The Sunday Prescription

One reading topic, one week of plans, and plenty of books administered weekly for chronic readers.

For those of you who are not member's, I am making this weekly newsletter open to all this week! I do this weekly, and it is free for members of all levels. So if you like it, or the books I talk about, stick around!

Happy Sunday everyone, and happy September! We're now in the 'ber months, and that means a few things. First, it's time to announce our Q4 book club picks as chosen by you! Second, spooky season is just around the corner, so first let's talk spooky season reading recs!

Now you all probably know by now that I am a fan of horror books, and do read them year round. However, I definitely ramp that up in September - November. Last week, I posted a YouTube video (linked here) where I recommended 5 spooky season horror recs, all with a different vibe, and I wanted to share them with you as well. The list includes a banger from our friends here at Bindery as well! For all of these (as with any horror book), I would recommend you check trigger warnings if you do have specific triggers.

1. Lie Quietly by Alice Wright - This is a dual timeline haunted house/supernatural story about house and a town where things are not quite right. In the modern timeline, we have a young couple expecting their first child who buy a long abandoned house and are looking to start fresh. But soon after they arrive, weird things start to happen, both in the house and the town. As we jump back and forth between the '50's and now, the story unravels and we learn that things are not what they seem! Definitely a great one for fans of haunted houses and supernatural horror.

2. Our Sister's Keeper by Jasmine Holmes - One of the many amazing offerings from Bindery, this is a historical horror that tells the story of a young couple who move to East Cobb, Mississippi, an all black town in the 1920's that is thriving. But the town and its people have a dark secret - men are doing well in the town because women with supernatural abilities are taking their burdens from them. As groaning escalate, the town comes apart, and we get a ton of real world and supernatural horror. This books covers generational trauma, grief, and the burden of black women. If you like horror that blends the supernatural with real world scares, this one is definitely for you!

3. The Butcher of Nazareth by David Scott Hay - One of my favorite reads of the year, The Butcher asks what happened between Jesus' birth and his adult ministry? We are told the story of the Butcher, an exiled man dealing with grief and trauma who participated in King Herod's culling years ago, and now feels called to find Jesus and complete the task. On the way, it becomes a story of grief, rage, and a man seeking redemption. If you like religious themed horror, this is a great one, and while I do not think there is anything particularly blasphemous in here, this may not be for everyone if you are sensitive to religious topics and reimaginings.

4. Headlights by CJ Leede - do you like books that do a lot? This is the one for you! Leede tells the story of a traumatized detective who has some supernatural abilities who is pulled back into an old serial killer case. It has a murder mystery/detective story, as well as cosmic horror, eldritch horror, gore, and body horror. And it gets WEIRD, and I mean that in the best way! A story about how we are impacting our environment, how we deal with trauma, and how we need to make peace with our past, this one did so much so well!

5. You Weren't meant to be human by Andrew Joseph White - this one is the most extreme, and not for the faint of heart! White tells the story of an autistic trans man who finds himself in a near future American dystopia where a sentient entity called the hive has recruited him and other folks who are othered to work for them. But when he becomes pregnant, the hive wants his baby. This is an extreme story with tons of uncomfortable moments, body horror, and trigger warnings that abound (the author actually has a whole content warning section for his books on his website!). But if you can make it though it, it is a staggering tale about the horrors people face when they are made to feel they are other, and how our society consumes its own.

Hopefully you can find something to enjoy this spooky season from this list. What horror books would you recommend to me and our community here?

The Rx: What I'm Reading and Doing

So, let's announce our Q4 books club picks! As always, thank you to all who participated in any way. We had a record number of submissions, and more amazing books than we can handle! Here are our winners, and our book club books for the last three months of the year:

• October: Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker

• November: The Demon Star by Jesse Aragon

• December: Scion by James Islington

I'm really excited to check these out! In the meantime, we have some great book club stuff going on:

• Our in Person discussion for August's book, the Jasad Heir, is today at 3:30 PM on our Discord Voice channel. Hope to see some of you there!

• For September's main book club, we have Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman. Discussion has already started on Discord!

• For September's Fable book club, we're reading Dust Child by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai. Early feedback is amazing!

• Our monthly reading challenge is to Read the Opposite. This can be a genre or author you don't normally read, a type of book you don't normally read - basically read something that is outside of your norm and pushes your reading boundaries a bit!

In terms of reading, I am finishing up Blacktail by Scott Hawkins, and Steadfast as Stone by Jeffrey Smith. Then I'll be jumping in to Between Two Fires and Dust Child, as well as our September Dark travelers pick a book, Road of Bones. For the September challenge, I'll be doing James by Percival Everett. I'm also listening to Cliban's War by James SA Corey

Hobby wise, I'll be leaning back into woodworking. I have a desk to finish, as well as some built ins in the house that I want done by November, and woodworking means leaning a bit more into audiobooks. With the weather cooling down, I'm excited to get back outside - I'm planning an October hike in the Pine Creek Gorge in PA. It's a stunning spot for fall leaves.

If you are not a member here and on our Discord server, you should consider hanging out and joining as a free or paid member! I do this newsletter here every week for members of all levels, in depth reviews here, and on Discord I do exclusive giveaways in addition to all the great chatting! And speaking of Discord, Bindery, and content ideas, I am working on a new membership tier for 2027 that is going to include a quarterly book box! More to come, but if you have any thoughts or ideas, let me know.

Hope you all have a great week of reading and life, and I'll see you next week!

Want More In-Depth Access?

If you enjoy getting into the details with me about reading, then consider upgrading to The Dark Travelers tier! My Dark Travelers get an exclusive Discord role and channels, a weekly deep dive reading update video, early access to YouTube videos, and each month they get to pick a book for me to read. This can be a book they want to read with me, or something they want me to try for them. It's super fun and a great tight knit group that I really enjoy talking books with, and I'd love to have you part of it!