Boundless Press | Lakewood: A Novel

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Lakewood: A Novel

Megan Giddings

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NPR Book of the Year 2020

Electric Literature: One of 55 Books by Women and Nonbinary Writers of Color to Read in 2020 | Lit Hub & The Millions: Most Anticipated Books of 2020 | Ms. Magazine: Anticipated 2020 Feminist Books | Refinery29: Books by Black Women We are Looking Forward To Reading | One of The Millions’ Most Anticipated Reads of 2020 | Amazon Book of the Month Pick | Audible Editor’s Pick | Essence’s Pick | Glamour’s Must Read | Ms. Magazine’s Anticipated Read of 2020

A startling debut about class and race, Lakewood evokes a terrifying world of medical experimentation—part The Handmaid’s Tale, part The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. When Lena Johnson’s beloved grandmother dies, and the full extent of the family debt is revealed, the black millennial drops out of college to support her family and takes a job in the mysterious and remote town of Lakewood, Michigan.

On paper, her new job is too good to be true. High paying. No out of pocket medical expenses. A free place to live. All Lena has to do is participate in a secret program—and lie to her friends and family about the research being done in Lakewood. An eye drop that makes brown eyes blue, a medication that could be a cure for dementia, golden pills promised to make all bad thoughts go away.

The discoveries made in Lakewood, Lena is told, will change the world—but the consequences for the subjects involved could be devastating. As the truths of the program reveal themselves, Lena learns how much she’s willing to sacrifice for the sake of her family.

Provocative and thrilling, Lakewood is a breathtaking novel that takes an unflinching look at the moral dilemmas many working-class families face, and the horror that has been forced on black bodies in the name of science.

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Posts about this title from Boundless Press

Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Jan 30 2025

my 2025 physical TBR | if i don't read these books in 2025 i have to unhaul them 😱

Welcome to another ambitious attempt to tackle my physical TBR, this time for 2025. Let me know which books I should definitely get to and which ones I shouldn't bother with! Circle back in a year for the official reaction video :)

25 books

Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Sep 11 2023

the 40+ books on my fall TBR 🍁🍂 fall book recommendations ☕️

tell me your fall book recommendations in the comments! 🍁🍂

🎃 books mentioned 🎃

Misc. ↳ rouge ↳ she walks in shadows ↳ silver nitrate

Dark Academia ↳ in these hallowed halls: a dark academia anthology ↳ vita nostra ↳ plain bad heroines

“Classic” horror ↳ rebecca ↳ interview with a vampire ↳ dark tales

Real World Horror ↳ natural beauty ↳ lakewood ↳ her body and other parties ↳ bad cree ↳ weight of blood

Vampires ↳ vampires of el norte ↳ a dowry of blood ↳ masters of death ↳ house of hunger ↳ the book eaters

Haunted House books ↳ a house with good bones ↳ she is a haunting ↳ the hacienda ↳ just like home

Deathly Retellings ↳ a haunting on the hill ↳ the death i gave him ↳ one for my enemy

Cozy fantasies ↳ legends & lattes ↳ the very secret society of irregular witches ↳ venco ↳ emily wilde's encyclopaedia of faeries

Fantasies ↳ nettle & bone ↳ gods of jade and shadow ↳ juniper & thorn ↳the wolf & the woodsman ↳ the bone orchard ↳ the adventures of amina al-sirafi

Other ↳ my dark vanessa ↳ station eleven ↳ glass hotel ↳ sea of tranquility

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faqs 🤍 how do you pronounce your name? - my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nuh-nee (like a knee!)

🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc? - both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!

🤍 what is your job? - aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!

40 books

Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Feb 24 2023

my first book haul of 2023 | new releases, Blackathon books

Get Surfshark VPN at https://surfshark.deals/jananie - Enter promo code JANANIE for 83% off & 3 extra months for FREE!

Blackathon 2023 Announcement: https://youtu.be/1mRdXPPisEI Blackathon recs 1: https://youtu.be/rUv\_UXVKtjk Blackathon recs 2: https://youtu.be/QZyETYNMOfk Blackathon recs 3: https://youtu.be/kBioFkiv2Ug

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🤍 timestamps ↳ 0:00 intro ↳ 1:27 Hell Bent ↳ 3:10 SurfShark VPN ↳ 4:27 The Stolen Heir ↳ 6:12 Our Missing Hearts ↳ 7:34 The Last Tale of the Flower Bride ↳ 10:53 Chain of Thorns ↳ 12:40 Lakewood ↳ 14:29 The Death of Vivek Oji ↳ 15:11 House of Hunger ↳ 17:11 Before I Let Go ↳ 18:28 The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches ↳ 19:42 Legends & Lattes ↳ 21:16 outro

💌 for business/sponsorship inquiries please contact eric@smallscreenmarketing.com 💌 for all other inquiries please contact me at thisstoryaintover@gmail.com

faqs 🤍 how do you pronounce your name? - my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nah-nee (like a knee!)

🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc? - both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!

🤍 what is your job? - aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!

11 books

Posts about this book from across Bindery

Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Jan 20

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“i just ask Chat GPT for book recs” SHUT UP

“i just ask Chat GPT for book recs” “it can actually summarize entire books for you so you can read one in just 5 minutes” “i ONLY use AI for” - STOP IT. LEAVE ME ALONE!

here are human book recs from a human!! and also they’re all really really good.

📚 books mentioned: - The Seep by Chana Porter - The Macabre by Kosoko Jackson - The Unfinished by Cheryl Isaacs - Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark - Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White - The Scammer by Tiffany D. Jackson - I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me by Jamison Shea - The Honeys by Ryan La Sala - Lakewood by Megan Giddings

👗💄: - sweater is from Farm Rio - eyeshadow is Mírame from Aora México - lip combo is Suede Matte Lip Liner (Moonwalk) from NYX Cosmetics and Bisou Balm (Bonbon Myrtille) from Violette FR - (also if you have a question about my makeup or something i’m wearing, most of it is curated in my shopmy!)

thank you to Harper Voyager, Heartdrum, Peachtree Teen, Quill Tree Books, and Scholastic Press for the gifted copies!

#horrorbooks #horrorbookrecs #disturbingbooks #nycinfluencer #bookstagram @soho_press @harpervoyagerus @harpercollins @tordotcompub @peachtreeteen @quilltreebooks @fiercereads @scholastic @amistadbooks @farmrio @aoramakeup @nyxcosmetics @violette_fr

horror book recommendations • science fiction books • best horror books • diverse books • Saga Press • Harper Voyager • Heartdrum • Tordotcom • Peachtree Teen • Quill Tree Books • Fierce Reads • Scholastic Press • Amistad

9 books

Alex (Pucksandpaperbacks)\ \ Alex (he/him/his)\ \ • Oct 15 2025

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Autumn Book Recs! 🎃🍂📚

38 books

Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Aug 9 2025

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my passion is just shouting horror books at you until you read them. do it.

📚 books mentioned: - Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker - Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury - Lakewood by Megan Giddings - Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant - Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White - Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine - Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark - House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland - Wrath Becomes Her by Aden Polydoros - The Honeys by Ryan La Sala - Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin - My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones - Jackal by Erin E. Adams - The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi - Infested by Angel Luis Colón

thank you to MIRA/HPT Hive, Simon Teen, Sourcebooks, Inkyard Press, Scholastic, Bantam, and William Morrow for the gifted copies!

#horrorbooks #horrorbookrecs #besthorrorbooks #horrorbookrecommendations #SimonTeenInfluencer #starrysteph #nycinfluencer #diversebookstagram #nycbookstagram #bookstagram #nycbookstagram @readmirabooks @htp_hive @simonteen @amistadbooks @orbitbooks_us @peachtreeteen @sourcebooks @tordotcompub @scholastic @riverheadbooks @sagapressbooks @ballantinebooks @williammorrowbooks @harpercollins @inkyardpress

15 books

Reads with Rachel\ \ Rachel\ \ • May 1 2025

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Decentering The Handmaid's Tale

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Mar 17 2025

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Women in Horror (60 recs!) | recording & thank you

24 books

Boozhoo Books\ \ Naomi\ \ • Mar 16 2025

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Hello Friends, \ \ I had a great chat earlier with fellow tastemakers about women in horror, our favorite reads and upcoming releases we are looking forward to (I tagged many of them in this post!)\ \ If you weren't able to make it, you can check it out on Youtube here\ \ Follow the other tastemakers on Bindery here:\ \ Aubrie\ \ Natalie\ \ Steph\ \ We had so much fun and hope to get together again soon! If you have any topics you'd love to hear us discuss, drop your suggestions below!\ \ BOOKCLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS\ \ As you know Women in Horror and Good Day To Read Indigenous (book clubs found on Discord here have their books picked out through May! \ \ Next week, I will be planing the reads for the remainder of the year. $12 and $25 subscribers get to nominate books, so look out for that post tomorrow!\ \ Quiet Time Book Club will meet tomorrow at 5pm PST/8pm EST on Zoom.

RECORDING: Women In Horror Panel

YouTube link to Women in Horror Celebration, all of the (most of the) books discussed, info about our Discord bookclubs

62 books

Mareas\ \ Marines\ \ • Feb 1 2025

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Happy Black History Month

In 2025, celebrating Black History Month isn't just about honoring Black legacies—it's an act of defiance against an administration that seeks to erase Black voices, downplay our struggles as a direct consequence of white supremacy, and deny our progress.

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Boundless Press\ \ Jananie\ \ • Jan 30 2025

my 2025 physical TBR | if i don't read these books in 2025 i have to unhaul them 😱

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Oct 26 2024

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book recs from scary movies!

if you like this scary movie … read this horror book!

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • Aug 28 2024

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uneasy horror books by marginalized authors

which one are you picking up first?? uneasy horror books!!!

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Celestial\ \ Steph\ \ • May 2 2024

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dark disney book recs!

if you like this disney movie … read this dark & disturbing book! ✨ okay, the links between all of them may not be obvious, but i SWEAR they make sense to me.

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