The Sunday Prescription

One reading topic, one week of plans, and plenty of books administered weekly for chronic readers.

Symptoms: Preventing reading burnout.

Happy Sunday everyone! As you can see from the picture above, I took a week off last week. I'm a big believer, especially when it comes to social media, in taking time away. Even if I am fully engaged in whatever I'm taking time from, it's good to give yourself mental resets. So, lets talk about avoiding burnout with reading, especially since we all engage in bookish social media!

Now we've been having some great discussions recently in our Discord server, and this topic came up. For some people, reading is such a built in part of their lives, that they need it. For some, it's more of a hobby with which they drift back and forth. Still others find it is somewhere in between. But regardless of how reading fits in your life, I do think it is good to take breaks. Now an important note - breaks don't have to mean not reading! Allow me to explain using my last week as an example.

As someone who does bookish content, a lot of my reading centers around content. I love that - I enjoy both appreciating my reads, as well as thinking about how they can fit into my content. Because of that, my reading does have a certain drive behind it, with certain schedules and deadlines (however self imposed). On top of that, I have stuff I do every wee - reading vlogs, short form, YouTube videos, this newsletter. If I'm not careful, that kind of schedule can really lead to burnout, a loss of joy in reading, and stale content.

Last week my wife and I had a planned vacation to Jamaica (my first time, and I would highly recommend). So I pre-recorded some stuff for short form, packed up some books, and took a break from everything else! So for me, the break wasn't taking a break from reading. To the contrary - I read more in a week last week than I do most weeks. But for me, the break is switching up my routine. I didn't worry about some of the content, I didn't worry about what I was reading. I read based on pure vibes. I read Carmilla, Mexican gothic, The Flame Carrier, and started both The Bone Season and The Castle and the Cloister. I read at a nice pace, I read all times of day, and just read like I had no other commitments in the world (in reality, I had very few!). By the end of the week, I was starting to brainstorm new content ideas, think about reading plans, and felt so refreshed and reinvigorated for my usual routine.

Now the important thing here is that you don't need a full vacation to do something like this. If you're making content and you're starting to feel that burnout, take a week off. People act like a week off will ruin their progress - it won't. people will still be here when you get back. If you're reading and everything is feeling stale, figure out what kind of break you need. Maybe you just need to switch up genres or styles of book, read a book that's shorter than your norm, reread a cozy favorite, or read something totally different like a graphic novel or poetry. Or maybe, you just take a break from reading for a week or two and lean in to your other hobbies and interests. If you're a mood reader but nothing is mooding, make a TBR. If you're a strict TBR person, pick a random book and blow that TBR up! And if you are a consumer of bookish social media, take some breaks from that as well. A week off will do wonders for your mind!

At the end of the day, we all love reading, but sometimes you need a bit of a mental reset. That can take multiple forms, but I think it's important to do, and will ultimately enrich your reading life.

The Rx: What I'm Reading and Doing

First, let's talk Book Clubs:

• For our main book club:

  • October's book for our main book club, Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker, is churning along and there is some great discussion on Discord. Our wrap up discussion for that will be Sunday, November 8 at 3 PM EST.

  • November's book is going to be The Demon Star by Jesse Aragon. So make sure to grab that in some way! I'll post the discussion thread for that next week sometime in case anyone wants to get started early.

• For our Fable book club:

  • October's pick is Carmilla by Sheridan le Fanu. I read this last week, and it was so cool to see this having read Dracula som many times before.

  • For November, we will be reading Boudicca's Daughter by Elodie Harper. This is a standalone historical fiction that follows the meteoric rise and devastating fall of the Iceni warrior queen Boudicca through the eyes of her youngest daughter. Excited to read it, and hope to see some of you there!

For our Monthly Reading Challenges:

• October's reading challenge is going well, especially since our book club book is seasonal!

• November's reading challenge will be to finish a series. For this, you get a bonus entry for each book in a series you read. So if you read and finish a trilogy, that's three entries for the gift card! I think most of us have a series or two we should really finish!

I talked about my reading above. I'm having a ton of fun with The Bone Season, and som many of our Dark Travelers are either reading or have read this one, so the discussion is great. I'm also loving The Castle and the Cloister so far. Really excellent!

If you did not see yesterday's Instagram post, I posted a sweepstakes that is running through Tuesday for a free audiobook copy of The Butcher of Nazareth. if you're interested, head obverse and check it out on IG and follow the steps to enter.

And last but not least, be on the lookout for a new membership tier announcement this week, which will post first here on Bindery! I have a really fun idea, and am excited to share it with you all! Also going to be adding a perk or two to current tiers.

If you are not on our Discord server, you should consider hanging out! I do exclusive giveaways there, and I have some really exciting ones planned for the next few months (including a full hardcover set of the Villians series by VE Schwab and more)! I don't really do giveaways on IG/TT because I like to reward you all in our community, so be on the look out for those. We have two giveaways running right now!

Hope you all have a great week of reading and life, and I'll see you next week!

Want More In-Depth Access?

If you enjoy getting into the details with me about reading, then consider upgrading to The Dark Travelers tier! My Dark Travelers get an exclusive Discord role and channels, a weekly deep dive reading update video, early access to YouTube videos, and each month they get to pick a book for me to read. This can be a book they want to read with me, or something they want me to try for them. I then do a member's only review when I'm done. It's super fun and a great tight knit group that I really enjoy talking books with, and I'd love to have you part of it!

Consent is sexy 🔥🤌

I LOVED it when Archer asked for London's permission even before any hot scene. Most green flag ever

Dangerous Haven, follows the story of Billionaire, Hacker, Mafia leader Archer and runaway Mafia princess London. Luna Pierce has very nicely written the character backstories - they keep you engrossed in the plot.

Archer was everything that I would like in a Mafia, stalker, billionaire. He is smart, possessive, protective & most important - FEMINIST. There are these one liners that Archer says, they are cliche lines but in that moment they are toe curling and giddy.

London is one of the strongest FMC - though I would have liked a little more light on how her past affects her present. The book is good except for the third act breakup. Personally I felt it was little silly. I would have loved if they would have talked to each other than the fight they had.

Still, if you are like me, and love reading grumpy sunshine, introvert extrovert, billionaire, mafia tropes, then definitely read this one.

Also, I think this is a good book if you are new to dark Romance. The themes are not that dark , I would say on a range of light gray to black, I would give this a dark gray heart 🩶

Thank you so much Arndell for the beautiful copy and the goodies. Thank so much Luna Pierce for the wonderful story and the lovely characters

Swipe to see my day in West village and snippet from the book

Hi there book besties,

Sorry this has taken me so long, but between playoff baseball and Case Management Week, the past week was a blur. Here's the link and password to the December Historical Fiction Look Ahead. There aren't as many books on the list this month, but there are some fun stories I think you're sure to love. Stay tuned for January because it's shaping up to be quite the publication month!

I'm super eager to hear from you: which of these books are you adding to your library hold list?

https://shesbecomingbookish.com/new-historical-fiction-books-december-2026/

password: jolly

Happy reading!

xoxo

c