Someone on Reddit posted this picture of Cuban star of Italian films Chelo Alonso and I immediately thought “that’s stripper dyke!”

The newly restored edition of Who Killed Teddy Bear?, the 1965 film that epitomizes the sleazy pulp paperback era, includes an extended cut of the scene where Sal Mineo browses a Times Square bookshop. Obviously I must acquire all the titles.

NYT: Paula Doress-Worters, an Author of ‘Our Bodies, Ourselves,’ Dies at 87 By Penelope Green She wrote about postpartum depression when it was an unmentionable like abortion or birth control, and her research on her own suffering helped countless women. Gift link!

Here’s the obit: www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...

Traditionally mass market paperbacks have retailed at about the same as one hour of minimum wage work. These retail at $17.99, which is what minimum wage SHOULD be (at least) if minimum wage had kept pace with inflation. So I think the price is right but our wages aren’t.

“From the moment when somebody invented a way of duplicating books from moveable type, the mass-produced sixpenny became inevitable.” —Allen Lane, founder of Penguin Books, 1938. (Le livre de poche est mort. Vive le livre de poche)

I was wondering how long after “the death of the paperback” was announced that we would see someone trying to reinvent the concept of pocket-sized books. Took about 5 minutes. #LivingBookHistory

Last year I found shoddy duplicate paperbacks in my collection and let students deface, destroy, and make art out of them (part of my ongoing The Book as Trash manifesto). I forgot that I did this one and it amused me this morning when I found it hiding on my shelf.

Happy International Women's Day! Remember, when in doubt, do as Stagecoach Mary Fields did, and either headbutt, shoot it, set it on fire, or let your horses trample it. "She broke more noses than any other person in central Montana."

I’ve been kind of hostilely off romance lately—I just get violent toward hopeful genres in a hopeless world. But I should have known that if anyone could bring me back, it would be Cat Sebastian. This book is very damn near* perfect—or reminded me that at least a few romances out there are for me

I am goofy, loopy, over the moon to now own these. There is simply no reason to work hard other than to earn money to buy expensive trash.

Is the dreadful “color blob” style of romance covers finally giving way to something else? I like this pulpy comic book style I’m starting to see more often. #BookDesign

What if two mystery writers, one who wrote pulp paperbacks and one who wrote literary fiction, fell in love for two years but ended up hating each other so much they killed each other off as characters? Patricia Highsmith + Marijane Meaker (aka Vin Packer) = my favorite toxic lesbians of all time 🖤

[The sketchbook of a Victorian girl, Emily M. Madden, featuring the adventures of her cat, Mouton.] wellcomecollection.org/works/rzwecsjy

[Three Black Cats, by Carl Kahler]

Good night from me, Donnie, and Clyde.

I am: ⚪️ single ⚪️ taken 🔘 in a committed relationship with several dead pulp writers

Don't be fooled by this bill's name-- this is a book banning bill that will exclude LGBTQ books from all public schools NATIONWIDE. Call your congresspeople and tell them to VOTE NO on this nakedly bigoted book banning bullshit. www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...

With the addition of the two I added today, that brings my ero-fumetti blog galleries to 77 titles. It's not a wee toddler of a gallery anymore! And there's some "big" titles to be added in the near future. www.paultobin.net/pulp/italian...

I’m so excited to see Ramble House on the socials. They have been the source of some of the most unhinged books I’ve ever read, starting with the brain-melting oeuvre of Harry Stephen Keeler and just getting stranger. I don’t know what’s up with this “forbidden inverted” edition of TKIY but I’m in.

It’s been a while but the Nympho Librarian is back with the long awaited second chunk of Satan Was a Lesbian. This novel is so damn interesting that it’s taking me a long time to grapple with it! nympholibrarian.substack.com/p/satan-was-...

The dudes in this series.

Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

I don’t know who needs to hear Jesse Jackson leading the kids on Sesame Street in this beautiful call-and-response reminding them that every child is somebody, but here it is

Happy to pre-announce my upcoming book, Flong Time, No See! www.kickstarter.com/projects/gle... I’ve gathered my most interesting reported stories and essays of the last seven years, and will revise and expand them for this print and ebook collection!

#LivingBookHistory (FYI going to use this tag for stories I need to remember to bring up in class lol) The Book Jackets Were Ready. Then Charlie Kirk Was Shot. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/b...

After 40 years of publishing, Harlequin will end its iconic historical romance line in 2027: #Booksky

One of the best punny titles in my sleaze collection and an early response to computer dating.

The Surprising Adventures of Bigenio, an Hermaphrodite, Or Human Being, Endowed with the Propensities of Both Sexes. @ Lilly Library 🙏 to @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social for pulling this & other treasures for my class to see

Always happy to share this historical hottie.

BLACK HORROR MONTH ~ Day 3: T.K. CARTER Today I had to tribute another great actor from one of my favorite movies, @thehorrormaster.bsky.social THE THING (1982), who sadly passed away last month. T.K.'s rollerskating chef Nauls to the tune of SUPERSTITION was 👨🏾‍🍳👌🏾 #BlackHorrorMonth #BlackHistoryMonth

Anyone up for a neo-Victorian porn marathon? Dug these out while prepping for a class on Victorian sexuality today as examples of how we retrospectively view the time period and how it can be hard to untangle their kinks from ours.

At some point years ago I had to tell myself that I could collect books or toy monsters but not both. Obviously I chose books. But occasionally I backslide.

[Robert McGinniss was BOTD a century ago, to paint movie posters and a million paperback covers. Also, barn cats. He lived to be 99, and kept working.]

Two phenomenal moments of queer angst from two of my favorite movies of all time, Boogie Nights & Velvet Goldmine. They introduced 90s teen me to the glam, the sex, the music, the filth, the smut of the 1970s & shaped all my future interests. Both currently on the Criterion Channel’s 90s do the 70s

Books about “weird” women are practically a genre unto themselves these days but even though I gobble them up, I’m often left empty because the “shocking” or “weird” behavior is… not so much to me. But Linda, the woman in love with airplanes in this book—I would die for her. Loved this beyond words.

I'm running a popular romance course at the University of Liverpool... but only if enough people sign up! Come and join us! www.liverpool.ac.uk/continuing-e...

your very existence is troubling, enraging, and distracting as hell for some of the shittiest people on earth so no, i’m afraid you may not kill yourself rn

become ungovernable

In this in-depth interview Billie Jean Sweeney — a former editor at The New York Times — details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, why this was directed from the very top, how some staff pushed back and the immense damage done by the NYT legitimizing bigotry.

I’ve been a Hard Case Crime fan since day one but never got around to reading these when they were originally published 2006-8. Two writers at the top of their game clearly having a blast together is a joy to read. Utterly filthy, dark, disturbing and fookin’ hilarious.

Fritz Leiber with his wife Jonquil (Johnny) Stephens Leiber, the inspiration for his greatest works, Conjure Wife and (after her death) Our Lady of Darkness. A poet and weird fiction fan in her own right. Bonus cat doodles by Fritz from the Lilly Library’s Leiber archive. 🖤

Do I watch By Dawn’s Early Light, an otherwise boring episode, just to see Columbo in his slutty little undershirt? Yes, I do.

2025 Book Censorship Wrapped: Trends, Challenges, & Successes Over The Year. Dive into this groundbreaking collaborative piece from @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social, @penamerica.bsky.social, @bookriot.bsky.social, @txfreedomread.bsky.social, and @flfreedomread.bsky.social bookriot.com/book-censors...

I posted two (TWO!) new blog-galleries. The first is for Sergio "Ser" Leone, an artist who created a high percentage of the covers for one of my fave cheese-sleaze publishers... Kozy Books! www.paultobin.net/blog-2-1/ser...

No way I can express my love and appreciation of David Gerrold’s work. The man invented Tribbles. He invented the Sleestaks. He wrote one of the best (sadly unfinished) sf epic series of all time (Chtorr). He was a queer voice in sf whose queerest stories were often butchered, censored, or unfilmed.

I love book history and book historians so much. We get to ask the weirdest questions.