February TBR stack! Top 4 are on the prelim Stoker ballot so I gotta get reading before I get voting. Otherwise, still catching up on my BotM Club reads and, even though I’m not a romance reader, tried to pick out some of the romance-adjacent books I had since it’s February.

Book 10 - Final read for January! This was a fun, smart thriller. (My May 2025 BotM Club pick.) 💙📚

Book 9 - And with this, I have finally read all the books from my self-made 2023 book advent calendar! (May or may not do one for 2026 now.) This is the sequel to The Revolution of Marina M. which I read years ago - the story of one girl’s tumultuous journey during the Russian Revolution. 💙📚

📚 We asked more of our booksellers what they are looking forward to reading in 2026! Preorder your copies now in store or online at buff.ly/9FJ994o

Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college -1980s American Films & Politics -Transnational Film Violence -Advance Screenwriting w/Writers Guild of Great Britain -Intro to Special Effects Makeup -Theatre in London

❤️

NOOOO. Take 2026 back! I don’t want it!

Book 8 - This one wasn’t my thing. (From a Night Worms package back in 2024. Still working on getting caught up on my book box reads!) 💙📚

There's quite a lot going on, so it feels weird to be like HEY HEY LOOK AT ME, but maybe you like books, and like books by me, and want to see the cover to my next one, coming in August:

Today people from all over southeastern Pennsylvania gathered in the cold to deliver a simple message to Senator Fetterman’s at his Philly Office: Rein in ICE and CBP by voting NO on ALL funding bills. They brought hundreds of letters from their neighbors and friends. #Indivisible #Fetterman

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free

The US ARCs finally live! I found a box of these beauties in a snow bank. Yes there are some textual shenanigans because I gotta be me.

Online MFA alum Kendra Vaughan was our guest on Wireside Chat earlier this month. Watch as she reads from her debut novel, The Plymbury Witch, and shares the secrets of her self-publishing success!

Shoutout to these best boys for keeping me company in the home office while I taught classes on Zoom for the first time since 2021. (My college should be back in-person Monday! Probably tomorrow, but I don’t have any classes on Thur. or Fri.)

While independent bookstores are giving out free whistles, hosting protest sign making events, and donating proceeds to mutual aid, Amazon is *checks notes* providing technology that assists ICE in their terrorizing of communities. Independent bookstores deserve your support. Amazon does not.

Today I’m helping out at my job from 20+ years ago, helping Greg & the DreamHaven crew ship books across the country to folks who inundated their webstore after seeing him on TV. Website is still down, but later try DreamHavenbooks.com for all your sci-fi, horror, fantasy, film, & comics needs!

I haven’t taken any dog snow pictures b/c I’m not coordinated enough to handle my phone & the dogs in this much snow. But for your enjoyment, here is Milton trying on his new snow boots for the first time. (His paws are very sensitive to the cold.) He likes them now and walks great in them outside!

The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.

Book 7 - This is an interesting mix of nature writing, literary history & grief memoir. Parnell visits locations linked to his favorite supernatural stories from his childhood, shedding light on the authors who wrote them, the land that inspired them, and his personal journey through grief. 💙📚

I’ve not read all of these books but the ones I’ve read are excellent: Stargazers, The Reformatory, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, Forgotten Sisters, Lone Women. I need to read the rest of Peg’s recs! 💙📚

Also relevant to college…

I am PUMPED for this! (Not sarcasm. I love being snowed in. And yes, all dogs and humans in the house are prepared.)

Hahaha! *Currently working thru a story problem* *sees this article again* *starts crying*

Book 6 - What I love about Moreno-Garcia is no matter what genre she writes in, you can always tell it’s her book. This one is straight historical fiction and it was so good. Crime noir set in 1971 Mexico City. 💙📚

Cold as hell.

Book 5 - The only story I’d read previously from this collection was “The Turning.” The rest were all new to me & they were great! My favorites were probably “Unkindly Girls” and “The Long Flesh of the Law.” 💙📚

"I hefted the wrought iron fishing stick, felt its familiar leaden weight. 'Teach a man to fish…' I said, smiling wistfully. The forest enclosed me like some sort of massive tree convention at the Javits Center."

I will miss Ranger, I am glad he got paid, I am glad he’s in the American League and I can’t wait to hear people in Boston say his name

Instructor @sidneyw.bsky.social is back with a new novella!

Ranger Suárez closing out Game 5 of the 2022 NLCS. Bedlam at the Bank™️ might not be a thing without Ranger’s 2-pitch save.

Book 4 - This was my BotM pick from Feb. 2025. Love stories aren’t really my thing, but I enjoyed this because it had other things I like - aliens, secret government experiments, and cults! 💙📚

Writingandwhatnot.com is officially official (same blog as before but its own website now and not piggybacking off of thebensonsisters.com site). Both are up and hopefully running on all cylinders. Also, I guess I can add website design to my discernable skills now?

High school seniors! America250PA will be awarding $250K in scholarships to deserving PA students attending Pennsylvania colleges and universities in the 2026/2027 academic school year. Learn more. america250pa.org/PPE:_Semiqui...

This Wednesday, the five winners of the Penmen Review Fall Fiction Contest will read their winning stories at a special Word for Word event! Don't miss it! Register here: events.blackthorn.io/1N1TpJJ7/4a3...

in Philadelphia they don’t say “I love you”, they say “Go Birds”, which roughly translates to “if the Eagles don’t win today I am going to run headfirst into traffic on 95”, and I think that’s beautiful.

Book 3 - Another one in my quest to get caught up on my book subscription reads! This one is from Night Worms’ Jan. 2025 package - a slow-burn romantic thriller. 💙📚

it’s come to my attention that my tumblr post has been crossposted to bluesky, so I’m posting it on my account here #AntiAI #GenAI

If you are a college prof, you might like this poem in response to the question "Did I miss anything in class?" www.loc.gov/programs/poe...

Ah, the yearly list that sends my achievable TBR pile into absolute chaos. (So much good stuff coming out in 2026!)

Hey it’s 2026 I’m told. So this thing is coming at your face soon.

Had a nice phone call yesterday with the first person (other than me) to have read the final draft of CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD 4. They said nice things. Get that preorder going: linktr.ee/adamcesare

Running out of time! Still got until Jan 21, though! Keep submissions coming!!!

Book 2 - Trying to catch up on my monthly book subscriptions this year. This was the British Library Crime Classics release from last April, and it’s a real delightful murder mystery! 📚💙

elder daughters with hidden rage are the core audience for this book tbh #booksky

It’s one of our favorites here at the shop, and I’m overjoyed to see that it is indeed $1.99 on our favorite e-reading platform, @bookshop.org! bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

2026 Books Read 🧵 Book 1 - Started off the year with an emotional gut-punch of a book. This is horror with a heart (a pulsing, bloody heart) for anyone who has friends, had friends, lost friends, or felt they didn’t need friends. 📚💙

Good writing day today. Planned out the schedule for the rest of my line edits and final read-thru. Then got through today’s three scheduled chapters. Woot!