ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE

And don't forget to share with friends (and that the copy will be signed!!).

Starting THIS MONTH, all FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY get one personalized book recommendation every month.

Looking for a super specific trope?
Want a book that feels like your favorite movie, game, or album?
Need something wildly niche? I’ve got you.

Each month, you’ll receive a curated, personalized recommendation based on your exact request, tailored just for you.

On February 18th at 10am, a request form will open exclusively for FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY.

Upgrade to paid TODAY to be first in line when submissions open.

Here are some February 17th and 24th releases on my radar (and should be on yours!). First, the ones I've had a chance to read:

Weavingshaw by Heba Al-Wasity 4.5/5 stars

Put this on your TBR if you enjoy diverse fantasy. This book is inventive and intriguing, drawing me in from page one (rare for a fantasy book). This is going to make a lot of best-of lists this year.

The Legend of the Nine-Tailed Fox by Katrina Kwan 4/5 stars

Put this on your TBR if enjoy dark fairytale retellings, even if you're not familiar with the underlying folklore. Our main characters are a demon and a demon hunter, brought down to hell together and forced to work together to get through.

Where the False Gods Dwell by Denny S. Bryce 2.5/5 stars

Put this on your TBR if you enjoy learning history through historical fiction. This one didn't work for me as it had too many POVs, but those who enjoy action-packed historical fiction should check it out.

And the three I'm still waiting to get my hands on:

Rebel English Academy by Mohammed Hanif

Why it interests me: set in Pakistan, it centers an English-language school in perilous times.

Bad Asians by Lillian Li

Why it interests me: it centers a friend group of overachievers who now find themselves unemployed and living at home during the great recession.

I Give You My Silence by Mario Vargas Llosa

Why it interests me: translated from Spanish, this Peruvian novel by the late author explores loving your people and culture in spite of violent history.

Week 7: 9th-15th of February

Happy Sunday! I am currently sitting on the couch while season 2 of “Nobody wants this” is playing in the background.

I’m at the episode where everyone is wearing Halloween costumes. I think it’s a good show, but considering the fact that I’m barley watching it, I don’t know if I can actually say that.. Have you seen “Nobody wants this”?

This week has been the Week of non-fiction Books!

I usually don’t read a lot of non-fictions. Why?

Weeeeeeeeelllll... I think I mainly avoided it because I struggled to get through them... but those thoughts are in the past and I am genuinely telling you now, that I love Non-fiction! I love the feeling I get when reading it!

Let’s get to what I read this week! :)

I completed a memoir by Maya Angelou called "A song flung up to heaven".

This book is the sixth instalment of her memoir series. Her way of writing is like reading a diary! It was so poetic and personal!

Because this is the sixth book and was set during the time before she started writing her most popular memoir "i know why the cage bird sing", I left this book wanting to read that book! I am fascinated by her, and I want more!

Next is my still current read which is "Everything is tuberculosis" by John Green. Now this book is a lot more factual, which is the non-ficton I'm not used to reading, but John Green has a great and casual way to writing it.

I TRULY KNEW NOTHING ABOUT THIS DISEASE! The way this disease and frankly all diseases show, how health care systems are prioritised for those with more money. And dont even get me started on the rascism behind it all...

But also, I didnt know that TB has litrilly been behind beauty standards thats still excist today and it was been behind the founding of cities in the US!

I’m learning so much! and its opening my eyes

However... I think I should be reading this in shorter reading sessions, because when I read this book for an hour straight, the information gets clouded in my head.

OOooofff!!! There is drama going on in the tv- show right now and its distracting me. So I think ill end this blog here.

If you got this far, thank you for reading and I'll see you next week! :)

Stay Amazing! XOXO

Hi folks!

I celebrated UK Pancake Day a little early yesterday, as I personally like to have a distraction from Valentine’s. I love love, but I’ve just never been a Valentine’s boy. For those for whom this holiday isn’t your thing, here are 3 romance-free diverse SFF books that I love.

Squire by Nadia Shammas and Sara Alfageeh

A brilliant graphic novel by a Palestinian author about an oppressive empire, and a young girl from a marginalised group who signs up for the army as her only route to citizenship. Once she gets there however, her perception of the empire is challenged, and she sees a dire need for change.

The Upper World by Femi Fadugba

A Black boy from south east London experiences the worst day of his life, but then discovers a way to travel back in time, can he change his future?

I adore this book and the way it represents south east London, a very Black area of London and where I lived during my 20s. The dialogue is written in SE London dialect too, which is rare to see and find very well. There’s also tons of fun wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff.

Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett

This is a standalone Discworld novel, a comedy fantasy Mulan retelling, that follows a young ‘girl’ who signs up for the army and pretends to be a boy. I say ‘girl’ because this was the first positive transmasc rep I’d ever encountered as a kid, and many other trans people have identified with it. Terry Pratchett (my favourite author), said he was honoured that the trans community took comfort in it.

Disco xx

Happy Sunday, mis internet amigxs!

I hope you're all having a great Galentine's/Valentine's weekend, if you celebrate. There are a number of updates and announcements plus an EXCLUSIVE GIVEAWAY for Libritos and Lectores members before we get to Tuesday's books.

I posted my #MeltIceBookStack this week and I encourage you to do the same to help raise funds for Minneapolis. While the news has been lauding ICE pulling back, news on the ground is dire. Your stack can help raise necessary funds for mutual aid to assist those in need.

Thank you all so much for your support with the announcement this week that I was accepted into the News Creator Corps Trusted Creators Spring Fellowship! Classes begin next week. I can't wait to share more with you.

As a reminder, you have until Tuesday to get your vote in for our April book club selection. You can vote on Bindery and on Discord. So far, the picks are slightly different on both platforms, so if you feel strongly about a particular choice, then get your votes in before the deadline!

Earlier this week, book club chatted with Esperanza Hope Snyder, and here is your exclusive early access link to watch the replay on YouTube.

NOW I SURRENDER GIVEAWAY! I have 5 physical copies and 1 audiobook of April Bien Leidos book club pick, Now I Surrender by Alvaro Enrigue, up for grabs exclusively for Lectores and Libritos members. I'll have 10 additional copies of the physical book and 4 audiobooks for free subscribers in Tuesday's regular newsletter that you can also enter, but the pool of entrants is significantly smaller in this post. Giveaway is, unfortunately, US only. Just like this post and let me know in the comments whether you prefer a physical or audiobook copy. I'll pick a winner on Thursday, February 19th.

Quick note on a February 10th release I forgot to mention that Celestial Monsters by Aiden Thomas released on paperback last week!

And, finally, on to this week's releases...

ROMANCE

The Ex-Perimento by Marla J. Morillo (Audiobook) Venezuelan rom-com SET IN VENEZUELA about a girl who has her whole life mapped out for her and her boyfriend only to have him dump her after he graduates and then loses her job in the most public and humiliating way possible. She is temporarily hired onto a competition TV show and meets her favorite singer who volunteers to help her win back her ex...let's just say things don't do as planned.

NONFICTION

Citizenship: Notes on An American Myth by Daisy Hernandez (Audiobook) Daisy tackles citizenship through research, history, cultural criticism and memoir.

Devout: Losing My Faith to Find Myself by David Archuleta (Audiobook) American Idol alum tells his coming out story--from Mormon teen to living his authentic life on American Idol as an international pop star.

xo,

Carmen

Who wants to win a bound manuscript of Adalyn Grace's The Wretched Divine (out Sept 22nd 2026) ??!!

Happy Valentine's Day my loves! I wanted to do something special for my Friends and Insiders, and I have just the thing: special bound manuscripts (not the exact one pictured above, that one's mine 😉) of The Wretched Divine by Adalyn Grace!

➡️💘 Comment on this post to enter! Extra entries are available for each comment or like of any other post here on Inkspoken Books! ⬅️💘

I'll randomly draw the winners on 2/20 and reach out via email if you've won. Good luck!

Synopsis for The Wretched Divine:

Aurelie Chantelune was born to serve. Raised as a knight in a kingdom ravaged by demons, she's spent her life honing her blade, driven by the memory of the monsters who tore her family apart and by the knowledge that she's one of the few who can stop them.

If Aurelie can claim her first kill, she'll inherit a legacy passed down through the Chantelune a soulbond with Yuriel, an angel whose power is vital to her kingdom's survival. But when those she loves begin turning into the very monsters she's sworn to destroy, Aurelie is forced to seek help from the last place she ever imagined. Desperate, she forges a second and far more dangerous bond with Severin, a demon she can hardly trust, but who claims to know how to end the war for good.

With their lives and fates entwined, Aurelie, Yuriel, and Severin must team up to hunt down a cure capable of turning demons back into humans. But the more they learn about one another and the deeper their relationships grow, the more Aurelie begins to question the war and her place in it. With both of her bonded on opposing sides, she'll have to make a continue to stand with the angels, or risk everything by trusting a demon.

*No purchase needed. Open to U.S. residents, Void where prohibited.

How to enter:
Open to all “Inkspoken Books” Bindery members - any tier (including free “Follower” members) – comment to enter (Limit 1 entry per person.)

Prize Value: $26.99
GA Runs from 2/14-2/10
Winner will be selected at random and notified via email within 3 days of the giveaway’s end. The winner must respond within 3 days to claim their prize.
Other details:
No cash substitute. Sponsor not liable for entry or delivery issues. Macmillan Books and @amanda.the.bookish will receive winners' address for shipping purposes only.
Sponsor: Inkspoken Books, Denver, Colorado • amandathebookish@yahoo.com

Thank you to Kist Reads for the GA format and idea!

Good morning, mis internet amigxs,

Over on Discord, we decided our April and May genre for book club would be Fantasy for April and a Latine Classic for May.

I'm posting a bit about each of the April possibilities below so that you can vote on the selection. I'll also be posting a poll on Discord. Feel free to vote on one of both polls. The poll will be open until February 17th, both here and on Discord.

Pedro The Vast by Simon Lopez Trujillo and translated by Robin Myers: Chilean literary science fiction with a fungal twist set in a dystopian . Short and headspinning--for fans of Jeff Vandermeer.

Asiri and the Amaru by Natalia Hernandez is a Latin American cozy romantasy inspired by Peruvian mythology and set in a reimagined Inca empire. There are cute animals! mythical creatures! magical secrets! low stakes! slow burn romance! This is the first book in an unfinished series.

A Cruel Thirst by Angela Montoya is a young adult dual POV romance fantasy about a cinnamon roll newly turned vampire boy and a badass vampire huntress set in an alternative historical Mexico with fantastic banter.

I'll be following up with a May possibilities poll later this week.

xo,

Carmen

Hi everyone, very excited to do our poll for the next quarter of our book club! While I'm sure most of you are aware, I thought I'd run through what we did differently this time:

• Proposals in a forum format where you provided the synopsis and rational with content warnings

• Reactions/comments were provided

• I went with less books for the poll this time so the vote would be less diluted (had 13 books last time, picked 9 this time. We can decrease next round if needed).

You all had some amazing selections. Here's how I picked them out (for full transparency):

• I looked at all the reactions, comments, and the tally of each. I then went through the comments to see what were "substantial" comments. For example, people saying it was really good, sounded great, versus comments about how to post in the forum. I also looked at how many people said they had read versus had not.

  • From this, there were three standouts

• I then look at the next tier of aggregated reactions/comments (books in the teens). I did all of the above again, I tried to make sure we had a variety of authors (don't want two of the same author), book sizes (I'm ok with one really big book per cycle, but also want them to be reasonable and not have all chokers), and a variety of people who made suggestions.

  • There were three that made it in here.

• Everything else was pretty close in terms of objective stuff, so for the last three selections I looked at all of the above and then I picked out books that I was really interested in -(sorry, there should be some perks here) as well as positive comments.

So, see below. Vote for your top three choices. Voting will close on February 28, selections announced March 1!

It was like telling everyone “I’m engaged!” and adding bride 2026💍 to my bio

& then getting dumped by my fiancé

On my ToHave&HaveMore tour last year I was instructed by the publisher to tease my 2nd book (Does This Make Me Look Rich?) and within a month of that directive, they collapsed in a heap of shame/disgrace/incompetence. And I felt like a moron for telling everyone about book2 and then having to backtrack (what a loser!) and clarify that I did not, in fact, have a second book coming out. Uh, no. That fell through. I just have the one ... self-published book. My hand to god [Christopher Moltisanti voice] I wouldn't even have a book1 if Tal didn't become an entire publisher unto himself and jaws-of-life th&hm from the raging inferno of how tf did this happen. (Long live srg press.)

So back to losing face.

All of my shame-based asian upbringing kicked in full force bc disappointment (I want to say 'devastation' but that sounds melodramatic and then I have to check my privilege and be like, "well I'm very lucky that this is the worst thing happening in my life" blah blah blah) was compounded by embarrassment ------ even though all of this wreckage was out of my control!!! (I'm still paying for their fuck-ups in this new deal but I have to save that story for later.)

My second book is official (again)

As of 2/12 I have a new deal for Does This Make Me Look Rich? -- and status symbol of status symbols, it's with a Big 5 press. If that doesn't mean anything to you let me put it this way: it's an ivy league publisher. No more no-name, tEcH-aDjAcEnT, move-fast-and-self-implode BS for this bestselling author (never forget that I'm a bestselling author). I'm chockfull of hubris today- watch this 2nd deal self-destruct also🥰

This big5 deal is the pure uncut external validation that I was jonesing for. I can't afford a designer bag so the next best thing to sate my status-seeking is a book deal with a namebrand publisher.

I'm eking every drop of vanity out of this milestone because it's an impersonal pat on the back from the institutions that be but I know--I'm wiser now--that this does not in any way indicate career progress. Big5 books get released every day to crickets. Pretty much every book flops and every author is dismayed.

My koan of the day: Career progress only comes from TikTok followers and reels going viral (I'm like 30% joking).

Here's what I learned from my first rodeo- trust no publisher. Not bc they're malicious but bc they're deeply&truly indifferent even if they claim to love LoVe yOuR bOoK. Authors aren't cogs in a machine - because cogs are considered important and valued for their function. We are more like cattle--expendable and replaceable and if they could find a way to do it without us (AI will make this possible), they would in a heartbeat. Unless you're compensated generously for your art, don't believe that they care about it. Money is the only love language in publishing and anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is scheming to exploit you.

If it sounds like I'm not exactly thrilled- excellent reading comprehension. I had to fight tooth&nail to just get back to where I was two years ago: with a second book lined up. Let's revisit the dumped-by-fiancé metaphor: he dumped me but now he's saying, actually, he does want to get married. Thank you? The amount of time and energy I've spent to stay in one place -- I could be a doctor 3 times over by now (and rich to boot). Instead, I'm writing this post to announce "a book that was supposed to be a done deal is now shunted to a second publisher" with the intention of short-form-content-ifying this post into a carousel for IG because the only way I can have a career that resembles author is if I assiduously content-create.

My new agent and my new editor found me on socials. Book2 is a lovechild of TikTok and my mini mic.

You can bet I am worshipping at the altar of my on-camera persona every night. I am making HUGE donations to Meta daily in the valuable, valuable currency of hours of my one-wild-and-precious life. The only reason book2 survived is thanks to my brainrot output so the only logical response is to keep making it🤪 [I looked up 'deranged emoji' but apparently this expression is 'goofy'.]

Hey loves!

We are starting a series called Flaunt It Friday. A day where I shout out and spotlight author and upcoming releases that I am looking forward to!

We are starting out with one of my FAVORITE authors, Kimberly Lemming.

If you found yourself on Booktok around 2021 like I did, you were also served an influx of books and genres, probably ones that you have never encountered before. While monster romance was not out of my comfort zone, I had only dipped my toes into vampire and shifter romances, aka romances where it was centered around the more human attributes and the fact that they were a monster was second nature. I also never saw books that were unabashedly black female center within Monster romances and romance as a whole. When I was served one fine morning a video of a content creator who was talking about this book (that would soon become my whole personality) I did not know that my life would change.

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved A Demon.

What in the world was this title? The art was also cartoonish in a way that felt fun and lighthearted, and the promise of spice, all of those factors had me saving that video to add it to my TBR pile. Then one book became two. Two became getting an arc for the third, and it all culminated into me crafting a space that is just Kimberly Lemming dedicated.

Kimberly has a way of bringing characters to life that feel so real. Like I could walk down the road and encounter Brie or Cinn and hang out. They are relatable in a way that feeds to the soft/badass black girl experience, one that seems to be lacking in the publishing world. All crafted in a world that, while purely fantasy, the humor and the romance certainly feel real.

So, I hope I can persuade you to read any and all the books by Kimberly Lemming. I for one am also excited for the next release in her Cosmic Chaos series "I Punched an Alien and Now We're in Couples Therapy" set to be release in August of this year! By the title alone, I think this one is also going right to the Kimberly shrine.

I adore these titles so much!

What a beautiful Anthology, filled with collections of stories from Palestinians that have been experiencing Genocide and sharing their experience. It is stories that will break your heart. It shows how different people are experiencing the same Genocide, how varied their experiences are. It shows Palestinians resilience against the oppression and how some of them are holding on to the things that they love, like Coffee.

In the very beginning, Susan Abulhawa writes an introduction of each of the writers, what she encountered of their will and what made them write their story. I enjoyed reading the introduction to every author before starting their story in English and Arabic.

This Anthology is bilingual, with both Arabic and the translated version in English included and I enjoyed reading both of them, comparing the language and the way it was translated. It was interesting to see the choices of the words, how the message conveyed can be achieved in so many different ways.

I think this is a story that everyone should read, hear the words from different people who experienced the genocide first handed and how it changed their lives. Thank you to Susan Abulhawa and the entire team that made this anthology possible. Thank you for carrying the words and stories of Palestinians in the ground, for sharing their words with us and thank you for letting me read an eArc through Netgalley.

As part of my Reading the World project, I'm going to start dedicating a post to every single country (and some territories) in the world in order to share book recommendations with you from that place. This way you can easily diversify your reading and travel the world.

I'm going to go in alphabetical order, so my first country is: Afghanistan (which is very fitting because The Kite Runner is what opened my eyes to global literature when I was a teenager).

Here are some book recommendations, by genre for Afghanistan:

Non-fiction

• "The Finest Hotel in Kabul" by Lyse Doucet (currently on the longlist for the Women's Prize in Non-fiction!)
  Lyse Doucet, the BBC’s Chief International Correspondent, has been checking into the Inter-Continental since 1988. And here, she uses its story to craft a richly immersive history of modern Afghanistan.

• "Ghost Wars" by Steve Coll
  The news-breaking book that has sent shockwaves through the Bush White House, Ghost Wars is the most accurate and revealing account yet of the CIA's secret involvement in al-Qaeda's evolution. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005.

• "The Snow Leopard Project" by Alex Dehgan
  The remarkable story of the heroic effort to save and preserve Afghanistan's wildlife-and a culture that derives immense pride and a sense of national identity from its natural landscape.

• "The Naked Don't Fear the Water" by Matthieu Aikins
  An acclaimed young war reporter chronicles a dangerous journey on the smuggler's road to Europe, accompanying his friend, an Afghan refugee, in search of a better future.

• "To Lose a War" by Jon Lee Anderson
  Essential reporting from Afghanistan from before 9/11 to the return of the Taliban to power in 2021

Essays

• "The Forty-Year War in Afghanistan: A Chronicle Foretold" by Tariq Ali

  The occupation of Afghanistan is over, and a balance sheet can be drawn. These essays on war and peace in the region reveal Tariq Ali at his sharpest and most prescient.

Fiction

• "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
  1970s Afghanistan: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what would happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives.

• "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
  A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith, and the salvation to be found in love.

• "The Pearl That Broke Its Shell" by Nadia Hashimi

  In Kabul, 2007, with a drug-addicted father and no brothers, Rahima and her sisters can only sporadically attend school, and can rarely leave the house. Their only hope lies in the ancient custom of bacha posh, which allows young Rahima to dress and be treated as a boy until she is of marriageable age.
  
  
  🗺️If you want to see more book recommendations from all the countries in the world, check out my Reading the World Spreadsheet.
  
  And if you want to support this project, consider becoming a paid member of my Bindery!