Thank you Posh Pangolin Publishers
for the eARC.

Here are my initial thoughts and review.

Cover — while I can see the Leshy in the background but the snake in the heart, I guess I missed the significance of it on the cover front and center?

Story — I enjoyed the writing and I feel as if not a novella, the world building and relationships between characters would be even more immersive. A good sign.
I requested this arc after a recommendation, bc I don’t mind “dark” romances but I wonder if there was any where consent is apart of the story.
Consent is very much an important part of the story which I appreciate. I requested this with an open mind.

I like the relationship dynamics throughout. Despite some of the nicknames felt repetitive.

I am not the biggest fan of this novella, but I am really interested in reading “Fated Rebirth”. I am curious on how the parallel world will be.

Overall, I think this is someone who reads more of similar stories. I didn’t mind it but ultimately wasn’t my cup of tea but I think Reno is a wonderful author!

I don't know what to put here, this is a purely utilitarian post so i can build my shelf!

A true crime deep dive into art, loyalty, and the dangerously thin line between friendship and complicity.*

Core Question:

At what point does being a good friend turn into being an accomplice?

📖Overview for Hosts: The Rembrandt Heist isn’t just about a stolen masterpiece it’s about power, psychology, and moral compromise. Anthony M. Amore combines art history, criminal profiling, and emotional nuance to explore the infamous 1975 theft of Portrait of Elsbeth van Rijn and the complex bond between master thief Myles Connor and his friend Al Dotoli.

This book works especially well for clubs that enjoy:

True crime beyond serial killers

Ethical dilemmas and gray morality

Criminals who are charismatic, brilliant, and unsettling

Real-life stories that read like cinematic thrillers

💬Discussion Guide: Opening Icebreaker

If you could steal any artwork, hypothetically, of course, what would it be and why?

Do you think art should ever be treated as currency or leverage?

Big Picture Questions

1. Criminal or Strategist? Do you view Myles Connor primarily as a criminal, a con artist, or a strategist exploiting a flawed system?

2. Moral Gray Areas: Amore avoids painting Connor as purely villain or antihero. Did this make the story more compelling or more uncomfortable?

3. Art as Power: How does the book change your understanding of art as something more than beauty.something tied to money, power, and influence?

Friendship & Loyalty

4. Connor and Dotoli’s Bond: What defines their friendship? Shared history, loyalty, fear, admiration or manipulation?

5. Complicity Line: At what point does Al Dotoli cross from loyal friend to accomplice? Did he ever truly have a choice?

6. Personal Reflection: Would you protect a friend if it meant risking your own freedom? Where is your line?

Ethics & Consequences

7. Justice vs. Sympathy: Did you ever find yourself rooting for Connor? Should we be wary of that instinct?

8. Systemic Failure: Does the book suggest that institutions, museums, law enforcement, the art world enable crimes like this?

9. True Crime Responsibility: Do books like this risk glamorizing criminals or does Amore strike the right balance?

Closing Question: If this story were fictional, would Connor feel believable or only possible because it’s true?

🍽️ Themed Menu: An Elegant Heist

🧀Starter: Museum Night Charcuterie Board**

Theme: Sophistication with a hint of danger

Include:

* Aged cheeses brie, gouda, sharp cheddar

* Dark chocolate squares

* Fig jam or honey

* Crackers or sliced baguette

📝Tip: Label items with gallery-style name cards.

🍷Signature Drink: The Masterpiece Red Wine Spritzer

Ingredients

Red wine merlot or cabernet

Sparkling water

Orange peel twist

Optional splash of pomegranate juice

How to Make: Fill a glass with ice, pour ¾ wine, top with sparkling water, garnish with orange peel.

🍝Main: Italian-Inspired Heist Pasta A nod to European art history! Simple Creamy Garlic Pasta

Ingredients

Pasta of choice

Olive oil

Garlic minced

Heavy cream

Parmesan

Black pepper

Sauté garlic in olive oil, add cream, simmer, toss with pasta, finish with parmesan.

🍰Dessert: Stolen Art Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients

Dark chocolate

Heavy cream

Cocoa powder

Heat cream, pour over chocolate, chill, roll into balls, coat in cocoa powder.

🖤 Rich, indulgent, and slightly dangerous.

🎨Themed Activities

🔍 1. The Ethical Line Exercise: Read scenarios aloud! You know your friend stole something priceless. Do you stay silent?

Have members vote:

Friend

Accomplice

Whistleblower

Discuss why.

🖼️2. Art Crime Spotlight Each member brings a real art theft or forgery story 2–3 minutes max.

Vote on:

Most audacious

Most bizarre

Most morally confusing

🎭 3. Cast the Heist: If The Rembrandt Heist were a movie:

Who plays Myles Connor?

Who plays Al Dotoli?

Who directs?

🎁Themed Door Prizes

🖌️ Budget-Friendly

Art-themed bookmarks

Mini notebooks labeled Criminal Mastermind Notes

Museum-style postcards

🕵️Mid-Tier

True crime or art history books

Wine glasses etched with Stolen, Not Bought

Puzzle featuring a famous painting

🎨Grand Prize

Museum gift card

High-quality art print

Coffee table book on art crime or famous heists

🖤 Final Thought for the Group: The Rembrandt Heist lingers because it refuses easy answers. It asks us to confront how charisma, loyalty, and intelligence can blur right and wrong and whether we’d recognize the moment we crossed that line ourselves.

Was Myles Connor exploiting the system or simply understanding it better than anyone else? And when does loyalty stop being love and start being liability?

Perfect for a book club that likes its true crime thought-provoking, stylish, and morally messy.🎨🕵️‍♂️

Tap the link to download your book club kit! https://tinyurl.com/dk8amvjj

Don't forget to come back and tell us all about your book club meeting!

At what point does being a good friend turn into being an accomplice?

This true crime favorite dives far beyond a stolen masterpiece, unpacking power, psychology, and moral gray areas surrounding the infamous 1975 theft of Portrait of Elsbeth van Rijn. At the center: master thief Myles Connor and the complicated friendship that forces readers to question loyalty, complicity, and choice.

✨ Perfect for book clubs that love:
▫️ True crime beyond murder
▫️ Charismatic, unsettling criminals
▫️ Ethical dilemmas & gray morality
▫️ Real stories that feel like a heist movie

🗣️ Inside the full guide:
✔️ Thought-provoking discussion questions
✔️ A fully themed “Elegant Heist” menu
✔️ Interactive activities exploring loyalty vs. complicity
✔️ Creative door prize ideas for every budget

This is just a preview 👀
👉 Join The First Editions for the complete Book Club Kit, recipes, activities, and printable guides.

Because some stories don’t just ask what happenednthey ask what would you have done? 🎨🕵️‍♂️

We are excited to announce that Matthew Harffy's 'The Wolf of Wessex' won the vote for the Booksworn Bookclub pick for January. This is an awesome standalone Ed and I read quite a few years ago (I wasn't even an adult!). We are so excited for this reread.

Matthew Harffy has very kindly said he is happy to answer some questions just for this club! Please comment your questions down below. Like questions in the comments if you would love to see them asked, and we will pass the most popular ones onto Matthew.

Truth & Courage,

Will & Ed

We’re diving into a true crime story where the moral gray areas are as thick as the oil paint on a Rembrandt. 🎨🕵️‍♂️

Book Club Review: The Rembrandt Heist by Anthony M. Amore

Our bookish family loves true crime with layers, moral gray areas and big personalities. The Rembrandt Heist is a fascinating pick. Anthony M. Amore doesn’t just recount an audacious art theft; he unpacks the psychology behind it. 

At the center is Myles Connor, a man who steals not for wealth but for leverage. The 1975 theft of Portrait of Elsbeth van Rijn from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts is bold, but what makes this book compulsively readable is the why behind the crime. Connor is reckless, brilliant, and charismatic, and the author resists the urge to simplify him into a stereotype.

The emotional heart of the book, though, lies in the friendship between Connor and Al Dotoli. This adds an unexpected tenderness, raising questions about loyalty and obligation. It’s the perfect contrast to the criminal genius elements and makes for a fantastic discussion!

Amore’s background in art crime shines through, and you’ll walk away better informed about how art, power, and crime intersect. This story truly reads like a heist movie!🍿

⚡️Perfect for discussion if your group enjoys:

▫️True crime beyond murder.

▫️Complex friendships tested by extreme choices.

▫️Real-life stories that feel stranger than fiction.

💥Check out our link in bio for full guides and themed menus on Bindery!

❓️Was Myles Connor a criminal using art as a bargaining chip or a strategist who understood the system better than those chasing him? And at what point does loyalty become complicity?👇

In the description box of all of my YouTube videos, I have a link to give book recommendations.

I figured what better way to start our 2026 reading challenges than to get some reading recommendations from those in the community.

All (nearly) 300 recommendations can be found here!

Comment below if you find your next read here, or use that first link to give your own recommendation!

It time for another book club pick! How did everyone like Root Rot?

HAPPY FIRST SUNDAY OF 2026, MIS INTERNET AMIGXS!

I have missed you and apologize for no newsletters in December. I had a busy month with holidays, hospitals and planning so many new things here for 2026. I hope you've had a chance to catch me on social media, particularly the newest place I'm focusing on in 2026, YOUTUBE. I'm challenging myself to post one video there every single day in January and on this fourth day of the year, I'm happy to report that, so far, I'm succeeding. I'm also giving myself the grace to fail, brush myself off and continue as well.

My last 2 videos have been recommendations for the Bien Leidos Latine Book Bingo Challenge I posted about yesterday. The videos contain 50 Latine recommendations and I'll probably focus on making more videos after this posting challenge is over.

You may recall one of your perks as paying subscribers is to have your name read either at the beginning of the video, for Lectores members, or at the end credits, for Libritos members. I'm using the name you used to subscribe to Bindery, so if you'd like me to acknowledge a different name, please make sure to update your Bindery username name!

Speaking of new content, I'll be doing my FIRST interview for the podcast next week and it's...MIA SOSA! If you have a question for her, please drop it in the comments! The podcast won't premier until February, so let's keep this between us!

Reminder that we're reading Orange Wine by Esperanza Hope Snyder this month! I hope you'll consider joining the chat on Discord...and keep this chisme between us, but I think we'll be chatting with Esperanza in early February, so keep your eyes peeled!!!

I know last year I posted month recommendations, but I'm back to weekly posts, at least for now. There's a lot going on this January and it helps me to break up the posts into little pieces. If you have a preference, either way, then please let me know in the comments.

It looks like publishing is easing into 2026, because we only have a paperback release, but let's celebrate it all the same because it's a book I read a few years back and absolutely adored!

First in the Family: A Story of Survival, Recovery, and the American Dream by Jessica Hoppe (Audiobook) This is an incredible memoir of recovery, particularly how BIPOC people are erased from the structures of recovery creating untenable spaces for us. Jessica is a lyrical and powerful writer who gives us a brutally honest reflection on her personal recovery efforts as well as breaking generational cycles.

I'm very much looking forward to sharing with you the MANY more 2026 Latine releases to come! I'll see you next week.

xoxo,

Carmen

Okay fam, we’re gonna chat LOCAL HEAVENS on Sunday Jan 11th but I need you to vote on the best time! Kris will be joining us for the last 30 minutes, so bring your questions!!

Happy New Year folks!

Here’s what I read over the festive period, an eclectic mix of genres, with some real gems.

The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava

This was our December book club book, over on the Discord!

A Native American rom com about a Chickasaw woman who lies on her CV to get a corporate job, with a very hot Native coworker, but then her lies spiral out of control.

I loved this book. I wasn’t expecting it to be so political (of course I expected a bit), but I loved the discussions around racism, poverty, financial insecurity and so on. And the romance is super sweet.

A Rather Vengeful Accord by Danielle Knight

A YA dark academia / action fantasy about a grumpy necromancer who has to collaborate with her rival and compete in magical sword fights against eldritch horrors to enter a prestigious university. Fun banter, horrible monsters! Really enjoyed this, though the ending felt a bit too much like it was artificially setting up for a sequel.

The Combat Codes by Alexander Darwin

A martial arts sci fi fantasy about a world where warriors are trained to fight deadly one on one MMA battles instead of countries going to war. It follows a young fighter riding through the ranks, trying to survive against a punishing regime.

I’ve nearly finished this and I love it!! It’s wild and very very violent and brutal, but so fun and action packed.

Love,

Disco

Scroll down for the Aug-Dec Picks & a recap of the Jan-July picks, and how they each fulfill prompts of the challenge!

Ever since I announced the Anti Brain Rot Reading Challenge, I’ve been wanting to make sure that you all have a way of fulfilling the ridiculous amount of prompts in an easy way. Naturally, I decided to make all of the picks for my book club, The Boundless Book Club, fulfill all of the prompts for the Anti Brain Rot Reading Challenge.

If you would like to join the club:

1. head to boundless.binderybooks.com

2. click “Join for Free” in the top right corner, click “sign in” with your preferred method, create an account

3. head to boundless.binderybooks.com/account — connect your discord account

4. navigate back to boundless.binderybooks.com — click the discord icon under my profile pic

5. You should now have access to all the book club channels in the discord to chat about the books in-depth

6. Head to the #roles channel to react to messages to get access to more channels

Grab the full list of picks here: https://bookshop.org/lists/boundless-book-club-picks-2026

Book Club Picks for August-Dec

Since I announced the Jan-July picks before in this post, I’m starting here with the August-December picks, but you can scroll down for the rest of them.

*If you purchase the books through the Bookshop links, I will earn affiliate income at no extra cost to you! I appreciate your support <3

AUGUST

FICTION: One of Our Kind by Nicola Yoon | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills the Thriller, and Black author who is Alive prompts

NONFICTION: Women Race & Class by Angela Y. Davis | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills the History/Politics, and Black author who is Alive prompts

SEPTEMBER

FICTION: Sunshine Nails by Mai Nguyen| Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills the Literary fiction, and East Asian/Southeast Asian prompt

NONFICTION: What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills the Memoir/Biography prompt

OCTOBER

FICTION: The Possession of Alba Díaz by Isabel Cañas | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills the Horror, and Latinx prompts

NONFICTION: The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills the Latinx, and History/Politics prompts

NOVEMBER

FICTION: And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills the Horror, Literary fiction, and Indigenous prompts

NONFICTION: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills the Indigenous, and Science prompts

DECEMBER

FICTION: Tall Water by S. J. Sindu | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills the Queer, South Asian, and Graphic Novel prompts

FICTION: A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills the Classics, and Play prompts

NONFICTION: Every Day I Read by Hwang Bo-Reum | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills the Translated prompt

Book Club Picks for January-July

JANUARY

FICTION: Capitalists Must Starve by Park Seolhyun, translated by Anton Hur | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills the Literary Fiction, Translated, and Not in America prompts

NONFICTION: Capitalism: A Ghost Story by Arundhati Roy | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills the History/Politics, and Not in America prompts

FEBRUARY

FICTION: The Blueprint by Rae Giana Rashad | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills the Black author who is ALIVE, Science Fiction, and Historical Fiction prompts

NONFICTION: Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills the History/Politics prompt

MARCH

FICTION: Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills Horror, Science Fiction, Literary Fiction prompts

NONFICTION: Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI by Karen Hao | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills Nonfiction Science, and Politics prompts

APRIL

FICTION: The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills SWANA, Science Fiction, Literary Fiction prompts

NONFICTION: Perfect Victims and the Politics of Appeal by Mohammed El-Kurd | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills SWANA, and Essay Collection prompts

MAY

FICTION: Burn the Sea by Mona Tewari | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills Fantasy prompt

Reminder of the PREORDER CAMPAIGN. You can submit your receipts here to enter to win one of the prize bundles!!

@boundless_press

Boundless Press on Instagram: "EXCITING BURN THE SEA NEWS! Pre-…

NONFICTION: Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism by Harsha Walia | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills History/Politics prompt

JUNE

FICTION: The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills SWANA, LGBTQIAP+, and Fantasy prompt

NONFICTION: This Queer Arab Family: An Anthology by LGBTQ+ Arab Writers Edited by Elias Jahshan | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills SWANA, LGBTQIAP+, and Anthology prompt

JULY

FICTION: Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills Translated, Disability Rep, and Not in America prompts

NONFICTION: Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-first Century Edited by Alice Wong | Goodreads | Storygraph | Bookshop

• Fulfills Anthology, and Disability Rep prompts

So excited to read with all of you in 2026!

love,

jananie ♡

I am so happy to announce our first three months of books for book club, which gives you plenty of time to get access to and read them!

January book is The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar meeting January 18th at 7pmEST

February book is When Blood Meets Earth by E.A. Noble meeting February 22nd at 7pm EST

March book is The Flowers I Deserve by Tamara Jeree meeting March 29th at 7pm EST

If you have any recommendations for the summer suggestions I'd love to hear them!

Let me know if you'll be joining us this month?!

My December reads were a mash-up of books I've been meaning to read for a while and some holiday treats! I read 10 books, all by and about South Asian, Latine, and Black folks, this past month. Let's get into my mini reviews:

M.A.Y.A was an entertaining dystopian novella! With a unique take on the multiverse and inclusion of shapeshifters, the story had plenty of visuals to transport the reader. 

I found the plot pretty cool but wasn’t a fan of M.A.Y.A constantly thinking she’s not worthy or deserving of love. It didn’t really make sense to me but I suppose love isn’t usually logical. Although this is a fated mates story, I didn’t feel much chemistry between the MCs outside of the sex scenes. It seemed like a lot of their time together was focused on Isaiah talking about protecting her and cherishing her while she thought about what freedom meant to her and whether she was worthy of this life with Isaiah. I also didn’t like his nickname for her, “tiny warrior.” Im not sure why, so take that with a grain of salt!

In all, it was an interesting concept but not my fave execution.

*Note: This is a story from the After the End: A Dystopian Romance Collection. They are all sold out right now and I'm not sure when/if they will open the e-books up to folks who want to purchase it outside of the Kickstarter page.

Puerto Rico Strong is a fantastic graphic novel anthology that I wish I read sooner. 

The stories are heartfelt and I felt emotional reading them, at times. The artwork is also incredibly moving. I highly recommend this book to everyone!

Once again, I am in love with a Jessica Cage book. I Accidentally Hooked Up with a Vampire is hilarious and superrrrrr steam, so I had a blast reading it. The audiobook is wonderful, too!

Whitney, an art dealer, is primed for a promotion when her boss ends up letting her go instead. The firm benefitted from her expertise until one of Whitney's most recent clients goes AWOL. Our girl tries to keep it together during her friend's party but ends up meeting a hot hot hottie named Domingo who happens to be the gallery owner...and a vampire.

If Black vampires and Monster Romance sounds enticing to you, I think you NEED this book!!

Lucha of the Forgotten Spring is an amazing ending to its duology! It picks up where book 1 left off, Lucha is still set on destroying the extremely addictive olvida to protect the people of Robado from self-destruction. 

Addiction is a heavy topic to include in YA but I think Mejia did it well. Lucha started reevaluating her understanding of this condition and developed empathy for those suffering from this addiction in the Night Forest, but now she's faced with actively being in community with them. I loved the battles, romance, and reflection in this book. 

If I were a bookseller, I'd probably put this duology on display next to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi.

Her Night With Santa is the whirlwind sapphic romance I didn't know I needed! The alternate universe of Santa, magi, toymakers, and runners is clever and I had a lot of fun living in it ever so briefly.

Farnaz Castillo is stuck in the Caribbean after finding out that her flight to join her family on a ski trip was cancelled due to bad weather. Thanks to her uncle, one of the kings of the magi, Farnaz gets to stay in a luxurious beach villa owned by Santa.

In this universe, Santa is a role passed down through the Kringle family, so the current Santa is Kristina Kringle. Kristina arrives at her getaway earlier than usual & discovers Farnaz having quite the time in her extra large bed! Cue the steam!!!!

If you haven't already, you better add this delicious novella to your TBR.

The Toy King is my favorite book in the Toy Runner series! I loved learning more about this world through Valente and Kessina. 

It helps that Valente Correa is probably one of THE HOTTEST male MCs I've read!! Yes, he's "proper fit" but Valente is also incredibly understanding, caring, & sweet. He usually leads the toy run for the House of Correa so he's a bit grumpy when he's instructed to go & fetch his brother's future bride from her family's castle in the Andes. The "future bride" Kessina isn't particularly interested in marrying anyone but is willing to take the leap just to find her freedom after a sheltered life. Naturally, these two get stranded in a snowstorm for a couple of days, giving them some time to think about their options...

What are you still reading this review for? Go read this book!!

If you're looking for a book that feels like a hug & makes you giggle, look no further! Like The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, Sangu Mandanna's latest book, A Witch's Guide to Magical Inkeeping, is about a young woman who is isolated from the magical community.

Sera Swan used to be one of the most powerful witches in Britain until she lost most of her magic in an effort to resurrect her Aunt Jasmine when she was a teen. After breaking this taboo, Sera is basically shunned by her community. As an adult, she helps Jasmine run a magical inn where misfits end up when they really need it. She's been trying to find ways to restore her power w/ no luck yet until a person from her past Luke Larsen, a handsome magic historian, ends up at her inn with his little sister in tow.

With a cast of whimsical characters AND a talking fox, this novel is perfect for relaxation as well as filling your cup.

A Novel Christmas is a cozy Black Romance for folks who want something w/ that Hallmark movie vibe. It’s got the small town feel on lock. The only difference is this novel has some explicit content 😏

Although I thought the story was cute, it wasn’t what I’d hoped for because of the pacing & a few scenes.

If you’re looking for a super smutty Christmas treat, Run Darling is the perfect novella for you. In fact, this is probably the kinkiest of the Toy Runner series! Arabella & Rhine are freaks & they don’t care who knows it. Yes, there a little bit of plot, but this book is mainly about them satisfying the desires they’ve had building up for a while. 

A Man for Mrs. Claus has the perfect mixture of whimsy, romance, & smut!

In this novel, Tiffany Saint-Nicholas aka Mrs. Claus runs just about everything in the North Pole. She is the constant in this realm but she must pick a new Mr. Claus every time her current one decides to move on (to heaven). While each Mr. Claus she’d paired with had been pleasantwork with & good friends to her, Tiffany craves a partner who loves her. Luckily, she's got five men in the running.

Dominic, a former firefighter who recently died in a car accident, is chosen as a possible Santa in the afterlife. As soon as he sees Mrs. Claus, the man is down bad! Tiffany also feels some kind of way about this hunk of a man but knows that she must choose a partner who is right for everyone in the North Pole, not just her.

These two are adorable & I loved almost all of the side characters. Once again, Rebekah Weatherspoon hit me in the heart w/ her heartfelt & funny storytelling. Don't wait to pick this book up!

I hope these reviews give you some reading inspiration. Let me know if you've read any of these books and what you thought of them in the comment below.

Happy Sunday everyone! Hope everybody had some time off in the last two weeks to read and relax.

Just a reminder that we begin our January Reading Challenge tomorrow, January 5. As a reminder, the theme for this month is "Find the Time," and the focus is on figuring out where we're spending our time during the day and where we might be able to fit reading in. For our first two weeks, we are going to be working on time audits. During this time, just read as you have been, or however you want to. The most important part of a time audit is to just be your normal self - if you perform for this, you won't get an accurate idea of what you're doing!

• Resources

  • Discord Server: we have a great group of active readers over on Discord, and there is a specific forum channel (like Reddit) where you can ask questions, talk about your struggles, and get advice. We've already had some folks starting the conversations there.

  • Bindery: I will actively monitor comments and respond here, although Discord is much more “real time.” For the first two weeks, use this post for your comments and questions!

  • Time audit form (download and use/manipulate as you see fit). Print it out, put it on your phone, or whoever you want to keep it with you so you can keep an accurate track of time.

  • January Overview

• Time Audit Guidelines

  • Track your activities. Whether you print the form out or download it to your phone or a device, keep it handy through the day. I have broken the day up into 30 minute chunks as I have found this ideal in my own prior time audits, but adjust as you see fit (get as granular or big picture as you want). But be HONEST!

  • At the end of the two weeks you can calculate average time and percentages spent in each category each day.

  • For your time audit, I would suggest the following categories as labels for what you are doing during your days. This will help you at the end see what proportion of your time is spent in different areas. Of course, feel free to make your own. 

    • Sleep: This is obvious I hope 🙂

    • Personal: Activities that we all have to do: eating, grooming, exercise, personal maintenance

    • Family time: Time spent with significant others, kids

    • Work: Again, hopefully obvious

    • Hobbies: Non-reading hobbies

    • Screen time: Time spent on your phone, watching TV, on a tablet

    • ReadingThe time audit form is provided in a suggested format, but make it what you want and what works for you. 

  • For the screen time audit, use whatever phone tracking system you have available to you. 

  • We can analyze your time audits, and come up with a plan

If you have questions, please let me know. I'm happy to answer whatever I can, and hope to see a bunch of you getting into reading more in your day to day lives!

~Bob

Thank you Harper Collins / Harper Alley for the eARC.

Now here are my thoughts & review:

Overall I still love the illustrations — they really bring the story to life and then some. I enjoy following the characters on their journey to discover the truth about Younwity institute. I did like the first in the series more than the second, but I also wouldn’t mind if this series continued (maybe focusing on other secrets not necessarily tied to the institute or maybe what happens if they don’t make it thru their senior year).

It reminded me much of the first (“Over My Dead Body”) bc the Younwity students are somewhat at odds with the Coven. I do think the first one was a little more surprising/shocking/intriguing.

Definitely was excited to read and enjoyed it! I do believe this one has more spells involved which is nice to see. I would love to watch an animated series of this as well.

Hi all! It is time for a new reading challenge for 2026! In past years, we've had bingo board, character creations, and choose your own adventures. This year is going to be a little different. We're going to slow down a bit and do things more seasonally. As such, I'm going to be using the Wheel of the Year to be the guide for our prompts for the year. The Wheel of the Year is broken into seasons, each one lasting about 6 weeks. And don't worry southern hemisphere friends - I will also be including the seasons for both the northern and southern hemisphere :)

But it won't just be about reading either! Each season will include ways to be more aligned with the themes of that season in multiple ways. I'll include prompts for both fiction and non-fiction ideas, as well as other ways that you can live more seasonally.

Because this is seasonal, we actually won't be starting right here at the beginning of January because that's not when the beginning of the year starts from a seasonal perspective. Per the Wheel of the Year, we are right now in the middle of the Yule/Winter Solstice season for the northern hemisphere and Litha/Summer Solstice season for the southern hemisphere. So instead of starting you with a prompt now, what I will be asking you to do is planning - likely things that you are already doing around this time of year anyway. What are your intentions for this year, reading and otherwise? What are you going to be doing now to set yourself up for success once those other seasons come around? How can you harvest the energy of each season? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments or come chat over on Discord!

Our first official prompt will be February 1st :) I'm very excited for this slower, more intentional way of doing the reading challenge this year and hope you all are too!

P.S. If you are a free member, you can upgrade your membership for access to the prompts throughout the year as well as access to the Discord for chatting about the prompts.