Hello nerds,

Another beautiful month full of events at the best bookstore in the world. I am unfortunately sending this after First Friday, so I want to focus on just two of our events coming up next week and let you know that the Switzy bookclub has been moved to October 4th as well.

Thursday, September 10th at 6:00 PM

Join us for a craft night at Sunny's. We will provide some materials to share, but please feel free to bring your own as well! This is not a structured craft, more of a self guided night to work alongside eachother. I will be decorating the back of my neglected e-reader. RSVP HERE.

Saturday, September 12th from 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM

We're buying gently used, in-demand books for in-store credit only, no cash. Drop off your stack or stick around and shop while we take a look. We will be buying one day only, from 11-5 on Saturday September 12th. RSVP HERE to express interest!

What we're looking for:

• Good condition—no torn covers, water damage, mold/mildew smell, writing, or heavy highlighting

• Current and backlist titles we'd actually shelve

• Fiction, memoir, poetry—especially queer and marginalized voices

• No textbooks, encyclopedias, magazines, or book club castoffs from decades past. If you don’t want it, we probably don’t either!

How it works:

1. Bring in up to 50 books at a time

2. We'll sort through them while you browse

3. We'll offer credit for what fits our shelves. The rest you're welcome to take back or donate. Books MUST be picked back up on the same day, 9/10 before we close at 5PM.

4. Credit is issued at 10% of resale value and never expires. For example, if we bought a book from you that retailers for $19.99, you’d be issued $1.90 in credit.

Sunday, October 4th at 11:00 AM

Join us online for our monthly book club Zoom meeting. The September book is Switzy by Emma Cline. RSVP HERE. Note, this was previously scheduled for September 27th and moved because of travel.

• About the book: A mesmerizing portrait of an aging man’s last pilgrimage, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Girls and The Guest.

• About Sunny's Book Club: Sunny’s Book Club is a monthly book club highlighting both new releases and backlist titles we love. A virtual discussion is hosted over Zoom on the last Sunday of the month. You can check out our selections each month and sign up here. You do not have to buy the book from Sunny's to participate, but we love when you do!

Thank you all for your support as always and hope to see you in person this month.

CJ

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SHOP THE CORE COLLECTION

And just like that… August slipped away into a moment in time. I did quite a bit this month, including going on a NYC trip that I definitely didn’t accidentally talk about in my July reflection post, lmfao. If you want a refresher on how that went, go back to that post. Now, let’s talk about all the fun and amazing things I did in August!

Immortal Rose Event!

Avon invited me to the HarperCollins offices to celebrate the release of Immortal Rose by Alexandra Bracken. The event was so much fun; I always have a blast when I’m with the Harper crew. I made perfume, a bookmark, took photos on the iconic staircase, ate great food, and even got to go book shopping, where I picked up some highly anticipated reads! I’m looking at you, The Sweetest Fiend by Raven Kennedy!

Seeing Your Name in Theaters!

I never thought I would be able to see one of my favorite movies on the big screen, and yet it happened! The first time I watched Your Name was during my sophomore year of college, in my dorm room on an iPad. Ten years later (omg), I got to see it on the big screen, and it was magical. This movie was meant to be viewed this way. The animation was stunning, the music was magical, and the story, as always, brought me to tears. Easily one of the best nights of my life.

Seeing Kesha in Concert!

My sister surprised me with tickets to go see Kesha for my birthday. I’ve been a Kesha fan for a really long time; I literally remember hearing “TikTok” on the radio for the first time. I got to scream some of my favorite songs of all time — “Praying,” “Die Young,” “Your Love Is My Drug”??? Banger after banger after banger! Kesha is such a good performer, and I love seeing her finally thriving.

Movies I've Been Watching!

The Drama — 4 stars

A movie I’ve been meaning to see and finally got around to watching. I had no idea what this was about, and consider me gagged that it was about gun violence. Also, these people had some nerve gaslighting my girl Zendaya like that. Solid film, I recommend.

Ice Princess — 5 stars (rewatch)

Hayden Panettiere died, I was sad, so I decided to watch the best movie ever made, and guess what? It’s still a masterpiece.

Freakier Friday — 5 stars (rewatch)

Another rewatch, and still one of my favorite sequels that felt like it added to the existing lore of the original film. It feels so good seeing Lindsay Lohan back on the big screen; I’ve missed her.

The Last Sunrise — 1.5 stars

Easily one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. A nothing burger of a film with terrible acting. The only thing that got me through it was watching it with friends and our very funny commentary throughout.

TV Shows I've Been Watching!

I finished The Ninth Jedi, the Star Wars: Visions show, and I really enjoyed it. I hope they make more of these, but please, for the love of God, make them longer than eight episodes! I also watched Sterling Point, which was really solid. It’s the first time I’ve seen a show where the teens actually feel like teens of the current age. I rewatched The Nanny, still a banger, and I’m currently rewatching George Lopez, also still a banger.

That was my August, let's see what I do in September!

This week’s guest is Sophia Benoit, author of the historical romance The Very Definition of Love and the essay collection Well, This is Exhausting. I asked her about putting her own spin on the “rake accidentally compromises a bluestocking” historical romance trope. We talked about our favorite historically accurate dirty slang terms and why there are so many euphemisms for sex workers. Plus, how she thinks about responsible depictions of relationships and intimacy as a sex writer and a romance author, and why we both have strong feelings about choking and breath play.

Listen on:

• Apple Podcasts

• Spotify

• Castbox

• Libsyn

Follow Sophia on Instagram @sgbenoit, and purchase The Very Definition of Love from the Rebel Ever After affiliate bookstore at bit.ly/REAbooks

Rep the podcast with Rebel Ever After MERCH! Browse our new store here: rebeleverafter.creator-spring.com

The best way to support the show is now to subscribe on Bindery, a home for book lovers and the (hopefully!) future Rebel Ever After romance publishing imprint. We are 49% of the way to reaching our goal of 100 subscribers! Join at rebeleverafter.binderybooks.com

Theme music created by Dalton Deschain.

Media mentioned this episode:

• A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grouse

• The works of Jane Austen

• The works of Nora Ephron

Upcoming Events: 

9/30: Launching Happily Ever Afterlife with Emma R. Alban at the Ripped Bodice BK. Tickets here.

JUST ADDED 10/5: I'm hosting another Romance Read-In to benefit Authors Against Book Bans at Book Club Bar in Manhattan on October 5th at 7:30pm! Tickets just went on sale here.

Voting has officially begun for our September Book Club selection!

We invite you to join our Discord community to participate in lively discussions, connect with fellow readers, and share your thoughts throughout the month. For those who prefer to vote here on Bindery, we'll also be posting a poll so members can cast their votes directly on the platform.

🗳️ Voting will remain open for 24 hours.
📖 Our group reading will begin on Sep 10th.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or feedback, please join our Discord and let us know. We're always happy to hear from our community.

Happy reading, and we can't wait to see which book you choose for September!

Chapter 8

Maren’s mouth was set in a grim line--part worry, part annoyance he had waited until the morning to tell her. Icarus ran a hand through increasingly unkempt hair and made a mental note he would immediately forget about needing a trim. The image was seared into him every time he blinked--two glittering eyes reflecting light that did not exist in the alley, the feeling of foreboding that swept over him like a winter wind. He stared at the tips of his fingers, already starting to turn azure even after such a short burst of magic. He frowned. 

“You need to dose,” she pushed off the low file cabinet and placed the ampule on his desk. 

She left him alone without another word. Off to theorize, lost in the map she was making in her mind’s eye. They had not quite gotten to her new research in light of his exchange with the creature the previous evening. 

He sighed and cracked the glass, leaning back in his chair. The pearlescent liquid hit his sclera with a burn that was more about surprise than the Eidolon. His slip into the hallucinatory space between worlds was swift. Reality sighed open around him. Eyes closed, the sound of birdsong sharpened in his ears. 

When he opened them again, he was standing in the familiar field. He reached out to brush the soft petals of gorse stalks. Illusion or not, they always felt real to him. A sea of yellow blooms stretched out to the horizon, continuing infinitely as far as he knew. He tried to take it all in. Churning indigo waters effervescent with life he could never quite see when he looked over the edge of the canyon. Light bent through the spray in a peculiar rainbow. It did that on occasion--shifting bands of pastels from one angle, jewel tones from another. He never knew what prompted it to show one time but not another. Another mystery of wherever the Eidolon carried him.

Staccato laughter drifted on the gentle breeze that tugged at the stalks under his hands. He sighed. It was absurd that in this place outside of time he managed to feel a modicum of peace. He looked down at his fingers and noted the faint shimmer in the blue receding before the color drained away. When the distant flutter of wings sounded, he was not quite ready to go. Then his foot found the ever-familiar root and he tumbled back into reality again

Ten minutes. Maybe fifteen. That was all the Eidolon ever gave him and it was never enough. Therein lay the danger of Eidolon, unfortunately. Plenty of priests and common folk lost themselves to the Blue Fever--a sort of emotional addiction to the in-between and the euphoria it left in its wake. Too much and a person wasted away, not thinking to eat or drink while lost in the haze. He never questioned why someone might chase that high. Some days he considered it himself.

He got to his feet with a private groan of protest. One burning shot of whiskey later and he headed for Maren’s office. Her commitment to organization was both a marvel and the bane of his existence. Antithetical in every way to his organized chaos, she kept everything in labeled boxes and had a system other people could comprehend. He hated it. 

She turned to look at him, glancing to his now-normal fingers and back to her cork board. New information was pinned--notes she had made and a hastily sketched copy of the sections in the book she had harangued the librarian into giving her. The rendition of the woodblock print was especially terrifying. Maren was many things, an artist was not one of them. 

“An abhartach,” she gestured, “is a nocturnal fae creature. Not much about them, unfortunately. They’re not a common species.”

“Right. So how do we get rid of it?” He pretended to review her research, but they had done this dance for too many years to fool her anymore. 

She folded her arms and looked at her feet, “That’s the problem. We don’t.”

“Mare?” He raised an eyebrow at her, a sinking feeling in his gut. 

She sighed and gestured to one of the tacked-up sets of pages, “They don’t possess, they turn. He isn’t possessed by an abhartach. He is one.”

He cursed under his breath as he read, “Damnú air.”

“Unfortunately, this isn’t a magic problem. But it is still our problem,” she ran a hand over her face. “We have to tell Eilonwy.”

“She likes you. Might forgive you when you tell her we’ve got to behead her brother,” he winced at the sharp punch she landed on his arm. “All I’m saying is I don’t think she’s my biggest fan and me telling her might elicit a… reaction.”

Maren appraised him, “If she already hates you, what’s hating you a little more?”

***

He never did figure out a reply to that by the time they had Eilonwy seated across the desk from him. She sat straight, rigid in the stiff black brocade of her mourning gown. She was still not permitted access to the bodies of her family, despite vehemently arguing with the faithful coroner about their immortal souls. If she was still red-eyed from crying about it, Icarus could not tell under the fine mesh of her short funerary veil. 

“Say it again. Slowly.” Her tone was clipped, so cold it might snap if he put too much weight on it. 

He cleared his throat and wished she would dispense with that idiot veil so he could hold her gaze properly, “He isn’t possessed by an abhartach. He just is one. There’s no exorcism to be had. According to our research--which I assure you we have done a considerable amount of--the only option is… to separate the head from the body. Body goes into running water, head goes into consecrated ground.”

“With an iron nail through the heart,” Maren amended. If he could kick her without being noticed, he would have. That detail was one he would have preferred to keep between them. 

Eilonwy sat unmoving across from him, impossible to read in her perfect silence. He had not forgotten his discussion with Maren about all her peculiarities. This stillness she cultivated was starting to become one of them until she spoke again. 

“Will that bring him peace?”

The question caught him off guard, particularly the tone she asked it with, “Will it-? I- I can’t answer that for you, my lady. All I know is it’s how it must be done if we want to rid the city of him.”

She lifted her hands and rolled up, pinning it in place. She was clear-eyed, practiced, sharp with a brimming intelligence she had kept poorly hidden. A flicker of grief escaped from its hiding place, though, and he softened to her a little. Try as she might, he could see the way her tenuous thread of hope had just snapped. The green of her eyes brightened like a hawthorne under the light of the full moon, then she blinked and it was gone. He rubbed at his eyes and cursed his bad sleep. 

“If he’s not possessed and he were to somehow be… restored,” she took a shuddering breath, black leather gloves creaking with the tight fist she made out of sight, “he would be tried and hanged for what he did.”

“Possibly,” Maren shrugged, “but restoration is, unfortunately, not an option in his case.”

Eilonwy lifted a hand in a polite bid for silence, “He would be tried and hanged if it were. Either way, Dáire’s fate is sealed. It would be cruelty to bring him back, but it would be a mercy to end him before he continues down this murderous path.”

For all her sharpness and fire, Icarus had to respect her ability to take what the Pale God handed to her with grace. He exchanged a look with Maren that caught her attention and her eyes narrowed, “What else?”

“We-,” he sighed and tapped his thumbs against each other atop his threaded fingers, “We’ll need your help drawing him out to us. It followed me last night-” he held up a hand to stop her questions before they started, “-and I’m fairly certain it’s because my colleague and I smelled like you. When it didn’t attack me, I think it’s because it was confused why the trail of you faded.”

They had pieced it together. It was strong enough, could have lunged for him and been done with it. Faefire or no, Icarus had a throat to rip out the same as any man. It had observed him, watched him. The more they read, the more it made sense. 

“Part of your brother was still… himself for some time. We aren’t totally clear on the mechanism for what turned him into this thing, but part of him remained who he was for a while at first. It’s why he killed a few orphans and… ladies of minor public concern,” he glanced to Maren in an appeal to transfer this horrible conversation to her, but she pointedly refused him. “The final rite of transformation is to drain the life of those he loves. After that, when all ties to his old self are severed, he enters the final stage of his transformation into this… thing.”

Try as she might, Eilonwy could not conceal the tremor that had overtaken her. She swallowed hard, staring past him at the frosted glass limned with early afternoon light for a while. Resolutely, she set her sight on him again, “What’s the final stage?”

“We don’t know,” Icarus willed the apology into his tone so he would not have to say it aloud.

She exhaled hard, annoyance replacing the grief for a moment, “And you need me to lure him out.”

He nodded, singular and sharp. The plan was simple enough to be stupid, but if the abhartach could not tell the difference between someone who had touched his sister and Eilonwy herself Icarus had little faith in its intellect. Trap it, question it, kill it. The only wildcard was how it would react to Eilonwy when they used her as bait. 

***

Icarus bounced his leg as he leaned against the stacked crates in the alley. There was a blank spot in all of this. An empty palace where information should have been. He folded his arms tight across his chest and stared between the cobblestones at his feet. Running back through the case had not helped. Still, he smelled it like a bloodhound and could not let it go. 

Fae and demonic traces had resonated. While he could explain them away, none of them fit in a way he found satisfying. Maren--if she had been troubled by it--said nothing. Even when they set out in the cold to prepare, she made no mention. So here he was peeling apart the layers in silence waiting in the damp, foggy dark for a monster. 

His hand slipped into his coat and he rattled his flask, lamenting not topping up before they left. He drained what was left and took a steadying breath. Simple as the plan might be, plans had a funny way of getting away from people. He was not such a fool to believe himself immune. 

There was still something fundamentally wrong with this whole care. He could not put his finger on it. Whatever was being concealed skirted the edges of his awareness and stayed just out of reach. He had hoped the remnants of his flask might help turn over some stone of knowledge to illuminate the mystery-

The air changed. 

He stiffened, head cocked, listening. Shadows grew longer at the mouth of the street. The amber light of the streetlamps change as if drained by the inky darkness trailing behind the slow-moving, familiar figure approaching. 

He stayed out of sight, fingers wrapped around the hilt of his knife. His awareness sharpened, keen on the weight of his sword strapped to his back. The chill in the air hollowed out--cold in a way that had nothing to do with winter. 

One breath.

Two.

Footsteps echoing in an even tempo. Eilonwy kept her shoulders straight from what he could see of her, staying even and standing tall. If she were afraid, he could not tell. The creature trailing at a distance too close for his liking, however, could probably hear the mad hammering of her heart. 

Every muscle wound tight like a spring. Hand ready at the edge of the small blade. If this did not go colossally fucking sideways, he could grab Eilonwy in a pinch if he was ready. She was closer now. Almost there. His pulse slowed, breath even and deep. One hand flexed when the calm of battle washed over him. He whispered a prayer to the Archangel Lazriel, Right Hand of the Pale God, for strength and speed. 

He slashed his forearm and drew his sword. The alley flared with blue firelight, abruptly channeled into the metal where it flowed into every sigil like molten iron. In the same breath, he stepped into the street.

“Go!” He shouted to Eilonwy. 

She lifted her skirts and broke into a run. He stepped forward, careful to miss the salt line--the most critical part of their idiotic plan. Twin pinpricks of light raged and widened in the dark. Light refracted from some corrupted inner place. A howl filled the air--bitter with fury, agony, a thousand trapped souls emanating their last fearful cries in one single haunting bellow.

It moved, slower than he anticipated. In the muted light of the gaslamps, the abhartach allowed itself to be revealed. He raised his sword in a high guard, barely inside the strike from the thing’s long, talonlike nails. He shoved and it took a surprised step back. 

“Maren!” He roared. 

The thing that was once a man straightened and whirled in time to catch Maren closing the final line of salt along the road. Its howl turned into a shriek--violence and peeling metal rolled into one hideous noise. With a whisper, Maren’s hand hovered over the grains and they began to glow. With its path sealed and its movement enclosed, it turned to the only thing that remained inside the battleground it was trapped in. 

Icarus. 

Good morning and happy Labor Day! I hope you're finding a way to rest today. Here's a look back at my reading over the past week. Books marked with a * were gifted to me and books marked with a ^ I was paid to read.

Catch the Devil: A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast by Pamela Colloff* - I saw Colloff speak at the National Book Festival and immediately downloaded this audiobook. I found it to be a bit scattered in the first half. It seemed like her subject, Paul Skalnik, did so much and ruined so many lives that it was hard to organize it into a narrative until she focused on Jim Dailey's case. Overall though, it's clearly written and horrifying in that way nonfiction can be where if it was fiction you'd say it wasn't believable. I appreciate Colloff highlighting the way the legal and carceral systems failed - and making it clear that this wasn't a fluke, but the way things are structured.

The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong - This was a reread for me so I can dive into the sequel that came out this year. Also, I totally dropped the ball on holding a book club discussion for it, I'm so sorry! I was not expecting August to be as busy as it was. If you've read it, please drop your thoughts in the Discord!

Stories of a Devoted Mother: From the Kovno Ghetto to Brighton Beach, Brooklyn by Diane Cypkin^ - Through reading manuscripts for Books Forward PR, I've read a lot of memoirs. I've discovered that I really enjoy this sort of subgenre of them - books about people who aren't famous and maybe didn't lead an extraordinary life, but that show us what life was like for a specific community at a specific time. In this case, Cypkin was the child of Lithuanian Jews who survived the Holocaust and made a new life in New York City. It's vignettes of life in midcentury Brooklyn, and I greatly enjoyed it. (Now, I said "not extraordinary life" but that's not true for her parents, and we do get their horrifying experiences as well.)

Cold in Mississippi: A Memoir of the Human Soul in Medicine by Dwaine Rieves^ - This is another memoir in the "regular-ish people" subgenre outlined above, but unfortunately this one was a miss for me. It's quite scattered, often bouncing between several decades within one page. Rieves is trying to sort out whether the concept of the soul should be considered in medicine, but the parallels he's trying to draw between his research and caring for his mother dying of cancer don't really land due to how all over the place the writing is.

Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas by John Scalzi - This was, as I expected, unhinged and fun. There's not a ton of depth to the characters given h0w high concept and fast moving the plot is. I didn't really care, though, and was just gleefully along for the ride. Scalzi is so good at snark, and this novel is like 75% snark.

Hello my friends, and happy Sunday.

Due to the content of this newsletter, I wanted to give a brief warning before we get started that we will be discussing National Suicide Prevention Month, including LGBTQIA+ statistics, books, and in addition, some resources should you or your loved one(s) ever need additional support. With that being said, I hope you take care of yourself if you decide to continue reading this newsletter, as it is my hope to raise awareness and destigmatize the discussions around suicide, and how it directly affects the LGTQIA+ community in particular. I will post a banner below this disclaimer as a way to break up this disclosure before we get started. Please proceed with an abundance of caution, and remember, at the end of the day, your mental health is most important. The goal of this newsletter is to raise awareness, however, I also know not everyone is in the mental space to hold these statistics. Please take care.

National Suicide Awareness Month is important to me for a myriad of reasons - my profession, my life, my queerness - it's all correlated. I wanted to break down some key dates, the theme of 2026, and a little bit of how it started so you have a little bit of a background knowledge before we jump into anything else.

Key dates for this month are September 8th, also, 9/8, known as "988 Day". Another important date is September 10th, which is World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD). The theme for 2026 is, "Changing The Narrative On Suicide: Start The Convo" which is what my goal is here, through this newsletter - to create that conversation, yes, but also to explain why it's crucial to not only have the convo through sharing statistics, but books to further your reading - both nonfiction and fiction. The history of National Suicide Prevention Month is that it was established in 2003 by The International Association For Suicide Prevention (IASP) and The World Health Organization (WHO).

The above banner says that "We all have a role to play in suicide prevention." And I 10000% agree. As I share these statistics next, I would encourage you to think about your own experiences with your queerness (if applicable) and your own mental health, or if you're an accomplice and do not identify as queer, how you have shown up for your queer friends/family/community members and how you have impacted their mental health. It takes a village to care for one another, but all it takes is ONE PERSON to change someone else's day for the good. With that said, here are some breakdowns of the LGBTQIA+ community:

• LGBTQIA+ teens are 4x the national rate to attempt suicide

• 36% of LGBTQIA+ youth endorsed suicidal ideation, while 1-% attempted in the last year

• over 50% of LGBTQIA+ youth have been bullied, and 21% have been physically harmed or threatened due to their identity, in addition to 19% missing school for safety concerns

• 84% wanted mental healthcare, and out of that 84%, 44% were unable to receive help

• 32% endorses having a plan to end their life

• Using the correct pronouns = a 50% decrease in attempts in trans and nonbinary households

• Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for 10-14 year olds

• Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for 15-24 year olds

• 1.8 million LGBTQIA+ 13-24 year olds consider suicide each year and there is at least 1 attempt every 45 seconds in the United States

• Trans and nonbinary youth are 2-2.5x more likely to endorse anxiety and depression and highly consider or attempt suicide

• Intersectionality: 11% white, 22% Indigenous, 18% Middle Eastern/North African, 16% Black, 17% Multi-racial, 15% Latinx, 10% Asian/Pacific Islander has attempted suicide

• 23% Indigenous LGBTQIA+ attempted suicide versus 14% other LGBTQIA+ community

• 58% of Black trans and nonbinary have considered suicide, while 25% have attempted

• Only 38% of LGBTQIA+ people say their home is safe for them

And the one statistic that I want you to walk away with:

• ONE ACCEPTING ADULT DECREASES SUICIDE BY 50%

Please be that one adult. We have just read so many statistics that are heartbreaking, earth shattering, and also? Completely avoidable. How we show up for our community matters - each other, our families, our friends, our co-workers, our neighbors - and yes, even those strangers and passers-by on the street. We all deserve compassion and a community and SOMEONE that cares.

I could write a novel on the value of human decency and respect and how showing up for others is suicide prevention. But let's get into some resources, because that was heavy, and I want you to know that YOU matter, too.

Like the above graphic, 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7 via chat/text/phone at both 988 and 988lifeline.org. Here are some additional resources specifically for the LGBTQIA+ community:

• The Trans Lifeline at: 1-877-565-8860

• The Trevor Project (TheTrevorProject.org) at 1-866-488-7382

• LGBT National Hotline at 1-888-843-4564

• SAGE Elder Hotline at 1-877-360-5428

• Coming Out Support at 1-888-688-5428

There are several, several additional resources out there, so this is by no means an exhaustive list I have given you. I have gathered a couple LGBTQIA+ books with the topic of suicide, both nonfiction and fiction, and is also not an exhaustive list - merely a starting point for you to utilize if you so choose:

• Suicide Notes by Michael Thomas Ford

• More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

• Prayers For Bobby by Leroy Aarons

• If Tomorrow Doesn't Come by Jen St. Jude

• The LGBTQ+ Mental Health Workbook by Dr. Kiki Fehling

• The Bridge by Bill Konigsberg

• Darius The Great (duology) by Adib Khorram

• Jerkbait by Mia Siegert

• Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austen

Like I said, there are so many more books on this topic, these books I found at a quick glance. I encourage you to do your own research and read what feels right for you.

I hope you have walked away with more knowledge surrounding National Suicide Prevention Month, yes, but also a better understanding of how suicide is not only very much preventable, but, how we can work together to not only destigmatize it, but come together and stop it. It truly takes a village to take care of our own. And like the last statistic says, it takes ONE to decrease suicide by 50%. Just one. Please be that one to the people you come in contact with every day.

I hope you all have a great Sunday and you find small and big ways to take care of yourselves and be gentle today. I will see you Thursday for Trans Joy Thursday. I will also share the zoom link for our Beyond The Rainbow chat with Anita Kelly happening Friday, September 11th, from 6-7pm CST. Can't wait to see you all then!

With all my trans joy,

Sawyer Cole

Happy Sunday folks!

I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's RAINING here in Southern California! We woke to a small downpour thanks to Hurricane Marie, and I am SO excited to curl up with a book for the rest of the day with the windows open and the sound of the rain in the background.

This week's update feels a little light, but it was a fun reading week. I started the week working on my final August read: The Pirate Queen. And in case you haven't seen my Youtube review, l absolutely loved it. It's exactly what I hoped it would be and SO much more. Honestly, you cannot go wrong with this book, especially if you've read and loved her other work. I shared a lot of thoughts and feelings about this one, including my 2 cents on whether you should read the book as published or if you should read the chapters chronologically, so be sure and check out that video if you're curious. ♾️⭐️s

I promptly moved on to Femme Feral, a book COMPLETELY outside my norm but which totally worked! This was one of my last few unread NetGalley books, and, boy, was it fun. Definitely not for everyone, but any of my perimenopausal or menopausal friends looking to escape into a hilarious story about a perimenopausal werewoman raging across London will probably enjoy it! 3.5⭐️s

As part of an upcoming campaign I am re-reading The Story Keeper by Kelly Rimmer. See, I read this book over a year ago when I thought it was going to be published under the title The Midnight Estate. But for some reason the publication date and the title changed. I have been invited to share a paid review, so I thought I would give it a re-read. I am enjoying it a bit more this go-round, and not just because it's a paid campaign. I think I rushed through it last time, so I've been trying to take my time with it a bit more this go-round. There are lots of fun Easter Eggs in this book-within-a-book story, and fans of Kate Morton will appreciate the tone and the mystery. Final review to come soon! 😜

I've started Tenderness, the latest from Rowan Beaird which promises to be cinematic and somewhat dark. At least that's the vibe I'm getting so far, and that's exactly why I loved her last book, The Divorcees. It read like an old Classic film noir, and Tenderness is feeling a bit like a 1970s neo-noir. More to come!

I also started MY MOST ANTICIPATED Winter release and already I've fallen completely in love. Stations by Louise Kennedy is going to be excellent, but I knew that already. I'm so excited to have been selected as an early reader for this November release. Beginning in 1980s Ireland, it follows two teens who find solace in each other; it follows them over decades and promises to be a tear-jerker just like Trespasses, one of my all time favorite reads. Stay tuned for my final thoughts!

Lastly, I think it's the perfect day to curl up with The Hacienda, the September BBFL book club book. I have read and enjoyed Isabel Canas' work in the past, so I have high expectations. Are you reading with us?

ICYMI

• September historical fiction books worth reading

• a WWII novel set in Italy that you might enjoy

• Madeline Martin wrote a witchy novel!

• The Pirate Queen reading guide and review

• The Pirate Queen giveaway for you and your boo

• I'm having a Labor Day sale over on Pango! (help me clear my shelves)

Hear It Here First

Paid subscribers will get early access to the November historical fiction look ahead sometime this week, so be sure to upgrade if you want the secret password!

I filmed a fun weekend vlog focused on productivity while my phone was on lockdown; look for that to premier this week on Youtube.

The August reading wrap-up will likely also premier this week on Youtube, and you'll have to tune in to see what book I ranked my favorite read of the month. It might surprise you!

Happy reading friends 😘

xoxo

c

Happy Sunday, my friends!

I am caught up in the weeds of it all, trying to prepare for a huge move (look for 300 books to hit Pango soon. I wish this was an exaggeration) trying to prepare for an upcoming trip to NYC and trying to prepare content for the end of the year and already trying to think about community goals for next year? Anything you want to see more of here? Let me know below!

I wanted to pop in and thank all of you who have already read and reviewed Cracks, by Stoker Award winning author, Kristy Park Kulski, the second release from our imprint! We are already up to 50 Netgalley reviews and it’s so fulfilling to see people feel the same way that I do about this gorgeous and haunting book. (Check out quotes below!)

One thing about this imprint is that you can expect our books to all haunt and heal in completely different ways. Cracks is for you if you LOVE literary horror. Think Stephen Graham Jones, Han Kang, Catriona Ward. If you love language and haunting pasts, you’re going to devour this book.

If you haven’t requested yet, please do! Early reviews really help a book get traction! We saw this for What Feeds Below and now it’s time to start really getting the word out about Cracks (the earlier, the better!)

You can request here (but I have no control over who gets approved) https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/880103

The fact that we already have 50 Netgalley reviews is really a testament to the work we do in this community for our authors. Some trad pubbed books don’t see numbers like this so early! (Much like 1,000 preorders is unheard of for many trad authors! Let’s get Kristy there, too!) I love that we work together to change author’s lives and I am holding onto a few secrets I hope to tell you soon!

Thank you for being part of this community! Have a great rest of your weekend. Tell me what you’re reading

We’ve been waiting for this one, and the The Lost Spectacular by Zoé Duhaime book club collection is officially READY! 🎪📖✨

If you’re getting ready to read this beautifully imaginative story about books, love, loss, grief, memory, second chances, and letting go, we’ve created four different ways to experience it whether you're gathering your whole book club, reading with a buddy, or settling in for a solo reading adventure.

At the heart of The Lost Spectacular are Noon Bonaventure and Munro Forrest, childhood loves turned rivals who find themselves connected to a mysterious, ever-changing festival filled with everything lost. Their story invites readers to think about what we hold onto, what we leave behind, and whether some things are worth finding again.

And now you can explore all of those themes with your own reading group or on your own!

🎟️ DOWNLOAD YOUR BOOK CLUB KITS

📚 BOOK CLUB KIT

Planning a The Lost Spectacular book club?

Our Book Club Kit is designed to help you turn your meeting into its own little Spectacular!

Inside, you'll find:

✨ Themed discussion questions
✨ Book club conversation prompts
✨ A themed menu
✨ Recipes
✨ Bookish activities
✨ In-person meeting ideas
✨ Virtual book club ideas
✨ Door prize inspiration
✨ A final reflection activity

👉 TAP HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE BOOK CLUB KIT

📖 INDIVIDUAL BOOK CLUB MEMBER'S READER KIT

Want something everyone in your book club can use while reading?

The Individual Book Club Member's Reader Kit gives each reader their own space to record thoughts, predictions, favorite moments, character observations, and reflections as they make their way through The Lost Spectacular.

It's perfect for readers who love to annotate, journal, predict, reflect, and come to book club ready to talk!

👉 TAP HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE INDIVIDUAL READER KIT

👯 BUDDY READER KIT

Reading The Lost Spectacular with your favorite bookish buddy?

We've got you covered!

The Buddy Reader Kit gives you built-in checkpoints and conversation starters so you don't have to wait until the final page to start talking.

Inside you'll find:

🎪 Reading checkpoints
💬 Spoiler-friendly discussion prompts
🔮 Prediction questions
📚 Bookish conversation starters
❤️ Character discussions
🌙 End-of-book questions
🎟️ Buddy reading activities

Whether you're reading together in person or texting your thoughts from completely different locations, this kit gives you plenty to talk about along the way.

👉 TAP HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE BUDDY READER KIT

🌙 SOLO READER KIT

Not reading with a group?

No problem!

The Solo Reader Kit was created for those wonderfully independent readers who love turning their reading time into a whole experience.

Use it to pause throughout the book, record your reactions, explore the themes of grief, memory, love, books, and letting go, and reflect on what The Lost Spectacular means to you.

Because sometimes the best book club conversation is the one you have with yourself. 💭📖

👉 TAP HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE SOLO READER KIT

✨ WHICH ONE WILL YOU USE?

📚 Book Club Kit → For your next book club meeting
📖 Individual Reader Kit → For every member of your reading group
👯 Buddy Reader Kit → For your next buddy read
🌙 Solo Reader Kit → For a cozy independent reading experience

So grab your copy, gather your fellow book lovers, and get ready to step into the Spectacular. 🎪✨

And remember:

Everything you love must leave you.

But thankfully, some stories stay with us long after we turn the final page. 💕

💭 BOOKISH QUESTION

If you could step into the Spectacular and recover ONE thing you've lost, what would you hope to find?

Tell us in the comments we want to know! 👀📚

#TheLostSpectacular #ZoéDuhaime #BookClubKit #BookClubReads #BookishCommunity

✨ WHAT IF THE BOOKS THAT SHAPED YOU COULD LEAD YOU STRAIGHT TO THE THING YOU’VE BEEN RUNNING FROM?

There are books that tell a story, and then there are books that make you think about why we tell stories in the first place. The Lost Spectacular by Zoé Duhaime is very much the latter.

Blending the literary wonder of The Night Circus with the introspective magic of The Midnight Library, this whimsical and tender story follows childhood loves Noon Bonaventure and Munro Forrest two people who once shared books, stories, and dreams before becoming rivals shaped by very different relationships with loss.

At the center of their story is the Spectacular: a mysterious, ever-changing festival filled with impossible and beautiful things. It can be discovered through invitations or even the pages of misprints, and wherever it goes, stories settle. For Noon, the Spectacular becomes something to protect. For Munro, it becomes something to capture.

And that difference says so much about them.

✨ A Love Letter to Books and the Stories We Carry

What immediately intrigued me about The Lost Spectacular is how deeply books are woven into the characters’ lives.

Noon and Munro didn't simply grow up reading stories they grew up living through them together. Their shared childhood memories, arguments over favorite books, and the stories passed down by Munro’s grandmother create a foundation for their relationship that feels especially meaningful for anyone who has ever connected with another person over a book.

I loved the idea that literature can become part of our personal history.

A favorite book can remind us of a particular person. A sentence can transport us back to a childhood bedroom. A character can become someone we carry with us for years. Sometimes we don't even realize how much of our identity has been shaped by the stories we've loved until something comes along and makes us look back.

The Lost Spectacular seems to understand that beautifully.

🎪 The Spectacular: Wonder With a Little Bit of Heartbreak

The Spectacular itself is such a fascinating concept.

A constantly changing festival filled with things both recognizable and impossible pearls, apple orchards, abandoned drafts, shipwrecks, umbrellas filling the sky feels like stepping directly into the imagination of someone who believes that everything has a story.

I especially love that the Spectacular isn't simply a magical setting. It represents something much more emotional: the things we desperately want to preserve.

Because isn't that what we do with stories?

We try to hold onto people. Memories. Places. Versions of ourselves. Moments we aren't ready to lose.

And that brings us directly to the heart of this book.

💔 Grief, Letting Go, and the Fear of Losing What We Love

The line “Everything you love must leave you” sets the emotional tone for this story perfectly.

Noon and Munro have responded to loss in completely different ways.

Noon has learned to move forward. She embraces change and has become the next captain of the Spectacular.

Munro, meanwhile, has built his life around refusing to let go. As a museum curator, he wants to create an exhibit capable of capturing the Spectacular and returning its lost treasures.

Their opposing philosophies make their rivalry so compelling because neither approach is entirely simple.

Is moving on the same thing as forgetting?

Is holding on an act of love or a refusal to heal?

And can you truly preserve something without changing it in the process?

Those are the kinds of questions that make The Lost Spectacular feel like a wonderful book-club pick. There is so much here to discuss beyond the romance and fantasy.

❤️ A Love Story About More Than Romance

At its core, this is a love story, but what makes it interesting is that Noon and Munro aren't simply trying to fall in love.

They're trying to figure out whether they can stop running from the story they've already written together.

Their estrangement, rivalry, and lingering connection give their relationship an emotional history. They aren't strangers who meet and fall for each other. They're people who already know each other deeply and who have spent years becoming different versions of themselves.

That creates a deliciously complicated question:

Can two people who have spent years moving in opposite directions find their way back to the same place?

As Munro's exhibition approaches and Noon prepares for her role as captain, they're forced to confront not only the Spectacular but everything that happened between them.

And perhaps the biggest challenge isn't deciding how their story ends.

Maybe it's deciding whether they're brave enough to begin again.

📖 Why I Think Book Clubs Will Have So Much to Talk About

There is so much discussion potential packed into The Lost Spectacular.

This is the kind of book that can take a book-club conversation in several different directions:

• Books & identity: How do the stories we love influence who we become?

• Grief: Is letting go necessary for healing, or can holding onto memories also be an act of love?

• Preservation: Why do we feel the need to preserve certain people, places, and moments?

• Love & second chances: Can people reconnect after years of hurt and separation?

• Rivalry: How much of Noon and Munro's rivalry comes from their different philosophies about loss?

• Change: Is moving forward always the same thing as moving on?

• The Spectacular: What would your own version of this magical festival contain?

• Literary escape: Why do books sometimes become places we retreat to when real life becomes too painful?

And perhaps my favorite question of all:

If you could step inside one story that shaped your life, which one would you choose and would you really want to know what happens beyond the ending?

🌙 Final Thoughts

The Lost Spectacular feels like the kind of literary fantasy that asks you to slow down and look at the stories you've carried with you.

It's whimsical and imaginative, but underneath all that magic is something deeply human: the fear of losing the things we love and the courage it takes to accept that some things cannot stay exactly as they were.

Noon and Munro's journey through books, art, memories, family, love, and grief creates a story that feels like a celebration of storytelling itself.

Because sometimes the hardest part isn't finding the perfect ending.

Sometimes it's realizing that an ending doesn't have to mean the story is over.

And maybe, just maybe, the most beautiful stories are the ones where we're brave enough to turn the page.

📚 BOOK CLUB QUESTION: If you could enter the magical Spectacular and add one treasured book, memory, person, or place to it, what would you choose and why?

💌 A Special Thank You

Erewhon Books and Zoé Duhaime, thank you for sharing The Lost Spectacular with us! We loved having the opportunity to explore this magical, literary, and emotionally resonant story with our bookish community.

📖 Want to Bring The Lost Spectacular to Your Next Reading?

We've created free mini book-club resources to help you dive deeper into the story!

✨ Tap to download your free mini reader Kits.

Looking for something more personal? We've also created individual kits for every kind of reader:

📚 Reader Kit — for reading and reflecting on your own
👯 Buddy Reader Kit — perfect for reading with a friend
☕ Solo Reader Kit — for a cozy individual reading experience

Want the full book-club experience? Join The First Editions to unlock the complete book club kits, with expanded discussion resources and everything you need to turn your reading into a full book-club experience.

Because every great story deserves to be talked about. 💕📚

#TheLostSpectacular #ZoéDuhaime #BookClubReview #LiteraryFantasy #BookClubReads

It’s been almost two weeks since my last update, and I actually have a pretty big one.

The first draft of Werewolf Summer is DONE! I rewarded myself with my first iced PSL with a pumpkin snowcap from Woods Coffee. No more Starbucks for me for over a year now because they're just horrible.

It is absolutely a word-vomit draft right now, but I don’t even care. There is no better high than the feeling I get after finishing a book, even when it’s only the first draft.

It has bones now.

Next I get to go back in and fill in the blood and guts.

I’m really proud of myself for getting this one finished, especially because writing is never a neat, consistent process for me. I can go days without touching a draft and then suddenly write thousands of words when something clicks. This one clicked, and now I have an entire book to work with. All I'll say for now the story went in a different direction and has more witchy, nostalgia, cozy horror vibes than I thought it would with some gruesome kills! I'm not following the rules. Cozy vibes of cozy fantasy and mysteries blended with the gruesomeness of horror.

Outside of writing, I’ve continued filling my little lair with pieces of the late ’90s and early ’00s.

I’ve been finding old magazines I actually read back then, which has been such a weird little time capsule. Not reproductions or things made to look nostalgic. The actual issues I remember seeing on shelves when I was younger.

And I found a CRT TV at Goodwill.

It was a STEAL.

So now I have this whole setup where I can watch old DVDs and VHS tapes the way I remember watching them, flip through old magazines, and generally escape into a time before everything lived on the same little screen in our hands.

I’ve been sharing more of it online too because I know I’m not the only person craving that feeling lately. If I can give someone else a few minutes of the same nostalgic joy I’ve been getting from all of this, I want to.

That’s also part of why I made my September and October watchlist.

I put it together one night this week when I was having a rough time, and working on it genuinely helped. I wanted something fun to look forward to and something that might give other people the same thing.

It has movies and TV episodes for fall in September and Halloween in October, with some things placed on specific dates for a reason.

It’s up on my Instagram if you want to watch along with me.

And finally, my I Wish I Was a Vampire book release event is in 13 days!

I’m getting really excited about this one. They also ordered a few copies of Twisted Tales to Tell in the Night, so now it’s starting to feel like I’m getting my own tiny spooky book fair, which is basically perfect.

So that’s where I’m at right now.

One first draft finished. One spooky book event getting very close. A house slowly filling with old magazines, VHS tapes, DVDs, and CRT televisions.

September is off to a pretty good start.

Join me this October for the Never Whistle at Night Readathon taking place in our community Discord!

Starting 10-1, we will be reading one story from the Part II Back For Blood Anthology!

Each story will have its own channel, so if you fell behind, don’t worry, you’ll still be able to participate!

Perhaps there will be some giveaways or special guests?

Let’s Get Spooky! (Indigenously!)

We’re reading Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff in September! I was so excited counting the votes—I feel like this book perfectly kick off fall reading. I hope it’s more of a hit than last month’s book was 😅 ALSO, this is the first book in a completed trilogy, which bodes well if anyone loves it and wants to continue on with the series!

Per usual, don’t forget to check the Discord for this month’s giveaway winner. I hope you all are having a wonderful start to September 🍁