If you could have any dream bookish related job, what would it be and why? OR If you work that job now, why is it your dream job?

You probably already know this but I work in freelance book publicity for my day job. But my dream job is being a bookish content creator. Making videos is my biggest passion and if I could do it full time, that would be the dream. Of course, I also want to be a publisher, publishing books, which is why I partnered with Bindery.

Choices:

• Author 

• Editor 

• Literary Agent

• Creative at a Publishing House (Marketing, PR, etc.)

• Book Designer 

• Book content creator 

• Own a publishing house

• Bookseller 

• Librarian

• English or Literature Teacher 

• Other (Tell us in the comments!)

Hello my darlings! It's time for the big unveiling of the new name, logo, and mission statement for what WAS just called @amanda.the.bookish's Books and is NOW called Inkspoken Books! This is specifically to angle this account toward becoming a Bindery Imprint. ✨

Name: What does Inkspoken Books mean? the name Inkspoken Books came to me as I was brainstorming imprint names over the summer and it just stuck. I like how it's lightly whimsical and calls back to antiquity; 'ink' and 'spoken' as the foundation of all stories, written and verbal alike.

Mission Statement: Here at Inkspoken Books you will never go unheard. It’s a community of people who love the written word and the voices behind it. We plan to begin this with our Coffee For Artists Initiative. Join me in creating a place that will -- someday-- be the imprint that publishes your favorite author. Join me 💛

Logo: I've attached a few ideas for logos that I've been hemming and hawing over for the past few days. I announced on IG that I was planning to reveal everything with regards to Inkspoken Books on Sunday, and then I came up with too many cool logo ideas to choose from! I've attached a few here - do any of them stand out to you?

Stay tuned for more news and updates, and for the launch of our Coffee for Artists Initiative! To help us on our journey to become a publisher, please consider becoming a Inkspoken Insider. 💛

Amanda - Inkspoken Books

Shop all the latest and greatest in Latinx lit on my bookshop.org bookshelves between now and October 8th and get FREE SHIPPING on your order!

Some of my favorite shelves are my 2025 books by Latinx authors, Latinx Heritage Month Personal Curriculum, Building Your Home Library, Latinx Cookbooks, and Young Reader’s editions of Nonfiction Books.

Are you picking up some books during the sale? Let me know in the comments.

xoxo,

Carmen

Review:

Chills, chills, chills! (And sobbing)

Li’s perspective on time makes me think about anishinaabe language/ worldview. She says time is not “now and then” but is “now and now and now.” You always are, even if the action shifts. This is so relevant to Anishinaabemowin where the world is understood through processes and relationships rather than static things. For instance, a garden is gardening “gitigaaning”. Existence is continuous action, not frozen in past or future.

I also really appreciated the reflections on suicidality from both the perspectives of a thinker and a feeler. The author was able to respectfully and meaningfully express how thoughts about wanting to live/die may be interpreted by both types of people. As someone who struggles with these thoughts, it resonated with me deeply.

The end left me pondering: If you were sent back in time and told about everything you would have to go through in life- would you continue to live it?

Fav quotes:

“Not calling a fact by its name can be the beginning of cruelty and injustice”

“True compassion takes courage”

“Sometimes there is no silver lining”

“The border between all right and all wrong like the border between life and death is not solid… our life is never going to be right again, but we are doing all right”

“The world seems to care more about children’s doings than about their beings”

Hello folks! As you know, we are reading THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER by Stephen Graham Jones for our book club this month and many of you answered on the announcement post that you'd like to do reading sprints and a liveshow!

So here I am humbly requesting your input on dates and times! ALL sprints and liveshows will be held in the book club sprints/liveshows VOICE channel on discord here (https://discord.com/channels/1162448705958465626/1425109089930969191). Please make sure to open the chat for the sprints.

Happy Tuesday, mis internet amigxs!

Greetings from Washington, DC where I attended the Save Our Stores Supper to kick off their Launch of the Banned Wagon this week in DC and Philadelphia. I’ll be posting a full recap soon, but for now, here’s a snap of me in front of the Banned Wagon’

Banned Books Week is this week. I am dedicating my Latinx Heritage Month Personal Curriculum series on Tik Tok to books banned in Hillsborough County where I live.

Here's a little more about the week and the theme.

Banned Books Week 2025: Censorship Is So 1984

The theme for this year's Banned Books Week is that Censorship is so 1984, highlighting the Orwellian nature of book censorship. As Kelly Jensen says in her newsletter this week, not really sure what "read for your rights" means. I highly recommend you subscribe to her newsletter for more resources on book banning. Censorship affects the work and lives of authors, illustrators, publishers, and, most importantly, readers. Constraining access to books infringes on our First Amendment rights.

I have a few events I'll be at next week in Tampa:

The Librarians documentary screening at Sun-Ray Cinema tomorrow, Wednesday, October 8th at 7:30 PM. You can get your tickets here. If you can't make it, then would you mind sharing my social media posts? We're almost a 1/2 of the way full in less than 24 hours, but I'd love to sell out the showing (Instagram | Tik Tok | Facebook) The Librarians is THE history of modern book banning everyone needs to see. They're doing a number of Banned Books Week viewings all over the world, so be sure to check out their website to look for a screening near you.

On October 11th, I'll be joining Bookends Ybor, my friend Rachel and several others will be at Gasparilla Distillery from 3-9 PM for their closing of Banned Books Week event. You can get your ticket and find all event details here.

And while it doesn't fall during banned books week, I'll be joining the Hillsborough County LGBTQ+ Caucus in a discussion on book banning on October 15th at 6:00PM. They don't have the registration link live yet, but you can check their calendar of events closer to the date to register.

And OMG! I will be in conversation with THEE Mary Roach on Saturday, November 1st at the New Tampa Performing Arts Center at 1:30 PM!!! Tickets for the event have sold out, unfortunately, but I will have a full report after the event!

ICYMI: The Bindery App is HERE for iOS (with Android coming soon!). Let me know what you think of it when you download it! ALSO, if you do download and use it, DON'T FORGET TO RATE IT IN THE APP STORE! As of the time of writing this, Bindery is the #50 app in the app store, but I'm pretty sure our powerful community can get it to #1!

And now let’s get to this week’s book releases!

LITERARY FICTION

And I'll Take Your Eyes Out by A. M. Sosa (Audiobook) “An insultingly good debut” following a queer Chicano’s cannon-shot into adulthood amidst familial turmoil and the suffocating violence of Stockton, California in the early 2000s

FANTASY

The River And The Star by Gabriela Romero Lacruz (Audiobook)

Tales of Dark Feminine by V. Castro (Audiobook)

HOLIDAY ROMANCE

The Holiday Hookup List by Alexis Daria

FEMINIST ANTHOLOGY IN TRANSLATION

La Lucha: Latin American Feminism Today Edited by Carolina Orloff

TRANSLATED FICTION

Mothers by Brenda Lozano (Audiobook)

MIDDLE GRADE GRAPHIC NOVEL - SPANISH

Srta. Campista written and illustrated by Kat Fajardo

YOUNG ADULT

A Feast For The Eyes by Alex Crespo (Audiobook)

xoxo,

Carmen