March is endometriosis awareness month, and to close out the month, I am giving away signed copies of two of my all time favorite romance books, both of which have lived experience endometriosis representation: Finding Gene Kelly and Dukes & Dekes by Torie Jean!

Finding Gene Kelly follows Evie, and American in Paris who must fake-date her childhood frenemy in order to keep her overbearing mother out of her business during her brother's wedding.

Dukes & Dekes follows Jack, a professional hockey player who's been benched for the season, and Aulie, his brother's best friend as they play opposite each other in their small town's Jane Austen Reenactment Faire.

Torie's books are full of swoon and sweetness, and contain intimately detailed endometriosis representation based on the author's own experiences. I may not have endo myself, but I related so heavily to Evie and Aulie's experiences navigating chronic pain, chronic illness, and medical gaslighting that both books had me in tears. There are very few authors writing such raw, authentic representation. I cannot express how much I love these books and Torie herself, and I am so excited to be able to share these copies and lovely art prints with one of you!

If you're interested in taking home your very own signed copies of these two books, alongside the swag shown above, read on!

TO ENTER:

• Leave a comment on this post (it can be absolutely anything--how excited you are to read books, how much you love them if you've already read them, a yellow heart for endo awareness month, a simple :)... whatever works for you!)

RULES & REGULATIONS

• Followers receive 1 entry

• Inner Circle members receive 5 entries

• You must have a US shipping address in order to enter

• Giveaway will close at 11:59pm March 31st, PDT

Happy endometriosis awareness month, and best of luck to all who enter! 💛

Happy Tuesday, mis internet amigxs,

Apologies for the late post today, as things have been a bit hectic on my side and I forgot to schedule this post. If you've been considering upgrading to a paid subscription, Libritos or Lectores Bien Leidos member received a newsletter with all remaining March Latine book releases last weekend and I may be doing a similar format for them moving forward.

Today's introduction is short, but expect an invitation to chat with March book club author, Alvaro Enrigue, later this week, as well as polls on June and July book club selections.

And without further ado, this week's Latine book releases...

MARVEL SERIALIZATION

Enemy of My Enemy: A Daredevil Marvel Crime Novel by Alex Segura: Streets-to-courtroom noir tale of the Punisher on trial for the murder of the Kingpin—with Matt Murdock as his defense attorney. Book two in the Marvel Crime series of thrillers for adult readers.

PICTURE BOOK

Ways Papi Says I Love You by Delia Ruiz : Picture book about the 5 love languages

ROMANCE

The Love Feud by Janine Amesta (Audiobook) second chance romance between 2 exes who pretend to have a feud between their 2 family businesses as a marketing ploy

ROMANCE - MARCH 26th

Home Runner by Millie Perez: Baseball romance featuring grumpy/sunshine and best friends to lovers trope? Yes, please.

CONTEMPORARY FANTASY - MARCH 27th

xoxo,

Carmen
Bastard of the Alpha by Karina Espinosa: The Damned Return book 1 -- Urban fantasy from Colombia American author.

Hi friends - Apologies for the delay on this post. In case you aren't in the Discord, I had really awful food poisoning last week and while my brain registered that it was the equinox passing, I completely blanked on having to write up this post for it. So a little late but that's the great thing about this being a seasonal challenge: we've got time!

NORTHERN HEMISPHERE: SPRING EQUINOX

In the northern hemisphere, we have the spring equinox. There are a few other names for it but some of those have problematic origins so I like to keep it simple. Equinoxes and solstices have been celebrated for thousands of years by many different cultures. It is the day that daylight and nighttime hours are equal, bringing balance. In the spring, it is welcoming in the light. From here on out until the autumn equinox, there will be more light than darkness. Because the sun is coming out and temperatures are starting to rise, this is a time of rebirth, revival, and even resurrection (this is where the association with the Christian holiday of Easter comes in - there's a lot of overlap in themes and symbols).

For reading this month, fiction reading is going to be focused on starting something new: starting a new series, reading a debut author, etc. For non-fiction readers, you can also read a debut author or you can take the resurrection and rebirth route and return to a topic you haven't explored in a while. Maybe you went on a dinosaur kick a few years back and there's been some new and interesting titles that have come out since then. Return to the topic and see what's there now.

Outside of reading, this is a time to finally start leaving hibernation. I know I leaned into the coziness of winter this year, which was lovely, but I can feel myself starting to emerge from my cave. Start to get outside as often as the weather allows. Spring cleaning is a theme for a reason - now is a great time to do a deep clean, do some organizing, etc. Conveniently, during this time I am getting ready to move (I'll be moving the weekend of our next season starting actually), so I will be removing clutter that has built up in my current apartment over the last 4 years. Nothing motivates me quite like a move to get rid of shit I don't need.

I'd love to hear either here in the comments or on Discord what is being reborn for you this season.

SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE: AUTUMN EQUINOX

In the southern hemisphere, you are also experiencing and equinox but instead are entering the dark half of the year. This is actually one of my favorite holidays during the wheel of the year, and is when I really start to get settled in for fall and winter. My witchcraft tends to become even more front and center during this time. This time is about celebrating the abundance of what you harvested during the warmer months before fully starting the preparations for the colder months, although those are looming. For now, enjoy the fruits of what you accomplished.

For reading, give yourself a little treat. Whether it's a book you've been putting off for the perfect moment, a genre you find comforting, or whatever feels a little indulgent. The same goes for non-fiction reads, but you could also lean into the accomplishment aspect and read something that won a prestigious award like the Nobel Prize or Man Booker.

Outside of reading, enjoy this time for the celebration it is. Take the time to notice the weather as its changing and start saying goodbye to the plants as they start to go into hibernation for a while. Consider this time for what it is: soaking up some energy now to get you through the colder months. This can also be a great time for a clean, much like your spring equinox counterparts. I personally like to clean in both spring and fall, as well as restore any witchcraft wards I have that are more long term.

What abundance are you celebrating this season?

Next prompt will be released on Beltane/Samhain! Enjoy the season :)

Dearest Inky Phoenix Fam,

We have a special treat for y'all as a thank you for being the absolute best! Susan put together these amazing companion pieces to WAYWARD SOULS ranging from bonus essays to fascinating research on the book. Enjoy!

ACCESS BONUS CONTENT HERE

password: waywardsouls

It’s that time of the month to vote for next months book club reads! April is my birthday month, so I always like to read books that I’m anticipating will be new all time favorites!

Each person gets two votes if you wish to vote for both categories. We will have 3 fantasy and 3 thriller books to choose from. Voting will end 3/31!

This is a new series where I attempt to find as many new Tuesday releases as I can in the science fiction categories, which include speculative fiction, dystopian, time travel, robots/AI, steampunk, postapocalptic, LitRPG, ya sci-fi, LGBTQ sci-fi, afrofuturism, sci-fi horror, alien romance, and anything else I feel could be your gateway drug into the genre.

In Time With You by Kristin Dwyer (St. Martin's Press) - Time travel romance. A girl's first love drowns, and she wakes up a year before and tries to stop it from happening while falling for his best friend. Is it really sci-fi? IDK that time travel speculative fiction is technically sci-fi, but if you're a romance girlie and this is how I get you to jump into sci-fi? Call me a gateway drug pusher. Get in the spaceship bitch.

Celestian Lights by Cecile Pin (MacMillan) - An astronaut born the day Challenger fell out of the sky gets tapped by an "enterprising" billionaire (we are already suspicious, but go on...) to lead a mission to Europa, and spends the whole journey retreating into his past - relationships lost, becoming a husband and father, the usual spiral. Literary sci-fi, less hard science more human condition, which is either your thing or it isn't. Cecile Pin's previous book Wandering Souls was Women's Prize longlisted and reportedly destroyed people emotionally, so if you enjoy a book that makes you question every choice you've ever made while also being in space, this one's for you.

Children of Strife by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Orbit) - Book 4 in Children of Time. Spiders in space, a mantis shrimp captain, humans trying to figure out what happened to a lost colony. If you haven't started this series and you love diverse found-family crews doing impossible things...well me either but if you have will you please tell me if it's worth starting a hugely thicc series?

Seasons of Glass and Iron: Stories by Amal El-Mohtar (Macmillan) - Short story collection from the co-author of This Is How You Lose the Time War. Described as "fairy tales with teeth." I was obsessed with TIHYLTTW and El-Mohtar's other work hasn't been for me but has won many awards, so I still continuously give it a chance.

Deep Black by Miles Cameron (Simon & Schuster) - Book 2 in the Arcana Imperii space opera series - being re-released with a new cover in paperback. Black MC, autistic-coded love interest, nonbinary secondary character, queernorm setting. But the author is a white Canadian dude. His name is Christian Cameron but his Sci-fi pen name is Miles Cameron. He is on Bluesky as @phokion.bsky.social so do your own research. Described as perfect for fans of Tchaikovsky and The Expanse. I've read neither...should I? Let me know.

Trace Elements by Jo Walton & Ada Palmer (Macmillan) Two award winning sci-fi authors have a conversation about modern SFF, how it's written and how it's read. So this is sort of a nonfic sci-fi subgenre. "Subjects covered include...the implicit contract between author and reader, the ways SF and fantasy disguise themselves as one another, what SF&F can learn from outside influences ranging from Shakespeare to Diderot to anime, the role of complicity in reading, the need to expand our “sphere of empathy”, and finally the need for optimism, the importance of rejecting “purity” culture, and the fact that the human story for centuries to come will be composed of hard work." This sounds like everything I stand for so I will probably read this even though a book about books is way outside my wheelhouse.

I want you to notice that instead of putting the Imprint publisher, I'm listing them under their Big 5. Why? I want to continuously drive the point home that it's a damn monopoly and the only way to fight it is to support indie presses and authors. So here is my shameless plug:

If you liked this and want more of whatever THIS is — unhinged book analysis, barely contained rage at the state of the world, and occasional Tamsyn Muir references that I will never apologize for — consider subscribing for $5/month. Every cent goes to people who actually need it, because I have a day job and a cause, not a brand deal. This is my middle finger to Big 5 publishing, dressed up as a book blog. Come hold it up with me.

Here are some March 24th and 31st new book releases on my radar (and should be on yours!). First, the ones I've had a chance to read:

Almost Life by Kiran Millwood Hargrove 5/5 stars

Put this on your TBR if you enjoy messy lesbians...because us bi/pan girls can be messy too. This one goes deep with our characters.

Only a Little While Here by Maria Ospena Pizano 3.5/5 stars

Put this on your TBR if you enjoy books from unusual perspectives...this story is told through the eyes of several animals interacting with the human world.

And the six I'm still waiting to get my hands on:

Wolf Worm by T Kingfisher

Why it interests me: it's a T Kingfisher book. This is described as gothic, which always interests me.

Celestial Lights by Cecile Pin

Why it interests me: it sounds like a character-forward book about space travel.

The Dog Meows, the Cat Barks by Eka Kurniawan

Why it interests me: a translated work about an overbearing parent from a child's perspective

American Han by Lisa Lee

Why it interests me: a story of second-generation immigrants coming of age in the 1980s.

Upward Bound by Woody Brown

Why it interests me: set in a daycare center for adults with autism and other disabilities.

A Good Person by Kirsten King

Why it interests me: it is billed to be weird girl lit fic.

Hello All,

I've attached this weeks community calendar! You may notice, I moved last weeks written posts to this week! (Last week got way too busy!

Here's what you need to know!

• Fridays have been working really well for our Discord reading sprints! Hop on in the Discord and read with us Friday starting at 5pm PST.

• The last day to upgrade to get What Feed Below benefits ($5 earcs, $12, $25 physical arcs) is March 30. Do not miss this important date. You also want to make sure you have your address on the Bindery profile.

• If you missed the news I partnered with BOOK SHOP . ORG to get you a 15% discount on Must Read Indigenous books! This sale is only happening until 3/30 and only the books listed here are eligible. Use code: BSO15

• Toni Morrison read a long! Bay Area Book Festival recently invited me to a chat with Namwali Serpell for her new release On Morrison and it motivated me to read all of Morrison's work in chronological order. A few folks in the Discord said they wanted to join, so we are starting with The Bluest Eye in April alongside On Morrison.

• What Feeds Below has over 100 reviews on Netgalley and still has a 5 STAR average rating! Just a reminder, if you have not pre-order What Feeds Below yet, please do today! I know this book can make it on a best seller list if we all come together and support it! (Also, early preorders will help our imprint secure a book for Fall 2027!

• 

SICKOS! I want to know what book cheeks you’re spreading this week and I’ve got my lineup for ya below. And this is officially the new home of the Monday Reading Updates as I won’t be filming those anymore. Any tweaks/suggestions are welcome but mainly I just wanna know what you’re getting into.

READING
REVIEW
NAPOLEON: A LIFE by ANDREW ROBERTS (nonfiction, historical biography)
Progress: Finished.
Finished this THICC BOI over the weekend after having worked on it for almost three weeks. I might do a full written review of this for y’all because I find Roberts’ case of intellectual Stockholm Syndrome fascinating. It did what it said on the tin though and I have an ultimately favorable view of the book. It’s just not the mind-blowing five-star must-read that it has often been hyped to be.

HOW TO HOLD SOMEONE IN YOUR HEART by MIZUKU TSUJIMURA (contemporary fantasy/magical realism)
#2 in “The Lost Souls Series”
Progress: 175/211
I loved Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon but I am wondering if this sequel was totally necessary, despite enjoying the tie-ins from chapter 1 and the historical angle in chapter 2. Basically, there’s a go-between that allows a living person to talk with a dead person for one night, and those various meetings are told in episodes. Super cool concept and still enjoying it. Maybe the ending will slap like the last one and boost ‘er up. Should finish in tonight.

GAMES WITHOUT RULES: THE OFTEN INTERRUPTED HISTORY OF AFGHANISTAN by TAMIM ANSARY (narrative historical nonfiction)
Progress: 69/350
Ansary’s Destiny Disrupted is one of my all-timers and I’ve been digging this one too. His conversational style is super easy to get into and the information is excellent. It’s simple to label Afghanistan the “graveyard of empires” and keep it moving but Ansary is currently unpacking why it’s much more nuanced than that. Will continue!

PREVIEW
A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS by GEORGE RR MARTIN (fantasy)
If you saw my top 10 favorite fantasy series of all-time video on YouTube then you know how much love I have for this world so I’m pretty jazzed up to read this one. I’m a little late to the party as it’s the March Fiction Sickos Book Club pick but manuscripts have been eating into my time when my brain is sizzling for something other than nonfiction.

I’ll probably throw in some Berserk or give something like 20th Century Boys a crack, but other than what’s noted and manuscripts, that’ll probably do ‘er for the week on the reading side.

WATCHING
REVIEW
PROJECT HAIL MARY
Amaze amaze amaze! 5* adaptation that mostly stayed faithful to the source material and nailed Rocky, which was make or break. After seeing how they shot everything I gained even more respect for it. Can’t wait to see this again.

SUCCESSION - HBO MAX
Progress: S2E8
Decided to watch this after watching the new Netflix documentary “Dynasty: The Murdochs” because while I knew there were similarities, I didn’t know how deep they ran. This is elite, modern-day King Lear stuff that I’d highly recommend.

FRIEREN - CRUNCHYROLL
Progress: S1E10
Found the next new anime I’ll obsess over! The slow roll, melancholic storytelling is pitch-perfect. Taking my time with it to fully enjoy it.

PEAKY BLINDERS - NETFLIX
Progress: S2E2
Another re-watch to work through the new movie release. I’ve watched it three times through already so, yeah, I dig it. Thinking about doing a video about WW1 tunnelers from Birmingham.

GAMING
Working on a free solo difficulty climb on Cairn, which is 10/10, the best indie game I’ve played since Disco Elysium. I’ve beat it 3 times now and still am addicted. I also downloaded Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla on PS Plus as I never completed the main storyline of that one and I needed a reason to not also buy Cairn on PS5 for late night gaming.

A COMPLEMENT OF SCOUNDRELS UPDATE
We’re putting the final, final touches on everything, including the new front/back cover designs that will include author blurbs (hopefully from John Gwynne/Nicholas Eames). Also, if you’re a Mega Sicko or above, go to your account settings and verify the name to be included in the “Thank You” page is something you’re good with being out there. Pre-orders and marking it "Want to Read" on Goodreads are both great signals to stores that they should stock it, btw :D

OTHER RANDOM STUFF
I’ve bumped up to 3x days a week at the climbing gym (part of the reason I moved the Monday updates here). Consistently sending “V3” now, which is considered the transition from beginning to intermediate level of bouldering. Getting to know other climbers has been great and everything I heard about the culture being welcoming/supportive is dead on. I’ll be posting some stuff on IG/TikTok Stories if you want to follow my progress visually. My next goal is to convince my wife that I need a more expensive pair of climbing shoes now that I have a better idea of what I need.