A few weeks ago, while my partner and I were waiting for our gluten free pizza place of choice to open for the day, we decided to spend the arcade tokens he found in his jacket pocket that he’d had for over a year. We walked over to the local arcade, and zeroed in on the pinball machines. After a few games on the Jurassic Park and Addam’s Family machines, the tokens were spent and we left for dinner.

Little did we know that was the spark for a new hyperfixation for us both.

A week later, my partner told me he’d gone on a pinball deep dive and had been playing virtually at home (a thing I didn’t know was even possible before now). He’d also done some research and found that the largest video arcade and pinball arcade was located in the Chicago suburbs. A great thing about this venue is that there is an entry fee but then it’s unlimited free-to-play. We made plans to go.

Those plans came to fruition this weekend. We drove the hour (with traffic) to Brookfield, IL for The Galloping Ghost Arcade. This place has not only 1, but 4 total buildings in a few block radius. One is the video arcade that has over 800 games, including retro arcade games and more modern ones. Then about a block away is the Pinball Arcade featuring over 45 pinball machines. The Galloping Ghost franchise also has their own game production studio and, weirdly enough, a gym and martial arts studio (they are not the first arcade game business to branch out into wellness - Bally of Bally’s Total Fitness is also a arcade video game and pinball manufacturer. I don’t understand the correlation but if I find out, I’ll make a follow up!)

Image from r/gaming

The video arcade is $25 for unlimited free to play and the pinball arcade is $20. We decided to buy tickets to both to try out everything.

The video arcade is largely overwhelming and gives the vibes of a casino with how many machines there are, the flashing lights, and the noises coming from the various games. We both agreed if we decided to go back and get the arcade pass, we would mostly camp out at our favorite games. For me, that’s Tapper. A game sponsored by Budweiser when it was released (although you can also find the non-alcoholic Root Beer Tapper) where you play as a bartender pouring drinks. The two controls are a joystick and a tap handle. It is wildly fun and addictive, so having to pay to play can get expensive. But in a free-to-play environment? Perfect.

Anyway, back to the point of this, which is pinball.

I’ve never played pinball with any interest in the rules, the setups of the different machines, etc. I’ve always played with a button masher mentality, which is also how I play a lot of older video games; I push buttons and hope for the best. No memorizing combos or any of that. But playing pinball this time with a very baseline understanding of how these machines are built, the various mini-games and objectives within the different game cabinets (which is the name for a pinball machine), and how you can actually get good at playing - it now feels more like pool to me. But with lower risk and barrier to entry! Pool can feel intimidating if you play in an area with a lot of pool leagues. There’s a lot of people wanting to get on the pool tables and if you aren’t good, it can feel like you are wasting time while someone more serious could be playing. While I know there are competitive pinball players and leagues, your average arcade isn’t going to have anyone hovering over you waiting for your pinball game to end.

We ended up playing multiple rounds of Addam’s Family (little did we know when we first played it at the local arcade that that is one of the most popular and beloved pinball games), Godzilla, Monster Bash, Medieval Mayhem, and multiple Elvira machines. Our favorite was the Elvira’s House of Horrors machine, which my partner actually got the 3rd highest score on and added his name to the leaderboard. It is a newer cabinet featuring Elvira making witty puns and showing clips from old B horror movies, and has a number of additions that are really fun. This cabinet has a lot of interactive areas on it, which I’ve found in my short time getting into the game is one of my favorite features.

Image from Stern Pinball website

Ok… but why am I telling you about pinball?

This newfound interest in pinball feels very aligned with the current pull many of us are having towards analog hobbies and getting offline. Although my partner did find a way to play virtual pinball, the real joy is in going to an arcade and experiencing these machines. Pinball is a very tactile experience. Pushing the buttons on the side that get the flippers to work is part of the fun. There’s also different opinions about how to launch the ball. I, for example, prefer the mechanical “plunger” type of launch that many of you are probably familiar with on older pinball machines, since it is a more tactile experience. But many of the newer machines have a launch button that automatically launches the ball for you. Some of them have a cool mechanism (like Jurassic Park for example is a trigger on a rifle which is on theme for the movies), but I still prefer the mechanical style. This reminds me of the move towards more analog media devices, such as older gaming consoles, record players and Walkmans, etc.

I was recently reading a substack article on the analog trend and this quote stuck out to me:

Analog has become shorthand for containment. The relief isn't aesthetic, it's structural. It offers an experience that begins and ends in the same place, in a culture where almost nothing does.

Pinball is a contained experience. On that cabinet, there is only one game. There’s not an endless amount of games to choose from. Even at a pinball arcade, there are a limited amount, and most arcades have only a small selection of pinball machines. There is no room for distraction on your phone. It’s a fun experience that reminds many of us of a simpler time, even if we grew up far after the pinball heyday. It makes me feel similar to how I felt when I was getting back into roller skating a few years ago.

I’m not saying you have to get into pinball. But I would recommend trying out a game if you haven’t in a while. Playing it as an adult has been pleasantly entertaining and it’s nice to add another offline hobby to my list of interests. Plus an arcade is a wonderful third space, even if you do have to pay for tokens since tokens are much less expensive than things at most other venues where you have to pay for entertainment.

Consider trying something out you haven’t done since childhood, whether that’s pinball or another more analog hobby. And if you have recently, tell me about it in the comments!

xo Sam

I've had this page for a couple of months and I'm still finding my rhythm. I'd love to know what interests you and what more you may want to see from me!

Hello hello and apologies on the delay, but it's official: this week is National Library Week here in the US, and to celebrate our community's Spring Readathon is library-themed!

Library-A-Thon goes from April 19th (I know this post is late) through April 30th, and the goal is to read as many books from your local library as possible. Ebooks, audiobooks, physical books--whatever works best for you!

Join the readathon chat over on our community Discord.

And track your reading with our official tracker spreadsheet!

You can use the spreadsheet to track how many books you've read for the readathon as well as how much money you saved by using the library instead of purchasing books!

Library-A-Thon Reading Prompts

Don't have access to a library but still want to join into the readathon fun? Don't worry, there's a second arm of the reading challenge focused on reading library-themed books that can be books you already own or books you buy!

1. Read a Book Set At or About a Library

2. Read a Banned Book (see here for the ALA resource on banned books!)

3. Read a Non-Fiction Book Recommended by a Librarian

4. Read a Fiction Book Recommended by a Librarian

5. Read a Book Outside Your Comfort Zone Book Recommended by a Librarian

If you don't have access to a library to get a librarian rec, you can use any online librarian-curated booklist. Almost any library has access to these and you can find them on the Libby App as well, but here is the Seattle Public Library's Staff Picks lists (scroll down)!

I hope you will join us and happy reading!

~ Kaley

There is a moment happening in literature right now that feels small on the surface, but is actually foundational.

Not because AI is writing books.

But because we can no longer reliably prove when it is or isn’t.

And once that certainty disappears, everything built on it (authorship, credibility, trust) starts to fracture.

The Case Study: Shy Girl and the First Major Publishing Breakdown

When Shy Girl by Mia Ballard was pulled by Hachette, it marked a turning point. Not because AI was involved. But because no one could definitively prove how it was involved.

• Readers flagged the prose as “AI-like” across Reddit and Goodreads

• A viral YouTube breakdown amplified the claims

• AI detection tools reportedly identified patterns consistent with generated text

• Hachette Book Group conducted a review and pulled the book anyway

The author denied using AI directly, instead attributing possible AI-generated edits to a freelance editor.

So what we’re left with is this: A book was effectively erased from the market… without definitive proof of wrongdoing. That’s not a scandal. That’s a systems failure.

The Deeper Problem: AI Detection Is Not Truth

The Shy Girl controversy depends on a fragile premise: AI detection tools can tell us what is real. But they can’t.

• Many detection systems are statistical guesswork, not verification

• Studies show accuracy often falls below 80% and degrades with editing

• Even widely used tools produce false positives, flagging human writing as AI

And the most telling example? An AI detector once flagged passages from Frankenstein as AI-generated. Let that sit for a second.

One of the most foundational works of human literature…mistaken for machine output.

The Futurism / NYT Insight: The Line Is Already Blurred

The deeper you go, the more unsettling it gets.

A recent analysis highlighted something quietly alarming:

• Around 9% of published news articles may already contain AI-generated content

• Opinion pieces in major outlets like The New York Times are over six times more likely to include AI-influenced writing

And crucially: Much of this use is undisclosed.

Even when writers insist they’re not “using AI to write,” they often admit to:

• Using it for structure

• Editing

• Idea generation

• Language refinement

Which raises a question that feels uncomfortably familiar: At what point does “assistance” become authorship? Because if AI shapes the voice, is it still entirely human?

The Quiet Reality: AI Is Already Inside the System

The Shy Girl case feels like an anomaly. It’s not. It’s just the first time the system reacted publicly.

Because elsewhere:

• Journalists have been fired for unknowingly publishing AI-influenced writing

• Newsrooms are integrating AI into workflows: headlines, summaries, drafting

• Entire sections (like opinion columns) operate with looser oversight

And here’s the uncomfortable truth: AI isn’t “coming” for literature. It’s already embedded in it. Quietly. Invisibly.

Back to Frankenstein: We’ve Always Feared This

Long before AI, Mary Shelley was already writing about this exact anxiety. Frankenstein isn’t just about creating life.

It’s about:

• Creating something from existing parts

• Losing control of authorship

• Facing a creation that is both familiar and alien

Victor Frankenstein doesn’t invent something new. He assembles something from what already exists.

Just like AI:

• Trained on human language

• Built from collective authorship

• Producing something that feels original, but isn’t singular

The horror isn’t the creation. It’s the ambiguity.

The Collapse of “Proof” in the Literary World

What Shy Girl reveals (and what the NYT analysis confirms) is this:

We are entering a post-proof era of authorship.

Where:

• AI detection is unreliable

• AI usage is often undisclosed

• Human writing can resemble AI

• AI writing can pass as human

And most importantly: There is no neutral authority left to decide. Not publishers. Not platforms. Not even technology itself.

Because AI is now both:

• The thing being detected

• And the thing doing the detecting

The Cultural Shift: Readers as Investigators

In the absence of proof, something else fills the gap: suspicion. Readers are no longer just readers.

They are:

• Pattern analyzers

• Style critics

• Authenticity judges

We’re already seeing it:

• “This feels like AI” becomes a legitimate critique

• Writing quality becomes conflated with authorship legitimacy

• Communities form consensus before facts exist

And sometimes that consensus becomes reality.

What This Means for Readers (And Why It Actually Matters)

For most readers, this conversation can feel distant, like an industry problem. Publishing drama. Internet discourse. Something happening around books, not inside the reading experience. But the truth is: This changes how we read. Even if we don’t realize it yet.

1. You May Start Reading With Suspicion

The Shy Girl situation introduced something new into reader culture: Not just “Do I like this book?” But “Does this feel real?” And that’s a subtle but powerful shift. Because once that question exists, it doesn’t stay contained to one book. It spreads.

• A sentence feels repetitive → is that AI?

• The pacing feels off → was this generated?

• The prose feels too polished → is this human voice?

We move from immersion to analysis. From feeling the story to questioning its origin.

2. “Good Writing” Is No Longer the Only Metric

For years, the standard was simple:

• Is it compelling?

• Is it well-written?

• Did it make you feel something?

But now there’s a new, unspoken layer: Was it written the “right” way? And that complicates everything.

Because you might:

• Love a book… and then feel conflicted if AI was involved

• Dismiss a book… and wonder if bias played a role

• Question your own taste based on how something was created

The reading experience doesn’t end at the final page anymore. It extends into how the book came to exist at all.

3. Trust Between Reader and Author Becomes the Core Currency

At its heart, reading has always been a relationship.

You trust that:

• The voice is intentional

• The perspective is lived or thoughtfully imagined

• The story is coming from someone

AI complicates that relationship. Not because it replaces authors, but because it introduces uncertainty into that connection. And when trust becomes uncertain, readers start to:

• Seek transparency

• Value authenticity more explicitly

• Gravitate toward creators they feel connected to

Which is why communities like ours matter more than ever. Because readers aren’t just looking for books. They’re looking for people they trust to guide them through this shift.

4. The Way You Discover Books Is About to Matter More Than Ever

In a world where authorship is harder to verify, curation becomes power.

Readers will increasingly rely on:

• Reviewers

• Bookstagrammers

• BookTok creators

• Communities

Not just for what to read, but for what feels safe to invest in. And this is where the role of these bookish content creators evolve: they're not just recommending books.

They're:

• Filtering noise

• Providing context

• Offering a layer of human trust in a space that’s losing clarity

5. You Get to Decide What Matters

Here’s the part no one can answer for you: if you read a book and love it, does it matter if AI was involved? For some readers, the answer will be: Yes. Absolutely. It changes everything.

For others: No. The story is what matters.

And for many, it will fall somewhere in between. That tension? That uncertainty? That’s not something to resolve. It’s something we’re all going to navigate in real time.

Final Takeaway

You are not just consuming books anymore. You are participating in a moment where:

• Authorship is shifting

• Trust is being renegotiated

• And the definition of “storytelling” is expanding

And maybe the most important thing to hold onto is this: Your reading experience is still yours.

The emotions you feel, the connections you make, the stories that stay with you, those are real. Even if the systems around them are changing.

"She had me for as long as she wanted, and I don't think she even realized it."

GENRE: Romance
RATING: 4.5/5
FORMAT: eBook Arc
Tropes: Strangers to friends to lovers, Latine Leads, One bed, College Romance, Dual POV

Overall Impression: What a wholesome, beautiful love story between Ita & Jake!

Review:
Okay what a lovely Romance book! I really enjoyed reading from both our FMC and MMC's perspectives and the letters from Jake to his dad? That is SO wholesome and healed a little of my own grief in reading them🥺

There are so many beautiful things about Craving You and it truly is a book about two people getting to know each other in the best of ways and carving space for each other in their lives without trying to force the other person to change. We meet Ita (Margarita) and see her experience in life, what shaped her and how she comes out of her stressful experiences in her past and builds her own future. Jake, on the other hand, has just had a loss in his life and we get to go through his journey of grief and how he copes with it.

I think the thing that captured my attention the most is the way both of the characters fitted SO well together and their relationship grew alongside their lives. Both of the MCs were so lovely and wanted the best for the other. It's the kind of love we spend a lifetime looking for and a few of us are lucky enough to find it.

Also, the food that Jake makes for Ita? The way Ita gives Jake space and time to process things? The way they take care of each other in the small and big things? May this love find us all and for those of us who have found it, may we experience a lifetime of it

Also, I loved how we get to see both MC's families, how they grew up in different cultures and how it shaped them. I love when we get books that have multiple languages as usually any mixed culture families will have that happening in reality (or if you're from so many, you'll have more than 2 languages that you grow up around but never fully speak) and it's a beautiful thing to read in Craving You! I think Kaila did this in a way that is a needed representation for a lot of us and I loved exploring it in the book

Thank you to the author and Amor En Paginas for the Arc copy in the exchange for my honest opinion.

Hi there!

I thought I’d introduce myself, I’m Laura, the reader behind @laura.boo.kish.

I’m a romance and fantasy lover who’s always chasing stories that pull you in, make you feel everything, and stay with you long after the final page.

I read across the full spectrum of romance, from dark and taboo to soft and fluffy, and I’m especially drawn to stories that blur the lines between fantasy and romance.

Give me morally gray characters, high-stakes tension, slow burns that hurt in the best way, and a touch (or a lot) of spice 🌶️. Whether it’s an intense dark romance or an immersive fantasy world with a sweeping love story, I’m here for it.

Audiobooks are a big part of my reading life too, love all types of narration, especially duet and multicast, there’s nothing like a performance that brings the story and chemistry to life.

Fun facts:
• I’m a trope-first reader, tropes always win me over
• “Who did this to you?” is an instant favorite
• I love a little chaos, especially when it comes to forbidden or morally complex stories
• My TBR is always growing, and I fully embrace it
• If I love a book, I will absolutely convince you to read it too

If you enjoy honest reviews, trope talk, and discovering your next favorite read, you’ll feel right at home here. Come hang out, build your TBR, and let’s obsess over books together 📚

I've been working on the outline for Book 2 in the Woods Bay series. I'm not used to outlining but after spending so much time on editing and rewriting Small Town Slasher I know it's needed. It's just not something that comes natural to me. I love brainstorming ideas and tucking certain ones away for future books. It's challenging. I hope to not put too many things in one book, subplots, locations, characters, etc. With the shit show that is America right now it's challenging to want to write.

Part of me just wants to consume media. Books. Shows. Movies. Games. Old. New. Mostly filled with nostalgia and comfort. So I meet in the middle. I have been working on my outline a few hours every day. Tinkering with it. It's challenging to focus but I'm doing my best. I definitely feel like I'm dragging my depression around some days like a piece of tiny piece of tape you can't get off of your finger. Or like Clark in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation where he can't get the sap off of his fingers when he's reading a magazine in bed.

See I can't even write a post without referencing something. Some authors I know don't read or watch much while others do and I find it fascinating. As a child of the 80s I didn't have a lot of money so we would rent movies and watch tv between riding around on our bikes or going to the mall. Now that I'm disabled I enjoy media because it's the one way I can travel in our world or fictional ones.

What media have you found comfort in recently?

It’s time to dive into what I’m reading this week!

And for some fun, I wanted to give one sentence reviews of what I read last week!

Starting with last week…

🎣Hooked by Asako Yuzuki— ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5– A fantastic, if slightly long, tale of obsession and loneliness in Japan.

🧈Butter by Asako Yuzuki—⭐️⭐️⭐️.5– A delectable tale of the pleasures of food.

🌳 The Butcher Of The Forest by Premee Mohamad—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️—A stunning dark fantasy perfect for fans of Alice In Wonderland and lovers of dark woods.

This Week…

😈 Dark Is Where The Devil Comes by Daisy Pearce—Carrying this one over into this week! Absolutely loving it. Giving me Malevolent vibes.

🌺 Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier— doing this one as a buddy read with a friend! A classic I’ve wanted to read for awhile now!

🪦Odessa by Gabrielle Sher— A historical fiction tale of Jewish Folklore, dark magic, and resurrection. Will be buddy reading this one with @mother.horror either this week or next week!

👿 Fiend by Alma Katsu—A rich family holds a devilish secret.

Nothing beats the post-market euphoria of a successful pop-up weekend.

This weekend I popped up at Magic Market in LA for the first time. A cool witchy event held at Heritage Square Museum. Amongst the wonderfully preserved Victorian homes, a small town center is erected selling food, art, vintage finds, and magic.

I had heard about the event previously, but hadn't been able to attend much less participate as a vendor. The nervous anticipation of the last month was all worth it in the end because I had an amazing weekend.

From a business perspective, it was a profitable weekend.

From a book lovers perspective, it was one of the best weekends I've ever had. Easily in my top 2 moments since opening my business last June.

I met so many smart and fun book lovers. I had never attended an event where I spent just as much time learning about the books I sell as I did educating readers. A testament I suppose to really finding my coven of like-minded readers.

I was so happy to see everyone enjoying what I had to offer.

Here's what the best seller's were for the weekend:

Hekate: The Witch by Nikita Gill

A poetic reimagining of the goddess Hekate, this collection explores feminine power, transformation, and the sacred darkness within. Gill blends myth with modern womanhood, inviting readers to reclaim their inner witch and walk unapologetically in their truth.

We Do This 'Til We Free Us by Mariame Kaba

This powerful collection of essays centers abolition, collective care, and the ongoing work of building a more just world. Kaba challenges readers to rethink harm, accountability, and what true safety could look like beyond systems of punishment.

Woman Who Glows in the Dark by Elena Avila

Part memoir, part spiritual guide, this book follows Avila’s journey into curanderismo, a traditional Mexican healing practice. It’s a deeply personal exploration of intuition, ancestral wisdom, and reclaiming spiritual identity.

Witchery: Embrace the Witch Within by Juliet Diaz

A modern guide to living a magickal life, Witchery blends practical rituals with empowering reflections on intuition, self-trust, and personal power. Diaz encourages readers to see witchcraft as a way of being—rooted in authenticity and connection.

Honorable Mentions:

Wordslut by Amanda Montell

A sharp, witty deep dive into how language shapes gender and power, Wordslut unpacks the biases baked into the words we use every day. Montell blends research and humor to challenge the status quo and reimagine more inclusive language.

Legendborn by Tracey Deonn

After the death of her mother, Bree Matthews uncovers a secret society tied to King Arthur’s legacy—and realizes she may be more connected to it than she ever imagined. This richly layered fantasy explores grief, identity, and the hidden magic woven into history.

That last one might have been mostly due to my own enthusiasm since after a year of recommending the book I finally started reading it myself. Spoiler alert: It's amazing and I'm definitely hooked. I might even be rushing to finish this post so I can read another chapter before it's daycare pick up time.

Hi Disco Dancers!

I'm trying out something new. I am working on a bunch of new writing projects at the moment while also promoting This is How the World Ends ahead of release in September.

One of the things I'm working on might be a collection of short stories... maybe. Not sure yet. I have a bunch in my notes, and I'm slowly working them up, realising there's a common dystopian theme. While I'm figuring out what to do with them, I thought I'd share one!

Do let me know if you'd like me to share more in future, writing snippets, stories, updates. I've been reviewer-focused so far on Bindery but I could just as easily share writing stuff!

This is a story about a scary dystopian future, and thus contains potentially triggering themes: oppression, depression, disassociation, as well as themes of disordered eating.

Contains Twelve Pills for Family Forty-Nine

No one shits anymore.

The pills give you all the nutrients you need, and trick your brain into believing your stomach is full.

No one shits. No one gets fat either.

Everyone’s the same shape - lean, not skinny. Taut, not thin.

You eat the pill in the morning, for breakfast. Drink water that tastes of nothing, not even cold. The pills do something to your taste buds. You try licking dirt, and it tastes just like everything else. Blank.

You eat a pill at lunchtime when you start to flag, your sluggish limbs tell you you’re hungry. You don’t feel hunger, you can’t. You’d have to stop taking the pills for three days for that sensation to come. But by then someone would have force fed you the pill anyway. It’s easy to tell when someone’s skipping. They blink a lot, from withdrawal.

You eat a pill at night after your shift, when you stagger home from work. Sit at the table with your lean, listless family and pretend it’s a ritual. Pill on a plate, glass of water, drink, swallow, done. Then you can all go back to ignoring each other.

The pills keep you healthy. No one gets sick any more. The only death is from age, overwork, or violence. And there’s not much of that. Hurt someone, and you won’t get more pills. Simple.

Everyone thinks about it. Raiding the trucks. Stealing the pills. Creating a stash, so you could survive. Make a little pile hidden in the mattress and once you have enough you could kill your co worker and take your stash and run… somewhere. But then you realise there’s nowhere to run. You’ll need more pills eventually. And those come from the trucks.

You don’t know what food’s like. You only know what it did. Made people fat if they ate too much, or waste away if too little. Poisoned people if it was too raw, or too burned, or too old, or too green.

You’ve all seen the murals. The sick and dying painted in super size so the whole city can see. You don’t have to worry about death or disease, not like they did. You’ll never starve, not like they did.

You’ll never eat till you’re sick either. You’ll never celebrate with cake.

That was in a storybook once, before those stories were banned. No pictures of food, no descriptions of taste. You vaguely remember. Sweet, acid, heat. You feel the heat of the fire that burns in your house, and you try to imagine it on your mouth, the flames red on your tongue.

You’re tempted to talk to your children about food, but it doesn’t seem fair. It’s almost taboo, to discuss it out loud. And anyway, what would you say? “Like pills, but bigger”? It went into your body, like fuel, then got shat out as waste. Like oil in the factory machines, exhaust from the pipes.

You have two children. Because that’s how many everyone has. Unless one of them dies.

You lie awake at night, counting pills in your head. You can’t sleep. You rub your belly in circles, following the path of your intestines. What are these for? If not for digestion? Your stomach is flat, your breath pushes it up. Up and down, up and down. Your wife sleeps on her side, mouth open. You think about putting your finger in her throat. At what point would she notice? If she bit it off, and swallowed, would her body accept it?

The trucks come in the morning. You wait by the door. A truck pulls up to your house. It doesn’t have windows. There’s no driver.

An automated arm stretches out, and a robot hand puts a box on the pavement. The trucks rolls away. You look inside as you bring it into the house. Twelve pills, three for each of your family. Enough for today.

If you stole them and ran, how long would you last?

And where would you go?

The whole country eats pills. Beyond that, who knows? Not that you’ve travelled. This is all that you’ve known. There are no vehicles, apart from the trucks. And you can’t take a truck, there’s no way to drive it. And you can’t walk away, because you need the pills to live and the pills come from the trucks and they come every day and there’s never more pills than you need for one day.

You don’t get days off. You work morning to night. And at night you and your children and your wife, you do seperate things. All day is spent working with so many people, your children studying with so many people. Night time is for peace. Looking at stars. Drawing faces and shapes. Dreaming.

Yesterday, you bit your nail and chewed it a little, then swallowed. You felt the sharp scratch of the piece tickle your throat. You washed it down with water. It didn’t taste of anything.

The truck comes in the morning. You stare at it. You take the box.

You don’t take the pill.

You pretend to take it, raise it to your mouth, then keep it in your hand, swig water, make a show. But no one is watching. There’s no family ritual, not before work. You just get up and go.

Your body feels different. The labour you do, lifting and packing, it’s harder, and heavier. You try not to show it, but you’re lagging behind. The counter machine shows your numbers aren’t right. Every day you’re the same. Every day you’re on schedule. But today you’re too slow.

The bell rings for lunch, and everyone stops. They reach into their pockets, and pull out a pill. Everyone eats it, gulping it down. Some people use water, but more than half do it dry. You look down at yours, and fake it again.

By the end of the work day your limbs are like lead. Your numbers are bad, and you know that tomorrow there will be an inquest. They’ll give you the night, but if you’re not back on form the next morning, the force feeding will start.

You go home to your family, and sit at the table. You all pick up the pills, and swallow in unison. You put your uneaten pill in your pocket.

Your children get up. “Wait” you say. They look at you with surprise, but sit down.

“I want…” you begin. Your wife stares at you, confused. Your mind races to think. “I want to do something. Together, this evening.”

“I’m tired.” Your wife says. And you know that she is. But you’re more tired right now. Three pills missed, and you feel it. The urge to blink is there, it’s on the edge, waiting. You’re holding it back, but you don’t have much time.

“I know. But please, just this once. Let’s do something together.”

Your children look puzzled, and your wife looks concerned. But she says “yes, alright.”

So you lead them all to the garden, and you look at the sky.

“I see a pattern” you say, pointing up to the stars. “See, there? It’s a table. There’s a top and there’s legs.”

Your children look up. “I don’t see it” your son says, squinting his eyes.

“Look, there.” You kneel down to his height and put your face next to his. You lift his arm just like yours. “The top” you move it left. “The leg” you move it down. “The other leg”. You move it over.

Your sons looks, really looks. “I see it!” He says.

You breathe out a breath, and tears fill your eyes. Salt you think. It’s supposed to be salt.
“Now, what else do you see?”

Your family stay out there, with you, for an hour. You see lampshades and bed frames and houses and T-shirts. You see truck wheels and boxes and drainpipes and hands. All there in the stars.

And that night when you sleep, you look at your wife. He mouth hanging open, her eyes gently shut. You watch her until your energy fades.

In the morning your body is heavy and weak. It’s an effort to get out of bed.

And then the trucks come, and deposit the pills. You down at the box. Twelve pills in your hand. You have to take one. You’re already blinking.

So you open the box, and swallow one down. You watch the trucks leave the street, and your neighbours turn in.

It’s just you and the box. The pill stuck in your throat.

You put the box in your pocket, and you walk away from the house.

Love,

Disco

Welcome to New Release Tuesday, where I round up the sci-fi releases dropping this week that I think you should know about. I'm Zee, I'm a Tattooed Bibliophile, and if you are here I you probably are too, and my whole thing is diversity in sci-fi — meaning if it's queer, BIPOC-authored, indie, or just something the Big 5 didn't bother to tell you about, it belongs here. While sci-fi isn't the "it girl" right now, it's far from a dying genre. It may make it hard to find new releases, but that's what I'm here for, because I don't want you to miss a thing! So what's new?

Well, not much this week. Do publishers release more books at the beginning of the month? Since I just started doing this I don't know! If I see a pattern you KNOW this autistic girlie (and rare mathy bisexual) is gonna make you aware.

The Language of Liars by S.L. Huang (Macmillan) — Tordotcom aka my fav scifi publisher (am I allowed to say that as a Bindery influencer?) standalone. I checked out Huang's social media and found a ton of recs for some of my favorite books, so we share reading taste... always a good sign when the author likes what you like! The ADHD MC is a spy who jumps into alien minds of the only species physiologically capable of mining the element needed for lightyear-spanning space travel. And starts forgetting which side he's on. Sounds like Babel crossed with Some Desperate Glory. I'm in.

The Photonic Effect by Mike Chen (Simon & Schuster) — Space opera standalone. Starship crew returns home after an entire effing DECADE lost in space... to a galactic civil war. It has a blurb by one of my favorite sci-fi writers, Annalee Newitz. AND Mike has a photo of a protester holding a sign that says "Pull your head out of your Fox hole" with the Fox News logo, so...I'm probably going to read his book. Yes, this is how I make my reading decisions. If someone can make a teeny short story on an IG page interesting, what can they do with an entire book? What? How do you pick your books...

See you next week. You know, if I haven't been deported for saying FUCK ICE in public.

— Zee

If you liked this and want more of whatever THIS is (unhinged book analysis, barely contained rage at the state of the world, and occasional Tamsyn Muir references and em dashes that I will never apologize for) consider subscribing for $5/month. Every cent goes to people who actually need it, because I have a day job and a cause, not a brand deal. This is my middle finger to Big 5 publishing, dressed up as a book blog. Come hold it up with me.

It’s National Library Week in the U.S.

National Library Week is an annual celebration highlighting the valuable role libraries and library professionals play in transforming lives and strengthening our communities. This year’s theme is “Find Your Joy” which makes the Honorary Chair, Mychal Threets, a perfect fit!

Throughout the history of this country, people have been fighting for the right to read because literacy is a powerful skill. Our government and the folks who support it are banning books because of the power words have to be catalysts, reflections, and tools of connection and liberation. Don’t take them for granted!

You can celebrate this week (and beyond) in so many ways:
• Get a library card and/or help a friend get one.
• Explore the programs, books, library of things your local library has to offer.
• Tell library workers how much their work means to you.
• Tell Congress to oppose censorship and book bans!

Share a favorite memory you’ve had of a library in my comments <3

Images in my collage:
-Book stacks in an academic library.

-NYC library backers protest nearly $42 million in proposed budget cuts (2023) photo by Arya Sundaram / Gothamist

-A crowd holds a rally in New York in 1982 protesting the censorship of school and public libraries of certain books under pressure from right-wing religious groups. AP photo by Carlos Rene Perez. Source: Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University

-Teens hang out in Boston Public Library’s Teen Central

-Mychal Threets, librarian and host of Reading Rainbow, smiles and holds up his Library Joy!! shirt with his thumbs up. From ALA National Library Week promos.

-My colorful bookshelf.

-A 12-year-old Black girl named Gwendolyn Crawford is arrested by two white male cops at Albany Carnegie Library in protest of segregation. Crawford spent over 10 days in jail and the library finally allowed Black folks access a year later. -WALB News 10

When I lived in Alaska, I became a foster parent. I had not planned for it. A colleague said, “you have an extra bedroom and room in your heart, what are you waiting for?” Soon after, I met my first foster daughter at a shelter for unhoused youth. That moment shifted the direction of my life. I cared for seven daughters over the next few years. I also had to confront how little I had done to challenge my own thinking. I learned there is a huge difference between knowing racism is wrong and doing the ongoing work of antiracism.

One moment still sits with me. I was in a meeting, speaking, and a Tlingit grandmother told me to stop. She said, “we don’t need the opinion of a white woman. If we want to hear from you, we will ask.” I felt the discomfort immediately. But I also knew I needed to listen.

That moment forced me to face a gap between what I believed about myself and how I was showing up. I had named social justice as a value. As a social worker, I knew it sat at the core of the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics. Still, I had not done the deeper work. I had not examined how white supremacy shaped my assumptions, my reactions, and my sense of authority.

I started reading with intention. I learned about what colonizers did to the Tlingit people and Haida people. I read Black scholars and applied those frameworks to my work with Indigenous youth and families. I began to understand that antiracism is not about holding the right beliefs. It is about changing how you think, how you listen, and how you act.

That work requires unlearning. It requires decolonizing your thinking. White supremacy teaches you to center yourself, to assume expertise, to move quickly, to speak first. Decolonizing asks you to pause, to listen, to question where your thoughts come from, and to notice when you are reinforcing harm.

This is daily work. It does not end after reading one book. It does not hold steady when you are tired. Burnout makes it easier to slip back into default thinking. For me, that default comes from being raised white in a system built on white supremacy. I have to interrupt that pattern over and over again.

Reading plays a role in that interruption. Not as a checklist. Not as a way to feel accomplished. Reading diversely is part of antiracism because stories shape how you see the world. If most of what you read centers cisgender, heterosexual, white characters, those narratives start to feel neutral and universal. They are not. They are limited.

When you read stories by Indigenous authors, by Black authors, by queer authors, you shift what feels familiar. You build a different baseline. You begin to notice whose voices are missing and whose stories are treated as optional. You start to question why.

Reading diversely is not about exposure. It is about accountability. It is about refusing to let white supremacy define your imagination. It is about choosing to engage with perspectives that challenge your assumptions and expand your understanding of community, identity, and power.

For me, that shift changed how I show up in my work and in my life. It continues to change me.

Knowing that backstory, I’m always on the hunt for sapphic Indigenous romances and I found one, and it not only didn’t disappoint, I was blown away by how beautiful it was!

The Ways We Converge by Collins Fox is a book settles into you and stays there.

Synopsis: Juniper Banks has spent the last decade running her mom’s powwow food truck—a life far from the dreams she once had. But while serving frybread and iced tea, she’s quietly built something her Tribe’s thriving food sovereignty program. Now, with an official budget and a coveted office in the new Tribal administrative building, she’s ready to reclaim her narrative and help shape her community’s future.

Rowan Birdsong, a rising star in environmental law, never thought she’d return to the Reservation she once called home. But when her father’s health declines, Rowan steps away from her high-profile career to work as a Tribal advisor and take care of him. The last thing she expects is to cross paths with her first love—Juniper. Or maybe, deep down, it’s exactly who she hopes to see.

It’s been fifteen years since Rowan left Juniper behind, shattering their bond without explanation. Now, fate thrusts them together once more to collaborate on expanding the Tribal gardens Juniper worked so hard to establish. Juniper is furious—why is Rowan back now, and why does she have to ruin her carefully constructed plans for redemption?

At first, Juniper resolves to keep their partnership strictly professional. But as old tensions flare into fresh sparks and the truth behind Rowan’s sudden departure begins to surface, both women must decide whether they can rewrite their past—and if their paths are destined to converge after all.

The Ways We Converge is a second-chance, forced-proximity sapphic romance featuring two Indigenous leads, with plus-size and gender non-conforming representation, climate justice, food sovereignty, powwow food truck chaos, and nerds… who really like to bang (a lot, everywhere).

My Thoughts:

The first thing that stands out to me was how deeply Indigenous culture shaped every part of the story. The reader got community, responsibility, history, and daily life woven into each scene. Juniper’s work with food sovereignty grounds the narrative in something real and urgent. You see how food connects to land, identity, and survival. The story treated that connection with care and precision.

Sapphic romance rarely centers Indigenous characters, and here it was not a side note. It drove the plot. It shaped the tension. It informed how Juniper and Rowan moved through the world and how they moved toward each other. You felt the weight of being seen in a genre that often overlooks this perspective.

The environmental thread adds another layer. The focus on land stewardship and climate justice didn’t feel like a lesson. It felt lived in. The work Juniper builds and the work Rowan returns to support was central to their identities. Their professional collaboration created a layer of friction that pushed the romance forward instead of slowing it down.

There was also a powerful throughline around hair and mourning. The story spoke to the cultural significance of hair for Indigenous people and the act of cutting it as a response to grief. Rowan’s relationship to her hair mirrored her relationship to herself. She was mourning the version of herself who did not feel worthy, who could not love who she was. Leaving the Reservation became part of that process. She had to step away to understand herself, and that journey added depth to her return and to the choices she made in the present.

It had been 15 years since Juniper and Rowan had last seen each other, and the second chance arc hits with jus the right level of animosity and trepidation. There was a lot of hurt to work through from Rowan leaving so abruptly.

When the truth behind Rowan’s departure starts to unfold, the emotional payoff lands because the story took time to build it. And girl does the romance deliver. The tension, the intensity and these ladies LOVE to bang. More importantly, the spice matches the emotional depth instead of overpowring it. You get connection, desire, and vulnerability all working together.

This is a five star read I’ll think about for a long time. 

Happy pub day!! This week’s releases are absolutely stunning. We’ve got trauma-fueled thrillers, obsession-worthy leading ladies, swoony chaos, and a couple that had me side-eyeing my headphones like… are we okay?? 👀

Let’s get into it.

🎧 Audios I Binged

🖤 Victim or Villain
Read or skip: Read (especially if you love emotional thrillers with messy morality)
Rating: 4.25 stars

Gwen Kane??? I’m obsessed.

She’s smart, funny, deeply traumatized, and trying so hard to build a quiet life after surviving something horrific. And then… everything unravels. Fast.

This is one of those stories where you’re constantly asking: what would I do in her position? And the answer is never simple.

The emotional weight here really lands. You feel Gwen’s fear, her rage, her desperation to protect the one place that finally felt safe. And the romance?? Complicated in a way that actually works for the story.

Also I need to talk about the audio:
Stephanie Nemeth-Parker + Teddy Hamilton?? Immediate yes. They brought so much depth to these characters.

Final thought: A morally messy, emotionally intense thriller that keeps you locked in.

🧪 Morbid Curiosities
Read or skip: Maybe skip (or go in with tempered expectations)
Rating: 3 stars

Okay this one HURT because the premise??? Elite science institute + secret experiments + dark academia vibes in a modern setting??? I was so in.

And to be fair, there are things this does well. The science elements feel grounded, the atmosphere is tense, and the narration by Isuri Wijesundara is genuinely strong.

But the execution didn’t fully land for me. The pacing felt uneven, and I never fully connected to what was happening vs. what I wanted to be happening.

There are moments of intrigue (mutations, hidden experiments, unreliable memory 👀), but it never fully clicks into that “I can’t stop listening” mode.

Final thought: Cool concept, solid narration, but didn’t hit as hard as I needed it to.

👑 Leading Ladies I’m Obsessed With

💔 Aphrodite in Pieces
Read or skip: DEFINITELY READ
Rating: 5 stars

I will not shut up about this book. I simply won’t.

This completely redefines Aphrodite. Not just as the goddess of love, but as a woman shaped by how others see her, use her, and judge her.

It’s raw, layered, and honestly kind of devastating in the best way. The themes around internalized misogyny and how women are pitted against each other?? Yeah… it hits.

Final thought: A powerful, unforgettable reimagining that will make you rethink everything.

⚔️ Burn the Sea
Read or skip: Read
Rating: 4.5 stars

A warrior queen. Court politics. Sea monsters. Colonization tension. Say less.

Abbakka is THAT girl. Strong, strategic, and constantly forced to prove herself in a world that underestimates her. Watching her navigate power, duty, and survival was everything I wanted.

Also quick reminder: I’m going live with the author on IG 5/1 and I’m so excited for this one.

Final thought: Fierce, atmospheric, and rooted in power + resistance.

💘 Romances That Made Me Giddy

✨ The Antiquarian’s Object of Desire
Read or skip: Read
Rating: 4 stars

India Holton truly does not miss when it comes to witty chaos.

Friends-to-lovers but make it magical academia, forced proximity, and absolute banter overload. Watching Amelia and Caleb dance around their feelings while literal chaos unfolds around them?? Incredible.

Also the humor?? Top tier.

Final thought: Smart, charming, and just ridiculously fun to read.

💗 The Blind Date Agreement
Read or skip: Maybe skip if YA drama isn’t your thing
Rating: 3.75 stars

This one is messy in a very YA way.

The blind date setups were hilarious, and I did enjoy the banter, but whew… the drama. I loved to hate a certain character (you’ll know), which honestly kept me invested.

If you like high school chaos, complicated feelings, and friendship vs. romance tension, this might work for you.

Final thought: Entertaining, chaotic, and very much YA vibes.

😱 Books That Made My Heart Race

🩸 The Caretaker
Read or skip: READ (if you like being unsettled)
Rating: 5 stars

WTF did I just read.

This is one of those books that just… creeps under your skin and stays there. The premise is simple (caretaking job from Craigslist), but the execution?? Absolutely unhinged in the best way.

The tension builds so well, and by the end I was fully spiraling.

Final thought: Disturbing, addictive, and genuinely scary.

🎢 The Drop
Read or skip: Read
Rating: 4 stars

Being stuck 650 feet in the air on a roller coaster??? Immediate no.

This is such a fun, high-stakes thriller with a very contained setting and a group of characters with history (aka secrets 👀).

It’s fast-paced, anxiety-inducing, and plays really well with the “past coming back to haunt you” trope.

Final thought: Stressful in the best way. I could not look away.

🚫 The One I DNF’d

🥀 Witch Queen Rising

This one had so much potential.

The worldbuilding? Strong. The premise? Exactly my vibe. Witches, power struggles, paranormal politics?? Yes please.

But the pacing… I couldn’t do it.

At 54% in, I needed more to be happening. It felt very repetitive (meetings, calls, inner monologue), and the urgency of the stakes just wasn’t matching what was on the page.

I also struggled with the writing style; some of the descriptions pulled me out of the story instead of immersing me in it.

Final thought: A great concept that didn’t quite deliver for me, but I would consider trying book two if the pacing improves.

And that’s this week’s stack !

Some hits, some almosts, and a couple that had me questioning my life choices, but honestly?? That’s the fun of pub day.

If you’ve read any of these (or have one you’re excited for), tell me:
❓ which one is going straight to your TBR?

On the strength of community and plot twists you never expect

A bit less than two years ago in October of 2024 while I was in New York celebrating the release of the first EVER Bindery books and meeting Deena (the author of our first Boundless Press book, DUST SETTLES NORTH) for the first time and freaking out over the book being in a PW cover ad - I had the immense pleasure of also taking a call at a random coffee shop in NYC that would change my life forever.

The call was to meet Mona Tewari and discuss her incredible book, BURN THE SEA, for publication with Boundless Press.

I knew from the moment I spoke to Mona on our call that she was an author that I wanted to publish. She had such kindness to her soul and integrity to her character much like the characters of her book. I was excited by her absolute passion for this story about women who uplift each other, standing up against colonialism, and learning to be strong in more ways than one. I remember we both got a little teary over wanting to have stories out there that brown girls like us (and like Mona’s beautiful daughters) could see themselves in and know that they could be heroes too. 

BURN THE SEA is everything I love in a fantasy book - incredible characters you can’t help but root for, political machinations, epic battles, excellent twists that will leave you reeling, and just a touch of romance that will leave you longing for more. It’s a book I wish I had years ago so that I could’ve realized that I, too, was worthy of love and acceptance, and that strength comes in so many forms. That leaning on the women in your life is so important and that just because someone wants to bring you down does not mean you need to bow to their oppression. 

I love Abbakka’s story with my whole heart and I am so happy that we get to share it with you now. BURN THE SEA is out today because of YOUR unwavering support of me, this community, this imprint, and of Mona. YOU made this happen just as much as I did and I hope you are proud of that achievement and of changing so many people’s lives.

THANK YOU for everything and I hope you enjoy BURN THE SEA when you have the chance to pick it up and that you can share your love and support for it in the weeks and months and years to come 💖

Love, Jananie

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Thank you!