Sponsor:
Kist Reads, Sun City Center, FL
Kistreadsbooks@gmail.com

I was not prepared for the onslaught of Christmas romances publishing this early in the year. Goodness gracious, save me from the Santa puns. Here’s your weekly round-up of brand new, progressive-leaning romances that you may not have seen on your Instagram feed. If I’ve omitted a title you feel passionate about and think this community will enjoy, please do share it in the comments. Reminder that I haven't read any of these titles yet, so this isn't an official endorsement unless noted. Click through to read the post on Bindery for my full commentary.

Back For Seconds by Betty Corrello (Cosmo Reads) — Holy smokes, Betty is so funny. I blurbed the book enthusiastically: "Back For Seconds is an absolute feast! Readers will root for Joey and June from the first tender, saucy bite of their love story. A mouthwatering romance for anyone who has nursed a broken heart during the holidays. This is the Christmas romcom I have needed all my life."

Reap & Sow by Charlotte B. Plumb (Berkley XO) — Plumb’s slow-burn romantasy is one of the first titles from Berkley’s brand new New Adult imprint. Reviewers I trust loved the morally gray, reluctant allies dynamic of Reap & Sow. I’m excited to dive in myself soon. 

Vengefully Matched by Audrey Goldberg Ruoff (Atria) — A witchy sapphic rom-com from the author of Hopelessly Teavoted. I’m here for more queer paranormal romances.

The Perfect Match by Adiba Jaigirdar (Orion Spring) – This queer women’s soccer romance set in London gives off Bend It Like Beckham vibes.

It's Only Dancing by Jasmine Guillory (Scholastic Press) — Guillory’s young adult debut inspired by Dirty Dancing! A ballet dancer falls for a hip hop instructor during the summer before her senior year of high school.

Solar Eclipse of the Heart by Kate Robb (Dial) — Robb’s latest explores grief through magical realism involving a leather jacket that causes visions. The guy wearing the leather jacket is also a hottie, obviously. 

Everything She Wanted by Rosey Kaur Hwang (Sugar Shack Books) — A Canadian romance with Bollywood vibes about a woman choosing between the controlling man her family approves of, and a sexy consultant who helps her find her voice. 

Stay Here Forever by Andie James (indie) — An autumnal second chance novella by the host of First Encounter podcast about historical romance. 

We have officially been approved for our LLC! Now all we have to do is file the DBA, which will be $50 and then publish the notification in the newspaper for $175. If you want to help contribute, please check out our webpage!

Thank you all!

-Ryn

Chapter 16

Icarus was standing at the bottom of the steps to the Church of Saint Lazriel. It was dark, the pitch black of just past midnight. 

This wasn’t right. 

He was just on Pearse Street heading for the docks, the opposite direction. It wasn’t even six when he left. When did it get so late?

He shook his head to clear it. His palms stung and he turned over his hand to find four half moons dug into the heel, one of them deep enough to split the skin. He eyed the dirt packed into the beds of his nails and scraped a bit of it out. His head ached, but the buzzing had vanished. 

He scowled up at the monstrous building looming overhead, taunting him now that its residents had thrown him out for good. Icarus shoved his hands in his pockets and turned on his heel to begin the dreary march to his flat. The back of his head throbbed faintly. Edith was right, he shouldn’t have been drinking with a head wound.

**

Icarus made it home and choked down a few hours of sleep until the living alarm of Dublin’s early workmen roused him from his fitful effort. It was strange to dress in something other than his black shirt and pants, the uniform had made mornings so simple for just short of two decades. After the events of the week, however, he couldn’t bring himself to put it back on. It felt like slipping into some mud-soaked garment left to rot in the rain.

Maren was waiting by the front door to the office when he rounded the corner. She eyed his cream-colored shirt left open at the collar, the quality of his dark gray vest and well-matched trousers, all swallowed under his heavy winter coat and into dark leather shoes. She made a face at him, “Your hair’s too long for a hat.”

He adjusted the brim of his flatcap and huffed, “I’ll see a barber, then. Ready?”

She nodded. Her black coat swept back as she walked and he realized she had abandoned her traditional priestly garb as well, opting in favor of a very smart maroon suit and offwhite dress shirt. Unlike him, she had a loose scarf in maroon and gold knotted deftly around her collar. They looked like the two halves of Irish society walking side-by-side. He rummaged around until he found a comforting stick of tobacco and jammed it into his mouth, lighting it with a rogue match and a practiced thumbnail.

She glanced at him as they headed towards the old row house in Portobello, “You disappeared last night. Thought you’d have come back.”

He shrugged, exhaling a cloud of smoke, “Just needed the walk. No point in going back to an office with no answers.”

Icarus had chosen to dismiss the small detail of his peculiar side trip to the Church and the blank space in his memory. Maren didn’t need to be worrying about his head injury on top of all this. Neither did he, but he could only protect one of them from it. 

She was studying him before deciding whether or not she accepted his answer, he never found out if she did. They split around a woman and her cart bowing under the weight of too much laundry, Icarus dodged a baker threatening an urchin with a burnt loaf, Maren paused to answer directions from a woman in a dress so lovely it was clear she was very lost and very English—two things that never ended well down this way. 

Icarus paused at the mouth of an alley that was crowded with memories he wasn’t sure he wanted anymore. Brass pipes rattled and hissed, in the distance he heard the whistle and whoop of a conductor as the intercity tram steamed its way down the tracks on the other side. The old corner tavern had been remodeled in his absence and no longer looked like the ramshackle neighborhood bar he remembers. Now, it was whitewashed with pressed glass windows and the familiar amber glow of gaslamps newly fixed into old walls, but the old sign with The Painted Goat still swung in the cool morning air. He flicked the expired butt of his cigarette into a small pool of something he was better off believing was rain runoff. Maren waited patiently at his elbow, careful not to disturb his moment of reverie. 

He shoved his hands in his pockets and thumbed the old key, “Third on the left.”

When he was ready, she trailed after him to the off-center front door set in a facade that had once been white and was now a soft gray. The windows were thick with dust even from the outside, the gables sooty and black with the telltale signs of their proximity to industry. For all that the main thoroughfare was brimming with activity, the alley was quiet and insulated from all the bustling. 

He slid the brass key into the old, tarnished lock, then pressed the handle until it gave and swung inward. Dust poured into the air in front of him and he coughed into his elbow, letting it linger until it cleared. When he stepped inside, the sense of familiarity in the cramped front room pulled him under in a riptide. It was hard for him to fathom he had once been small enough that this room felt like the perfect size—large on good days. 

Maren stepped in behind him and closed the door, snuffing out the dim sunlight and forcing them to conjure up a sheet to wipe down the uneven glass panes.It was a small row house, but it had served as his childhood home whatever that counted for. The living room was covered in a yellow wallpaper with a delicate floral patterning that had begun to peel in a far corner. To his left twisted the staircase just beside the old hall closet his father loved to rummage in. Beyond the small living room through an empty doorway stood the dusty kitchen with its old woodfire cookstove and the small two person table hidden against the far wall. Try as he might, Icarus had no memories of ever hosting another person for a meal. 

In the hallway to the right, a small washroom, a slip of an office, and another slender hall closet stood tucked away. So many closets for such an austere set of tiny rooms. It took several minutes to situate themselves, but eventually Icarus stoked a fire in the simple fireplace that fluted up the middle of the house beside the stairwell and found the push-button switch to ignite the gas sconces dotting the walls. It should have lent itself to a sense of hominess or coziness, but managed to make the space look bleaker than when it was covered in dust.

“The neighbors will certainly call,” he muttered. “Small, nosy folk can’t help it when a long-dead house springs to life.”

“People do tend to be cautious about the undead,” Maren agreed and shrugged out of her coat, hanging it on a hook beside his. 

Synchronized, they rolled up their sleeves to the elbow and he looked down at her, “I’ll start in his room upstairs. You take the office ‘round the corner through the kitchen, yeah?”

He didn’t wait for her to reply and started up the old, creaking steps. They cried out in elation at the pressure of his heavy feet, the floorboards of the familiar hallway joining the chorus of greeting. He paused outside the ajar door to his old boyhood room and reached to push it open with light fingers. 

Everything was the same, not a paper out of place. There was nothing special or unique to it, nothing that screamed Icarus had his childhood here, but it still held onto the smell of him for the last of its dear, miserable life. 

Daedalus was not a bad man, but he was a hard one. Icarus had not known his mother, so there was nothing of her in the place. His father had always been a priest and his mother had always been a subject about which they did not speak. He had tried a few times in his youth during his more rebellious era and the fights it ignited were so explosive it was a wonder the roof stayed in place. 

Having a priest of the Pale God for a father left little room for fun to squeeze itself into his life. The Church was everything, it was the glue that bound his little family together. Without it, Icarus wasn’t sure he had anything in common with his father. Now he was standing here, excommunicated as all Hell, and reeling from the idea that the Church caused its congregations to suffer on purpose. The antithesis to all of his father’s preaching—to all of his own.

He scowled and fought the urge to spit. The loss was nominal considering he had left in all but name five years back with Maren, abandoning the familiar comfort of the calderist priests for the embrace of the necessary yet derided netherists. Icarus had been fading within the Church for many reasons before that day, though. Daedalus disappearing and being presumed dead had never sat well with him, it had eaten away at his faith in his brothers and sisters as much as any Rot could have. 

It was Maren’s family that had been his final straw in the end. The two of them had been kindred spirits in their disillusionment before that—him with his slow spoiling of blind faith, her with her constant sense of otherness. When the report came back and Maren saw what they had decided, it was the look on her face that broke the last thread Icarus had left to hold him there. Maren—the one the Cardinal had always expected to ascend to his role or higher, the gifted one, the unofficially anointed heir—had been told everything she witnessed was a hallucination and told in no uncertain terms to drop it. 

Instead, Icarus dropped the Church with Maren on his heels. That same night, they had made the cuts and taken the oaths that would open the way for their access to the endless earthen well of fae magic—netherism. The blood magic that could be wielded against the fae. If Maren was right about what she saw, they needed it.

Calderism didn’t affect fae, netherism didn’t affect demons. The calderist Church controlled the ability to access either with an iron fist. Netherism was still looked upon as a barbaric, heretical violation of the high holy well of God calderists drew from through the Pale Doctrine. 

Both essential and yet only one of them reviled. It was ironic to him that the detested of the two was the one requiring more empathy. Calderism had its own side effects, but netherism suffered the user to Rot. Fae magic leeched away at the body and soul over time until its wielder eventually died from it. That would be him someday. It would be Maren. 

He shrugged the thought away and turned his attention back to his father’s door at the end of the hall. He stood where he was for several heartbeats before closing the very small distance and shoving it open with more force than it required. He wasn’t sure what he expected to find or why he was barging in as though Daedalus might just be oversleeping for fifteen years. 

The room was spartan, of course. Daedalus was a meticulous man and didn’t keep much. What he did keep, though, was highly organized. Icarus waved away a cloud of dust motes and inhaled the familiar paper and soap smell of his father that still lingered in the air, a spectre of his past still haunting the corpse of his childhood home. 

He began opening drawers at random, pulling things out, looking under things. He moved onto the steamer trunk and made a stack of books and journals, anything that seemed remotely of interest to them.Tossing open the closet, he hunted down several more books and research papers that seemed well-worn and important then tossed them on the growing stack. 

**

It took him two hours to thoroughly search the place. When he turned to survey the damage, he realized with a small recoil of horror that he had subconsciously been arranging everything exactly as it was. The room was immaculately undisturbed, a long-forgotten habit from his younger years when he would desperately search for any word of his mother. That wound had long since festered and scarred, though, and he had never recovered the same youthful zeal for it after he’d taken the cloth. 

Icarus sighed and stacked his bounty precariously, then made his way down the stairs and ignored their wooden complaints. He deposited his findings on the low coffee table and was considering how badly he wanted to risk a seat on a fifteen year old couch that had gone untouched when Maren dropped her own stack of treasure beside his. 

She sniffed and coughed, snapping his attention. She wiped at the trickle of blood seeping from her nose on a face gone too pale for his liking. She swayed, Icarus caught her arm and guided her to the musty couch despite his misgivings. She coughed harder into her fist, he patted himself down until he found a rogue, neglected kerchief to give her. 

“Pale God knows when I used it last, or for what,” he handed it to her and she took it without complaint. 

Her cough deepened, too wet and full of what he knew would be tissue and mucus and whatever else the Rot had decided to strip away from her body. He thumped a hand on her back and disappeared to find her a glass of water. It took longer than he’d like, he listened to her fit while he washed one clean and filled it from clear, still-working taps. It wasn’t a miracle or coincidence, part of the death stipend in Daedalus’s estate went to keeping the utilities on and paying the taxes. His father had expected him to occupy the house, but Icarus had unofficially declined. 

Maren’s fit passed and she palmed the kerchief rather than giving it back, which he took to mean it was worse than he expected. She thanked him and sipped slowly, blotting away the last of the blood from her nose. 

“That bad?” He folded his arms and frowned. She replied with a shrug and wouldn’t meet his eyes, “Mare. Burn an ampule. You need it.”

She shook her head, “We haven’t had a case, we’ll have to buy instead of brew our own. It’s alright, I can stretch what-”

“Mare,” Icarus insisted, “burn the ampule. I’ll take care of it.”

She tightened her lips in a thin line and he watched her consider fighting him, but the threat of another round of coughing loomed in the set of her shoulders and she relented, “Fine. Give me a half hour, then.”

“I’ll start chipping away, there’s no rush. He’s not getting any deader,” he paused and raised an eyebrow, “or is it less undead? Not sure, all this has thrown me.”

She shook her head and landed a nudge at his ankle before liberating a small vial of opalescent Eidolon from one of her omnipresent pouches. With a crack and a sigh, she let the drops fall into her eyes and sank backward.

Icarus lingered, watching the blue flood her sclera and her mouth curve in a vacant smile he knew too well. It was a joke, really, that the only thing staving off the Rot was also killing them. Most priests who turned to netherism died of Eidolon addiction before the Rot could win. There was irony in it somewhere, he just didn’t have the energy to find it.

He sank to the floor bending knees that crackled like logs in the fire and began, pulling folders and files into his lap. Notes upon notes upon notes, some he could make sense of and others that made no sense at all. Nothing about a gaol or an Azure Prince or anywhere the three realms met. 

One journal entry caught his eye—Daedalus had been a generous recordkeeper, but not all records needed to be kept and that appeared to be something he had never learned. Icarus almost overlooked it, but it nagged at him until he read it again. 

Righteous Admonitions 13:4 to 27:12

The potential is there, all of the great Saints of Admonitions say the same things. There are ways to break it apart and call down the holy fire. They will come for us all one day, why would we give them the chance to decide when that day is? All of this droning and talk about keeping them at bay. The people don’t understand, none of them do, they don’t know how afraid they need to be. The brothers barely understand it, content to just sit on their hands and do nothing. 

They are coming, but I refuse to accept I must wait for them. There is a way, there has to be. We can do more, whatever we are trying is not enough. I can feel it in my blood, this is what I am called to do. I cannot look my son in the eyes and proclaim myself a man of the Pale God while I permit the Church to simply do nothing. 

I will find a way. I will show them. They will see. The Pale God and His Pale Son will be with me and we shall pry open the jaws of The Morrigan and the Stygian Lord and end this once and for all. I will be His anvil and he will be the hammer. I will become the Saint of Ending.

A chill spidered along Icarus’s arms and his hairs stood on end. He almost dropped the book and chastised himself for only giving it half of his attention the first pass. Maren inhaled and sat upright with a soft sound of alarm. She was doubled over and wiping the last of the Eidolon from her eyes, blinking herself back into the real world, when he looked up. 

She already looked better—more color in her cheeks, all her blood where it was supposed to be, no wheezing when she breathed. She sighed and leaned her elbows against her knees, rubbing her forehead, “Better.”

He nodded. It was the closest to a You were right, Icarus he had come to expect. She sidled onto the floor beside him and he handed her the journal. She frowned and read it again, then a third time. 

“Icarus,” she murmured, “the Saint of Ending. Pale Sons and Daughters, what is this?”

He grimaced and leaned back on his hands, “Much as I hate to entertain this idea, it sounds a lot like my own father was trying to find a way to bring about the end of days.”

“We have to find his Pale Doctrine then,” she set the journal aside and began to rifle through the others. “His personal one, not the one he used for his work.”

Icarus shook his head, “I never saw where he kept it, didn’t pay that much attention.”

“Boys,” she huffed, “no survival instinct at all. If you have one, raise him to care about his surroundings.”

He leaned forward and stared into the fire steadily grinding itself to a halt, “I’m long past the illusion I’m a family man, unfortunately,” he chewed idly on his thumbnail and paused, turning his attention to the closet in the hall. “A moment.”

Icarus got to his feet and pulled it open. This was another absent storage space Daedalus had used—old maps, books about forgotten wars on the continent, refuse from his sparse life outside of the Church—but that wasn’t true,was it? His father didn’t have a life outside of the Church, which meant everything in this closet was related to that life somehow. 

He began to pull boxes upon boxes from it, setting them in front of the coffee table and heading back for more. When it was emptied, he leaned in and inspected the walls, then lifted a leg and tapped the wooden floorboards. Maren had paused her searching to watch, unable to follow whatever thread of old memories Icarus had pulled on in his mind. 

He was methodical in a way that was uncharacteristic when he brought down his heel. One by one, testing each thin board, until his foot fell and he heard the blessed call and response of a boot on hollow wood. He looked up with a triumphant grin and pressed his toe to the edge of the board. It seesawed up, tumbling over, and revealed its precious innards. 

A secret bundle of journals held together by aging twine. In the middle of them—thick, worn, and pulsing with secrets—Daedalus’s personal annotated copy of the Pale Doctrine. 

So excited to kick off our very first Neverending TBR book club!

We have three books to choose from:

The Witches of Serna by Morgan Spring-Glacé

Blood Daughter by Wil Ogden

Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison

You can vote in the poll here or on discord.

Happy Reading ❤️

I've started the book club picks for this month and wrapped up a bunch last week, so I'm gonna tell ya all about that and in return lemme know what you plan on reading this week in the comments!

READING

REVIEW

THE UNSELECTED JOURNALS OF EMMA M LION: VOL 3-4 by BETH BROWER (epistolary historical fiction)

Progress: Finished

Each volume gets better as the characters and themes continue to flesh out, and Volume 4 was friggin’ brilliant, one of the better books I’ll read this year.

One of the things these two volumes did was shift the focus harder toward companionship, or “alchemy,” as the books put it. That actually made them feel less overtly romantic, even though there are deep undercurrents of romance running throughout. And to be clear, these are historical fiction first, not romance, despite the constant and sometimes rabid online discussion about which of the men readers would like to see Emma end up with. Even with the relatively low stakes, I find the wit and the clever little episodes of conflict carry the books more than well enough.

Last week I got in the full set of eight published volumes, so I am now fully prepared to binge these before Volume 9 releases in February next year.

THE SIXTH EXTINCTION: AN UNNATURAL HISTORY by ELIZABETH KOLBERT (popular science/natural history)

Progress: Finished

This ended up being super solid and eye-opening. The biggest thing I took away from it was a better understanding of biodiversity loss and how these species exist inside these webs of relationships. So when one population disappears, you can also lose the jobs they were doing inside that ecosystem and then you get into all the past/future knock on effects. Definitely one of those books where I came away feeling like I understood (as much as is possible for my smooth brain) how the whole thing works together and why it's a threat down the line.

BERSERK: VOL 28-30 by KENTARO MIURA [Deluxe Edition Vol. 10] (manga/grimdark fantasy)

Progress: Vol 28 Finished

Only one volume taken down during football yesterday as I was fairly locked into watching the Eagles collapse (yay! /s). I'm deeply fascinated/concerned by Moonlight Boy.

THE SECRET HISTORY by DONNA TARTT (literary thriller)

Progress: 136/559

Early doors with the Fiction Sickos Book Club pick but this is as pretentious as advertised and I'm sure I will hate every single one of these characters (positive).

Side note: Often I'll start a book by listening to the first chapter as I fall asleep, from there I usually start it fresh with my eyeballs the next day, possibly working in the audio for immersion reads/drives/cardio. The audio for this is narrated by Tartt, and boy oh boy is that not my cup of tea, so this will be a strictly eyeball read. Her southern accent stands out like a sore thumb (a young adult from SoCal should not sound like he's from Mississippi), the audio quality is rough (I don't wanna hear so many giant breaths), and her character voices are bonkers (especially for Bunny).

CARTHAGE MUST BE DESTROYED: THE RISE AND FALL OF AN ANCIENT CIVILIZATION by RICHARD MILES (ancient history)

Progress: 58/373

The prologue is so damn gruesome and does a fantastic job nodding to the stakes of Carthage's conflict with Rome. Miles also does a great job giving background on the sources he uses so we understand this isn't just another basic bih take on Carthage and how her aggression was her undoing.

PREVIEW

I doubt I'll finish these and start anything new but if I do finish my nonfiction, I've been sampling the early chapters of A People's Tragedy by Orlando Figes, which is a doggone tome of a book on the Russian Revolution. Been meaning to read it for ages and I'll say what I have sampled is quite excellent.

EVERYTHING ELSE

• Publication News: A simple reminder that if you've read and enjoyed A Complement of Scoundrels, reviews are super helpful right now (even in the audiobook apps!), so it would be cool if you rated/reviewed them wherever is applicable! And I'll be doing the giveaway for two Spotify audiobook codes this week so keep an eye out for that. More news on how our second acquisition is coming soon!

• Game of the Week: Okay I've finally been convinced by Sicko comrade Lyss to get Crusader Kings III on a Steam sale and am going to start playing that very very very soon. I'll likely stream some of it in the Discord like I did with Civilization VI last week (had a lot of fun nuking everybody off the map with Alexander the Great). This Thursday should be the test stream for the group I'll be gaming with on Twitch so follow me there if you're into that kinda thing.

• Show of the Week: I'm knee-deep in Slow Horses, halfway through S2, and I'm pretty hyped that I gave this a second shot with full attention. Also yeah I'll probably take down some East of Eden.

• Movie of the Week: I honestly don't know... recs?

As of this morning, October 5, 2026, PEN America reported 11,982 book-ban instances during the 2025–2026 school year, affecting 7,370 unique titles across 114 public school districts. This was the highest annual total since PEN began tracking school book bans in 2021. More than 4,500 titles appeared in the index for the first time. (https://pen.org/report/book-bans-spotlight-2026/)

Book bans affect more than the titles removed from a library. They affect whose experiences readers encounter and whose lives receive space in schools.

For queer readers, the stakes feel personal. A sapphic love story offers room to explore identity, relationships, and belonging. When adults label those stories inappropriate because they include queer people, the message extends beyond the book.

Books about racism, sexual violence, and LGBTQ+ lives face repeated challenges. Writing about these experiences does not mean endorsing harm. Readers deserve the opportunity to understand difficult subjects and meet characters whose lives differ from their own.

The current wave of censorship involves organized campaigns. PEN America has identified Moms for Liberty, Citizens Defending Freedom, and Parents’ Rights in Education as prominent groups pushing for book removals. Their efforts include filing challenges and speaking at school board meetings. PEN also documents Utah Parents United advocating removals in Utah.

Tools such as BookLooks help campaigns circulate objections to particular passages. PEN documented local Moms for Liberty members using the site to challenge more than 50 books in Carroll County, Maryland, resulting in bans or restrictions involving at least nine. Judging a whole book through selected excerpts leaves out context, purpose, and the larger story. 

Parents deserve a voice in their children’s reading. Removing a book for every student takes choices away from other families. A school library serves an entire community, including students with different identities, beliefs, and needs.

The stats

• ALA recorded challenges involving 4,235 unique titles in 2025. For comparison, its annual average from 2001 through 2020 was 273. 

• Nearly 92% of censorship attempts recorded by ALA in 2025 originated with pressure groups and decision makers influenced by them. This includes government officials, boards, and administrators.

• Among 3,743 banned titles PEN analyzed from 2024–2025, 44% featured people or characters of color, 39% featured LGBTQ+ people or characters, and 19% featured transgender or genderqueer people or characters. These categories overlap.

• Pew Research Center found 41% of public K–12 teachers said debates about teaching race and gender identity negatively affected their ability to do their jobs. The report was published in 2024 using a fall 2023 survey.

• In the same Pew research, 68% of teachers with more than one year of experience said sexual orientation and gender identity rarely or never came up in their classrooms during 2022–2023.

• PRRI’s 2023 survey found 88% of Americans opposed banning books depicting slavery from classroom teaching. Some 75% trusted teachers and librarians to choose appropriate materials teaching both positive and negative aspects of American history.

Sources

https://www.ala.org/bbooks/book-ban-data

https://pen.org/report/narrating-the-crisis/

https://pen.org/report/facts-fiction/

https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/02/22/teachers-views-of-current-debates-about-what-schools-should-be-teaching/

https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/02/22/race-and-lgbtq-issues-in-k-12-schools/

https://prri.org/research/threats-to-american-democracy-ahead-of-an-unprecedented-presidential-election/

A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict a book. A recorded ban involves lost or reduced access, sometimes temporarily. One title banned in ten districts counts as ten ban instances. PEN and ALA track different settings and time periods, so their totals should never be added together. https://pen.org/book-bans/pen-america-index-of-school-book-bans-2024-2025/

What you do next matters

When we say reading is political, we mean society has made our bodies, identities, relationships, and rights subjects of political debate. What you read influences how you understand other people, whose experiences you believe, and which injustices you recognize. Those perspectives inform how you vote, speak up, and treat people. Choosing whose stories you pay attention to has consequences, especially when others are working to silence them.

Read banned books and recommend them. Support librarians. Follow your local school board’s decisions and speak up when proposed policies restrict access.

Buying a book supports the author. Protecting library access helps readers who lack the money, transportation, or privacy to obtain their own copy.

Queer stories deserve space. So do books about racism, difficult histories, and experiences some adults would prefer to avoid. Discomfort should prompt thoughtful discussion, rather than decide what everyone else gets to read.

Friends, we are ONE day away from launch and now is the time to kick it up a notch!

When I read What Feed Below, I read it in one sitting and immediately texted my director and said I NEED THIS BOOK!

What Feeds Below was turned down by all big 5 publishers because they didn’t know how to market it, didn’t know who would like it.

It now has a Kirkus star! (Super rare for horror!) A publisher’s weekly Star! An aardvark special edition! (Only the second YA book ever selected and one of their few special editions!) , we are on tables at Barnes and Noble! and over 1600 preorders, which honestly, is more than many trad books.

Bindery is doing something special. This community is doing something really special. Thank you to all of you for supporting this book and helping us compete with the giants.

We are down to the final moments of release, here are important things you can do to help make this book a bestseller!

Preorder

If you haven’t already, today is the day to make it count. Preorders are SO important for authors and can be the difference in making a list.

Review

1. Goodreads 2. Barnes and Noble 3. Amazon on release day.

These are the 3 most important places to leave your reviews .

Release day:

Check your library,l Barnes and Noble, and indie bookstores and if they don’t have it request! If they do, take photos!

I am so excited to welcome this book into the world!

Our next seasonal readathon starts this Friday, October 9th running until midnight on Friday, October 16th.

What's a seasonal readathon? Every season of the year, I host a seasonal read on in Discord and we all read books that we've been meaning to catch up on or books on our TBR. You can mood read or use the bingo card I've created. It's a super laid-back readathon! My only rule is that we are reading books written by BIPOC authors and/or books with queer rep.

How can I join? Through Discord! Click here to connect our Discord.

LINK TO BINGO CARD

Will you be joining us? If so, what book are you most excited to read?

Ready to dive deeper into Eyes of Fractured Crimson by Travis Stevens? Your full Page Ladies reading experience is officially waiting for you! 🖤

We’ve got the Book Club Kit, Individual Member Reader Guide, Buddy Reader Kit, and Solo Deep-Dive Reader Kit ready to help you uncover the secrets, theories, mysteries, and “WAIT…WHAT?!” moments hiding inside this fantasy adventure. 👀

Whether you’re reading with the whole book club, a buddy, or flying solo, we’ve got a kit for your reading style.

📥 Tap the links to download your kits and start your deep dive!

Book Club Kit & Individual Book Club Member’s Reader Guide!

Solo Reader Kit 

Buddy Reader Kit 

Happy reading, overthinking, theorizing, and questioning EVERYTHING! 💕

#TheFirstEditions #EyesOfFracturedCrimson #TravisStevens #BookClubKits #ThePageLadiesBookClub

What if the very thing you were taught to hide was the key to uncovering the truth?

Some stories pull us in with a single mystery. Eyes of Fractured Crimson by Travis Stevens gives us an entire world of magic, secrets, political power, family trauma, forbidden truths, and one crimson-colored eye that could change everything.

We were immediately intrigued by Jett’s situation. Ten years after his mother’s tragic death, he has built his life around caring for his alcoholic father and maintaining their farm. It’s a quiet, deliberately small existence, especially for someone living in a country where simply being suspected of possessing or lacking magic can have devastating consequences.

And that’s where this story really grabbed our attention.

🌑 A World Where Accusations Can Be Deadly

Ekocia is a fascinating setting because magic isn’t presented as something automatically wonderful or desirable. Instead, it’s something that can determine your fate.

Jett doesn’t have magic, yet he has a mysterious birth defect that he has been forced to conceal. In Ekocia, an accusation can be enough to destroy a life, and being taken to the capital for evaluation could mean death not only for Jett, but potentially for the father he has spent years protecting.

We loved the tension created by that premise.

Jett isn’t simply running from authorities. He’s running from a system where truth seems to matter less than what people believe about you.

That makes his journey feel bigger than a traditional fantasy adventure. Beneath the magic and mystery is a story about fear, prejudice, power, survival, and what happens when institutions decide who is allowed to belong.

👁️ The Mystery of Jett’s Crimson Eye

Of course, we couldn’t talk about this book without talking about that eye.

Jett has spent years concealing his crimson-colored eye, but a chance encounter with imperial authorities forces him out of the life he knows and sends him searching for answers.

What exactly is behind his unusual eye?

Why has it been hidden?

And what does it mean for Jett and potentially for Ekocia itself?

The mystery surrounding Jett’s eye gives the story a compelling investigative thread. Every answer seems to have the potential to create another question, which made us want to keep digging alongside Jett.

❤️‍🩹 Family, Grief & The Weight of Responsibility

For us, one of the most emotionally interesting elements of Eyes of Fractured Crimson is Jett’s relationship with his father.

The loss of his mother didn’t simply become something Jett experienced and moved beyond. It reshaped his entire life. His father’s alcoholism adds another layer to that grief, leaving Jett carrying responsibilities that force him to put his own wants and future aside.

That made his journey feel especially poignant.

Jett isn’t chasing adventure because he wants to become a hero. He’s been pushed into a situation where he has to leave behind the life he knows while carrying the people and responsibilities he loves with him.

There’s something deeply relatable about that even in a fantasy world filled with magic and imperial authorities.

⚔️ A Fantasy Built Around Secrets

At its heart, Eyes of Fractured Crimson is a story about uncovering what has been hidden.

Jett has secrets.

His family has secrets.

Ekocia has secrets.

And the people in power certainly seem to have secrets.

That gave us plenty to chew on as a book club because there are so many natural questions surrounding identity, trust, loyalty, family, government, fear, and the price of truth.

We especially enjoyed the idea of asking what happens when the truth you’ve been searching for threatens to completely change the way you understand your own life.

📚 Why We Think This Makes a Great Book Club Read

Eyes of Fractured Crimson gives a book club plenty to discuss beyond simply asking, “Did you like it?”

We can talk about:

• How Jett’s grief shaped the person he became

• The sacrifices Jett makes for his family

• Whether hiding the truth can ever truly protect someone

• Magic as a source of power versus a source of fear

• The consequences of accusations without evidence

• How governments and authorities can influence what people believe

• Jett’s complicated relationship with responsibility

• The symbolism of his crimson eye

• Secrets, identity, and the fear of being discovered

• Which truths are worth risking everything to uncover

And, naturally, we have a LOT of questions about where Jett’s story can go from here. 👀

🌟 Our Final Thoughts

For us, Eyes of Fractured Crimson was an engaging fantasy mystery wrapped around a deeply human story.

The magic and political danger create the external stakes, but Jett’s grief, family obligations, fear, and search for answers give the story its emotional foundation. We found ourselves especially drawn to the question at the center of his journey: what happens when the truth about who you are becomes impossible to hide?

If you enjoy fantasy with mysterious powers, hidden identities, political danger, family secrets, and characters forced to question everything they thought they knew, Eyes of Fractured Crimson is one we think belongs on your book club radar.

And honestly? We’re still thinking about that crimson eye. 👁️

💌 A Thank You to Travis Stevens

Thank you to Travis Stevens for sharing Eyes of Fractured Crimson with us and giving The Page Ladies Book Club the opportunity to dive into Jett’s story! We loved having so much to unpack, question, theorize about, and discuss together.

📖 Want to Read Along With Us?

We created four ways to make your Eyes of Fractured Crimson reading experience even more fun:

🌟 Mini Book Club Kit — Perfect for a quick discussion or a little taste of the full Page Ladies experience.

📝 Individual Member Reader Guide — For the note-takers, overthinkers, and readers who absolutely have seventeen thoughts they need to write down before book club.

👯 Buddy Reader Kit — For the “DID YOU SEE THAT?!” texts, theories, reactions, and two-person reading adventures.

📚 Solo Deep-Dive Reader Kit — For anyone who wants the full book-club experience even when they’re reading on their own.

Download the mini book club kit, Individual Member Guide, Buddy Reader Kit, and Solo Kit or join The First Editions for access to the full kits and the complete Page Ladies Book Club experience.

Tap Here to Download Your Reader Kits

And if you want to learn more about Travis Stevens and the story behind Eyes of Fractured Crimson, be sure to read our Book Club Conversations post about the book for more from the author.

💬 Let’s Talk Books!

If you discovered that something you had spent your entire life hiding was actually the key to understanding who you were, would you risk everything to uncover the truth?

#EyesOfFracturedCrimson #TravisStevens #FantasyBookClub #BookClubReads #ThePageLadiesBookClub

October is the grand finale of the publishing year, and October 6th is no exception, with a ton of bangers coming out. Here are ones I hope you don't miss:

The Woman Who Fed the Dogs by Kristien Hemmerechts 4.5/5 stars

Put this on your TBR if you want to read more translated fiction. This one will make you confront the ways we harm others through inaction and seek to excuse ourselves.

Strange Lights by Mira Gonzalez 4.5/5 stars

Put this on your TBR if you enjoy found family stories with a side of paranormal.

Find Me Where it Ends by Cassandra Khaw 4/5 stars

Put this on your TBR if you appreciate hard reads on important topics of life and death.

Every Story is a Love Story by Imbolo Mbue 4/5 stars

Put this on your TBR if you enjoy stunningly beautiful prose exploring grief, regret, family, and forgiveness.

Cocoon by Zhang Yueran 4/5 stars

Put this on your TBR if you want to read more translated fiction. This is a coming of age story from China.

The Finalist by Faith Gladwin 4/5 stars

Put this on your TBR if you like haunted house stories and/or stories about competitive dancers (this is both).

Bad Words by Rioghnach Robinson 4/5 stars

Put this on your TBR if you enjoy books about the publishing industry.

The Names of the New World by Kawai Strong Washburn 3.25/5 stars

Put this on your TBR if you appreciate literary clifi and books that explore the impacts of broken systems.

All that Dies in April by Mariano Travacio 3.25/5 stars

Put this on your TBR if you want to read more translated fiction. This is clifi from Argentina.

What Feeds Below by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne 3.25/5 stars

Put this on your TBR if you want an adventure story exploring privilege.

And a few I haven't got my hands on yet (come on Libby holds!):

Friends and Family by Natalie Baszile

Why this interests me: a story of friendship amid difficult discussions of privilege.

Fitcher's Bird by A.G. Slatter

Why this interests me: a horror story centering sisters.

The Lost Guardian by Natalia Hernandez

Why this interests me: urban romantasy inspired by Inca history.

The Seoul Letter Shop by Baek Seungyeon

Why this interests me: a story of loss and connection and the way that words can bring us together.

Good morning, mis internet amigxs,

I've gone silent on socials and here on Bindery during Latinx Heritage Month and I feel it's time for an explanation. More than anyone, you all deserve to know what is going on and what to expect moving forward.

Back in the summer, my mother was hospitalized for almost 2 weeks. When she was discharged from the hospital, her daily level of care significantly increased. I have been providing the help she needs 5-7 days per week since she returned home in July. She has also been back to the emergency room 3 times subsequent to her original stay, two of the times in the past month--once before the start of LHM and again last week. Her fall last week was severe and she has been in the hospital for the last 5 days.

Over the past few months, I have been able to manage Bien Leidos and caretaking. However, the hospital stay last week tried my ability to continue to work. I almost didn't make the trip, but last Thursday night, I got my family onboard and felt assured enough to travel. Most importantly, my mom was stable and in good spirits, urging me not to miss my trip.

It have been a mix of emotions this weekend, much of it overwhelmed with guilt for not being there for my mother, but she has remained stable and well throughout my visit.

My work begins today and I will be busy until I depart tomorrow night.

Now where does that leave Bien Leidos?

I, unfortunately, will be unable to post tomorrow's releases or provide Lectores and Libritos members with an early newsletter of all October releases.

I plan to get that updated by the weekend, if all continues to go smoothly with my mother this week when I return.

I apologize for the disruption, but it has been difficult to plan and get ahead especially in the past month. I am hoping to get to my normal weekly schedule here by next week and back on social media possibly a little sooner. I appreciate your patience with me as I walk through one of the most difficult seasons of my life (I can't believe Being Mortal by Atul Gawande ended up being a handbook for this year and I advise anyone who is dealing with elderly family members to puck it up).

I also do have a posting obligation this morning, so any interaction with that sponsored post is greatly appreciated.

I apologize this is so long and for my absence but I hope you can allow me some grace during this moment in my life. I appreciate you being here and for supporting my work. I have so much I want to create and share with you and am looking forward to that opportunity very soon.

All my love,

Carmen

xo

Hi friends, happy Monday! This week was very sports-y for me. My beloved Mystics got eliminated from the WNBA playoffs, but so did the Fever, so I feel like that kind of cosmically balances out in the end. I think I'm rooting for Atlanta now, but I'm open to other arguments. There's more sportsball below in the One Good Thing section, so it's not all the agony of defeat here. Okay, I know most of you aren't here for the sports, so on to the books! Here's what I read last week. Books marked with a * were gifted to me and books marked with a ^ I was paid to read.

The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman by Deesha Philyaw* - Philyaw cements herself as queen of writing about Black southern church ladies. This novel is a lot wilder and funnier than most of the stories in her debut collection, but the thoughtfulness and deep emotions are still there. I do think this could have been MUCH shorter. It started off strong and then the middle meandered around for way too long. Like, things were happening but nothing was moving forward. It took the main character much too long to realize things were not going to work out the way she wanted. It also felt to me like the love interest twist came out of nowhere and the story would have been fine (maybe even stronger) without it. All that said, very much enjoyed this look under the hood of an insular culture that we don't often see depicted in mainstream novels.

What You Learn Learning Music by Mike Shaw and Kevin Bales^ - This book is a conversation between two jazz musicians about their careers and jazz culture as a whole. I know nothing about jazz and found their stories pretty entertaining, though I would say this book is definitely aimed at people who want to break into becoming full time musicians. I appreciated that they were very aware that they were two white men discussing and working in a music style that comes from Black American culture.

Lost Boi by Sassafras Lowrey - This is a queer kink retelling of Peter Pan, in which Pan leads a group of unhoused trans youth in a full time D/s relationship and brings in Wendi to be their Mommy. The story really barely needed any rejiggering to fit it into this context, though the bit kind of wore out after awhile. It's grim and at times uncomfortable, but I was always eager to pick it back up and see where things went.

City Of Others by Jared Poon* - I love a story that bends reality, and CITY OF OTHERS had that sort of gleeful "wrap your head around THIS" vibe that I find so fun. There was so much going on here that when I think back through the plot it's hard to believe it all happened in one book. Unfortunately, I didn't really buy the romantic relationship. How well they knew each other seemed to fluctuate, and there wasn't much tension between them except when someone would drop a random dick joke, which was also kind of out of step with the tone of the book overall.

One Good Thing - As an early birthday gift to myself, I bought us tickets to see University of Maryland v Nebraska volleyball. Now, UMD is...fine. Nebraska, on the other hand, is a dynasty when it comes to college volleyball, and this was my first time getting to see them play. What a treat! They announced at the game that it was UMD’s highest ever attendance for a volleyball game, with roughly 15,000 people there. Everyone watches women’s sports! (Also, sorry again for getting all my sports into your book content!)

That's all for now. Here's your weekly cat photo, Teddy does not understand personal space edition. Onward!

Teddy the black cat lays on my chest with his face smooshed against my face.