Whoops! A little late, but read this instead of watching The Super Bowl.

This Week in the Book World:

Ooohhhhh let's talk smut, because I don't know if you saw the Quill and Flame "#sickofsmut" campaign, but y'all that had me angry for days.

So, in case you missed it, an indie publishing house put out a campaign of posts talking about how they were sick of smut in their romance books and that they were committed to only publishing "clean" and "PG-13" romances. Which, is fine. Because, and I cannot say this loudly enough, no one is forcing anyone to read smut. If you don't want to read smut, don't read it. It's as simple as that.

As a bookstore owner, I get asked constantly for closed-door romances and I am happy to help folks find the kind of content they're comfortable with, because I believe strongly that engaging with books that sexual content should come with informed consent.

However, where this whole thing really started to go downhill and, well frankly, piss me off was with the brazen smut-shaming that came with it. In case you missed the sentence above where I said that no one is forcing anyone to read smut, these folks were out here acting like they were being held at gun point and forcing to read about "body part behavior"–yes that is a direct quote. Things started to fall apart more when they started throwing around words like "safe" and "good" and "darkness" when referring to sexual content, but it REALLY, REALLY, REALLY got me when I saw the words "YA" and "NA".

clears throat ALL YOUNG ADULT BOOKS ARE NOT "CLOSED DOOR ROMANCE BOOKS" AND ALL "CLOSED DOOR ROMANCE BOOKS" ARE NOT YOUNG ADULT BOOKS. Young adult books are books written for young adults. End of story. Sometimes those books contain sexual content, because–and this might blow some mind–teens need a safe, healthy way to learn and talk about and process their feelings about sex.

There are tons of authors who use their books to help teens learn about things like consent, healthy relationships, bodily autonomy, reproductive rights, and so much more. This is important work. And describing books written by adults for adults as "YA" simply because they don't have sexual content amongst a political backdrop of nationwide book bans, mom's for liberty, and publishers printing age labels on book covers, is nothing but dangerous.

I could stand on this soapbox for the rest of the evening, so clearly this should be topic I cover more in depth later.

Moving on...

This week's publishing news:

• We finally got an announcement for Del Sandeen's second novel! Titled, Death is my Castle, this newest horror novel is about "two sisters who inherit a house in Savannah, Georgia, only to discover that it may be haunted by the man who built it in 1910."

• Dinesh Thiru, author of Into the Sunken City, announced My Killer Family Reunion, which was pitched as "Knives Out meets Never Have I Ever". Also, excited about this one, because I do feel like true "mystery" and "whodunnit" books are a gap in the teen market. Not every teen wants to read an intense thriller/true crime book.

• Tehlor Mejia's Marrow, which was described as "a dark academia fantasy in which a trans 16-year-old boy finds himself way in over his head when he joins a hyper-elite school with dark, potentially supernatural secrets"

• AND! We got more news about Alix E. Harrows, The Everlasting, which according to her "rhymes" with her short story The Six Deaths of the Saint. She apparently wrote the story while plotting this newest novel, and I cannot contain my excitement!

This week's new releases:

• The Lamb by Lucy Rose (Adult, Horror)

• Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito (Adult, Horror)

• Capitana by Cassandra James (YA, Fantasy)

• Black Woods, Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey (Adult, Literary)

• Wings of Starlight by Allison Saft (YA, Fantasy)

• All Better Now by Neal Shusterman (YA, Dystopian)

What I read this week:

Listen to Your Sister (Finished)

I've talked about this book a lot and I'm going to continue to talk about it, because it deserves it. Holy hell this book was so good. I was not expecting to fall as in love with this one as I did, but it struck something deep in my core. As I wrote in my mini review, Listen to Your Sister is both a love letter to oldest sisters and Black women and a vicious rejection of the expectations the world puts on them to save us over themselves. It's so timely and so heartfelt. 5 out of 5 stars.

Also, it definitely reads more speculative fiction that horror, so I think it's got great crossover appeal for those of you who might be wary of scary books.

Gifted & Talented (Finished)

I hinted at it last time, but I'm here to confirm that Gifted & Talented is Olivie Blake's best book yet. I feel like all of her standalones throughout the last few years have been leading up to this story. When I tell you that I full-on, audibly, gasped not once, but multiple times, while reading this last night. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It made me send out-of-context screenshots of highlighted paragraphs to my husband. I know that her prose style is not for everyone, but wow do I love it.

This one also leans way more literary fiction than fantasy. It contains magical elements, but it is way more a Succession-esque family drama than anything. Also, I posted this on BlueSky last night, but the scene where the enemies become lovers in this one was... immaculate.

A Burning in the Bones (17%)

This is the third and final book in The Waxways series, and all I have to say is that I am so excited. I love this series. I can't wait to keep reading.

What I bought/shelved

Books I bought/received this week:

• The Wayways series in hardcover

• The Devils by Joe Abercrombie

• The Library at Hellbore by Cassandra Khaw

Here are some books I shelved this week:

• Dream by the Shadows by Logan Karlie

• The Balance of Fates by Raquel Raelynn

Other musings:

Our February book pick is in and I'm thrilled to be reading One for my Enemy by Olivie Blake, this is the only standalone of hers that I haven't read yet, and coming off the high of Gifted & Talented I'm especially excited. Join here.