Welcome to a new series I'm venturing into called Read This If You Like That! In this weekly series, I'll take a book I loved and give you a book that matches its vibes. They will make a great pair!

If you liked...

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due, you should read Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine.

Why? Both books tackle racism and African American history. They both have beautiful writing that will suck you straight in and make you fall in love with the characters. The ghosts aren't the true villian in either of these books...the people are.

We Used To Live Here by Marcus Kliewer, you should read The Residents of Honeysuckle Cottage by Elizabeth Davidson

Why? Both books feature a sapphic couple that are renovating homes. They both feature psychological horror that will make you question what is truly going on...

Into The Drowning Deep by Mira Grant, you should read Going To The Six by A. C. Hessenauer

Why? Both deal with documentary crews aboard ships. Grant's book deals with killer mermaids, while Hessenauer's book deals with red algae that affects the mind...

Hi friends!

I'm thrilled to share my interview with Grace Morrow, author of We Become Darkness. We Become Darkness is Grace's immersive and sweeping marriage-of-convenience romantic fantasy debut, in which a human and a vampyr forge an unsteady alliance.

Grace is an author of magic, mayhem and mischief. Raised on the West Coast,
she lives with her husband and two unruly cats. When she isn't writing you can
find her binge watching the latest trash reality tv show, deepening her love for
art history, or trying to keep alive her many, many, succulents. She is repped
by Emily Forney at BookEnds Literary Agency.

Q: Where did the initial kernel of inspiration come from?

A: I’ve always loved the idea of “the villain” getting the girl in the end and also this idea of lovers-to-enemies. We see so many enemies-to-lovers books (which I am a sucker for) but I wondered what it would look like to write a book where lovers became enemies and the reader is plopped right into the middle of them having to work together and battle through this internal conflict of deep rooted betrayal.

I was also rewatching The Vampire Diaries and Stefan as “the Ripper” has always been really intriguing and dare I say…insanely attractive to me. I thought “what would happen if Ripper Stefan was the LI in a book and also had Klaus tendencies?” Which then developed into exploring the conflict between Caroline x Klaus and the “allure of darkness.”

Q: We Become Darkness delivers an irresistible childhood friends-to-lovers-to-enemies romance. How did you approach writing the romance between Cassius and Thalia, especially considering their history?

A: This was such a tough one! There is so much shared history between them, especially because they grew up together. I really wanted to have that familiarity between them. They both know each other so well, and explore the idea that “okay, it's been four years since they’ve seen each other, but what are the intrinsic parts that neither will forget?” and approaching it that way. There's moments when Cassius talks about some of Thalia's favorite things, or flashbacks to certain parts of their past, so really delving into who they were vs. who they’ve now become. At the same time, they're both different people now so areas of their relationship will automatically feel new as they explore the new facets of each other which was fun to write!

Q: We Become Darkness features Vampyrs, who are older, more terrifying, more difficult to kill, and have a different origin story than traditional vampires. How did you approach developing your Vampyrs?

A: When I was playing around with the idea of vampires, I really wanted to be different. I wanted something truly terrifying as opposed to “this is the skin of a killer, Bella.” Not that there's anything wrong with that! But I wanted to really sink into the horror aspect. I started looking at the different origin stories of vampires in literature and how different cultures had different spellings and associations.

I looked into those older Slavic stories and started developing from there. One of the ways is the spelling of “Vampyr,” which was deliberate to make them feel a bit older and more gothic. We usually think of Vampires as these beautiful/ethereal creatures, but I really wanted to delve into the “horrific” elements in which they can appear as we see in earlier literature. I also really loved the idea that my Vampyrs were created to be elite soldiers which makes them already more deadly.

I also think that leaning into some of the more “eldritch” elements with different creatures and a sentient forest sets it apart from a typical “gothic vampire novel.” I think that the dynamic of the Vampyr courts is a bit different from that of a normal vampire book. There’s a dynastic quality about the courts (also called Houses) that lends to a more politically rife book than just having one simple monarch.

Q: You are an art historian, and you mentioned in your bio that your goal is to integrate the “same feelings one might associate when looking at a particular piece of art” into your books. Would you share your process for writing an evocative, immersive fantasy that captures those feelings?

A: Absolutely! When I'm getting inspiration for my worlds, I often look at paintings, architecture, sculpture, etc., to get a feel for how that world will look. For WE BECOME DARKNESS, I pulled a lot of inspiration for the setting and architecture from the Italian Gothic. When you think of the Italian Gothic, or really anything from the 12th century, you think of these grand cathedral and sharp spires like the cathedral in Milan. In addition, I love looking at politics that we can find in art history. The Vampyr courts were inspired by the Italian city-states during the Italian Renaissance where powerful families ruled different parts of Italy. Each of the courts (or Houses) have latin-rooted names and lend to a very elegant and renaissance-esque aspects like their manners and attire.

Q: What has been one of your favorite moments as a debut author?

A: Seeing where my book has ended up! It's so incredibly surreal to see my book pop-up all over the world! I’ve been tagged by readers in Europe, across the USA, even places like Australia! I also absolutely loved going on a book tour and meeting such incredible fellow authors and readers! It’s so insane that my silly Vampyr book has resonated with so many readers.

Q: After readers finish We Become Darkness, what books do you recommend they read?

A: If you're looking for marriage of convenience I recommend The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L Jensen, it's one of my favorites! For spicy romantasy I’d recommend Throne of the Fallen by Kerri Maniscalco. And if you're looking for more gothic, One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig or Belladonna by Adalyn Grace!

Q: What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

A: Keep writing! WE BECOME DARKNESS wasn't the first book I've written, and it also wasn't even the book that landed me my agent. It took me two and a half years to find my first agent, another year to write this book before it sold. It might take some time, but your words and stories matter! Keep at it!

Q: What’s up next?

A: I can't say anything for sure, but I have some exciting books in the pipeline! If you like art, more enemies-to-lovers, and maybe some betrayal, stay tuned! You can follow me on Instagram, TikTok, or X @authorgmorrow, or check out my website: www.authorgracemorrow.com for updates!

Thank you so much to Grace for joining me in discussing her spectacular debut (both here on Bindery and in-person at The Ripped Bodice in April)! 🫶

You can find links to the mentioned articles below, as well as the poll for September's book of the month pick. Please vote!

Bindery website

Rep Angie Nixon's victory

Rosco's Pizza

The time has come to vote for our September book of the month! Our September theme, Back to Our Roots, brought numerous suggestions from all of you, and we're incredibly excited about these options!

Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey 

“Come home.” Vera’s mother called and Vera obeyed. In spite of their long estrangement, in spite of the memories ― she's come back to the home of a serial killer. Back to face the love she had for her father and the bodies he buried there, beneath the house he'd built for his family.

Coming home is hard enough for Vera, and to make things worse, she and her mother aren’t alone. A parasitic artist has moved into the guest house out back and is slowly stripping Vera’s childhood for spare parts. He insists that he isn’t the one leaving notes around the house in her father’s handwriting… but who else could it possibly be?

There are secrets yet undiscovered in the foundations of the notorious Crowder House. Vera must face them and find out for herself just how deep the rot goes. 

The Beginning Comes After the End by Rebecca Solnit

In this sequel to her enduring bestseller Hope in the Dark, Solnit surveys a world that has changed dramatically since the year 1960. Despite the forces seeking to turn back the clock on history, change is not a possibility; it is an inevitability.

The changes amount to nothing less than dismantling an old civilization and building a new one, whose newness is often the return of the old ways and wisdoms. In this rising worldview, interconnection is a core idea and value. But because the transformation is obscured within a longer arc of history, its scale is seldom recognized.

While the white nationalist and authoritarian backlash drives individualism and isolation, this new world embraces antiracism, feminism, a more expansive understanding of gender, environmental thinking, scientific breakthroughs, and Indigenous and non-Western ideas, pointing toward a more interconnected, relational world.

Daughter in Exile by Bisi Adjapon

Lola is twenty-one, and her life in Senegal couldn’t be better. An aspiring writer and university graduate, she has a great job, a nice apartment, a vibrant social life, and a future filled with possibility. But fate disrupts her world when she falls for Armand, an American Marine stationed at the U.S. Embassy. Her mother, a high court judge in Ghana, disapproves of her choice, but nothing will stop Lola from boarding a plane for Armand and America.

That fateful flight is only the beginning of an extraordinary journey; she has traded her carefree existence in Senegal for the perilous position of an undocumented immigrant in 1990s America.

Lola encounters adversity that would crush a less-determined woman. Her fate hangs on whether or not she’ll grow in courage to forge a different life from one she’d imagined, whether she’ll succeed in putting herself and family together again. Daughter in Exile is a hope-filled story about mother love, resilience, and unyielding strength.

Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo

Anna grew up in England with her white mother and knowing very little about her West African father. In middle age, after separating from her husband and with her daughter all grown up, she finds herself alone and wondering who she really is. Her mother's death leads her to find her father's student diaries, chronicling his involvement in radical politics in 1970s London. She discovers that he eventually became the president - some would say the dictator - of Bamana in West Africa. And he is still alive.

She decides to track him down and so begins a funny, painful, fascinating journey, and an exploration of race, identity and what we pass on to our children. 

All That She Carried by Tiya Miles

In 1850s South Carolina, an enslaved woman named Rose faced a crisis: the imminent sale of her daughter Ashley. Thinking quickly, she packed a cotton bag for her with a few items, and, soon after, the nine-year-old girl was separated from her mother and sold. Decades later, Ashley’s granddaughter Ruth embroidered this family history on the sack in spare, haunting language. 

Historian Tiya Miles carefully traces these women’s faint presence in archival records, and, where archives fall short, she turns to objects, art, and the environment to write a singular history of the experience of slavery, and the uncertain freedom afterward, in the United States. All That She Carried is a poignant story of resilience and love passed down against steep odds. It honors the creativity and resourcefulness of people who preserved family ties when official systems refused to do so, and it serves as a visionary illustration of how to reconstruct and recount their stories today. 

The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer

As Indigenous scientist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most? Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. Meanwhile, the serviceberry’s relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity, interconnectedness, and gratitude. The tree distributes its wealth—its abundance of sweet, juicy berries—to meet the needs of its natural community. And this distribution ensures its own survival. As Kimmerer explains, “Serviceberries show us another model, one based upon reciprocity, where wealth comes from the quality of your relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency.”

As Elizabeth Gilbert writes, Robin Wall Kimmerer is “a great teacher, and her words are a hymn of love to the world.” The Serviceberry is an antidote to the broken relationships and misguided goals of our times, and a reminder that “hoarding won’t save us, all flourishing is mutual.”

Robin Wall Kimmerer is donating her advance payments from this book as a reciprocal gift, back to the land, for land protection, restoration, and justice.

All That’s Unseen: An Appalachian Memoir by Emilee Hackney

Born and raised deep in the hollers of the Appalachian Mountains, Emilee Hackney knew little beyond the ridgelines and coalfields of southwest Virginia. As an eighth-generation Appalachian, her childhood was steeped in the stories of her grandparents—tales of the coal mines’ brutal grip and the way the land, both beautiful and unforgiving, never quite let anyone go. At fourteen, Emilee meets Sam, a senior at her high school, who offers her a glimpse at a promising future together. But as they begin attending services at Deliverance Christian Church as a couple, Emilee is thrust into the radical realm of Pentecostalism. In a culture where marriage at nineteen isn’t uncommon, Emilee is engaged to Sam. Eager to make her relationship work, she embraces the extremist doctrines of the religion, submitting herself fully to God, to Sam, and to a life of repentance. But what she doesn’t yet know is the man she plans to marry is not who he claims to be.

Years later, Emilee finds herself isolated from friends, family, and her own sense of truth. Wracked with shame and self-doubt, she reaches a breaking point. On the verge of spiraling out of control, in a stunning act of defiance and hope, she applies to Harvard; against all odds, she is accepted. From the magisterial mountains of Tazewell to the storied halls of Cambridge, Emilee begins the arduous process of reinventing herself and her relationships with her home, faith, and values against the backdrop of the divisive 2016 election. All That’s Unseen is Emilee Hackney’s fiercely honest memoir about spiritual entrapment, hard-won liberation, and the courage to reclaim her voice after she had been taught to stay silent. 

The Dream Builders by Oindrila Mukherjee

Creative writing professor Maneka Roy has not returned to India in years, and when she arrives in her home country to mourn the loss of her mother, she finds herself in a new world. The booming city of Hrishipur where her father now lives is nothing like the historic neighborhood where she grew up, and the more she sees of this new, sparkling city, the more she learns that nothing—and no one—in Hrishipur is as it appears. 

From handsome young photographer Ashok, who charms Maneka one night at a party, to her immaculately groomed friend Ramona, who dreams of a perfect future in a new apartment complex even as she struggles with her marriage in the present, and the bitter but determined electrician Gopal, whose furtive plan for the complex just might undermine everything Ramona—and everyone else in support of its construction—has hoped for, it’s clear that everyone in Hrishipur is hiding secrets. And as the summer temperatures soar to record highs, the longings and resentments of the community members simmer until they come to a shocking boil. Ultimately, it will take a tragic event that no one saw coming for Maneka and the others to finally understand just how fragile life is in this city built on aspirations.

In smart, propulsive prose, written from the perspectives of ten different characters, Oindrila Mukherjee’s incisive debut novel explores class divisions, gender roles, and stories of survival within a society that is constantly changing and becoming increasingly Americanized. Her story of Hrishipur is not only the story of India today, but the story of people impacted by globalization everywhere: a tale of ambition, longing, love, and bitter loss that asks what it really costs to try and build a dream.

Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler

Doro is an entity who changes bodies like clothes, killing his hosts by reflex or design. He fears no one until he meets Anyanwu. Anyanwu is a shapeshifter who can absorb bullets and heal with a kiss and savage anyone who threatens her. She fears no one until she meets Doro. Together they weave a pattern of destiny (from Africa to the New World) unimaginable to mortals.