I joined Bindery because I believe that diverse voices needed to be leading the charge behind the scenes in publishing so that more diverse stories could be brought into the world.

I started with a mission to have a community dedicated to uplifting Indigenous voices and to create room for Indigenous books on shelves. While we struggled in the beginning to have people understand who Bindery was and what Bindery was and how they fit into the publishing ecosystem and just to build awareness of our imprint in general, we are finally at a place where people know who we are, the work that we do, and the dedication this imprint has to its authors and challenging the status quo. We are seeing more submissions from Indigenous authors all over the globe and I can't wait to see that grow. (there is one I'm super, super excited about and hope to get to read this week! If you pressure me, I might tell you more!)

We have expanded our booklist to include women writing horror and our first two books are in the works! What Feeds Below by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne comes out this October! (It's finally on Edelweiss and Netgalley should be coming this month!) and Cracks in an Ocean of Glass by Kristy Park Kulski will be coming out next spring. These are two of the most unique horror books I've read in the last couple of years and I cannot wait for you to read them.

I want to take a minute to talk about the future. My goal with this imprint is to be able to share as many diverse stories and to support as many authors as I can. I want to publish more books. I want to be able to move forward with every manuscript that I love when it is submitted to me and to be frank, I don't think that can happen without your support. Paid subscriptions help to pay for the production of the books that our imprint publishes. If you would like to see more books from this imprint please consider upgrading to the $5 or $12 tier.

$5 subscribers will get e arcs to all of the books from our imprint.

$12 subscribers will get physical arcs.

I will make another post about all of the tier perks later this week (I'm also open to adding things that would make you want to become a paid member, so please drop any suggestions below!)

There are over 2,000 of you here. If every single one of you preordered WHAT FEEDS BELOW today (it's $16.73 on bookshop.org, our preferred purchasing partner, benefiting Indigenous bookstore Black Walnut Books) you could help make a serious impact on this imprint's future.

I am asking for your support because I need it. I would like to get this imprint where I know it could be.

I believe the work that we do together to uplift voices that are often left unheard is crucial and necessary in a world on fire and working against us every day and I'd like to do it long term. Thank you all so much for showing up for book club, for our authors, for the books we champion. Thank you for helping to publish stories that haunt and heal.

In other news:

Did you see me on the Tamron Hall show today talking about May Cobb? Never in a million years did I think I would make it to TV! I am waiting for them to send me a clip so I can share it with you all. NATIONAL TELEVISION! Book EMPRESS.

This year one of my goals is to do more journaling content and more long form video content

If you're on Substack follow me here

If you're on Youtube, follow me here

I owe many responses to Get A Rec, those are coming soon!

Thank you all for everything you do. I appreciate you.

As promised here is the reading schedule for belladonna

The full interview will be posted here later this month. If you would like a copy of it, please email me: manon@authorimprints.com. Thanks!

Hi folks!

I’ve had a wild reading week. I’ve been flat out at work and instead of cosying up with comfort reads, I delved into conceptual sci fi and weird horror instead. Everything I read was great though! But perhaps not for the squeamish.

There is No Antimemetics Division by qntm.

A mind-bending conceptual sci fi thriller about an organisation dealing with unknown entities that manipulate and wipe memories.

One of the best sci fi books I have EVER read. I’m still thinking about it. Confusing, enthralling, dark, funny… a masterful piece of writing.

Chomp Chomp by Azalea Crowley

A horror romance novella from one of my absolute favourite writers. An elegant Asian-American woman goes on a date in the 80s, but the evening has surprises in store…

This is a lot gorier than Azalea’s usually cute/creepy work, and I am so here for it. But be warned, it’s a… well… it’s a LOT. I had a blast though. I really am in my horror phase.

How to Cook and Eat the Rich by Sunyi Dean

A short story about cooking and eating the rich. I don’t want to say more than that other than I loved it! Very funny and I loved the format, all done in second person one-sided dialogue, which worked fantastically for the story.

And one of the coolest covers ever.

Let me know what you’re reading in the comments, or join us on the Discord!

Love,

Disco

Hello, Sickos! I'm still scrambling to catch up with content/filming after spending last week at the Rancho Mirage Writer's Festival (which was an amazing experience I'll have to tell you more about), but I do have a special giveaway for you today.

I have obtained an extra hardcover copy of our February History Book Club pick, Fear & Fury by Heather Ann Thompson. As an aside, I will also be interviewing Thompson on YouTube later this month, so I'll be able to include some questions from the community. She was also just on The Daily Show last night promoting it if you want to know more.

To enter, be a "Kist Reads" Follower, Sicko, or Mega Sicko in the US and leave a comment on this post (it can be a fire emoji or whatever, just do it so we can make the winner selection & shipping as quick as possible). I'll throw all the terms & conditions* at the bottom. Here's what she looks like:

I'll randomly draw the winner on 2/6 and reach out via email if you've won. Good luck!

Here's the blurb:

In this masterful, groundbreaking work, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Heather Ann Thompson shines surprising new light on an infamous 1984 New York subway shooting that would unveil simmering racial resentments and would lead, in unexpected ways, to a fractured future and a new era of rage and violence.

"A gripping and powerful account of one of the 20th century's most important criminal cases." --James Foreman Jr., Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Locking Up Our Own

On December 22, 1984, in a graffiti-covered New York City subway car, passengers looked on in horror as a white loner named Bernhard Goetz shot four Black teens, Darrell Cabey, Barry Allen, Troy Canty, and James Ramseur, at point-blank range. He then disappeared into a dark tunnel. After an intense manhunt, and his eventual surrender in New Hampshire, the man the tabloid media had dubbed the “Death Wish Vigilante” would become a celebrity and a hero to countless ordinary Americans who had been frustrated with the economic fallout of the Reagan 80s. Overnight, Goetz’s young victims would become villains.

Out of this dramatic moment would emerge an angry nation, in which Rupert Murdoch's New York Post and later Fox News Network stoked the fear and the fury of a stunning number of Americans.

Drawing from never-before-seen archival materials, legal files, and more, Heather Ann Thompson narrates the Bernie Goetz Subway shootings and their decades-long reverberations, while deftly recovering the lives of the boys whom too many decided didn't matter. Fear and Fury is the remarkable account and a searing indictment of a crucial turning point in American history.

*No purchase needed. Open to U.S. residents, 18+ only. Void where prohibited.
How to enter:
Open to all “Kist Reads” Bindery members - any tier (including free “Follower” members) – comment to enter (Limit 1 entry per person.)

Prize Value: $35.00
Timing: Runs 2/3/26 - 2/6/26
Winner will be selected at random and notified via email within 3 days of the giveaway’s end. The winner must respond within 3 days to claim their prize.
Other details:
By entering, you agree to these rules and all U.S. & Florida laws. No cash substitute. Sponsor not liable for entry or delivery issues.
Sponsor: Kist Reads, Sun City Center, FL • Kistreadsbooks@gmail.com

If Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score stole your heart or you know it will, this one’s for you. We’ve created a fully themed book club kit inspired by Knockemout, grumpy barbers, runaway brides, found family, and the kind of love that sneaks up on you when you least expect it. And yes, it’s available exclusively to members of The First Editions. 💙🐶

Joining The First Editions gets you access to:
✨ Our Things We Never Got Over book club kit
✨ Engaging discussion questions on grumpy/sunshine romance, family, and community
✨ Knockemout-inspired food ideas, activities, and themed door prizes
✨ A cozy, welcoming reading community that loves swoon-worthy stories with heart

This is a story about starting over, letting people in, and discovering that family isn’t always who you’re born with and our kit is designed to help you talk, laugh, and swoon through all of it together.

📚 Join The First Editions and read Things We Never Got Over the way it deserves to be read!

❓ Bookish question: Are you a sucker for grumpy heroes like Knox, or is the found-family vibe what gets you every time?

It’s finally here! If you’ve been itching to dive deeper into Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score, this is your moment. 💙✂️🐶

✨ Tap the link for instant access to:
📚 A fully themed Things We Never Got Over book club kit
📖 A fun, thoughtful discussion guide covering grumpy/sunshine romance, found family, small-town chaos, and character growth
🍔 Knockemout-inspired food ideas, cozy activities, and themed door prize suggestions done for you

Whether you’re planning your next book club meeting or lining up future romance reads, this kit is designed to help your group laugh, swoon, and dig into everything that makes Knox, Naomi, and Knockemout unforgettable.

👉Tap the link to access the kit now and turn your next book club into a small-town romance experience worth talking about. https://tinyurl.com/mtaf3nc5 

❗️Don’t forget to come back and tell us how your meeting went!

💥Happy reading!📚💙

What happens when a grumpy, bearded barber meets a runaway bride in a town that thrives on chaos?🦊✨

Reading Things We Never Got Over felt like being wrapped in a cozy small-town blanket that occasionally gets set on fire. From the very first chapter, I was pulled into Knockemout and its cast of messy, lovable, meddling characters. Knox is peak grumpy hero energy closed-off, fiercely loyal, and absolutely no match for Naomi’s sunshine resilience or her unexpected role as guardian to an 11-year-old with a grown-woman attitude.

I loved how Lucy Score balanced swoony romance with real emotional weight. Naomi’s journey from abandoned and overwhelmed to finding her footing hit hard in the best way, and Knox’s slow unraveling had me smiling every time he did something kind while insisting he didn’t care. The banter was sharp, the tension delicious, and the found-family vibes made this feel like more than just a romance it felt like coming home.

This was a book club dream: plenty to gush about, lots to debate, and characters I’m still thinking about long after the last page. Grumpy/sunshine lovers, small-town romance fans, and anyone who enjoys a protective MMC with a soft center, this one’s for you.

❓️Are you more likely to fall for the grumpy loner like Knox or the chaotic small-town charm of Knockemout itself?

I am ecstatic for you to be here! Literally squealing at the thought of not only having my own Bindery site but the fact that you weren't sick of me and decided you wanted to see even more of me.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for joining! I cannot wait (and I hope you cannot either) for all the fun we are going to have. Think book recs, book reviews, and just all things bookish coming your way. What more could you possibly ask for!

p.s. Eva says Hi!

Happy Tuesday, mis internet amigxs,

I wanted to begin this week's newsletter by highlighting a few action items you can take in the book community to help our friends in Minnesota.

#MeltIceBookStack Challenge on Instagram: Through the end of February, for every post of a “flame” stack of yellow/orange/red books using #MeltIceStack hashtag and tagging @readerbotdiaries, Lou will be donating $1 to the @womensfndnmn Immigrant Rapid Response Fund, up to $200. 30 other bookstagrammers have joined the cause, meaning that the first 200 posts will raise $3,900 for the Immigrant Rapid Response Fund. You have 4 weeks to join us and contribute your stack.

In addition, I created the flyer below and posted it across all my social media platforms supporting Stand With Minnesota a comprehensive list of mutual aid for Immigrants, legal defense funds, individuals and businesses whose lives and livelihoods have been interrupted by ICE in the Twin Cities. Please donate and share widely. This flyer is available for you to download and share on your socials. No need to credit me.

In case you’d just like to amplify my social media posts instead, you can find them on all my channels, particularly Instagram and Tik Tok.

In addition, Haymarket Books has 3 free ebooks for those that would like to learn about migrant justice and border abolition.

By now, you’ve probably seen the photo of 70-year old Greg Ketter, owner of Minneapolis bookstore DreamHaven Books and Comics, emerging from a cloud tear gas last week. This and his interview about ICE created such interest in the bookstore that the online site was down for days. This is your reminder that you can add many Twin City bookstores doing work on the ground as your supported bookstores on both LibroFM and Bookshop to help them through these difficult times in addition to buying gift cards or ordering books directly from their websites.

BIEN LEIDOS BOOK CLUB UPCOMING EVENTS

We have a number of events coming up in the next few weeks I wanted to remind you about (Events are available exclusively to Bindery subscribers, check out THIS POST for registration links) :

• We’re finishing up reading Orange Wine by Esperanza Hope Snyder for January and have 2 upcoming events:

  • Tomorrow, we’ll be doing an all day rolling spoilery chat to get all our thoughts about the book out in the open on Discord. If you’ve been wanting to chat Orange Wine, save the date!

  • On February 10th at 8PM EST, we’ll be chatting on Zoom with Esperanza!

• We're currently reading our February Book is Sparks Fly by Zakiya N. Jamal AND we’ll be continuing our nonfiction side quest reading of Racial Innocence: Unmasking Latino Anti-Black Bias and the Struggle for Equality by Tanya Kateri -Hernandez

• Our March-April nonfiction side quest book is Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here by Jonathan Blitzer. I have opened up discussion early in case anyone wants to begin early, seeing as this is a very in-depth look at US immigration policy and the founding of ICE. Today, the publisher reached out and we’re planning some giveaways as well as other events you should stay tuned.

• We’re currently voting on April’s fiction pick and the Discord poll has landed us on fantasy and science fiction. I’ll be putting up options to vote on in Discord this week.

...and without further ado, this week's Latine releases...

New Latine Books

Young Adult

Carnival Fantastico by Angela Montoya (audiobook)

Few Blue Skies by Carolina Ixta (audiobook)

Translated Literary Fiction

Autobiography of Cotton: A Novel by Cristina Rivera Garza and translated by Christina MacSweeney (audiobook)

xoxo,

Carmen

Our February book is The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride! This won by a lot of votes, so hopefully we will finally have a winner this time haha. Looking forward to another great discussion!

Meeting will be on February 25th at 8pm EST.

https://meet.google.com/yts-vtpz-yeb

Link will be reshared closer to the meeting date.

I read 9 books in January, let’s talk about them! Starting with our bookclub picks

Thriller book picks:

1. Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea: 3⭐️ I have been absolutely loving Charlie Donlea lately and they have quickly become one of my new favorite thriller authors. This book is the most popular one of his and honesty I was quite disappointed! Not sure if it was the expectations going into it were too high? It had an interesting premise but I felt it to be a little long and dragged out. And I haven’t thought about this book a single time since I finished. Can’t remember any details honestly. I think there are far stronger books by this author. Let me know if you want a list and breakdown of which books I would recommend!

2. The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens: 4⭐️ another solid thriller read! This one actually really stood out to me and will be a thriller I recommend to many people in the future. I also listened to this one on audio and was very well done. It’s very rare I actually CARE about characters in suspense thrillers/horror books. But I loved the representation in this and how much love the brothers had for eachother. I was absolutely hooked from the very beginning and loved how it ended. It can be predictable but it’s still enjoyable nonetheless!

Fantasy pick: The Devils by Joe Abercrombie

Well… this is a SOFTTTTT dnf for me… so I heard the audiobook was amazing so I tried this on audio. Got to like 30% and realized I didn’t know what was happening what’s so ever 🤪I can see why people love the audiobook narrator. I can FEEL the passion and love the voice actor has for his job but I think for me it was too goofy?????? I can’t exactly pin point it because a part of me was having fun with it but the I realized I wasn’t following AT ALL!! So I think this is one I need to read physically. And I was planning on picking it up right away but then I got accepted to read an ARC on NetGalley that I’m VERY EXCITED ABOUT so I got a little distracted and started that instead. Oops. But I will be trying this out soon!!!

Other non book club reads

1. The Last Word by Taylor Adams: 3.5 ⭐️

2. Ruin by John Gwynne 4.75 ⭐️

3. Wrath by John Gwynne 4.75 ⭐️

4. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini 4⭐️

5. It’s Not Her by Mary Kubica 3.5 ⭐️

6. The Surrogate Mother by Freida McFadden 3⭐️

7. Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden 3.5 ⭐️