I was so excited to see Fishbone Cinderella by Elizabeth Lim as an August option. It was one of the only August new releases that I knew I had to get my hands on.

This book takes a fairy tale and turns it into a "story of mothers and daughters, the scars they inherit and the magic that binds them, [it] is a tender and enchanting exploration of what it means, at last, to be seen." (Penguin Random House) I can't wait to read this one!

I have been loving collecting the BOTM Centennial Editions for my Classics collection. This month, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote made its way to me. It's described as the first non-fiction novel and tells the story of a real murder investigation in the 1960's. I haven't previously read this Classic, but the murder mystery/true crime plotline quickly drew me in. I also read that Harper Lee heavily assisted Capote in his research, with immediately increased my curiosity!

🗨️ Which one would you pick up first: fairy tale inspired fiction or true-crime non-fiction?

-or-

Do you subscribe to any book boxes you'd recommend?

Want to try BOTM for just $5? My referral 🔗 gets you the goods!

Hi Chanterelles!

It's time for our seasonal giveaways🥰 I can't believe how fast time is flying and just cause I do know some of you are not on the discord channel, I've shared that we're doing this giveaway and the next one earlier so that you guys have it in time for holiday seasons 🤎

Giveaway:

This is our second Digital giveaway and so we're running it from today, August 14 to August 25 11:59 pm (UK timezone) and I'll pick the winner shortly after. I've been given some feedback that you guys would like to know the winner has been chosen and announced so I'll be sending another post once this is done🥹

And just bare in mind, sometimes the newsletter emails or my general emails will go to spam so always check your spam folder to see if you've won anything!

This giveaway will be the same as the previous one, where you can win a giftcard from any of the following that is of a value of £50 (or your chosen currency's equivalent):

• Bookshop.org or any indie bookshops

• Any small business that do any Cozy Hobbies, Teas or anything to support your slow living

• Steam or Indie Games giftcard

• Really anything within the same theme as above but might not exactly fit! (Feel free to DM/email me to discuss this)

Just fill out the form in here before the deadline and I will be in touch with the winner through email! Good luck to everyone🤎

Summary
Tracing a loose arc from Edwidge Danticat's childhood to the COVID-19 pandemic and recent events in Haiti, the essays gathered in We're Alone include personal narrative, reportage, and tributes to mentors and heroes such as Toni Morrison, Paule Marshall, Gabriel García Márquez, and James Baldwin that explore several abiding environmental catastrophe, the traumas of colonialism, motherhood, and the complexities of resilience.

Review

I adored this collection. Each essay was so masterfully constructed that it made me both want to teach this writing and write again myself.

I really appreciated how much this book taught me about Haiti, but what really struck me the most were the pieces about family, death, and moving forward.

“Writing the Self and Others” was my favorite essay from this collection.

What I learned

• In the early 19th century, Polish soldiers were fighting along the French army in Haiti, but switched alliances to join Haiti in their battle of independence from France. When independence was won, these soldiers were the only foreigners granted Haitain citizenship.
  

• in the 1930s there was a large population of Haitians living in the Dominican Republic as agricultural workers and families of Haitian descendants. In 1937, dictator Rafael Trujillo imposed a quota of Hatians that estates could employ in the Dominican Republic. And a month later, he commanded his army to kill all Haitians in the northwestern region of the Dominican Republic. It's estimated that between 14,000-40,000 Haitians were murdered.
  

• In 1990, Jean-Bertrand Aristide was the first democratically elected president of Haiti after the 29-year Duvalier dictatorship. However, his presidency didn't last long as a coup by the Haitian military (where some members were on the CIA's payroll) outsted him. This happened again in 2004 after he was re-elected.

  • After this coup, more than 40,000 Haitians were arrested by the U.S. Coast Guard as they fled the country. They were thrown into prison at Guantánamo Naval Base.
    

• After an earthquake struck Port-au-Prince in 2010, UN peacekeepers released raw sewage from their base into one of Haiti's rivers. This caused cholera epidemic that killed 10,000 people.

Vote for one of the books I read over the next month! I will record an exclusive review of the book that is chosen just for you awesome Bindery lot :).

I am changing things up. I have a lot of random ideas, short stories, and of course work in progress. That's going to be what I start sharing for my exclusive post. I don't want to make new content just for the sake of it when I could be giving you a behind the scenes look at my writing process. Hope you enjoy! After finishing the outline weeks ago I took a break to get another idea out of my head (I Wish I Was a Vampire) now back to Werewolf Summer I have finished the first five chapters of the first draft so obviously anything I share will most likely change somewhat or who knows A LOT. Okay enough stalling. Here is part of Chapter 1!

CHAPTER 1

Jenna sits across from Winona in the radio station booth while Winona adjusts the levels and pushes a stack of papers out of the way. The desk is covered in CDs in and out of their cases, old flyers, coffee rings, and black pens.
Her mic is still muted, so she takes another breath and tries to calm down. It does not help much. Her hands are damp, her stomach is tight, and the first page of her notes is too neat. When she gets nervous, she overprepares, as if bullet points can somehow keep her from falling apart.
At the top of the page, she has written: First episode back. Below that: Charlie. Woods Bay. Why now? She hates seeing those three things together.
“You okay?” Winona asks, popping her head up like a meerkat from behind her computer screen.
“Yes?” Jenna says, but it sounds like a question even to her.
She looks out the window at the sheets of rain coming down on the historic downtown of Woods Bay. It’s been humid all afternoon, the kind of sticky summer weather that makes the air feel thick, and now the rain is hitting the pavement hard enough to turn everything outside soft and gray.
Winona waits.
“Fuck,” Jenna says, dragging the word out like a moan. “No, I’m not, but I will be.”
“That sounds more like it,” Winona says with a fake-it-till-you-make-it level of enthusiasm before giving Jenna a cheesy thumbs-up.
Jenna almost laughs, but it comes out more like a breath. “I want to do this. I do. It’s just a lot.”
“Then we don’t have to do it today. That’s what’s great about owning your own station,” Winona says.
She puts her feet up on her desk and leans back in her chair. As she goes to put her hands behind her head to really commit to the relaxed appearance, her face shifts from a smile to panic. A second later, she tumbles backward onto the floor.
“Yes we do you goofball. Are you okay?” Jenna asks between giggles.
Winona’s voice comes from the other side of the desk. “I’m fine. At least I got you to laugh. And no, we really don’t.”
Jenna looks down at her notes again. Charlie’s name is still there, like it is just another topic she can get through if she stays professional enough.
“We do,” Jenna says. “That’s how sponsors work. You produce content and then you get paid. It’s just the first time recording without her.”
Winona climbs back into her chair. Her face softens, but not in the careful way people use when they are afraid of saying the wrong thing. Jenna appreciates that. She hates being handled like she might break if someone speaks normally.
“I know,” Winona says with a sadness in her eyes that breaks Jenna’s heart a little.
Jenna knows she does. That is one of the reasons she agreed to record with her. Winona doesn’t know everything, but she knows enough. She knows Woods Bay. She is a member of one of the town’s founding families, which means she understands what it is like when something terrible happens and strangers decide they have a right to talk about it. Back home, people had been kind. Jenna cannot complain about that, but kindness was not enough.
In Woods Bay, people are strange and nosy, but they do not need Jenna to explain why she flinches at certain sounds or why the smell of chlorine still makes her throat close. They understand enough.
Winona slides a pair of headphones toward her. “Last chance to run dramatically into the rain.”
“Tempting,” Jenna says looking out the window as if really debating running out the door and getting soaked.
“I’d give you thirty seconds before I mocked you on air,” Winona says, smirking at her.
“How kind of you,” Jenna says.
“As Jacob would say, kind is my middle name,” Winona says.
Jenna who is middrink almost spits water all over.
“You did not just quote one of the Twilight movies,” Jenna says in between coughs. She slides her cat ear headphones on.
Across from her, Winona glances at the levels, then smiles back at Jenna.
“Damn straight I did and it got you distracted and laughing. Well after choking. Seriously though. You say the word and we stop,” Winona says. “Anytime.”
Jenna nods. Winona unmuted her mic first. The red light comes on.

MINI POD! In this episode, Jordy dives into the hidden wonders of snail mail clubs: what they are, who’s sending them, and why they bring so much joy. Tune in to discover new artists and creatives deserving of your support.  

 Listen on Apple Podcasts // Spotify // Deezer // Pocket Casts

Books/Resources Mentioned: 

The Mossheart Mail Club website // Instagram 

Naomi VanDoren, Tales from the Isles of Antarah website // Instagram 

Brambletown Mail Club website // Instagram  

Writings from the Wild website // Instagram  

xoClementine website // Instagram  

The Moonlight Mail Club website // Instagram  

Tabby Mail website // Instagram  

Katie Mai Mail Club website // Instagram   

Support and follow our host! 

Follow Jordy: Instagram // Pagebound.co

This episode was edited and produced by Renee Powers on the ancestral land of the Dakota people.

Original music by Amarissa

Hi everyone, I hope you've all been enjoying your summer! I mentioned in my August Release Radar post that I wanted to start posting more on here again, so please vote below for the option you'd like to see! :)

Hello,

I’m here to ruin your weekend TBR!

Our next book (Cracks by Kristy Park Kulski, available for preorder below 😇) is now on Netgalley!

Request. Read. Revel. Review. 💗🐇🔪

Horror and myth collide when a Korean American teenager’s grief summons something ancient: a water ghost that has been feeding on her family’s sorrow for decades.

https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/880103

This week's pick comes from Marcus Parks!

For fans who want to know where Grant Morrison learned how to be weird, this is surreal Irish fiction at its absolute best. It'll make you fall in love with the printed word all over again. You may not quite know what's happening at all times as the one-legged protagonist makes his way through a version of Hell, but the writing is so beautiful you don't really care. It's the most original and thought-provoking take on the afterlife that I've ever read. 

Hello Friends and welcome to another edition of Trans Joy Thursday!

I am so excited for this week, as I just received an exciting e-mail today with a tentative schedule for UntitledTown's Book And Author Festival being held right here in Green Bay, WI September 25-27, to which I will be leading 3 panels, and participating in an additional 2 more! Here is the event flyer, scan the QR code to find out more information if you're interested. Or you can click the hyperlink above to bring you to the website:

Are you wondering what workshops/panels I'm leading or will be a part of? I'm (im)patiently waiting for the greenlight to share them all and times/dates/locations of where I'll be. BUT I CAN SHARE ONE THING: The panel I initially pitched that I was accepted to lead? I'll be in conversation with the duo authors that are also right here in Green Bay: MAE MARVEL! They will be with me on one panel, and I am so unbelievably stoked for it. I adore them both, and truly am excited to sit down and talk to them next month. Stay tuned for details, and I promise you, once I get the green light, I won't be able to shut up about it.

ALSO, another thing that has brought me joy this week? I just confirmed our September Beyond The Rainbow chat with Dr. KiKi Fehling, DBT-LBC, author of The Mental LGBTQ+ Mental Health Workbook: Find Emotional Resilience, Self-Love, & Queer Joy with Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. Details are below:

I will post the zoom information here and on Discord closer to the date. I hope you can make it because not only is this book so needed, we're also chatting with Dr. Kiki Fehling during Suicide Prevention Month - a topic that is very important to me. Especially when it's discussed in terms of the LGTBQIA+ community and our lack of support in the world right now. I truly hope you will purchase/request this book for your own personal usage.

Other Trans Joy musings is that I just pre-ordered Aiden Thomas' Cemetery Boys: Espiritu and also entered into his pre-order campaign to get some swag! It's live on his Instagram page if you also wanted to enter! I cannot wait for that book to be released!

I hope this week brings you so much (trans) joy! Don't forget to slide on over to our Discord where we're discussing our Q3 book club pick, Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H!

With all my trans joy,

Sawyer Cole

Honored to be in conversation with Boulder Fire Rescue for an honest discussion about EMS and burnout. Then hit Encinitas for an awesome double reading at Artifact Books!

Last week, I collected your weirdest book recommendations. And BOY, did you all deliver!

I’ve painstakingly narrowed the choices down to a (very cool) final six, and it’s now your time to vote and choose what I read this month.

This vote is ONLY open to you, my Moonwalkers. You’ll also be the first ones to see my unfiltered thoughts. 

Some of these books are popular, and others less so. So here’s a bit about each choice so you can vote for the one that spikes your curiosity the most. 

Mad Sisters of Esi by Tashan Mehta

Myung and Laleh are keepers of the whale of babel. They roam within its cosmic chambers, speak folktales of themselves, and pray to an enigmatic figure they know only as 'Great Wisa'. To Laleh, this is everything. For Myung, it is not enough.

When Myung flees the whale, she stumbles into a new universe where shapeshifting islands and ancient maps hold sway. There, she sets off on an adventure that is both tragic and transformative, for her and Laleh. For at the heart of her quest lies a mystery that has confounded scholars for centuries: the truth about the mad sisters of Esi.

Fables, dreams and myths come together in this masterful work of fantasy by acclaimed author Tashan Mehta, sweeping across three landscapes, and featuring a museum of collective memory and a festival of madness. At its core, it asks: In the devastating chaos of this world, where all is in flux and the truth ever-changing, what will you choose to hold on to?

Bestiary by K-Ming Chang

Three generations of Taiwanese American women are haunted by the myths of their homeland in this spellbinding, visceral debut about one family's queer desires, violent impulses, and buried secrets.

One evening, Mother tells Daughter a story about a tiger spirit who lived in a woman’s body. She was called Hu Gu Po, and she hungered to eat children, especially their toes. Soon afterwards, Daughter awakes with a tiger tail. And more mysterious events follow: Holes in the backyard spit up letters penned by her grandmother; a visiting aunt arrives with snakes in her belly; a brother tests the possibility of flight. All the while, Daughter is falling for Ben, a neighborhood girl with strange powers of her own. As the two young lovers translate the grandmother’s letters, Daughter begins to understand that each woman in her family embodies a myth–and that she will have to bring her family’s secrets to light in order to change their destiny.

With a poetic voice of crackling electricity, K-Ming Chang is an explosive young writer who combines the wit and fabulism of Helen Oyeyemi with the subversive storytelling of Maxine Hong Kingston. Tracing one family’s history from Taiwan to America, from Arkansas to California, Bestiary is a novel of migration, queer lineages, and girlhood.

Moonflow by Bitter Karella

Moonflow is three-time Hugo Award nominee Bitter Karella's debut horror novel-a gloriously queer and irreverent psychedelic trip into the heart of an eldritch wood and the horrors of sisterhood. Answer the call of the forest, if you dare.

I see something out there, in the woods. It does not have a face.

They call it the King's Breakfast. One bite and you can understand the full scope of the universe; one bite and you can commune with forgotten gods beyond human comprehension. And it only grows deep in the Pamogo forest, where the trees crowd so tight that the forest floor is pitch black day and night, where rumors of strange cults and disappearing hikers abound.

Sarah makes her living growing mushrooms. When a bad harvest leaves her in a desperate fix, the lure of the King's Breakfast has her journeying into those vast uncharted woods. Her only guide is the most annoying man in the world, and he's convinced there's no danger. But as they descend deeper, they realize they're not alone. Something is luring them into the heart of the forest, and they must answer its call.

There is No Antimemetics Division by qntm

An antimeme is an idea with self-censoring properties; an idea which, by its intrinsic nature, discourages or prevents people from spreading it. Antimemes are real. Think of any piece of information which you wouldn't share with anybody, like passwords, taboos and dirty secrets. Or any piece of information which would be difficult to share even if you complex equations, very boring passages of text, large blocks of random numbers, and dreams... But anomalous antimemes are another matter entirely. How do you contain something you can't record or remember? How do you fight a war against an enemy with effortless, perfect camouflage, when you can never even know that you're at war? Welcome to the Antimemetics Division. No, this is not your first day.

Human Scars on Planet Skin by Effie Joe Stock and Nathaniel Luscombe

Turr is fighting back for what was stolen from her: her body and her children living on it.

After the humans tried to colonize her, Turr was forced to resort to mass violence to reclaim her skin. But in fleeing the planet, the humans left behind a chemical disaster—the dead zone.

To bring peace and life back to herself, Turr sends out a desperate plea to two shroom people: Invidia and Clyra. Invidia, though surrounded by death, is tasked with learning how to breathe life back into the land. Clyra must lead a group of broken failed experiments through the forest, following a trail of visions. Death and uncertainty face them at every turn, but only when they’re all together can the planet truly begin to heal.

Human Scars on Planet Skin will leave you haunted by the stark realities of upsetting the balance of life, aching against the sorrow unmitigated death brings, and shivering against the horrors of being trapped within your own body. More than anything, it will leave you comforted, knowing hope always exists in the life around us, no matter how dark our surroundings may seem.

Escaping Exodus by Nicky Drayden

Escaping Exodus is a story of a young woman named Seske Kaleigh, heir to the command of a biological, city-size starship carved up from the insides of a spacefaring beast. Her clan has just now culled their latest ship and the workers are busy stripping down the bonework for building materials, rerouting the circulatory system for mass transit, and preparing the cavernous creature for the onslaught of the general populous still in stasis. It’s all a part of the cycle her clan had instituted centuries ago—excavate the new beast, expand into its barely-living carcass, extinguish its resources over the course of a decade, then escape in a highly coordinated exodus back into stasis until they cull the next beast from the diminishing herd.

And of course there wouldn’t be much of a story if things didn’t go terribly, terribly wrong.

You have one week to vote! I can’t wait to see what we choose.

XO,
Steph

Our September theme is BACK TO OUR ROOTS. Inspired by our move to Bindery and revitalizing FBC, we want to explore what it means to go back in order to move forward. Think hometown stories, multigenerational family sagas, memoirs that cover decades, whatever back to our roots means to you! Share your suggestions!

Celebrating a Cozy Summer 🌻

Hello friends! Meg here 👋!

What a lovely summer it's been! We have so much to celebrate, so much joy to spread here in the Cozy Quill. Today I plan to do just that with this edition of our Traveling Tomes newsletter.

First, did you hear the news?!

This week we announced our 2027 Cozy Quill acquisition, Ash's Airborne Apothecary by our very own, Gryffin Murphy!

See the full announcement by CLICKING HERE.

Ash's Airborne Apothecary is a cozy romantasy is full of whimsy and heart. It follows Beatrix Finch, a thief with an unusual magical curse, who joins forces with a handsome plant witch aboard his flying apothecary in a race to find a legendary healing flower. Along the way, magical adventures, found family, and an unexpected romance make Beatrix question the life she's always known. To embrace her new future, she may have to leave her old one behind.

It's such a delight and I can't wait to share more!

Speaking of sharing more...
We also had a full weekend celebrating the announcement with Gryffin during our quarterly live interview. We're entering into launch month for Twig's Traveling Tomes, so we caught up with Gryffin to discuss how she's feeling and request a little sneak peek of Ash's before we announce it to the public. You can watch that full interview by CLICKING HERE.

Another fun update for Twig's Traveling Tomes: WE GOT AN AUDIOBOOK! 🎉

We had some amazing audiobook narrators submit their auditions to us for Twigs, but when both Gryffin and I heard this specific voice, we had no doubt she was the perfect fit. I'm so happy to announce that Imogen Church (of Bridget Jones's Diary!) will be our narrator!

From the bits we've heard, she's already captured the story so well. Her sense of comic timing and whimsical vocal choices made it a no-brainer for us in our deliberation, and I couldn't be more excited to bring it to you on release day! You'll be able to pre-order/save it very soon on all audiobook formats.

And our final Twig's update...

We whipped up a special activity for you as we enter launch month! A QUIZ! 🎉 Ok, this is so much fun. Take this quiz to discover who is your ideal adventure companion in the Twig's world! Will you travel with Everett (the charming scoundrel), or Midge (our adventurous gnome)? Or maybe you'd fare better with Feralorn (a kooky wizard)? No matter who you travel with, you're sure to find a cozy adventure along the way. Take the quiz HERE!

_

Now let's talk cozy summer... 🌊

I love the idea of a cozy summer. I think the word "cozy" is most closely associated with the colder months, which makes sense. Cozy activities typically lead us inside, involve warming up in some way, etc. But I know I forget that some of my coziest memories happened in the summer!

For example, what's better than coming in from a beach day, exhausted but so happy, freshly showered, and allowing yourself a quick snooze before dinner? How about a twilight walk when the heat takes a breath and you can soak up the fun bits of a gorgeous sunset after that mid-day storm? Or popping by a u-pick farm and snagging some fresh strawberries for tonight's shortcake?

See? For me, cozy is something that can be found all year round. With that in mind, let's see how our Cozy Quill friends are getting cozy this summer...

Denise sent in this photo of the most charming bike ever, saying: "Today was the first day I biked this summer. I rode to work, then to craft night at the local yarn shop. It was a hot day but I made my own breeze and caught a little of the golden hour light on my ride. And when I got home, my kitten Candy was there to greet me."

Denise, that sounds SO cozy! Please send Candy all our snuggles, and thank you for sharing this with us!

Kimberly submitted these little bursts of joy! She says: "My garden is finally bursting with life and color. The flowers have been particularly lovely this season. I scatter flowers throughout and have marigolds, zinnias, cosmos, calendula, and nasturtiums in my garden beds. The 7-inch dahlia is the largest so far, and I have both red and blue gladiolus. They brighten up the kitchen table as I cut them to keep a vase constantly filled."

Just stunning, Kimberly! Your green thumb is such a gift. That 7-in dahlia is incredible.

Speaking of flowers, Kari sent in this beautiful summer bouquet! She says:

"Celebrated summer at a local Blueberry Festival, and my fella bought me this gorgeous bouquet from a local vendor. Summer is the best time to support local farms!"

I love a local festival in the summer, don't you? They're always a treasure trove of local flavor and I tend to come away with so much appreciation for my local farmers, small business owners, and makers.

You absolutely deserve this level of JOY, Kari! Thank you for sharing it with us!

Gryffin Murphy sent in this lovely little respite. She says: For summertime reading, I love to go outside and get into some poetry.

This summer, I've been reading a lot of Mary Oliver in particular, embracing her love for nature!

I took this photo after a caterpillar visited, journeying across the pages of a poem called "On Meditating, Sort Of." My favorite line from it is: "how wonderful to be who I am, made out of earth and water, my own thought, my own fingerprints — all that glorious, temporary stuff.""

I think I'll be mulling over that line for the rest of summer, Gryffin. This is so sweet! Thank you!

And finally, our Cozy Quill Discord moderator, Lynn (PlantyPanda), wrote a beautiful piece on her interpretation of cozy summer. Here's an excerpt:

Thank you for submitting this, Planty! It's such a lovely piece and it reminded me how the simple, small joys of summer really make it FULL. You can read the entire piece by CLICKING HERE.

__________________________________________________________________________

Thank you all for soaking in a cozy summer with us! It's been a lovely celebration and I'm just so grateful to have you here. Your support for my content, this community, and for all our authors means the WORLD. It makes a difference and changes lives.

I hope as we look toward fall that your time is filled with these slow, intentional moments of care for yourself and your people. You are loved and seen, valued and so so appreciated.

So much more to come this year!

Stay cozy, loves!

Meg