Hi Friends, and happy Trans Joy Thursday. This newsletter will look a little different today. There are two very special people I would like to honor.

On Tuesday, June 16 my beloved Memaw left this earth. If you've read Coming Home, you have read the chapter dedicated to her, and our relationship spanning my entire life. If you haven't read it yet, she was my fiercest protector, my first best friend, my A1 since day 1, my favorite person on this entire planet, and the one I admired the most. She was my confidante, the one who made me laugh the most, and the only one who was allowed to misgender and deadname me (She was diagnosed with Dementia and in a memory care unit when I came out with my name change and trans non-binary identity and pronouns.) She was diagnosed with Stage 3C colon cancer, and I literally dropped my entire life in my mid-20's to be there for her on this journey and be one of her care-takers before she was moved to an assisted living facility, and then to the memory care unit.

I could share so many stories of how she took care of me spanning my entire life, from wanting to adopt me from my mother (that was family drama) to always sneaking me $20 bills in my hand every single time I visited her. She bought me books. I still have a box of books that I kept from when we went through her belongings at her house. She was my rock and my motivation. She never agreed with my "lifestyle" but always asked me how "gay sex worked." We would have this conversation often, and it never failed to make me laugh. She always, always made sure I knew she loved me the most.

The above photo was taken exactly two years ago today - which makes it even more bittersweet. I took Alisha and the kids to NC during the summer of 2024 to meet some of the family I still remain in contact with, and while they were napping, I went to visit Memaw. In my heart, I knew this would be the last time I saw her, and still, I remained hopeful of another visit face-to-face. I will hold these special memories close to my heart and know she's at peace. I will always do my best to honor her love for me.

In that same breath, Alisha and I are celebrating our 5 year mark of meeting. It's so funny to me that while I am grieving a significant loss of love, I am also celebrating a significant love that walked into my life (with 3 little loves, to boot.) She has shown me a type of love and peace and comfort that I didn't know was possible. I know my Memaw didn't agree with how I lived my life, but I just know that she would be happy with how happy I am - both internally and externally. Alisha has shown up and provided a type of nurturing and love that I never knew I needed.

I love my life now. It's so weird that two things are colliding, my two favorite people - Memaw, my grandmother, and Alisha, my wife, are showing me simultaneously what grief and love look like.

With that being said, for those of you on my social media, I may be absent for a while, as I've stated on there, due to returning to North Carolina for the funeral services. I will more than likely be traveling Saturday to my birthday on Wednesday. Not really how I imagined spending my birthday in airports, but my Memaw deserves all the things.

If you have your grandparents or loved ones you consider close to you, I hope you hug them extra tight for me. Memaw was the last living grandparent of mine, and that's an extra shock to my system.

As I navigate my immense grief of losing my Memaw, and celebrate my birthday next week, and my anniversary today, I hope you all remember that grief is ultimately just love with no place to go.

I will be traveling with some books, and figured I would also share with you in case you needed some recommendations. Not all are queer, but I believe they deserve a place on the feed:

1. My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

2. Ship Happens by Mason Deaver

3. Among The Wildflowers by Anita Kelly

4. The Lovers, The Liars, And Me by DeAndra Davis

I hope you all have an incredible Thursday and the rest of your week.

With all the trans joy I can muster,

Sawyer Cole

Junes' Sad Rich Girl Salon dove into aging&beauty:

We talked about "fox eye" makeup and Frownies, and Clavicular and a plastic surgery procedure I had never heard of where they liposuction a 6-pack onto your stomach (insane). So much of our convo dealt with how one "learns" beauty standards and how to self-police that I made a game-time decision on the breakout question: What media diet would you want your daughter to have?

Suggested reading and media:

• 55 Brides on What They Spent to Look Their Best on the Big Day

• What Should a 30-Something Look Like? in The Cut

• Nora Ephron's I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman

• Actors OBSESSION With Aging Is KILLING Cinema… (12 min video)

• "Neck tape works"

• "Examining 'iPhone face' and the Art of Timeless Beauty" by Sophia Butsch (essay)

• Reddit For women choosing to age naturally—how do you resist comparing yourself to other women when cosmetic enhancements have become so normalized?

• Kris Jenner’s Facelift Is Apparently Now “Slipping”

• Gen Z soldiers' plastic surgeries strain Korea's military readiness in The Korea Times

• Feeling Old: 44 Is the First Big Aging Cliff for Millennials in The Cut

• Frownies (a product that I kept getting served ads for once I started looking at anti-aging content)

• Perception drift

• self-congratulatory "i'm not having work done" (parody) reel

The Sun-Kissed Summer Reading Guide for the Whole Family Plus Free Printable Canva Trackers!

Summer vacation is officially here! Eleven long weeks of warm afternoons, beach trips, and lazy mornings mean one very important thing: it’s peak reading season. Whether you are packing a tote bag for a day by the ocean, loading up the car for a family road trip, or looking for a thrilling mystery to dive into during a late-night thunderstorm, a good book is the ultimate summer essential.

To make sure everyone in the house has the perfect page-turner, we have curated a massive, multi-generational Summer Reading Guide. We have broken it down by age group, from delightful beachside picture books for the little ones to thrilling young adult mysteries and sizzling adult beach reads.

Even better? We want to help your family keep track of their reading goals this season! At the bottom of this post, you'll find links to our custom, beautifully designed Canva Reading Logs and Trackers that you can customize and print at home.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Bookshop.org and Amazon. If you make a purchase through these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, which helps support our book club community!

🏖️ Picture Books & Early Readers Perfect for Beach Days & Read-Alouds

1. Jules vs. the Ocean by Jessie Sima

Jules is on a mission to build the biggest, the fanciest, and the most excellent sandcastle. Her sister will be so impressed! But the ocean has other plans. Waves keep smashing her creations, and when the ocean finally takes her bucket, Jules decides to take a stand. This is a tongue-in-cheek story of sand, sea, and sisterhood told with signature warmth and delightful illustrations.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

2. Sand Cakes by Kallie George Illustrated by Devon Holzwarth

"Sand cake, Sun cake, Sprinkle-topped with rocks cake. Will you eat what I baked?" A fun day at the beach means making sweet treats out of sand! Unfortunately, this little beachside baker can’t seem to find anyone, not even the seagulls willing to try her seaweed pies and sea foam cream puffs. This buoyantly poetic, funny picture book is a treat for all ages.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

3. The Colors of Summer by Danna Smith

Celebrate the bright, beautiful shades of the season with this vibrant Little Golden Book. From turquoise beach towels and purple flip-flops to orange sand shovels and blue waves, young kids will love discovering their favorite summer hues across a fun-filled day at the shore.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

4. The Octopus Escapes by Maile Meloy

An octopus is perfectly happy in his undersea cave until a diver captures him for an aquarium. Though the humans give him food and toy-like tests, he quickly tires of captivity. Under the cover of darkness, he plots a daring escape. This exciting, heartfelt story captures the thrill of hard-won freedom and the ultimate pull of home.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

5. See You Later by April Suddendorf

A quirky, darkly detailed, and funny cautionary tale proving the swamp isn't always greener on the other side! Gary the alligator grows tired of his small, soggy home and decides a nearby human house would be much more luxurious. He turns out to be very wrong, leading to a hilarious twist ending.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

🍦 Middle Grade & Chapter Books

6. The Underdogs Catch a Cat Burglar by Kate Temple and Jol Temple

Crime is rising in Dogtown thanks to a mysterious cat burglar stealing everything from handbags to ham sandwiches. The Underdog Detective Agency is on the case, but they are in a major slump. To solve this mystery, they do the unthinkable: hire Fang, a street-smart, one-eyed cat detective. Can a cat and dog work together? A paws-itively hilarious mystery!

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

7. Would You Rather? Summer Fun Box Set by Lindsey Daly

The ultimate road trip companion! This box set includes three bestselling books: Summer Edition, Animals Edition, and Made You Think! Edition. Packed with hilarious, thought-provoking questions, it is an essential summer activity to keep kids entertained in the car, at camp, or around the campfire.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

8. It Began with Lemonade by Gideon Sterer

On a scorching hot day, a spunky young girl decides to start a lemonade stand, only to find her street is already crowded with kid entrepreneurs. Refusing to give up, she moves her stand out to the river's edge, where she discovers an unexpected, quirky, and incredibly thirsty new clientele.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

9. Milkshake the Disappearing Milk Snake: A Graphic Novel by Akeem S. Roberts

The class pet from next door is missing! Carter and his ghost detective sidekick, Mr. Pebbles, are back on the case at Creek Elementary. Carter’s older brother reveals that his class milk snake, Milkshake, has vanished. The duo must follow the clues and solve the mystery before time runs out.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

10. What's Inside A Bird's Nest? And Other Questions About Nature & Life Cycles by Rachel Ignotofsky

From the creator of Women in Science comes a stunning nonfiction picture book exploring the lives of our winged neighbors. Perfect for curious minds, this book answers everything about eggs, nests, and life cycles using Ignotofsky’s distinctively beautiful art style, compassion, and subtle humor.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

11. The Dragon's Apprentice by James Riley

Warning: Do not read this book! The Emperor has forbidden magic, but twelve-year-old Ciara accidentally opens a book of spells and summons a fire-breathing dragon named Scorch. It turns out Scorch might be the only one who can help rescue Ciara's mother and free her village. A thrilling, magical fantasy ride.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

12. The Ghost in Cabin 13: A Graphic Novel by J.C. Phillipps

Twelve-year-old Leah is already nervous about attending sleepaway camp for the first time. But she didn't expect to deal with a real ghost in Cabin 13! Between mean girls, a séance gone wrong, and a potentially possessed doll, Leah's summer at Camp Cottontail goes from normal to straight-up spooky.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

🪵 Teen & Young Adult High Stakes & Summer Magic

13. Forbidden Mountain by Brandon Mull

In the Anoran Empire, children bond with magical spirit guides. Mako discovers a forbidden agent of chaos has returned to spread an ancient evil, forcing him into a deadly magical choice. Meanwhile, a girl named Arden infiltrates an underground criminal network to find her missing friend. When their paths collide, they must face bandit armies and dark conspiracies to save their world.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

14. Mythspeaker by Christopher Roubique

Inspired by Indigenous American folktales, thirteen-year-old Kyta has always known he was destined to save the world. When invaders steal the precious Egg of the World Turtle, threatening to destroy the land beneath them, Kyta assembles a ragtag team of kids to pull off a dangerous fortress heist. A heartwarming fantasy about teamwork and respect for nature.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

15. The Moon Without Stars by Chanel Miller

Luna starts seventh grade knowing exactly who she is: a quiet writer who loves making zines with her best friend, Scott. But when one of their zines goes viral, Luna gets swept up into the school's popular crowd. Soon, she faces a major dilemma: how much of her writing, her beliefs, and her best friend is she willing to compromise to stay popular?

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

16. A Copycat Conundrum, The Misfits by Lisa Yee

After solving their last major case, the awkward underdog crime-fighters known as the Misfits are acing their missions for a covert agency. But when a friendly classmate starts receiving threatening notes, and unusual earthquakes shake San Francisco just as priceless art disappears, the team must uncover a massive scheme.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

17. The QB, Summer and Me by Tay Marley

From the author of the Wattpad hit The QB Bad Boy and Me comes a novel capturing the bittersweet heat of summer love. High school sweethearts Dallas and Drayton have eleven weeks of summer vacation left before leaving for separate colleges. While Dallas worries about their future, Drayton is harboring a massive secret that could change their entire love story.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

18. In Case I Go Missing by R. N. Swann

Sarah Vincenty, a small-town amateur detective, has gone missing. The police dismiss her as a runaway, but her sidekick Fenny knows something is wrong. When Fenny finds a binder titled In Case I Go Missing, she realizes Sarah was deep into a decades-old mystery tied to the town’s dark history. Now, it's up to Fenny to finish the investigation before it’s too late.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

19. Stars, Stripes & Summer Nights by Celeste Dador

Abigail, the eldest daughter of the President, just wants a normal teenage life. After an impulsive pizza order turns into front-page news, she is exiled to a Wi-Fi-free country inn for the summer. There she meets Gabriel, a camera-obsessed local unimpressed by her status. Armed with a summer bucket list, Abby discovers small-town life and unexpected romance.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

20. That Which Feeds Us by Keala Kendall

In this chilling Hawaiian Gothic tale, the ultra-wealthy escape to Kōpaʻa Island Resort for a luxury tech-free retreat. But for Lehua, it's a nightmare. She sneaks onto the island to find her missing twin sister, Ohia. Stranded when the boat leaves, Lehua uncovers a dark plantation history hidden behind the resort's sweet persimmons and must face the horrors lurking in the sugarcane fields.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

21. Summer Official by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Bubbly, popular basketball player Saylor and grumpy, artistic skateboarder Heaven could not be more different. But when Saylor breaks her arm and needs to escape her influencer mom’s viral videos, she strikes a deal with Heaven. Saylor helps Heaven build a social media presence for her tattoo art, leading to an intimate summer romance.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

22. Meet Me Under the Lights by Cassie Miller

Eliza Crowley is focusing on her hometown's community theater production to shake off her reputation as a rich girl. But her summer plans shift when Reed Fulton, the ace pitcher of a rival baseball team, returns to town. Drawn together despite a bitter thirty-year dispute between their families, Eliza and Reed find themselves caught in the middle of a high-stakes small-town summer.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

🔥 Adult Fiction & Beach Reads Romance, Thrillers, & Scandals

23. Catch Her If You Can by Tessa Bailey

Madden Donahue, the new star catcher for the Yankees, has been in love with burlesque club owner Eve Mitchell since high school. When Eve’s sister suddenly leaves her with two kids, Madden steps in with a private marriage of convenience for the health benefits. What starts as a business arrangement quickly ignites into something much hotter as Madden fights to make it real.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

24. Scandal of the Summer by Alexandra Vasti

Fleeing London’s stifling marriage market, eccentric heiress Lady Ruby Ballimore crashes an absent princess’s Cornwall holiday estate using a forged invitation. Instead of a luxury vacation, she finds a derelict mansion occupied by Captain Malcolm Archer a former privateer turned con artist using the estate to cover his smuggling scheme. An entertaining, rakish historical rom-com.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

25. Hot Girl Murder Club by Ashley Winstead

Ten years after her sister’s mysterious death at a Hollywood party, aspiring pop star Scout Sage is framed for a slew of targeted L.A. murders. Overnight, she becomes the world’s most famous alleged killer. To clear her name and find justice for her sister, Scout must team up with an unusual detective to unearth a dangerous pattern of Hollywood crimes.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

26. Crash Into Me by Robinne Lee

Trapped in a complicated marriage within Los Angeles’s playground of privilege, artist Cecilia Chen is struggling to find her real identity. Everything upends when she literally crashes into Anouk Ferrand, an enigmatic model she shared a brief, explosive physical and emotional entanglement with twenty years prior in Mexico. A sweeping, intense story of the past colliding with reality.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

27. The Au Pair by Teddy Wayne

Steven Hammer's literary career and marriage are both crumbling. The only bright spot is Astrid, the young Norwegian au pair who cares for his children and reveres his writing. When their secret infatuation spirals into a salacious, headline-grabbing trial, Steven must confront the wreckage of his obsession, power dynamics, and betrayal.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

28. Rules for the Summer by Meghan Quinn

Renley Gossage is determined to restore a failing Cape Meril candy shop on her own. Theo Williams is a posh, wealthy escapee from his father’s control who rents the house next door on a dare. Forced together by collapsing drywall, gossiping neighbors, and eccentric family members, their proximity turns a summer fling into something dangerously real.

• Shop it here: Bookshop.org | Amazon

🖍️ Free Printable Summer Reading Logs & Trackers!

Ready to track your family's summer reading goals? We have designed three distinct, easy-to-use Canva templates perfect for printing or digital tracking. Click the links below to claim your free templates, edit the colors or names, and start logging those summer pages!

• ✨ Kids Weekly Reading Chart: Access Template 1 on Canva

• 📚 Family Summer Reading Bingo Log: Access Template 2 on Canva

• 🌊 Aesthetic Reading Tracker & Goal Setter: Access Template 3 on Canva

Happy reading, everyone! Drop a comment below and let us know which book you are adding to your library stack first?

Have you ever read a news headline and thought: "That's probably going to become a thriller in five years." A new AI breakthrough. Facial recognition software. Self-driving cars. Gene editing. Algorithms that know us better than we know ourselves.

Most of the time, technological progress is presented as something exciting and something that makes life easier, safer, faster, or more connected.

Techno thrillers begin with that promise. Then they ask what happens next, and the amazing thing is that the technology works, but that also turns into the problem.

💻 What Is a Techno Thriller?

Techno thrillers are built around a simple idea: innovation creates consequences.

The central conflict usually grows from a technological advancement, scientific discovery, or system that changes the way people live, communicate, travel, fight, or govern.

Unlike many forms of science fiction, the technology often feels uncomfortably believable. The suspense comes from watching those innovations collide with human ambition, greed, fear, or simple human error.

Because technology may be advancing rapidly, but people, unfortunately, are still people.

🚀 Why Readers Love Them

I think techno thrillers appeal to readers who constantly ask "What if?"

• What if dinosaurs could be cloned?

• What if social media companies had even more access to our lives?

• What if artificial intelligence became impossible to contain?

• What if warfare became automated?

The best techno thrillers take questions that already exist in the real world and push them one step further. That creates a unique kind of suspense where the threat feels possible.

Even when the story becomes larger than life, there's usually a moment where readers recognize a piece of the world they're already living in, and that's what makes these books so compelling and occasionally so unsettling.

🧬 When Progress Outpaces Control

One thing you'll notice across the genre is that the technology itself is rarely evil. The problem is usually what happens after the breakthrough.

• A corporation sees an opportunity.

• A government wants control.

• A scientist pushes a little further than they should.

• Someone builds a system without fully understanding the consequences.

The technology often performs exactly as designed, but it's the humans surrounding it who create the disaster.

That tension sits at the heart of many great techno thrillers. Progress moves faster than our ability to predict every outcome, and somebody eventually has to deal with the fallout.

📚 Why They Feel So Different

Many thrillers ask readers whether the protagonist can stop the threat. Techno thrillers often ask whether the threat should have existed in the first place.

The tension focuses on BOTH survival and responsibility.

• Who created this?

• Who controls it?

• Who benefits from it?

• And what happens once it can't be undone?

Those questions give the genre a different flavor than traditional crime novels or mystery-driven thrillers. The danger often feels bigger than a single villain because the problem is woven into a system, a technology, or an idea that has already been unleashed.

📖 If You Usually Read Other Genres...

One reason techno thrillers attract such a wide audience is that they naturally blend with several neighboring genres.

🚀 Science Fiction Readers

Start with: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

If you enjoy scientific problem-solving and high-concept ideas, this is a natural bridge into stories where technology drives the plot.

🕵️ Conspiracy Thriller Readers

Start with: The Firm by John Grisham

Power, secrecy, and information control play major roles in both genres, especially when technology becomes a tool for manipulation.

⚔️ Military Thriller Readers

Start with: Ghost Fleet by P.W. Singer and August Cole

Advanced technology, modern warfare, and geopolitical tension combine to create one of the most influential military techno thrillers of the last decade.

😱 Horror Readers

Start with: Cold Storage by David Koepp

A scientific discovery spirals into a nightmare, blending technological suspense with genuine horror energy.

📚 Beginner Pick

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Scientists achieve a breakthrough that changes the world.

Then reality arrives.

Why it works:

• instantly understandable premise

• relentless pacing

• fascinating scientific ideas

• remains surprisingly relevant decades later

This is still one of the best introductions to the genre because it perfectly captures the question at the center of every techno thriller.

Just because we can do something, should we?

📚 Advanced Pick

Daemon by Daniel Suarez

After a brilliant game designer dies, an autonomous computer program begins reshaping society according to a plan nobody can stop.

Why it works:

• ambitious scope

• frighteningly plausible concepts

• explores automation and power

• feels more relevant every year

This is the kind of techno thriller that leaves readers staring at their phones a little differently afterward.

🌙 Final Thoughts

I think techno thrillers tap into one of the most fascinating fears of the modern age: not that technology will fail, but that it will succeed far beyond our initial thoughts.

The systems we build are becoming more powerful, more connected, and more integrated into our daily lives every year. Most of that progress is wonderful.

Techno thrillers simply ask us to imagine what happens when those same tools are placed in the wrong hands, pushed too far, or allowed to operate without limits.

I wanted to talk about StokerCon a little more here because I’ve had a lot of feelings about it.

StokerCon is something I look forward to every year. I know it’s one of the biggest events in the horror world, and for those of us who write, publish, sell books, review books, or are just trying to be part of this genre in whatever way we can, it means a lot.

I’ve learned so much from the panels over the years. I’ve found new authors, learned more about publishing, listened to conversations I never would have been able to be in otherwise, and felt a little less alone in this weird little horror life I’m trying to build.

This year was also special because I got to be part of a virtual panel, which I really appreciated. I would love to do that again.

But I also have to be honest. The virtual side of StokerCon was frustrating.

Virtual tickets are not just a cute extra option for people who don’t feel like traveling. A lot of us attend virtually because we have to. Disabilities, money, work, family, health, travel, anxiety, all of it. There are a lot of reasons someone can’t just get on a plane and spend several days at a convention.

For me, virtual attendance is still attendance. I plan around it. I clear time for panels. I try to watch live when I can. I make notes. I save recordings. I treat it like a real convention because it is one.

This year, it didn’t feel like the virtual attendees were treated that way.

The recordings were delayed. Communication was almost impossible. One of the two recorded rooms had audio that was hard to understand, even after the recordings went up. And honestly, for an event this size, having only two rooms available virtually already felt limited.

I don’t think anyone set out to make virtual attendees feel forgotten. I know everyone running the in-person event is busy. I know conventions are a lot of work. I know there are always going to be problems.

But when people pay for a virtual ticket, especially when that ticket is being offered as an accessible option, there needs to be a better plan.

There needs to be someone virtual attendees can actually contact. There needs to be clear communication when recordings are delayed. There needs to be audio that people can hear. And if virtual access is going to be part of the convention, it needs to be treated like part of the convention.

Not something to deal with later.

This also ties into why I didn’t renew my HWA membership this year. Part of it was the lack of disability accommodation I’ve felt overall. The other part was the mentor program. I waited two years and was never assigned a mentor.

During the Stoker Awards, I heard people say more than once that you get out of the HWA what you put into it. I understand why people say that. But that has not been my experience.

I did try.

I joined. I attended. I waited. I reached out. I tried to be part of things in the ways I could.

And after a while, it starts to feel bad to keep showing up to spaces that say they want people included, but don’t seem ready for what that actually means.

I’m not saying this because I hate StokerCon. I don’t. I love what StokerCon can be. I love that it brings horror people together. I love the panels. I love seeing the genre celebrated. I love that for a few days, horror gets to be the main thing in the room.

I just wish the people who can’t physically be in that room were treated like they mattered too.

If virtual tickets are offered again, I really hope they’re handled with more care. Because for some of us, that’s the only door we have.

Hi gremlins and friends!

I am reorganizing my monster romance shelves and need some help.

Right now they are separated by standard edition, special edition, and NSFW special editions, but I am running low on special edition space. I always have them organized in alphabetical order, right now its genre sections as well(omegaverse, aliens, paranormal, monster, etc).

Buuuuut I used to have them organized just as one whole monstery section, combining all the inhuman stuff from aliens, to vampires, to omegaverse, just and alphabetical order.

I think I’m leaning back toward that plan, but the main question is: Do I mix my special editions back in? Or try to keep them separate? I have a LOT of books to add from Monsterotica, so I’m a tad worried, but we vibe regardless.

Help me pleeeease.

Hello comrades! It's time for another accountability post of what I'm reading and have up next on my TBR pile. In a few weeks I'm traveling to Europe to visit family (and maybe get some impulsive tattoos?? Stay tuned!), so I'm figuring out what I want to read on my flights/train rides/etc. I also smashed through a bunch of books in the last few weeks for podcast guest research, some of which were real home runs.

Here's what I've got on the docket:

• It's Different This Time by Joss Richard

• In Every Possible Way by Alicia Thompson

• The Paris Match by Kate Clayborn (I will be in Paris for a few days, so this is a perfect pick)

• By The Bootstraps by Alexa Martin

And here's what I've read recently that I loved:

• Let's Kiss and Tell by Joss Richard (eARC)— It's so refreshing to read a contemporary romance novel about characters who enjoy sex and have it often (and not necessarily with each other)!

• Whiteout by Andrea Anders — This was a reread because I was in the mood for a "we have to cuddle for warmth" scene. It's arguably the best romantic suspense I've ever read. A surly scientist and a hot chef working at a remote research station in Antarctica are on the run across the ice from mercenaries because PLOT REASONS.

• She Haunts Me Still by De Elizabeth (ARC) — Dark academia paranormal bisexual love triangle starring ghosts, vampires and theater kids!! A wild ride I couldn't put down.

• The Last Page by Katie Holt — Finally a rom-com for anyone who fantasizes about getting married in the rare books room at The Strand.

What are you reading this month?

Under a Hollow Sky by Wynter SaintClare

Representation: blindness

Genre: science fiction

In the Wake of the Gods by Kent Priore

Representation: bipolar disorder

Genre: fantasy

Love Variations by Victoria Lee*

Representation: multiple sclerosis, autism

Genre: romance

Mother Tongue by Sara Nović*

Representation: Deaf

Genre: memoir

Spur of the Moment by Juliana Smith

Representation: epilepsy

Genre: romance

Seams Like Love by Chrissie Harrison

Representation: chronic illness

Genre: romance

Never Back Down by Luna Peters

Representation: borderline personality disorder

Genre: romance

Smash or Pass by Birdie Schae*

Representation: autism

Genre: YA romance

Never Say Never by Kylie Skye

Representation: ADHD

Genre: romance

Stops Along the Way by Anna Sortino*

Representation: hard of hearing

Genre: YA romance

Pot Shot by Laura Piper Lee

Representation: Crohn's disease

Genre: romance

The Place Between Our Pains by K.J. Ramsey*

Representation: 7+ chronic illnesses

Genre: memoir

Score by Kennedy Ryan

Representation: bipolar disorder

Genre: romance

The Last Resort by Liz Leiby

Representation: migraines

Genre: romance

A Handy Duo by Sarah Madeline*

Representation: anxiety

Genre: romance

*denotes a book with own voices representation and/or an openly disabled author

DISCLAIMERS: I have not yet read these books myself and cannot testify to the accuracy of representation. Please do your own research if you have concerns! I am also sure many of the books that aren't marked with a * also contain own voices rep or are written by disabled authors, but I am only marking those that I am certain are by disabled authors!

I finished The Butcher of Nazareth and I have so many things to say about this beautiful, horrifying book. This book is a five-star read for me. However, with full sincerity, it is very much not going to be for everyone.

I'm going to do something I rarely do and put trigger warnings down so people know what to expect: child loss, blood, gore, religion, violence, pregnancy.

Okay. Now that that's out there, all I want to do is talk about this book. David Scott Hay wrote something unreal. Wholly original. I've never read anything like it in my life. This story is a prequel to the New Testament, told between the Old Testament before Jesus becomes Jesus.

We follow The Butcher who was a participant in the Culling ordered by King Herod. We follow the Butcher through his pain and agony, the death of his infant son, his isolation from his family, his loss of self in his fury and rage. We see the Butcher and his anger at God, his hatred of Jesus, his resentment of faith. Along the way, it's the Butcher who plants the seeds for the death of Jesus in his search to find him and cull the only babe who escaped when his infant son did not.

The Butcher copes with his son's death, his resentment at Jesus for not suffering the same, and the way the world was changing around religion for the Jewish people. His story is of suffering and a never-ending grief felt by a father. Hay wrote the story in an extremely specific way that removes the barrier between reader and anti-hero. You are neck deep in the Butcher's grief with him and there is no escape. You cannot look away and it makes the story a raw, emotional, painful experience for us just like it was for the Butcher.

He rediscovers hope and temptation, the chance to try again, only to have it snatched away and tumble back into despair. We see Mary Magdalene and Nazareth and Jesus and how community is so critical to their survival, success, and emotional growth. Without community, when we isolate ourselves, our grief and anger rule us and turn us into monsters. We need each other to create life and we need each other to navigate death.

This book made me think. It forced me to stop thinking of linear stories and read it differently. The paper texture, the text choice, the margins, all of them play a part in telling Hay's story and I think it is so much richer because of it. The writing is spellbinding, something new in the genre done so expertly I've never read anything like it before. He captures you immediately, then holds you with style that's saturated with substance. It reads like a scream of grief into the earth and sky. A terrible catharsis as if exhaled after holding your breath.

You rarely know what's real and what's imagined, but that isn't the point. The point is to witness the Butcher and what being consumed by his loss has done to him, what it has taken from him because he cannot find a way to atone and forgive and seek comfort in his community. This book is brutal. It's so raw and emotional I never knew if I wanted to cry or gasp or hold my breath. I just knew it was important to be a witness to this spectacle of loss and pray in the end there was a way for the Butcher to find his way home.

5/5. Incredible.

Hi Chanterelle Keepers & Producers

Here's our quarterly update and giveaway🥹 I sent a blog post to all the tiers last week explaining why it's been quieter these last few weeks/months and this is an updated post for you guys.

Updates & Membership Features:

Going forward, I'm hoping to have content exclusively for you guys. What this will look like, I'm not sure yet! I'm definitely a trial and error kind of person and will be experimenting with the posts I make in here. What I know it will include is my lists with more options in them so that you guys get extra books or games that isn't available to everyone🥹

At the moment, I'm moving and still in my recovery stage after my surgery. I'm also starting a new job later this summer and with everything going on, I'm looking for a sustainable way to keep things going with my Bindery! If there's anything you'd like to see, please do let me know🥰

Spring Giveaway:

What with the move, this giveaway is also going to be digital and Digital giveaway won in the last post in April in here so going forward, I do think we'll be sticking to this type of giveaway as it gives all of us flexibility

So this giveaway is running from today, June 17th to June 25th at 11:59 UK Timing next week. I'll be contacting the winner as usual and please always check your spam folder as sometimes emails make their way there.

This Giveaway, you can choose to:

• 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 June 25th and I will be in touch with the winner through email! Good luck to everyone🤎

8/10
Spice - 10/10 🔥🔥🔥

Can't go wrong with Rina Kent and her dark mafia romances. In her newest MM Romance, Kiss the Villain, we follow the story of Gareth, a student and his criminal law professor, Kayden. But wait, did I mention that they both are rivals and want to unalive 💀 each other?

The story is them going against each other but unable to resist the attraction that they both have for each other. They both are so possessive and so twisted, it's crazy ❤️‍🔥. The twist in the second half had my flabbers gasted , in a good way duh. The ending was good. The spice was 🤌

And the tropes - age gap, billionaire romance, student professor, dom-sub, coming out, touch him and die

Trigger warnings - gRape, non-consent kink, mentions of self harm, killing

Thank you so much @sourcebookscasa and @read_bloom for this copy! The glossy finish is 🫶

Author - @author_rina

Keywords : Mafia | Rina Kent | Age gap | Dark Romance | enemies to Lovers | MM romance

Blurb - My darkness meets a darker soul.

I’m a golden boy.
A genius law student, the heir to the Carson empire, and the dutiful son.
Or, at least, that's what it looks like from the outside.
Deep inside, I have the urge to set the world on fire.
I keep these impulses in check, rarely indulging in mayhem.
Until one night of debauchery backfires, and I'm caught by a villain.
I bury the entire ordeal with the rest of my skeletons.
That is, until that night walks into my classroom in the form of my new professor.
Kayden Lockwood.
A criminal who’s teaching criminal law.
I can't expose what he's done without unmasking my secret life.
What I can do, however, is force him to taste the poison he gave me.
In the clash of titans, Kayden and I break and crumble.
And I'm starting to realize this dangerous game may have no winners.

"Leo Bridgers, always slightly oriented to Simran like she's his cardinal north"

GENRE: Romance or RomComFamDram!
RATING: 4.75/5
FORMAT: eBook & physical Arc
Tropes: Meddlesome family, Indian Wedding Hijinks, Family Reunion, Intergenerational grief & yearning, If he wanted to he would

Overall Impression:Literally, just give me more books with Bollywood vibes in them!

Review:
I mean if you put meddling family, Bollywood vibes and wedding drama with Romance in a book, I will DEFINITELY be there for it and this did not disappoint!

Leave and Come Back is such a fun, wholesome & funny story and yet, it's also sad as we dive into Simi's grief and her loss following her parent's death. We get to dive into what it means to move to another country and have to learn a new culture and a new way of living while coping with grief.

Simi's journey takes us through what life is like for her versus her aunt, Veena, both of who share a lot of similarities. They both left and moved to the west and while they are in different generations, we see their struggles and how it all ties together throughout the story. In a way, reading the story isn't just watching Simi slowly heal but also seeing how this impacts her aunt.

And as for how meddlesome her aunt and the family members are, this was SO relatable to my own experience but the older you get, you start to slowly realise what Simi's cousins tell her throughout the story: that every generation and person has a different way of expressing their love and sometimes, you fight but you can't give up on each other.

Oh and Leo & Simi's journey? This was SO cute. I think we definitely get to go on the journey with them but it's more of watching Leo learn about Simi as a person and her life back home while learning about her culture and trying to win her aunt & the rest of the family. I felt that we got to know everyone in the story so well and the focus wasn't just on Simi & Leo alone but rather every family member in a way that wasn't overwhelming!

OH and Operation DDLJ? My god, that was a throwback as I havent watched it in SO long but time to fix that!🤭

I was provided a free advance reader copy and I’m sharing my honest thoughts.