Essays & Reader’s Reports
Personal essays, narratives, and reflections on reading and writing, with occasional editorial notes.
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Book Reviews
Short verdicts, full reviews, and grouped dispatches from the reading desk.
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01
Dispatches
Upcoming Fee-Free Writing Opportunities (9.10.2026 – 12.31.2026)
September 05, 2026 Contests, Grants, and Residencies MacDowell – Fellowship / Residency 2027 (Multidisciplinary / Writing Residency) Deadline: September 10, 2026 + Prize: Fully funded ~30-day residency (private studio, housing, meals, and need-based stipends) A month-long retreat in Peterborough, New Hampshire providing artists with private studios, room and board, and financial aid opportunities. Submission requires […]
Personal · Publishing 2 minutes read
Read →Cultural Annihilation, Math Problems, and Freak Behavior: A Review of Yoon Ha Lee’s Code and Codex
A language-policing space empire, forbidden poetry, and a novel that makes you work for every pleasure. Yoon Ha Lee’s Code and Codex frustrated me—and won me over.
Book Reviews 4 minutes read
Read →I Support Women’s Rights and Women’s Wrongs: A Review of I.V. Ophelia’s “The Poisoner”
A delightful and violent romp between a spider and a snake - so long as you don't mind when two characters have their fangs removed before they can truly sink in.
Book Reviews 3 minutes read
Read →Where has the Whimsy Gone? – A Review of Peter S. Beagle’s “I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons”
Peter S. Beagle’s dragon-slaying tale starts with wit, warmth, and a hero who dreams of being a valet. For me, its later turn toward familiar fantasy tropes loses some of that promise.
Book Reviews · Personal 3 minutes read
Read →The Big Buff Fairies of the Otherworld: A Review of Geneva Lee’s “Filthy Rich Fae”
Fae bargains, crime-family melodrama, and a sharp-tongued heroine: Geneva Lee’s Filthy Rich Fae is a campy romance whose charm outpaces its world-building.
Book Reviews 4 minutes read
Read →The Role of Reader’s Reports in Publishing Decisions
A practical, writer-friendly guide to reader’s reports: what they contain, how publishing professionals use them, and how to build one through a worked example.
Essays & Reader’s Reports · Publishing 14 minutes read
Read →
02
My Reading Wishlist
Books I want to read, new, forthcoming, and waiting on the shelf.
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The Knave and The Moon
Orbit (Hachette)
Aisling Cathedral is in ruins. Rodrick Myndacious, Bartholomew, and Maude Bauer are rumored to be dead--and the king has taken Sybil Delling as his bride. To show off their union a…Read more
Aisling Cathedral is in ruins. Rodrick Myndacious, Bartholomew, and Maude Bauer are rumored to be dead--and the king has taken Sybil Delling as his bride. To show off their union and solidify his power over Traum, Benji proposes a series of tournaments throughout the hamlets. Captive and drugged, Sybil remains determined to vanquish him as she once did the Omens, even if she destroys the kingdom's faith--and herself--in the process. But then a mysterious knave rises to the top of the tournament lists, a man with no name and no memory who may just be Sybil's ticket to undoing Benji's power... Read More
Big Bad Wolf
HarperCollins
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Dream Harbor series, comes a new small-town romance set in the quirky town of Maple Hollow.
He Who Fights With Monsters, Book 2: Adventurer
AETHON (Simon & Schuster)
Jason Asano is just getting used to his new life as an interdimensional wizard when an terrifying old enemy comes after Jason and his friends in the second installment of the witty…Read more
Jason Asano is just getting used to his new life as an interdimensional wizard when an terrifying old enemy comes after Jason and his friends in the second installment of the witty and magic-fueled He Who Fights With Monsters series—now with a bonus short story exclusive to this deluxe hardcover edition.
A Romance Reader's Cookbook
Workman Publishing (Hachette)
A cookbook celebrating the world's best-selling genre--romance novels--with 60 recipes all inspired by the plots, the tropes, and the characters, for fans of Jane Austen, Sarah J.…Read more
A cookbook celebrating the world's best-selling genre--romance novels--with 60 recipes all inspired by the plots, the tropes, and the characters, for fans of Jane Austen, Sarah J. Maas, and Kennedy Ryan alike.
Happy Snacking, Don't Die!
Element (Simon & Schuster)
Alexis Nikole Nelson, best known to millions of fans as Black Forager, invites you on an adventure to discover the delicious and wild foods hiding in plain sight.
The Long-Lived King
Hyperion
When King accidentally erases Luz’s memories, he must enlist the Collector and Eda to help him recover Luz’s memories and confront their deepest fears along the way.