Hi book buddies,

How in the world is it August already? Time is FLYING for real. Before we dig into the reading update I wanted to send love and light out to all who are impacted by the fires in the Spokane area. It's so scary to see communities destroyed by fire. D and I drove through Altadena just last weekend, and the scars of fire are still very visible despite the rebuilding efforts. To know that people in Washington are going through a similar loss is so hard. Prayers for the folks of Spokane. ❤️

Alright, let's talk about books! It feels like I've been reading a ton this week, but I only managed to finish a few books. I listened to the last few chapters of A Founding Mother on Friday while cleaning the house, and BOY what a book! As I said in this video, it's the type of book that makes you want to be a better woman. I will go back to re-read the last chapters with my eyes so that I can annotate because it's just that good. It's dense with A LOT of politics, but if you are at all interested in that time period it's a must read. 5⭐️s

As part of a big research project for books like The Calamity Club I listened to The Secret Life of Bees. Wise choice on my part, since the narrator is the same as the voice of Meg in The Calamity Club audio. I had seen the movie years ago but never read the book. It's fair to say that it's another must read if you enjoy Southern fiction, particularly The Calamity Club. 5⭐️s

I also listened to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek as part of my research, and while I did enjoy it, I can definitely say it's not as good as The Giver of Stars. Book Woman was mostly about the FMC's medical condition and much less about the day-to-day life of a packhorse librarian. It was good enough that I will continue to series though. 4⭐️s

The Intrigue was a lot of fun if you enjoy unlikeable characters and don't mind foul language and open door intimacy. If you've read and enjoyed Silvia Moreno-Garcia in the past you will likely enjoy this one, but be aware it's much more crass than her other work. I really enjoyed it, but I love noir stories. 4.25⭐️s

I realized yesterday that I never told y'all about The Island Club, which I finished earlier this month. It was not my favorite book, kinda forgettable if you ask me. Likely why I forgot about it. I didn't care for the tropes at all. 3⭐️s

I'm planning to dive into Habits of the Sea and to finish The Time of Witches this week, plus I'll be staring my Dracula reading vlog.

I was really quiet here on Bindery this past week while working on the end of the month content push, but stay tuned because I have a few things up my sleeve this week.

ICYMI

• The August newsletter went out yesterday. If you missed it or aren't yet subscribed you can check it out here!

• Don't miss this list of books like The Calamity Club, all vetted by yours truly.

• As promised, I shared two Youtube videos last week. Check out my top reads of 2026 so far and all the August new releases I think you should read.

• And if you'd prefer the short and sweet version of the August look ahead, check out this slide deck over on IG.

Hear It Here First

I'm planning to share a few pieces of exclusive content this week including early access to the October look-ahead and another film + book pairing. If you haven't upgraded, you absolutely should. 😜

I'm starting on my new Library Adventures vlog and will likely share that week after next, but I plan to share behind-the-scenes snippets on IG along the way. Not sure what I'm talking about? Get caught up here!

Lastly, I'm going to host a massive giveaway on Facebook this week, so be sure you are following me there.

Don't forget that The Shadow of the Wind is the August BBFL book club book. Not a member yet? Join here!

Now I'm off to get ready for my Death Cab for Cutie show! Until next week, happy reading!

xoxo

c

The Sunday Prescription

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

Symptoms: Nonfiction versus Fiction

Happy Sunday everyone! Hope you have all had a wonderful week, and are getting some good reading time in! For this week's newsletter, I wanted to discuss nonfiction versus fiction when it comes to dealing with things like mental health and personal issues. This has been on my mind recently as I have seen some videos popping up from creators recently discussing the opinion that a fiction book will help you more than any nonfiction book, especially nonfiction in the "self help" category.

Now of course, as I have said before, I was a mostly non-fiction reader for a long time, as I was convinced by other people that I needed to do that as I got older. And I agree completely with the sentiment that fiction, especially speculative fiction, has traditionally been labeled as "not that deep," or not adult fiction. This, of course, is not correct, and one of the reasons I started making book content was to encourage more adults to get back to having fun with reading - read what you enjoy, including all the speculative fiction you want! However, I do think that the extreme of saying "self help" or nonfiction is useless and you'll learn more from fantasy is just as wrong. We do learn. lot from fiction, but what we learn is different.

First, let's talk about what we all think of when we hear "self help." Most of us think of books by people who have basically written something to help you get rich quick, beat the stock market, lose weight without dieting, or master the art of verbal judo. The traditional self help book is written by someone who just wants to tell you how they have succeeded at something and, if you do what they did, you will too. It's the infomercial of books. And generally speaking, I agree that these sorts of books are largely snake oil. I like to bring up Alex Hormozi - a failed business person who has made a business making books and podcasts about how to succeed in business. And in doing so has been successful in an area he was not successful in before he told everyone how to be successful.

But for me, when I think of self help, I think of nonfiction books like "The Body Keeps the Score" by Bessel van der Kolk M.D. As someone who has spent some time working through PTSD, this book was incredibly helpful. It goes through the research behind the impact trauma has on us, how our brains react, what it does to our physiology, and as such helps us understand ourselves better and gives us strategies to work through things. And this is the main difference between fiction and non-fiction.

The research on reading fiction has shown us that fiction excels especially in two major areas. The first is in developing empathy. By reading about people and perspectives we can't normally access, we help develop our ability to empathize with others. The second thing it does incredibly well is allow us to experience things in a safe space that takes us out of the equation. So, if I read a fictional book about a character with PTSD, I can watch them, their struggles, the impact it has on them, and how they maneuver through life without inserting myself in that situation, and watch it in a way that is safe to me. Oner of my favorite books dealing with PTSD is "Guard in the Garden" by ZS Diamanti. He treats it so well, he shows how isolating it can be, and he shows the internal struggles it causes in our day to day lives, while also showing that living with it requires us to be vulnerable.

However, what fiction does not do, generally speaking, is teach us things like the physiology or research behind a condition, or give us direct strategies for our own day to day lives. That is where good nonfiction comes in. And from my standpoint, that is where I think a balanced approach is best. if all I read is nonfiction, I lose out on gaining empathy and exploring a topic in a safe space. if all I read is fiction, I lose out on understanding a condition and getting real world strategies to deal with it. So my take is: do both! I read far more fiction than nonfiction, but if I wanted to do a deep dive on something like depression, anxiety, PTSD, or any other real world thing I might be dealing with, I would recommend seeking out both fiction and nonfiction to get a wholistic approach to the topic.

I'm interested to hear from you - what are some great fiction or nonfiction books that you have read that deal with PTSD, anxiety, or depression that you found to be helpful?

The Rx: What I'm Reading and Doing

I'm really excited that August has arrived. I have a week every August where my family goes to the Outer Banks, and it is my favorite week of the year usually! We get to just hang out at the beach, and I get a lot of peaceful reading time. I have some great books on the horizon this month, including our main book club book, the Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem, and the new Fable Book Club, Dr. Bob's Literary Apothecary, where we'll be reading The Wolf and His King by Finn Longman. I also have a few ARCs lined up for the month, so those should be fun as well.

In terms of content, I'm working on YouTube videos for the month, and catching up on my written reviews! July is always a really busy month and this year was no exception, so I'm excited to try and get a bit caught up. I'm also going to be recording a bunch of short form stuff this week, including a few really fun reviews, so excited to do that. We've had some great giveaways in the Discord server - if you're not on there with us, you should definitely consider joining. It's a really fun group! We also have our July Book Club wrap up discussion for Jade City by Fonda Lee tonight at 8 PM EST on the Discord server voice channel. If you can't make those, I do record them and post them for people to watch after - you can find that channel in the Discord server.

Otherwise, I'm on the second level of the Minas Tirith Lego set - it is so cool, and I cannot wait to get that wrapped up and on display (I'm really just an oversized child). I am also working through rewatching Game of Thrones, and am on season 4. Seasons 3-5 were really such peak TV, and it has really made me want to go back and reread the books - Book 3 especially is one of the best fantasy books of all time, in my opinion.

I also started my "pick a big series" challenge, where I'm reading book one of 6 different long series to decide what to continue. I started with Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb, and I LOVED it. It's going to be hard to beat I think, and is one of the best book ones I've read. I love a slow paced, mysterious fantasy that focuses on slow burn character development and world building, so this is right up my alley. Next up might be Gardens of the Moon, although The Bone Season is also calling to me. I'm also going to be starting King Sorrow here soon, which is our Dark Travelers pick a book for August.

And last but not least, don't forget about our Monthly Reading challenges on Discord and StoryGraph. This month's challenge is to read an indie book, and participants are eligible to win a $25 bookshop.org gift card by participating on the StoryGraph Challenge page, or on our Discord server. I'm going to be reading The Butcher of Nazareth by David Scott Hay for this.

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. 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!

Happy August everyone!! I am SOOO excited to announce this months winners for our fantasy and thriller book picks!

For fantasy we will be reading The Road of Bones by Demi Winter

For thriller we will be reading the Housewife by Natalie Barelli

Please make sure to click the link for the discord so that we can all read and discuss!!

Happy Sunday, mis internet amigxs!

It's time to vote on our September book club pick--both our main fiction book and our nonfiction sidequest, but I wanted to pop in a few updates before we get to our selections and the poll!

GET THE AUGUST LATINE RELEASES NEWSLETTER EARLY!

For Libritos and Lectores members, keep your eyes peeled for August Latine releases coming tomorrow! It's going to be a HUGE newsletter with so many great titles releasing. If you'd like to receive an early list of all the upcoming Latine releases for the month (before we head to a new, more effective format), including more details on the books, then please consider supporting my Bindery at either of the paid levels. If you'd like to support the work I do with Latine and nonfiction books AND see this imprint publish a book, your membership helps.

DISCORD UPDATE

If you're on Discord, we've implemented monthly pruning of unverified accounts. If you've found yourself pruned from the Discord server, or if you're new and your name appears in white, please take a moment to reconnect to the server AND have a verified badget on Discord.

1. Make sure you are signed up at any level on Bindery

2. To get the verified badge on Discord, please make sure that Verify your Discord account through Bindery once you subscribe. After you set-up your Bindery account, go to Manage Your Discord on Bindery and follow the prompts to set up the connection.

You'll know your verified through either the green verified badge or the fact that your name appears in green when you comment in the server.

IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO JOIN AUGUST BOOK CLUB

As a reminder, we're reading The Intrigue by Silvia Moreno-Garcia this month and there may be a few surprises. We're also finishing our nonfiction side-quest read, Cuba: An American History.

LET'S VOTE ON SEPTEMBER READS!

You can vote more than once in the poll below -- ideally, you'll vote for ONE fiction pick and ONE nonfiction pick. ALSO! If you're in Discord, you'll have the chance to vote again there as well. Voting will close in 3 days when the Discord poll closes and selections will be announced later this week.

FICTION OPTIONS

The Grand Paloma Resort Hotel by Cleyvis Natera (Audiobook): Out in paperback, this is truly a work of literary fiction for the chismosas you joined back in January. A story told at high-end inclusive hotel in the Dominican Republic, entirely from the staff's point of view, this story will grip you to the conclusion.

Last Night In Brooklyn by Xochitl Gonzalez (Audiobook): Taking place in 2007, this is the story of Alicia, who's at a precipice in her life when she walks into a Brooklyn bar and is reintroduced to people from her past, living the American Dream for people of color, but it's also the story of the other side of the coin.

This Is The Only Kingdom by Jaquira Diaz (Audiobook): A mother and daughter face unimaginable loss and are supported by the community, but 15 years later, find that same community has turned against them. Taking place in a Puerto Rican barrio, this story unwinds generational grief and trauma.

Cat Love by Tomas Q. Morin (Audiobook): A contemporary dystopian elegy narrated by a cat imprisoned in a Schrödinger’s box

NONFICTION OPTIONS

Prophecy: Prediction Power and the Fight For The Future, from Ancient Oracle to AI by Carissa Velez (Audiobook): After recommending Empire of AI earlier this week, I began searching for another book on AI to continue learning and this one popped up by a Latina author who incorporates not just how AI is trying to be the oracle of the ancients, but provides us how to reclaim our power from tech giants.

Darien Gap: A Reporter's Journey Through The Deadly Crossroads of the Americas by Belen Fernandez (Audiobook) Part history/travel logue/on-the-ground reporting, this is Belen's research and travel through the narrow land bridge between North and South America. This work shines a light on the made-by-the-US migrant crisis through one of the most treacherous points of crossing migrants face.

The Latinx Guide To Liberation: Healing from Historical, Generational, and Individual Trauma by Vanessa Pezo (Audiobook): This book had me from the line "Let us heal together. But first I invite you to take a breath."

Happy voting!

xo,

Carmen

Happy August, friends! Sharing some reading trackers for you Instagram stories!

This week was basically the final sprint (metaphorical I can't run haha) toward the Small Town Slasher release, which is now only a few days away! If you've read it please copy and paste your review on Amazon, Goodreads, Storygraph, and/or any other websites you use for reviews.

I signed, packed, and shipped every preorder that has come in so far. Seeing the full stack of books in my house was a little surreal, especially after spending so long working on this story when it only existed as a doc on my computer. I also filmed an unboxing where I showed the book, talked about the writing process, and explained why preorders matter so much to indie authors and small presses.

And somehow, Small Town Slasher made it into the top 100 in Amazon’s Slasher Horror category before it is even officially out (today it jumped to the top 50). That was absolutely not something I expected.

I also had the honor of being on a final girls panel as part of the TBRCon with Stephen Graham Jones. Yes, that Stephen Graham Jones. It was an honor to be part of a conversation about slashers and final girls with an author whose work has meant so much to me. I am still processing the fact that it actually happened.

Outside of book release chaos, I have been virtually attending Lollapalooza. Lorde and especially Charli xcx has been a huge part of my life.

Behind the scenes, I am still working on release posts, events, orders, emails, future books, and all the tiny last-minute tasks that apparently appear whenever I cross something else off the list. Small Town Slasher releases Tuesday, and I am excited, exhausted, proud, nervous, and probably forgetting something.

So this week was preorders, podcasts, final girls, Stephen Graham Jones, Amazon rankings, Lollapalooza, and the final countdown to Small Town Slasher.

Very calm. Completely normal. No screaming whatsoever.

BOOKS

The Reimagining of Thornwood House by Jaleigh Johnson
Did I Ever Tell You This by Sam Neill

Currently reading: Heart of Glass by Jennifer Hillier, and reading Kiss Slay Replay by Rachel Harrison (for the second time).

SHOWS AND FILMS

I have mostly been relying on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X-Files, Owl House, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and my usual late 1990s and early 2000s comfort rewatches while I work. Also I've been watching Marriage at First Sight. I always have to have some kind of reality show going too.

For movies I've watched: The Devil's Mouth, Leviticus, and Monkey's Magic Merry Go Round and rewatched: Scream 7 and Twister. Also, I watched The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare, and some of the Lindsay Clancy trial and Lollapalooza!

That is all for this week. What is something that brought you joy this past week?

xoxo

Spooky Girl

Friends, What Feeds Below merch has arrived and I’m dying to share some of my favorite items:

https://www.zazzle.com/i_survived_the_void_hat-256055650255256533?rf=238187619867585721

https://www.zazzle.com/moss_rat_sticker-256837656661657023?rf=238187619867585721

https://www.zazzle.com/skinleech_sticker-256666913951989999?rf=238187619867585721

https://www.zazzle.com/i_survived_the_void_shirt-256358998550142568?rf=238187619867585721

I’ve already got a hat on the way! And you KNOW im a sticker freak! Let me know if you’re grabbing anything below!

Massive news for our publishing imprint, Kist Reads: we have officially acquired our second book! After reviewing dozens of manuscripts from authors and agents, one stood head-and-shoulders above the rest. Without further ado, I am thrilled to introduce:

BLOOD CANTO by Ofelia J. Vazquez !!!

Here's the elevator pitch for this multi-POV adult high fantasy:

"A sorceress and a bounty hunter team up to kill the president in a rootin' tootin' world inspired by the Mexican Revolution and Mesoamerican mythology.” - Ofelia J. Vazquez

And here's the blurb from the pitch letter I received that instantly grabbed my attention:

Since her country’s corrupted president executed her father, queer sorceress Petra has desired nothing more than to kill him. A military showcase might just be her best shot. But when a cadet sabotages her, Petra resorts to forbidden blood magic, bound to transform her into a monstrosity. Impossibly, she survives.

Since the schism in her monster-hunting order, Captain Fuentes has operated alone. But when a shrine keeper alerts her that a Reckoning will destroy the world in a month, she marches toward the capital to find an ancient sorceress’ grave, key to stopping it. Then she’s called to execute a monstrosity, who’s nothing but a vengeful girl. Wondering if her miraculous immunity might prevent the apocalypse, Fuentes takes her on. With a president to kill, Petra follows.

As they travel across a riots-riddled nation, sorceress and monster hunter stumble into political insurgencies, divine curses, and nefarious schemes, collecting allies as much as enemies—including ghosts from their past hellbent on opposing them before it all ends.

It's hard to narrow it down to just two comps so for the moment I'm gonna shotgun it because there are at least hints of The Jasmine Throne, The Poppy War, Gods of Jade & Shadow, Black Sun, and even Arcane.

There is plenty of work to do over the next year before this hits the shelves (likely Fall 2027), and I plan to involve this community at every step. You can look forward to advanced reader copies, opportunities to participate in publishing decisions, and interviews with the author. You will see everything before Gen Pop—which, naturally, makes you better than them.

PLUS, I snuck Ofelia in the back door of our Discord once both sides were agreed in principle and she's been an active and valued (and chaotic) member of the community. So if you have any questions for us you can always hurl them at us there and we'll answer what we can to the best of our ability. Or you can just tag her with bear memes, she loves bears.

Dialing back to y'all having input on publishing decisions, it was this community that broke the deadlock on the two potential cover versions of A Complement of Scoundrels y'all nailed that one. Seeing as Blood Canto is the working title for this one and we are exploring another option, we may need you again, so stay frosty buttercups!

I want to thank every one of you for your support; this project truly would not be possible without you. A significant portion of our subscription revenue is being poured directly into the imprint, ensuring we can make fair acquisition offers and provide all the resources necessary to take a manuscript from a rough draft to a bookstore shelf. Seeing that in action with A Complement of Scoundrels has been amazing and I can't wait to go through all of it again with Blood Canto.

Thank you again, I'm hyped to share more with you in the coming days!

July was a packed month of reads for sure. I had some winners, I had some mid reads and I had some that didn't work for me.

It was a solid mix of genres and authors, and it brought me so much joy overall! Defy The Dusk, The Scammer, and Victorious were my 3 knockout reads for the month. So memorable and I loved them.

Here's hoping that August turns out in a similar fashion.

I will always be a horror girly. Always. I love the psychology of horror and what it means to everyone. I believe that horror in movies is a glimpse into the collective subconscious anxiety of a period in time, which makes it all the more interesting as a cultural time capsule! Think about it.

In the 70s and 80s, we had this surge of serial killers in the news and subsequently, most horror movies that came out of this era were slasher films.

In the 90s, we were understanding corruption and faced with the depravity of people in power being exposed, so we had a lot of horror movies about the corrupt behavior of the powerful.

In the 00s, we see the rise of splatter cinema, which I interpret as a direct reaction to 9/11 as a sociocultural means of processing the sudden exposure to wanton violence we hadn't experienced before.

The mid 10s showed us horror that relied on the ineptitude of systems meant to protect us like the military or police in reaction to cynicism around the Iraq War.

So you see, we use horror as a release valve, a method of processing things. We see it in books, too. One of my favorite things about horror in books? How evergreen the collective or lingering fears are that authors tap into. Horror books are different from movies in that the horror they focus on is timeless and layered. The horror of racism, oppression, random acts of violence, generational trauma, adoption trauma, etc. Horror books go deeper than just the sociocultural anxiety of the time, they also peel back the basest of human fear that we all experience no matter what time period we exist in.

Look at Frankenstein. Though we don't walk away afraid or haunted, we do walk away unsettled because the message Shelley is discussing transcends the time it was written and taps into a deeper horror we experience as a species instead of as a moment in history. All this to say, I love a horror book and I have so many on my TBR coming up. These, though, are a healthy mix of five I am most looking forward to.

The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers

First published in 1895, this is a horror staple. A story that goes beyond the 1800s and leans on our fear that nobody is safe no matter their "station" in life. This is a series of short stories about the same play - The King in Yellow - that end up being haunted by a figure from that play. It drives people to madness, which is commentary on this idea we have of inherent safety. We are not safe from our own minds, losing our faculties is a very human and evergreen fear that persists beyond the 1800s when mental health was much less understood than it is today.

Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell

A new fantasy book about a shapeshifting monster who is fleeting monster hunters. When Shesheshen is in a human form, she falls in love with a human and believes she would be a perfect host to lay her eggs in. She discovers too late that her chosen host is sworn to hunt her down. These themes focus on hiding and othering, being an LGBTQ+ person and needing to conceal yourself and your feelings is a very real and challenging thing for so many people. This was something LGBTQ+ folks have dealt with throughout history and was also spoken about in The Picture of Dorian Gray, written decades prior. The fear of discovery is pervasive for LGBTQ+ folks and thus this horror is about the horror of being discovered and what that means.

A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe

I am so unbelievably excited for this one. The original was published in 1722! It follows the very real experience of Defoe as he wandered a plague-riddled Europe, but he fictionalizes his account to capture and process everything he saw and experienced. Defoe was only five when the plague occurred and this account is likely his way of processing the trauma of the Great Plague experienced as a child. He works very hard to be accurate and achieve verisimilitude for his story as much as possible. Plague has always been a feared and anxiety-inducing thing. We can read this book and likely see parallels to COVID-19 and the COVID-19 lockdown. Our fear of sickness and obliteration at the hands of bacteria transcends time, it is an everlasting terror humanity holds in our most base lizard brains.

Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark

This is a relatively short novella by an author I really like about a woman named Maryse who hunts demons known as Ku Kluxes facing a rising evil in Macon, Georgia. Clark was deeply inspired by experiences of ex-slaves and spent time reviewing and honoring those accounts as much as he could. He weaves in music and Gullah culture and the problematic Birth of a Nation film to create this layered world. This horror novella centers on the fear of slavery and loss of autonomy, the very real experience had by thousands - millions - of African slaves forcibly brought to America. We are not so removed from this era that we don't still feel the effects of it and an incredibly timeless fear is the loss of freedom, independence, and autonomy. Clark digs his fingers into that wound and presses in this book.

Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer

Camille wants to be a trad wife influencer. It's her only goal in life. When her content starts falling off, she knows the only solution is to pivot the way all her fellow trad wife influencers have pivoted: get pregnant and become a momfluencer. In order to achieve this goal, she allows a demon to impregnate her. There is so much here I could pull apart just from the synopsis, but the timeless fear this touches on is the consequences of our desperation. Faustian bargains are a constant theme in horror for centuries and this is a modern twist on an ancient terror. Losing bodily autonomy, not really knowing what she signed up for, and facing impossible consequences of her obsession with fame and notoriety are constant fears we see represented in horror. Human beings overdo it and cautionary tales about the horrific effects of going too far are pervasive throughout time.

So yeah. I love horror and everything it represents about being human. Whether that be the collective sociocultural anxiety of the time or constants about the human condition, horror pulls apart the threads of our subconscious and exposes us to what fears make us most painfully, terribly human.

Tananarive Due's Mazywood is not due for release until September of 2026.

Her nomination will be replaced with Wish of the Wicked by Danielle Paige.

Apologies for this error.