#SBS October Monthly Wrap-Up

Welcome to our monthly feature where we talk about what we read, adopted into our libraries, and what’s on our minds. After hosting #SignedBookSundays on instagram for 4+ years, we are transitioning to this format as a way to share signed books and talk about bookish (and personal) highlights. Join us the last Sunday or last day of every month (or whatever day today is…we are busy!)!

In Case You Missed It

• We are in full interview mode! We interviewed Jamie Pacton, Lev Rosen, and Sara Bennett Wealer!
• Interview & Giveaway for Sweet Valley Twins Graphic Novel!!
• Interviewed Inexplicably Me: A Story of Labels, Worthiness, and Refusing to Be Boxed In by Chelsea Austin Montgomery-Duban Wächter
• The where to buy signed books page has been updated and I have found as many November & December YA releases, as I could – of course I keep adding more and more when I find them…check it out!
• We curate a Bookshop page with most of the YA New Releases – please consider supporting us by buying books through our links or shop, or we have a Ko-Fi!

What We Read

Kelly: I read 7 books this month, and I started probably about another 7 more and never finished them…being a mood reader is a real bitch sometimes. Did any of them stand out? hmmm.

• Dead End Girls by Wendy Heard – this was queer and like a murder mystery podcast come to life! 4.5 stars!

Christy: It was all spooky season reads this month!

• Direwood by Catherine Yu – Why yes I did start this month off with gothic 90s vampires. The narrator for this story was PERFECT.
• Constantine: Distorted Illusions by Kami Garcia, with art by Isaac Goodheart – No surprise that Kamie and Isaac crushed this Constantine story. I love Constantine and Kami’s take is a refreshing take on teen Constantine.
• These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall – This audiobook was SO DANG SPOOKY. I loved it. Another gothic unputdownable story!

What We Hauled

You too can be obsessed with signed books, look here for where to buy a copy from your favorite author’s local indie or preorder incentives that include bookplates.

Kelly’s Highlights

• Many thanks to Berkley/PRH for sending me an advance copy of Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail by Ashley Herring Blake – anticipated to be released on 11/22!
• Many thanks to Bloomsbury for sending me an advance copy of Brighter than the Moon by David Valdes – anticipated to be released on 1/10/2023.
• Many thanks to Page Street Books for sending me an advance copy of Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell by Tobias Madden – anticipated to be released on 1/3/2023.
• Many thanks to Turner Publishing for sending me an advance copy of Stranger Things Psychology: Life Upside Down by Travis Langley – anticipated to be released on 2/21/2023.
• Signed books I bought: Strike the Zither by Joan He, Red, White & Royal Blue Collector’s Edition by Casey McQuiston, A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo, First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera.
• Unsigned books I preordered: Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen, Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo, The Atlas Paradox by Olivia Blake, The Heartstopper Yearbook by Alice Oseman, Nothing Sung and Nothing Spoken by Nita Tyndall, Anne of Greenville by Mariko Tamaki.

Christy’s Highlights

One of the cool new things I am part of is Abram’s Dinner Party, which allows me to share some awesome cookbooks coming out this season. I wanted to highlight the ones I received this month – you’ll see them on my feed soon! Many thanks to Abram’s for including me.

Also, ICYMI, I featured a recipe What’s Gaby Cooking: Take It Easy over on IG!

• Christmas with Southern Living – I have friends visiting for Thanksgiving so I will whip out some of these recipes when they are here. Christmas starts as early as Halloween 🤣.
• Together at the Table by Capucine De Wulf Gooding and David Gooding – What’s so cool about this book is it’s focused on presentation, which I am a complete failure at. It’s like Pinterest for all the moments you need to use your nice china!
• Cure: New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ‘Em by Neal Bodenheimer – Why do I sense a Tiana mashup here? Where my Disney friends at – let’s have a party!
• Sweet Land of Liberty: A History of America in 11 Pies by Rossi Anastopooulo – Part history, part pie-making book, all the makings for a good time. Bonus: it has deckled edges for a historical vibe.

Other books I hauled

• Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell by Tobias Madden – Out January 3rd! TY to Pagestreet for sending 🙂
• I Will Find You Again by Sarah Lyu – This ominous title is out in March and I can’t wait to read it. Thank you SS and Sarah for sending. PS I ADORED Sarah’s debut and highly recommend you read it.
• Poster Girl by Veronica Roth – Out Now! It was so awesome to be part of the ambassador group for this book. It’s going to be the talk of book clubs.
• Big Bad by Lily Anderson – Out now!
• Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone – Out now!
• The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers by Adam Sass – Out now! A little pop of sunshine before Adam takes us back to his darker roots.

What We Hope to Read

Kelly’s TBR

I tried to read more of the spooky books, but my library holds derailed me a tiny bit…crossed off some of these books at least! Let’s hope November is for fantasy, cause I keep buying fantasy books, and barely read them…the struggle is real.

You can follow my reading on goodreads and/or storygraph where I share what I just read, and some immediate reading reactions – full reviews are almost exclusively on here or instagram.

• Scouts Honor by Lily Anderson
• Big Bad by Lily Anderson
• Lavender House by Lev Rosen
• Direwood by Catherine Yu
• Dead End Girls by Wendy Heard
• The Killing Code by Ellie Marney
• The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas
• Self Made Boys by AM McLemore
• Coven by Jennifer Dugan 
• Defend the Dawn by Brigid Kemmerer
• The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R.M. Romero

Christy’s TBR

Spooky season always ends way too fast but I am also excited to read some of the books that have been waiting for me since September (yes, I try to stay in the spookfest for all of spooky season!).

• Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen
• Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood
• The Princess and the Scoundrel by Beth Revis
• The Epic Story of Every Living Thing by Deb Caletti

On the Top of Our Minds

Kelly: 

I literally had a instagram crisis where I half wanted to quit, but still found myself missing it and spending time on the damn app…then my sports team, the Phillies, that I have loved since I was a child, made it to the postseason, and is now in the World Series, and well my free time was spent watching baseball, and it felt nice to not care about posting on instagram…then I missed it again. So the moral of the story is, I want to be there, but the posts feel like work that no one cares about. Meh.

Do you have a good social media relationship? I am logical and tell myself it isn’t important, and I give myself breaks but it still haunts me. Meh.

Go Phillies!

Christy:

PHEW what a month it has been. I’ve been wildly busy on a work and personal front and feeling quite burnt out. We are racing in Disney this week so catch me eating churros and walking very quickly across the world showcase otherwise.

I finally did a deep dive into the Flanaverse, thanks to The Midnight Club. Promptly binged the other three series and now I feel like I need a nap and some therapy.

I had some cool work events this month, including a fall festival for our residents. We had 90 attendees! We are building out our resident offerings so I’ll be busy the next few months to get everything all set up.

Saw Panic at the Disco, which was fun. The new album is…not great…but they always put on a good show. Visited my friends in California. Went to Vegas for When We Were Young. Lowkey but busy month!