Hi Friends, it is that time again - Trans Joy Thursday!

I hope you all have had such an amazing week thus far. I am on the planning committee for one of our local Pride events here in Green Bay that's happening on June 6th, so I've been a little busy with that and a vendor meeting last night in a store I sell my merch in.

Things that have brought me joy this week are:

1. Wearing a crisp white V-neck tee. Seriously, that never stops being euphoric post top surgery.

Also, you can no longer find the Drink Water. Love Hard. Fight Racism. hat from Mahogany Mommies, (does that mean this hat is vintage?) but you can find the tee here. I love, love, love that company. (They also have a Pride line.)

1. I secured Dr. Kaila Story, the author of The Rainbow Ain't Never Been Enuf as our first Behind The Book author chat. This will take place Tuesday, June 16th, from 12-1pm CST/1-2pm EST on zoom. I will make a special announcement with the zoom link and information next month. I will also try to record it for playback for those unable to attend.

1. I also secured our Quarter 4 book AND Behind The Book chat for November, this week! Official details to come very, very soon. (Although, word on the street is that Discord heard it first.)

2. I got the special edition sprayed edged books of Coming Home with the trans non-binary flag! Madison over at Ink & Edges always does such an amazing job. She's also the one who sprayed my first special edition with the trans flag. I'll have them with me at my Pride events, so I'm not sure if there will be any left after June 20th (My last Pride event) SO, since you're a Friend on my Bindery, you get first dibs, please let me know if you'd like one before June 1st! They're $25 and $5 shipping. Shoot me a DM on IG or my Discord to secure yours.

1. I also secured my third Pride event pop-up (third EVER and they all are happening next month) for June 20th at Soul Purpose in the mall in Green Bay. I'm just waiting on the official graphic and I'll share it will all of you soon.

This week has definitely been a bookish and busy week, and it's only Thursday. lol. I do have a 3-day work weekend ahead of me, though. Balance, I suppose.

Looking ahead: Stay tuned for some exclusive Pride content coming for June, a Quarter 3 giveaway, events I'll be vending at, a Coming Home giveaway for the month of June, and more! I'm truly so excited to be in community with all of you.

Tell me, what has brought YOU joy this week so far? If nothing comes to mind, what are you looking forward to?

See you in the chats.

With all my trans joy,

Sawyer Cole

Hey y'all,

The Haitian Readathon is ending June 1st but that doesn't mean you have to stop reading.

The Children of Diaspora Book Club will be picking up Devil of the Deep by Falencia Jean-Francois as our June fiction pick in honor of Caribbean Heritage Month.

Our nonfiction read will be A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid.

XoXo,

Rae

Hi guys!

I'm so sorry it's been a while since I've sent an update, its been a busy time from my side as I've had my cochlear implant surgery, will be moving soon and starting a new job so it's been busy and it doesn't look like it's going to stop any time soon. It's all new, exciting things but I did procrastinate this update so here we are😅 (If you're a paid tier member, you'll be receiving a separate email as well so keep an eye out for that🤎)

OH and scroll to the bottom to see what I've been reading/gaming recently and share yours too🥰

Book Clubs & Storygraph Challenges:

In January, we started a new system where we switched to a non-traditional book club and are reading from books of our choices from our storygraph challenges. The purpose was to pop into discord and discuss them as we go along! As this is the first time we do this, we're definitely still learning as we go.

I had intended to have seasonal spotlights of 3 books from our Storygraph challenges that could help those of you guys who'd prefer to have selected readings choose something to read once a month instead of having to make a choice on your own. However, this fell through in April and we haven't had a second season spotlight. Thanks to my mods team, we are still discussing books generally on discord and for now, I'm looking to see what's the best option for us going forward so that I can sustain a consistent Book Club for both Ifrits & Ink and Cottagecore & Co.

The best thing to do is (for now) join us in Storygraph and pop onto discord to discuss and yap about books generally! You can also find the books that are releasing this year from SWANA authors and read them for our Ifrits & Ink challenges listed below🥰 (dont forget to tag me on stories if you'd like me to see it on instagram for our templates):

• Cottagecore & Co Storygraph Challenge

• Ifrits & Ink Storygraph Challenge

• SWANA Books Listopia: GoodReads for 2026 releases

• SWANA Books Listopia: Pagebound List for 2026 releases

• Story template & Instagram templates (Monthly & genre) for Ifrits & Ink

Gaming Club updates:

As for our gaming club, we also switched to a seasonal game choice and that unfortunately has fallen through due to how busy this year has been! My aim is to get us back on track but I'm not sure when. As for now, thanks to the mods, we are continuing our check ins when we can in our Gaming Channels and have a space in discord for us to discuss our latest cozy & cottagecore games 🤎

So... where does that leave us?

Essentially, at the moment, I'm functioning at a slower pace and I'm super thankful to all my mods who have been helping out in the discord! Going forward, I'm seeing what's the best way we can all have a space for us to read and game together while keeping it consistent and manageable!

If there's anything you'd like to see us do, please do let me know in the comments below or DM me as well. Chanterelle Solace is still around and we are still in the discord! As for newsletters, whether we will restart our spotlights or primarily use our storygraph challenges, stick around and I'll keep you guys updated!🥰

Personal Updates: What I've been reading & playing:

With my surgery being done a week ago, I've been reading & gaming a lot more this week as I rest & recover. I'm currently making my way through The Taming of Dukes series by Amalie Howard and I've just finished the second book in this inter-connected series. This was such a fun & cute historical Romance story and I'm obsessed with the friend group Amalie has written.

I'm also reading The Republic of Memory by Mahmud El-Sayed, which is a Arabfuturism Sci-fi book! I'm about 30% in and I can already tell this book is going to be filled with adventure that is going to break my heart

And finally, I've started playing Coral Island! This game has been on my radar for a while now and it's perfect for steam deck as well.

Thank you for reading this today friends! Can't wait to catch up with you in the community or in discord and thank you for being around here as always

As Pride Month approaches, I wanted to share one of my all-time favorite YA romances that’s perfect for Pride Month: And They Were Roommates by Page Powars. I finished ATWR in 2025, and it remains one of the funniest, most delightful, and most welcoming stories I’ve read. 🥰

The paperback of ATWR just released on May 26, and Page’s next YA romcom, But I Hate Him, releases in August. It’s the perfect time to pick up ATWR for your Pride Month TBR (and preorder But I Hate Him!). 🥳

Thank you to Fierce Reads and Ro Romanello PR for sending me free copies of And They Were Roommates and But I Hate Him!

Let’s take a look at what we’ve accomplished and where the world can take us!

What Feeds Below by Tatiana Schlote Bonne, a horror fantasy releasing this October!

Cracks by Kristy Park Kulski, a literary horror releasing next April! (name change soft launch)

I’ve been thinking a lot about what might come next and I’m adding a couple of more categories! Here is what I’m interested in:

Indigenous Authors- horror, thriller, romance, coming of age or cozy mystery

Horror written by women of color

Horrormance! (Friends, I read Lethal Kiss by Taylor Grothe and I need more of this!)

Thrillers! written by women of color

Let me know down below what would excite you!

(Sitting on a manuscript? Email me)

🖤 Anathema is dark, gothic romantasy by Keri Lake, the first book in The Eating Woods series.

🖤 Maevyth is a human, but strange occurrences are happening with her. She knows not to venture into the misty trees, but one day situation forces her to. Life has been cruel to Zevander since birth. He is now the most calculated assassin. What happens when he captures Maevyth and things suddenly become very different.

🖤 The book has some good dark, gothic, eerie writings. The prologue itself made me shiver a little. The book is divided in 3 parts - their introduction, them meeting and the end. I liked part 1 and all the elements it introduced/described. Second and third could have had a faster pace. Also, I would have instead enjoyed part 2 about them getting to know each other, than it being due to mate bond.

🖤 3/5

🖤 Book is available on KU and all book sellers. I actually found it easier to read it on KU/digital format as it is a 600 page + hardcover. Sturdy shelf copy, but you may prefer your reading device if you read while sleeping like me :P

🖤 Author - @kerilake

🖤 Publisher - @read_bloom . Thank you so much @sourcebooks for this wonderful copy.

🖤 Dark gothic book recommendations • dark romantasy • Keri Lake • booktok • bookstagram •

Hi nerds,

One of my "fun facts" about myself is that I am red/green colorblind. According to AI-pilled Google, only 0.5% of the colorblind population are women. This is because it is an X-linked recessive trait, which women are highly unlikely to inherit it as they must inherit a mutated gene from both parents, rather than just one. Yeahhhhh not brag but I'm mutated!

I actually can see shades of red and green (what I see as red and green at least lol), but have trouble with pinks usually or muted sage-y greens. Fun! All of that to say Harrison Gerard and I have schemed on a new shirt (inspired by our mural) and we need YOU to pick the color way for us.

I love all of our children equally and color as much as the next guy but know from looking at our sales records that white/cream shirts sell the best so if you vote for the green ones you better buy one okkkkayyyyy!

#1, Match with rusty red type

#2, Cream with taupe type

#3, Pine with slate type

Happy voting and sorry for spoiling the new merch surprise :-).

Love,

CJ

Another week is upon us and I have a new set of books ready to go.

Last week I was able to finish out Accumulation, Trad Wife, Nowhere, and As Told Under The Moon.

This week I'm diving into...

Home Sick by Rhiannon Grist

Tamsin starts over in a remote cottage far away from her old life. But the cottage of her dreams is actually a split house with a very thin wall separating her from her neighbor. Her very odd neighbor...

Going To The Six by A.C. Hessenauer

A found footage horror book following a documentary crew investigating the wreck of a ship in Lake Superior.

What Hunger by Catherine Dang

A coming of age story about the daughter of a Vietnamese immigrant as she faces loss, generational trauma, and feminine rage.

What are you reading this week?

Hiya friends and Happy Tuesday!

I have some very exciting news! I have been plotting behind the scenes on a few particular things, and one of the things, has come to fruition! On my very first post, I posted a poll (Still live, if you're reading this and didn't vote) what are some things you would like to see from Not A Phase Books... and the top was a Quarterly Book Club, which has been implemented, and the runner up was Author Interviews/Chats! Which, as of today, begins JUNE 16th!!!

During my last newsletter, I spoke about two books I had read this month and could not shut up about. I also mentioned I was still stewing on some things about The Rainbow Ain't Never Been Enuf by Dr. Kaila Story and I needed a physical copy to really delve into the information I was receiving via audiobook. The reasoning, you ask? (Besides the fact that I'm a nerd and love to annotated?):

I present to you all lovely people, my first Not A Phase Books interview is with the incomparable Dr. Kaila Story, author of The Rainbow Ain't Never Been Enuf. This interview will take place Tuesday, June 16th from 12-1pm CST/1-2pm EST. I will do my best to record it for those of you unable to attend.

I told y'all I could not shut up about this book, and I meant it! It's such a necessary, much needed book, especially for white people in the LGBTQIA+ community. If you haven't heard of it, now is your time to get it! It's available on libro.fm here. If you need to annotate a physical copy like me, or just like an immersive read with both formats, you can also find it on my Bookshop affiliate page here.

I am truly, so excited to be speaking with her about not only this book, but the white washing of Pride, the commercialization of Pride, and honestly, all things queer related.

If you have any questions you'd like to ask, pop on over to my discord (for free) and leave them for me to ask in our discussion.

I will be posting the Zoom information within the coming week. (Please do not share it with anyone.)

I cannot wait to talk about this book, Pride, and all the things with you. Chat soon!

With all my trans joy,

Sawyer Cole