I had hoped to host the Leans Literary book club on Discord (and we'll get there!), but we're going to start here as I've had technical difficulties and haven't had time to work through them as I'm preparing for a trip.

I'll post my thoughts on the first section of Good People by Patmeena Sabit and some questions here, and feel free to chime in! This post is member only so your comments won't be publicly visible.

This is the schedule I plan on following:

• 4/3 The Hour (pages 1-90)

• 4/10 Things Secret and Open (pages 91-192)

• 4/17 In the Garden and A Witness from Every Nation (pages 193-249)

• 4/24 Judgment Day (pages 251 - end)

Of course, these posts will be available for you whenever you read the book!

So some thoughts on the first section of Good People by Patmeena Sabit:

I love that we're just dropped into this Afghani refugee community and given some information about what is important to them as refugees of war seeking better for their children. You also see some longing for their home, even if that home doesn't exist as it once did. This is something that is even more pronounced in another of my recent reads, The Renovation by Kenan Orhan. And ultimately, if they can't go back home, they find home in one another.

Another thing that stood out to me was the internalization of the "American dream" and the policing of one another when they don't find the success it promises. Of course the American dream has always been a lie, but it can be easy from the outside to attribute difference of outcome to personal character rather than systemic issues.

• What do you think about the Sharaf family?

• How does not hearing from the family directly impact your impression of them?

• Where do you think we're going?

Hi Ifrits,

April is upon us (where is time going!!) and in the US, it is both a SWANA Heritage month and Arab Heritage month together so its the perfect timing for us to read and dive into the stories by Authors within the region 🥰

Resources to find New Reads for this month:

Here are a few helpful links for this month (bare in mind that the 2026 releases lists gets updated periodically too):

• Storygraph Challenge

• GoodReads for 2026 releases

• Pagebound List for 2026 releases

• Story template & Instagram templates (Monthly & genre)

Here's a post that I did in collaboration with Val and the lovely Bec, Dija and Meg from Sleepy Readers Club to spotlight 155 SWANA stories from our Storygraph Challenges!

Ifrits & Ink Book Club Spotlights:

As we are entering a new season, we are going to say goodbye to our old spotlights! This few months have been quieter as I've had a lot happening in my personal life but I am hoping that in the next upcoming year, we can have more fun discussions with all of our spotlighted books🥰

Here's our first Season Spotlight of 2026 and I'll be picking this season's in the next few weeks and sending it out to you guys

Hello Star & Galaxy members!

Since we are 4 months into our monthly Boundless Mail Club and going into our 5th month, I wanted to give you an opportunity to vote on the items / things you enjoy receiving in your mail and understand what most of you are hoping to get out of it.

Please vote for as many options in the poll as you like. And feel free to leave a comment with any other ideas you have (just make sure they’re flat items that could fit in an envelope) or any strong opinions/feedback you have. Thanks so much as always for supporting <3

Vote for my April read!

I’ve talked about this before, but I’m going to talk about it again. Why do so many readers stay inside the same loop of recommendations?

When you engage with one popular sapphic book, platforms feed you ten more that look the same. You are not choosing from the full landscape. You are choosing from a narrow slice shaped by engagement data.

When thousands of readers praise the same books, you feel more confident picking them up. That reduces risk, but it also limits discovery. You miss quieter releases, indie authors, and genre crossovers that do not get mass attention.

Recommendation culture favors speed over depth. People ask for “good sapphic books” and get the same five answers. Few readers ask for what kind of sapphic story they want. Few reviewers explain why a book worked or did not work beyond surface-level reactions.

If you want a richer reading life, you have to push outside that loop on purpose.

Here are six sapphic books that move beyond the usual rotation, with what they offer and where they fall short.

Revel by Bryce Oakley 4 stars
A beachside wedding brings a friend group back together. A reservation mix-up leaves Isla and Freya sharing a single bed, and years of friendship shift into something else.

This novella closes out the Kaleidoscope series with focus and intention. The tension between Isla and Freya carries the story. You feel the weight of their history in every interaction. The pacing is tight because of the length, but the emotional payoff lands. This works as a final note to a series that understands its characters.

The Oblivion Bride by Caitlin Starling 4 stars
Lorelei inherits her family’s legacy after a wave of mysterious deaths. Her uncle marries her off to Nephele, a war alchemist tasked with saving her life. What starts as strategy turns into something personal as they confront a spreading magical threat.

This book leans into intensity. The arranged marriage, the age gap, and the possessiveness all build a charged dynamic between Lorelei and Nephele. The world blends technology and magic in a way that keeps you engaged, even when the rules are not fully explained. The romance carries the story. The ending felt a little rushed, and some plot elements lost clarity, but the emotional core remained strong.

Anywhere You Go by Bridget Morrissey 5 stars
A small-town waitress and a high-powered press agent swap homes after their lives fall apart. Each woman finds unexpected connections and direction in the other’s world. If The Holiday were sapphic this is it.

This is a dual romance that succeeds on both sides. Eleanor and Carson bring emotional depth and directness. Tatum and June offer slow, patient longing and all the sapphic yearning. The structure keeps you invested because you want both outcomes. The characters feel grounded, and the relationships develop with care. This is a romcom that earns its emotional impact.

Cowboys and Kisses by Karin Kallmaker 4.5 stars
Darlin’ survives in a Wyoming town with limited options and fewer protections as a sex worker in a brothel. Years later, she faces the possibility of love and a life beyond survival with the pastor's sister.

This story does not soften its setting. You feel the pressure of a world where women without protection face constant risk. The first-person voice captures both youth and endurance. The romance offers relief without ignoring the cost of getting there. The ending offers hope, balancing the harshness of the journey.

Strange Beasts by Susan J. Morris 5 stars
Samantha Harker investigates supernatural murders in early twentieth-century Paris alongside Helena Moriarty (The daughter of Dracula's killer and Sherlock Holmes villain Moriarty). Their partnership grows under pressure as they track a killer.

This book blends gothic horror, mystery, and feminist themes. The atmosphere is consistent and immersive. Sam’s internal conflict around her abilities adds tension to every scene. The chemistry between Sam and Hel is built through distrust and necessity. The pacing drives the story forward, and the world invites further exploration. This stands out for its scope and ambition. There was more emphasis on the mystery than anything else.

Single Player by Tara Tai
Two game developers clash over whether their project needs romance. Professional tension shifts into something more as they confront external threats and internal defenses.

Cat’s early characterization feels exaggerated, and some choices seem unbelievable. As the story progresses, both leads gain depth, and their shared passion for gaming grounds the narrative. The identity elements lack development and feel thrown in for diversity's sake rather than cultural impact. The book works best as a light, character-driven read rather than a deep exploration of representation.

What this list shows

When you step outside the usual recommendations, you find range. You find sci-fi horror with obsessive romance. You find historical grit. You find dual love stories that balance each other. You find gothic mysteries with feminist stakes.

If you keep reading the same five authors, you miss this range.

A better approach to recommendations

Ask for specifics. Do you want slow burn or immediate tension? Do you want plot-heavy or character-driven? Do you want soft romance or morally complex dynamics?

Track your own reactions. Notice what holds your attention and what pulls you out of a story.

Read across subgenres. Contemporary, fantasy, horror, historical. Each one expands the possibilities of sapphic storytelling.

Support smaller titles. Many of the most interesting books do not trend. You have to look for them. I had never heard of Karin Killmaker until I was rummaging through "available now" titles on Libby.

Your reading life grows when you stop relying on the same loop and start choosing with intention.

I'm hoping to be back more often with short recs like this or round ups like what can be found on my instagram but with more explanation and intention.

Hi All,

This month, any purchase from my Bindery (through Bookshop . org ) supports Quiet Quail Books, an Indigenous bookstore in Southern California.

Quiet Quail Books

Quiet Quail Books is a California Indigenous-owned bookseller located in San Bernardino, CA. Quiet Quail Books curates book lists and book sales of various Indigenous authored books and diverse books across all genres. Our goal is to get as many quality Indigenous authored books into people's hands and communities. We are a digital online store, do pop-up bookstores in person on a monthly basis, and have a bookstore hybrid office in San Bernardino, CA. Every book you purchase from our list helps us towards funding our supplies for our pop-up schedule. Thank you so much for your support! 

To find out more information about our office and other interests, visit our website: quietquailbooks.com

Cozy Quillers! Our April book club pick is Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto and I can't wait to dive into this cozy mystery with you!

A little about the book:

Vera Wong is a lonely little old lady--ah, lady of a certain age--who lives above her forgotten tea shop in the middle of San Francisco's Chinatown.

Despite living alone, Vera is not needy, oh no. She likes nothing more than sipping on a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy detective work on the internet about what her Gen-Z son is up to.

Then one morning, Vera trudges downstairs to find a curious thing--a dead man in the middle of her tea shop. In his outstretched hand, a flash drive. Vera doesn't know what comes over her, but after calling the cops like any good citizen would, she sort of . . . swipes the flash drive from the body and tucks it safely into the pocket of her apron. Why? Because Vera is sure she would do a better job than the police possibly could, because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands.

Vera knows the killer will be back for the flash drive; all she has to do is watch the increasing number of customers at her shop and figure out which one among them is the killer. What Vera does not expect is to form friendships with her customers and start to care for each and every one of them. As a protective mother hen, will she end up having to give one of her newfound chicks to the police?

For those new to the Cozy Quill, we host our book club discussions in our members-only Discord under the Book Club category. The format is very much like the Fable App, if you're familiar. Basically, we create 2-3 chapter clumps for you to pop into to discuss the story as you're reading.

We don't do a live event around book club, but if you would like to host a virtual discussion, let myself or our Discord mods know and we'll get that set up for you!

NOTE: This book is a step outside our usual cozy fantasy vibes, but I've heard such great things about this story. All content warnings are listed in Storygraph, and if this feels a bit too much this month, we'll see you in the next one.

Happy reading,

Meg

My friends, I'm delighted to share the winner of our first Cozy Quill coloring pages giveaway! Congrats to SARA of SarasBookishMacarons!

Sara posted this adorable dragon bunny, illustrated by our very own Alexa G Illustration. I love it so much! The wings are absolutely PERFECT.

Sara, you'll receive a Twig's Traveling Tomes physical ARC and the new Love Cycle box from Cliche Tea!

Thank you all for participating this month. Don't worry, we'll do this giveaway again in May, so keep your eyes peeled for that announcement.

In the meantime, if you'd like to submit your own coloring page art, we love to share it! Here's the GOOGLE FORM.

DOWNLOAD PAST COLORING PAGES HERE

xx,

Meg