Hi friends! Two posts from me in one day? What is this madness? Is this truly a new year, new me situation? In order to keep myself accountable for posting, I'm hoping to do these weekly wrap ups where I can chat random topics in the book world, book news, and–of course–talk about what I have been reading.

These will be lowkey and I hope to post them every Sunday. Keep me accountable friends! I'll also be posting prompts in the discord for you all to chime in on in the Discord. Yes, I am reviving the Discord from the grave.

Now enough rambling, let's get to the meat of this thing.

This week in the book world:

There's no way I can write this post without talking about the Fable/Gen AI scandal, because woof. In case you missed it, popular reading/book club app Fable came under some very-deserved fire when multiple users encountered reader racist/bigoted reader summaries. This was first brought to my attention by Tiana's Lit Talk on Threads, but then several other readers began posting other screenshots. Fable initially posted this very lack luster apology where they basically said "we're a small baby and are experimenting with gen-AI, don't be mad at us pls".

This is when I learned that most folks don't actually know that Fable is actually a large Silicon Valley startup owned by a literal billlionaire. I won't go into detail more on that again, but if you want to read my threads write-up, you can do so here. Readers and users continued to push back on Fable, starting in no unclear terms that they do not want AI anywhere near their reading apps and in a, frankly shocking, turn of events Fable posted another apology and announced that they are removing all AI features from the app. Score one for reader? Eh. Maybe not. We shall see.

I personally have decided to wait until after their townhall happening tomorrow evening (1/6) to decide whether or not I will continue to use the app. If they lay out a plan that feels adequate and is endorsed by those directly harmed, then I have no problem continuing to use the platform with the renewed hope that maybe people actually can change?

This week's new releases/publishing news:

We're still in the post-holiday publishing slump, so there really wasn't anything that came out this week, nor were there any particulary exciting deal alerts. Things pick up starting next week with some insanely good weeks coming towards the end of the month.

What I read this week:

The Bear and the Nightingale (Finished)

I finished my first read of the year and, honestly, what a wonderful way to start. This was our first Mostly Fantasy Book Club pick and I loved it. I know this is not a new take, so forgive me for being so late to the party. I will be getting book 2, but I thought the ending of this one was so satisfying that I'll probably let it sit for a bit.

Immortal Dark (70%)

This is my current audiobook pick and, holy shit, this is DARK. I am really, really loving it, because vampires are my favorite, but I was not expecting it to be quite as dark. It's also surprisingly steamy, which makes me curious about the decision to publish it as YA. Please don't come for me about how it's okay for YA books to have sex, because I agree with you, I just think this could have easily been packaged as an adult romantasy with college-aged characters (i.e. Alex Stern series). Because I'm not going to lie, there's been a few moments that have made me blush...

Fagin the Thief (6%)

I have to finish this book tonight, so I can blurb it for Indie Next, because I procrastinated big time. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers.

What I bought/shelved this week:

A Sweet Sting of Salt

I'm sorry, but no one told me this was a sapphic retelling for the Selkie myth!!!

Beyond the Aching Door

This author did an excellent job with the marketing in this thread. Instantly added this one to my TBR.

Other musings:

If you got this far, thanks so much for reading! A few additional reminders:

• Join the Discord! I know it's not super active right now, but I may be transitioning book club to there in the future.
• Become a paid subscriber! Friends, I love chatting books on the internet, but this does take a lot of work. So, if you are in a financial state where you can spare a few $$ a month, you can help me continue to produce content and also afford to buy a coffee made by a barista.