[How it Works](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/how-it-works/) [Bookshop](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/books/bindery/) [Publishing](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/publishing/) [Team](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/team/) [Contact](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/contact/) Log in or Sign up The Maidenheads: A Novel Benny B. Peterson Save to Your Books [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/3857/9798217047147) 100% of affiliate revenue supports Casey the Reader A bighearted debut novel about queer yearning, indie musicians, and bushwacking a thorny path back to your first loveJamie is bad at endings, which is why she's stuck at a dead-end Baltimore newspaper job, continuing to have break-up sex with her first-ever hetero partner, and haunted by the what-ifs of her ex-girlfriend Mari—a charismatic and brilliant musician—and their former band together, the Maidenheads. Since they (and their band) broke up a decade ago, Jamie hasn't been able to sing.Then an unexpected opportunity to perform in DC with Mari's successful new band arises, and Jamie jumps at it. What begins as a return to music becomes a reckoning—with the weight of unfinished love, the voice she long buried, and her own complicated past. But as Jamie channels more of her energy into the band, other threads in her life begin to fray, and she must make some urgent choices about her future. Electric, spine-tingling, and filled to the brim with tenderness and honesty, The Maidenheads is a novel about the tenacity of first love, the life-changing power of music, and the difficult, necessary work of becoming yourself. Show more Get the Bindery app * * * Posts about this title from Casey the Reader [Casey the Reader\\ \\ Casey\\ \\ • Jul 15](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/) [Waaaughhh how is this year half over already?! These are my 11 faves so far (yes, 11, I could absolutely not narrow it down any further than that)! They're in no particular order, and I've popped in my mini reviews for each just in case you missed them the first time around. Books marked with a \* are books that were gifted to me.\\ \\ **Shapes of Love by L.V. Peñalba\* -** SHAPES OF LOVE is my new favorite book featuring an aspec character. This book so beautifully covers the many nuances of aromantic and asexual identities and the various forms their close relationships can take. I really loved how Sasha pushed hard against the idea that friend love can’t be as meaningful and important as romantic love. The book lets her make some mistakes around that belief as well, which I liked. Everyone in this book makes mistakes, learns, and has complex conversations about it all. The characters are racially diverse as well, adding yet another layer to the complexity of coming out. \\ \\ **Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell -** This is the most devastating book I've read in years. Just absolutely a tear your hair out and lay on the floor crying kind of book. I didn't want to keep reading it but I also couldn't stop reading it. Somehow, it feels like the events of the book are happening to you as you read it. I particularly loved how it both mattered and didn't matter at all that Agnes' husband was William Shakespeare. Who cares, when you're that in the depths of grief? Agnes' touch of the supernatural also added another beautiful, painful layer to her story. I think I can say I've never quite met a character like Agnes.\\ \\ **This Inevitable Ruin by Matt Dinniman -** How does this series get exponentially better with every book? Also, sorry to my spouse for the high levels of stress I radiated while reading THIS INEVITABLE RUIN. \\ \\ **There Is No Place For Us by Brian Goldstone\* -** THERE IS NO PLACE FOR US shines a light on a population that usually gets entirely ignored. These families are working their butts off, only to get slapped down again and again. Goldstone is great at weaving statistics and research in with the individual stories in a way that contextualizes and humanizes them. One thing I haven’t seen discussed about this book is that four of the five families are headed by single moms. Of those four moms, for three of them, the road to being unhoused began with an abusive husband, boyfriend, or ex-boyfriend. \\ \\ **A Sharp Endless Need by Mac Crane\* -** You know when you read a book and you can’t form words for how you feel about it? Yeah, that’s A SHARP ENDLESS NEED. Crane is so good at writing painful longing. Add in being unsure of your sexuality in a small town, and whew. The longing is so intense it’s hard to look at straight on. My one knock-a-quarter-star-off-quibble is that the ending feels kind of like a throwback. That’s all I’ll say to avoid spoilers. Honestly, I can’t write any more about this. It feels like I want to keep it secret so no one says mean things about it, but I also want the whole world to read it. \\ \\ **Whidbey by T. Kira Madden\* -** We’ve waited a long time for new work from T Kira Madden, and wow, was WHIDBEY worth the wait. This book follows several women who are all impacted by the actions of one man. We see them through rage, grief, shame, defensiveness, love, fear. There’s a little bit of a mystery element to it, but it’s still deeply personal and introspective. Please look at the content warnings before reading. It’s a heavy book, but worth it if you’re up for it.\\ \\ **Luminous by Silvia Park\* -** LUMINOUS is the kind of story that sci-fi is best at: what does it mean to be a human? To be a man? To love? To be loved? Siblings Jun and Morgan have both spent their lives trying to make sense of their childhood experience of having a robot brother who got taken away from them during the war the reunified Korea. Everyone in this book is deeply flawed, and trying to build relationships on a cracked foundation. My favorite thing, though, is that in this story of what makes a human (and a human man specifically) is that Jun is a trans man. It adds so many additional layers to what might otherwise be a straightforward robot tale. \\ \\ **Kin by Tayari Jones\* -** My goodness, Tayari Jones is a master of her craft. KIN is so beautiful, loving, and heartbreaking. We follow Niecy and Annie’s story in a way that’s both about the details of their lives and the larger story of being a Black woman in the South. The women in this book all have taken different paths through life, but they have so much common experience as well. I haven’t seen it discussed much yet, but this is a queer story. I’m trying not to give plot away, but know that there are just so, so many layers to this book. I already want to reread it. \\ \\ **The Maidenheads by Benny B. Peterson\* -** Listen. As a girl who grew up in the DC suburbs who was very into the local music scene and didn't understand her sexuality at the time...I AM IN THIS PHOTO AND I DON'T LIKE IT. But also, hell yeah. Johnson name checks all my favorite venues in DC and Baltimore and perfectly recreates the grimy love we all had for our local faves. The Maidenheads is messy and mean and full of yearning and good god please go to therapy, my guys. Everyone makes the worst decisions at every turn and I loved them for it.\\ \\ **Searches by Vauhini Vara** \- I need everyone who uses the internet to read this book. Vara traces the path of her life and the life of the internet, how they overlap and interact, and increasingly, how they have become inseparable. There is so much to think about here regarding how much of our lives we have given over to tech companies, sometimes knowingly, sometimes not. Please read it! \\ \\ **Hold Me Like A Grudge by Celine Ong\* -** Celine Ong said to herself, "how can I make sports enemies to lovers as gay as possible?" and HOLD ME LIKE A GRUDGE was born. I'm obsessed with everything about this book. Enemies/rivals/pining/coming out/found family/spicy chemistry/soft love/etc etc etc omg can I hug them please! Not to mention all the Supernatural, Fall Out Boy, and various other pop culture references that are hidden about oh so casually. And listen, I know everyone and their mom is going to compare this book to Heated Rivalry...but also it's true! If you're looking for more tender sports yearning, THIS IS IT.](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/item/B1SXSg4zchyLEjcyByGE/) [2026 Mid-Year Favorites](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/item/B1SXSg4zchyLEjcyByGE/) * * * 11 books 2 [Casey the Reader\\ \\ Casey\\ \\ • Jul 3](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/) [Now that I'm doing weekly reading roundups on Mondays, it doesn't really make sense to do a fave of the week on Fridays. I don't know exactly what I'm gonna do yet (I KNOW it doesn't have to be the same every week. But my brain does not! It likes routines!), but today I've got my June wrap up and a look forward at some books I hope to pick up in July. (Books marked with a \* were gifted to me and books marked with a ^ I was paid to read.)\\ \\ For June reads, it's no surprise that all my faves (starred) were books I read for Pride Reading Bingo. Queer books forever!\\ \\ \\ \\ THE QUARTER QUEEN^\\ \\ WHY ARE PEOPLE INTO THAT?\\ \\ LONDON FALLING\*\\ \\ ⭐️ SEVEN DEVILS\\ \\ ESCALA'S WISH^\\ \\ ⭐️ THE MAIDENHEADS\*\\ \\ DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL (reread)\\ \\ ⭐️ SEASONS OF GLASS AND IRON\*\\ \\ DIVERGENT (reread)\\ \\ POOL HOUSE\*\\ \\ LOVE IS AN EX-COUNTRY\\ \\ RAISING ARTEMIS^\\ \\ THE FOREST ON THE EDGE OF TIME\*\\ \\ ⭐ ONE OF THE BOYS\*\\ \\ DEATH OF THE AUTHOR\*\\ \\ ⭐ SHAPES OF LOVE\*\\ \\ * * *\\ \\ Here's what's on deck for July. (Ish...you know how that mood reading life goes.)\\ \\ \\ \\ **MOSS'D IN SPACE\* - This is the July Found Family Book Club pick!**\\ \\ CHAOS\* - This space romance series is a fave of mine and I've been saving this latest installment for when I needed a treat.\\ \\ MAKE ME BETTER\* - Gailey is a fave author and normally I would have gobbled this up by now but for some reason I thought it was a fall release and therefore I didn't prioritize the ARC. Whoops!\\ \\ BLACK SALT QUEEN\* - I've been meaning to read this fantasy about royalty, romance, and betrayal for awhile and the sequel recently came out so I better get to it!\\ \\ I LOVE YOU DON'T DIE\* - I'd intended to read this for Pride Bingo and didn't get there. I adored Song's debut CHLORINE and am looking forward to more of that.\\ \\ THIS PRINCESS KILLS MONSTERS\* - Another Pride Bingo fail. I've been very into cozy, comedic fantasy lately so I'm ready to wrap myself up in this one.\\ \\ OUT OF STEP, INTO YOU\* - The last of my Pride Bingo intendeds. I thought Burch's debut YA novel a few years ago was seriously underrated, so watch out for me yelling about this one soon.\\ \\ **Books I'm carrying over from June:** My current reads are Love In A F-cked Up World by Dean Spade and Coldwire\* by Chloe Gong.\\ \\ **Other miscellaneous July reads:** I run an in-person book club that reads spicy books and I our July pick is The Pairing by Casey McQuiston, which will be a reread for me. I also read the first chapter of Murder In The Dressing Room\* by Holly Star yesterday. There will be other audiobooks because I can't commute without them, but I haven't picked any yet.\\ \\ Is that a packed enough TBR for you or what!](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/item/RjgobKuiwId4ySBsPVwi/) [June Wrap Up + July Hopefuls](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/item/RjgobKuiwId4ySBsPVwi/) * * * 26 books 4 [Casey the Reader\\ \\ Casey\\ \\ • Jun 29](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/) [I'm changing up Monday's posts! I'm going to try out moving my book reviews from Instagram to Bindery, and doing them in a weekly roundup style. I'll be giving a few bullet points about each book I read in the last week.\\ \\ Honestly, I'm a little nervous about this because I do not like change, ha. But we're doing it! Also, come on over to my Discord server and share your own reviews with the friendly folks there!\\ \\ Books marked with a \* were gifted to me, books marked with a ^ I was paid to read.\\ \\ \\ \\ **Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman** \- This was a reread, and I've hollered enough about DCC that I won't subject you to too much more. I made my spouse listen to this on a road trip we took to try and get them into the series and it worked! Honestly, I'm pleasantly surprised given that they rarely read fiction, let alone sci-fi/fantasy.\\ \\ \\ \\ **The Maidenheads by Benny B. Johnson\* -** Y'all already saw my rave review of this! Honestly, it's a contender for a top book of the year for me. (And watch this space for my mid-year faves!)\\ \\ \\ \\ **Escala's Wish by David James^ -** I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It's a D&D style story with a faerie trying to complete a task that will allow her to end her exile from the fae realm, and it's told with the framing of a bard telling the tale to a tavern full of people. It's not the most complex story and doesn't have the most three dimensional characters, but it was full of heart, action, and silliness.](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/item/ymfxNlUfM36xm6ciy45D/) [Mini Review Monday - July 29, 2026](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/item/ymfxNlUfM36xm6ciy45D/) * * * 3 books [Casey the Reader\\ \\ Casey\\ \\ • Jun 26](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/) [Last weekend was Capital Pride in DC and I still feel all discombobulated from that busy weekend. But that won't stop Friday Faves! Be sure to jump into my Discord channel and share your own faves!\\ \\ My favorite book I read this week was **The Maidenheads by Benny B. Johnson**. This book is about Jamie and Mari, who were in a DC punk band in high school in the early 2000s and were also girlfriends. They had a horrible breakup, and ten years later they are back in each others' orbit.\\ \\ Listen. As a girl who grew up in the DC suburbs who was very into the local music scene and didn't understand her sexuality at the time...I AM IN THIS PHOTO AND I DON'T LIKE IT. But also, hell yeah. Johnson name checks all my favorite venues in DC and Baltimore and perfectly recreates the grimy love we all had for our local faves.\\ \\ The Maidenheads is messy and mean and full of yearning and good god please go to therapy, my guys. Everyone makes the worst decisions at every turn and I loved them for it.\\ \\ * * *\\ \\ My non-bookish fave this week was Pride weekend. I didn't go to any of the official events. To be honest, I haven't gone to the parade in several years because I'm over watching four hours of mega corporations pretend like they care about us. Instead, I went to a friend's party. I hosted a picnic. We had some friends over to hang out in our pool. Just queer folk spending time with queer folk, and it was the best.](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/item/DjrRc1CwFaWEFojbtjSb/) [Friday Faves - June 26, 2026](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/item/DjrRc1CwFaWEFojbtjSb/) * * * 1 book Posts about this book from across Bindery [Sapph-Lit\\ \\ Nina\\ \\ • Jul 22](https://sapphlit.binderybooks.com/) Join for free [CREATIVE DIFFERENCES is for fans of: 👀✨](https://sapphlit.binderybooks.com/item/0MZseJx3Ylc03ZBK79km/) sapphic indie rock second chance romance, anyone? 🦢🎸💌 now available for preorder 🫶 * * * 13 books 9 [2](https://sapphlit.binderybooks.com/item/0MZseJx3Ylc03ZBK79km/#comments) [Casey the Reader\\ \\ Casey\\ \\ • Jul 15](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/) [2026 Mid-Year Favorites](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/item/B1SXSg4zchyLEjcyByGE/) * * * 11 books 2 [Casey the Reader\\ \\ Casey\\ \\ • Jul 3](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/) [June Wrap Up + July Hopefuls](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/item/RjgobKuiwId4ySBsPVwi/) * * * 26 books 4 [Casey the Reader\\ \\ Casey\\ \\ • Jun 29](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/) [Mini Review Monday - July 29, 2026](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/item/ymfxNlUfM36xm6ciy45D/) * * * 3 books [Casey the Reader\\ \\ Casey\\ \\ • Jun 26](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/) [Friday Faves - June 26, 2026](https://caseythereader.binderybooks.com/item/DjrRc1CwFaWEFojbtjSb/) * * * 1 book [Gab with Gaby\\ \\ Gaby \\ \\ • Jun 25](https://gabwithgaby.binderybooks.com/) Join for free \\ \\ Join for free or login](https://gabwithgaby.binderybooks.com/item/OWapzULhCQeRN3kjMm98/) [Queer book recs](https://gabwithgaby.binderybooks.com/item/OWapzULhCQeRN3kjMm98/) Some inspo for your rainbow stacks 💙 * * * 14 books [Gab with Gaby\\ \\ Gaby \\ \\ • Jun 5](https://gabwithgaby.binderybooks.com/) Join for free \\ \\ Join for free or login](https://gabwithgaby.binderybooks.com/item/jKptwf4BCMk8PX0Fzvys/) [Real Housewives inspired queer book recs](https://gabwithgaby.binderybooks.com/item/jKptwf4BCMk8PX0Fzvys/) Celebrate Pride with these book recs inspired by quotes from the Real Housewives (yes they're all real) * * * 24 books 2