November is here! The world is once again/still an overwhelming place, but I continue to find solace and hope in books. I've recently read actionable nonfiction, insightful time travel fiction and a downright filthy (used lovingly) shifter romance. Books do all the things.

If you're seeing this between November 7th and 11th, please take a look at the Books for Palestine auction, which is fundraising for humanitarian aid for displaced and imperiled Gazans. The last time they did this was in 2021 and if that doesn't say something about the state of the "Israel-Hamas War"... The situation is complicated, but the parallels immediately drawn to the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks were telling. Israel, like the U.S. has used this attack as justification for launching a disproportionate response with no clear path to "success." Worse is the fact that the population of Gaza has already been walled off, effectively under siege, for sixteen years.

I urge you to read about the background here, both prior to 1948, the Nabka and up through the present. I also recommend reading about Christian Zionism. There are more Christian Zionists than there are Jews in the world. This is largely because many evangelicals believe that the end times and the rapture will happen in Jerusalem/Israel and only if it's a Jewish-controlled area. So all the Christians are raptured, the big end times battle happens and after the dust settles (and the remaining humans aka Jews there are dead), the good Christians get to come back and live in paradise once again. Understandably, Jewish politicians accept this dubious support in a most pragmatic way.

There's a ton of misinformation going around and, especially in times of crisis, it can be difficult to tell what's real. I urge you to resist sharing pieces of content until you've looked into the source a little. I myself shared something during the big protests in Iran last year that was incorrect. I let my emotions get the best of me and should have evaluated the source first. (I'm supposedly an information professional. Ha.)

Anyway, there are loads of book lists easily available and a lot of public libraries have curated collections for you to browse, so go do some reading. Contact your reps, ask for a ceasefire. As Alyssa Cole mentioned, look up the ongoing situations in Sudan and Congo, too.  Also of note is the genocide of Uyghurs in Northwestern China. Genocide and ethnic cleansing are carried out again and again, often enabled by our purchasing and political power. It's all connected.

With all that in mind, here are some books that aren't about genocide for you to peruse this month. Normally I'd highlight a couple of titles, but I don't have it in me this time. I wish you well and will.

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October is packed with books I'm excited to read and I can't wait to dive in. As usual, I only highlighted three, but there are so many more I could have rambled about. Gargoyles and Shakespeare and a mid-century gay detective... An embarrassment of riches this month.

There are also lots more Christmas romances this month and I've again opted to leave them off my list, with the exception of Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone's A Holly Jolly Ever After because I'm really enjoying that series. (My list, my rules.)

That's enough intro, I'm off to read!

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September is usually a big month for new books, so this year I've decided that rather than listing them all, I'd prune aggressively. The longer list below is made up of books I think people in my audience might be interested in, rather than an attempt at being comprehensive. I didn't include any of the fifty-ish Christmas romances, for example. The only holiday romance on the list is Three Holidays and a Wedding, which takes place once upon a time when Christmas, Hannukah, and Eid all fell during the same week.

Happy Autumn! I'll be back in a few weeks with a bunch of Spooky Season reads.

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Lots of fun releases on the way in August! For example, I was lucky enough to read an early copy of Regina Black's debut, The Art of Scandal, and I think you should read it. More about that below.

I'm trying to squeeze every last drop out of summer so I'm keeping this short! Hope you find something great to read this month.

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Here in the Northern Hemisphere it's the hottest month of the year. I'm trying to push the non-urgent responsibilities away and spend more time in my garden and with friends and family. That means less reading and that's fine by me. Books don't spoil! I'll still be chipping away at the newest Shop Your Shelves board, but some of these July releases are sneaking onto the TBR anyway.

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June is often a pretty light month for new books, but I'm thinking it's not this year? Or maybe there are just a bunch I happen to be excited about this time around. There's not much better than sitting in the shade with a good book and listening to birds, so I'm going to hurry up and finish this post so I can go do that!

Wishing you all the good things and the strength to fight against the bad ones. Pride is a tough month this year, so please remember to advocate for your queer and trans siblings.

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It's May! May and June are objectively the best months of the year, so let's go outside and touch grass. (Bring a book.)

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Come on, sunshine and flowers and birds and the sense of renewal that will hopefully bring positive change. We just gotta work for it.

Here are some new books!

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I'm writing this as snow falls and while I always look forward to spring, I'm enjoying the snow. As the climate crisis deepens and winter changes, I find myself appreciating even the slushy mess at the end of the driveway. (Most of the time.)

Harper Collins and the HCP Union reached an agreement after a three month strike. That means increased pay and union benefits for the staff and the return of Harper Collins content to LiP!

I hope you have a great month of reading and hope you'll share here or find me on Instagram or in Discord to tell me all about it.

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Once again, I'm publishing a Top Off Your TBR post and wondering if the Harper Collins Publishing Union will have a fair contract in hand by the time these books release. The strike began on November 10, 2022 and Harper Collins/NewsCorp finally agreed to mediation last week. I'm cautiously optimistic that the two parties can reach a deal sometime soon, but we've been asked to keep applying pressure until it's all official.

With that in mind, I've listed a few Harper Collins titles below and marked them with an asterisk *. There are a couple I would have loved to feature in the top part of this post, but out of solidarity with the union, I'm holding off for now. (I'm cheating a little by showing their covers, but you're already here and Harper Collins can't use any of this for their socials, which is the point of the union's ask.)

I also wanted to mention that we're heading into the second month of Shop Your Shelves Winter Bingo and I've loved all the posts you've shared with me on Instagram. I'm not doing great on my own board (classes started, sick kids, a death in the family, a surprisingly time-intensive volunteer assignment) so I really appreciate the inspiration and fun!

I hope your month is full of excellent reading.

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