Casey the Reader

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Casey the Reader\ \ Casey\ \ • Jul 2

JULY FOUND FAMILY BOOK CLUB PICK

JULY FOUND FAMILY BOOK CLUB PICK Hi friends! July’s pick for Found Family Book Club is a shiny new release - MOSS’D IN SPACE by Rebecca Thorne.

How do you join FFBC? Visit my 🔗 to my Bindery Books page. When you subscribe there, you gain access to my Discord server, which is where the book club discussion happens on the last Monday of every month. I hope you’ll join us!

About the book:

“Former smuggler Torian Razner finally bought a starship, and contrary to Amelia’s assessment, it was not “a meteoric sign of stupidity.” Sure, the alien starship may have been abandoned for a century, and it may be covered in moss now… but it’s Torian’s ticket to freedom, regardless of what her ex… ah, captain… said.

Except Torian’s first flight reveals a surprise passenger: the moss is actually an organic computer with a snarky attitude and serious abandonment issues. The target of its loathing? The immortal alien who built it (and then parked the starship, with Moss inside, and forgot about it). The same alien who just found Torian and accused her of “stealing” the ship.”

[ ID: Photo - Casey, a white woman with short brown hair and glasses, stands in front of a white bookshelf holding her hand up. Pasted above her hand is a graphic of the cover of Moss’d In Space. ]

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Casey the Reader\ \ Casey\ \ • Jul 29

I thought my August most anticipated list would be short given how big September is for publishing, but there are still quite a few releases I have my eye on. Here are the ones I'm most excited about.\ \ Immortal Game by Alison Saft (8/4) - Six years ago, Shea Fury’s sister was whisked away by the High King of the Otherworld, the ruler of the treacherous land of fae. Although Shea has spent the years since dreaming of rescuing her sister from captivity, the Iron Veil that separates the human world from that of the fae has made it only a wish. That is, until an invitation to participate in a once-in-a-lifetime chess tournament in the Otherworld arrives on Shea’s doorstep. The winner of the tournament may ask the High King to grant one wish, and Shea is finally within reach of hers.\ \ Meet Me In The Garden by Nina LaCour (8/4) - New Orleans, 1944. Odette has always been one of the Honore sisters, glamorous and admired in their Creole community. But while Odette’s older sisters are content to be wives and mothers, Odette has always wanted something else. It is only with her beloved cousin, Delphine, that Odette can tell her secret: she is in love with a woman, and she longs to be an artist. Delphine has a secret lover, too, a white man. In the hidden garden they’ve discovered, Odette and Delphine can dream of futures full of passion and freedom.\ \ A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-Young, translated by Sophie Bowman (8/11) - While waiting for a train to Haewon, an isolated Korean seaside village, bodyguard Mu-young gets a disaster alert on her phone. TVs throughout the station report breaking news of a massive earthquake on the eastern coast. Despite the danger, Mu-young boards the train with her niece: she’d rather face the earthquake than leave the girl in her mother’s care. That choice haunts her for the rest of her life. (This novella was published in 2020 and is now translated into English.)\ \ The Everest Mystery: Sandy Irvine, George Mallory, and the Truth Still Buried on Everest by Julie Summers with Jochen Hemmleb (8/25) - There is no mystery more compelling in the history of mountaineering than the disappearance of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine close to the summit of Mount Everest on June 8, 1924. Over 100 years after they were last seen ‘going strong for the top,’ the question of exactly what happened to them on that fateful day has not been answered.\ \ Join for free or login

August 2026 Most Anticipated Releases

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Casey the Reader\ \ Casey\ \ • Jul 27

I was traveling for a chunk of last week, so I only finished two books this week. They were both excellent plane reads, though, so good job with that timing, me. Books marked with an * were gifted to me.\ \ Coldwire by Chloe Gong* - The sequel to this book is almost here, so I figured I should probably finally get around to it! I have loved every Gong book I've read and this is no exception. I was so drawn into this cyberpunk dystopia. You know I love a prickly girl character, and this book is full of them. It's excellent and horrifying how you can see exactly the trajectory our world might take to become the world of Coldwire. I found it a little hard to follow the reveal near the end, but I think that's on me rather than the author since other reviewers didn't seem to have that problem.\ \ This Princess Kills Monsters by Ry Herman* - I am very into fantasy comedy right now and this one is chef's kiss excellent. It reminded me a lot of The Princess Bride, if that story was more queer. It's deeply silly while also giving old fairytales a new point of view. Literally everything about this book is a delight.\ \ Join for free or login

Mini Review Monday - July 27, 2026

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Casey the Reader\ \ Casey\ \ • Jul 20

Hello and happy Monday! I'm writing this post earlier than usual because I have been traveling the last few days, so this is really a roundup of books I read up through last Wednesday. I hope you will still trust me after I have woven this web of lies, lol. If this looks like a lot of books read over a shorter than usual time, it's because I finally finished up a few books that had been taking me weeks to finish due to a slight reading slump. Stupid World Cup and Love Island, taking up all my time! Glad those are over! (I'm not, I need more Brinity in my life!) Books marked with a * were gifted to me.\ \ The Correspondent by Virginia Evans* - Yes, everyone is right about this book! It's so lovely! It's heartfelt and funny, and I actually laughed and gasped out loud while listening. If you're an audiobook person, I do recommend that route, as it's done with half a dozen or so narrators, which really helps bring the letters to life. I loved that the main character was older and set in her ways, but not so much that she wasn't willing to listen to others' concerns and opinions. My only knock on it is that the ending veered a little tidy and overly sweet to me. \ \ Make Me Better by Sarah Gailey* - Sadly, this is probably my least favorite Gailey book to date. It's soooo sloowwww. I did like the blending of cults and the supernatural, and it's fine by me if things never get fully explained. But you can't take what's obvious from like page five and try to make it a grand reveal at the end of the book. The main character kept making small discoveries but none of them ever felt like new information, which made it hard for me to want to keep going. Bummer.\ \ Stops Along The Way by Anna Sortino* - Sortino is an author that I think is super underrated. She writes YA featuring disabled characters, mainly teens who are Deaf/hard of hearing. Her books are so great showing what it might be like to live every day with the specific disabilities her characters have. This one is more of that, plus a road trip story and a couple of gaming nerds. The MCs were so sweet. I love watching characters learn to understand each others' quirks so they can better love and take care of each other.\ \ Waiting For The Long Night Moon by Amanda Peters* - This is a collection of short stories featuring Indigenous characters. The settings range from the colonization of this country to recent anti-pipeline protests. Peters delivers a churn of emotions with each story. These characters are losing family and culture, but they are also finding them and building them anew.\ \ Join for free or login

Mini Review Monday - July 20, 2026

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Casey the Reader\ \ Casey\ \ • Jul 15

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.\ \ Join for free or login

2026 Mid-Year Favorites

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Casey the Reader\ \ Casey\ \ • Jul 13

This was a very slow reading week for me. I plowed through two books last weekend during the heatwave and then...stopped, ha. I couldn't focus, and then a migraine whacked me at the end of the week. Anyway, here's what did get read. Books marked with a * are books I was gifted.\ \ Murder In The Dressing Room by Holly Stars* - A cozy mystery about the murder of the owner of a drag cabaret? Yes, please! With this one, I loved the characters and story but not the execution. The MC kept endlessly rehashing old clues without getting anywhere new, and then everything happened right at the end. I did love that our MC was a nonbinary drag queen, and that we got to see how them being Joe vs being Misty was both separate personalities and also impossible to separate.\ \ I Love You Don't Die by Jade Song* - Anyone who gave this one a low rating is INCORRECT. I love love love Song's writing style. This book is less physically visceral than CHLORINE was, but it's...emotionally visceral? Is that a thing? Well, it is. This book is super heavy, but I loved the explorations of the intersections of friendship and love, life and death.\ \ Well, that's all for this week. Come on over to the Discord and share what you've been reading!\ \ Join for free or login

Mini Review Monday - July 13, 2026

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Casey the Reader\ \ Casey\ \ • Jul 6

Heyo, welcome back to Mini Review Monday! Here's what I read in the last week. Come on over to Discord and share what you read, too! Books marked with a * were gifted to me and books marked with a ^ I was paid to read.\ \ London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City, and a Family’s Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe* - All of PRK's books have totally engrossed me, but this one was a little different. While I was intrigued by the mystery, I found myself tuning out a bit when it came to the gangsters' backstories. Not that they weren't interesting people, but who was working with/for who kind of began to run together a bit after awhile.\ \ Why Are People Into That?: A Cultural Investigation of Kink by Tina Horn - This was my Spicy Book Club's June pick. I probably wouldn't have read it if not for the club so shout out to book clubs for broadening horizons. As an ace person who is not Into That, I found this fascinating. Ultimately, the "why" often boiled down to "lots of reasons," but it was still cool to get a glimpse into a world I'm not part of and to be reminded that life is a rich tapestry.\ \ The Quarter Queen by Kayla Hardy^ - What a darkly beautiful book. The setting of pre-Civil War New Orleans was immersive, and using Voodoo vs alchemy vs the Catholic church to work through how Black folks opted to fight against enslavement was so good. I did get a little confused about who was working for who and toward what goals, but I think that's a me thing since I haven't seen any other reviews mentioning that.\ \ I also had one DNF this week, and that was Love In A F*cked Up World by Dean Spade. Not because I hated it or anything, but because it just wasn't what I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be about building relationships within activist groups (both platonic and romantic) and it was really more of a dating guide from a leftist queer perspective. It did have a lot of good stuff to say, but it's not what I was looking for. I DNF'd at about 50% when I found myself tuning out for long periods because there wasn't anything relevant to me.\ \ Join for free or login

Mini Review Monday - July 6, 2026

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Casey the Reader\ \ Casey\ \ • Jul 3

[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*\ \

June Wrap Up + July Hopefuls

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Casey the Reader\ \ Casey\ \ • Jun 29

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.\ \ Join for free or login

Mini Review Monday - July 29, 2026

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Casey the Reader\ \ Casey\ \ • Jun 26

[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.\ \

Friday Faves - June 26, 2026

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Casey the Reader\ \ Casey\ \ • Jun 24

July is almost here, OMG. This year has been a blur, but here's what I've got my eye on for July releases.\ \ Perverts by Mac Crane - July 7 - Nothing is off limits for Mac Crane as they rework classic stories of rejection, isolation, and connection to suggest that the so-called pervert, by existing in the margins of society, may be the one who sees the world most clearly.\ \ Moss'd In Space by Rebecca Thorne - July 7 - Former smuggler Torian Razner finally bought a starship, and contrary to Amelia’s assessment, it was not “a meteoric sign of stupidity.” Except Torian’s first flight reveals a surprise passenger: the moss is actually an organic computer with a snarky attitude and serious abandonment issues. ( Psst - snag yourself a copy of this one if you're part of my Found Family Book Club!)\ \ Not With A Bang by Temi Oh - July 14 - Station Eleven meets Leave the World Behind in this family drama at the end of the world about a crumbling household’s attempts to find their way back to each other amidst a cataclysmic event from the Alex Award–winning author of Do You Dream of Terra-Two? and More Perfect.\ \ Hustle, Baby by Priya Guns - July 14 - From the incendiary voice behind Your Driver is Waiting, a riotous novel following a family of Tamil refugees who fled civil war in Sri Lanka to pursue a better life, just for it to be up-ended by the schemes of a self-proclaimed day-trading savant, jeopardizing everything they’ve worked so desperately to secure.\ \ Free Girls by Kristen McCallum - July 14 - A heartfelt coming-of-age debut about a girl starting over while keeping secret that she’s spent the last year in juvenile detention. Perfect for fans of Nicola Yoon and Leah Johnson.\ \ What are you hoping to pick up in July?\ \ Join for free or login

July Most Anticipated Reads

Casey the Reader\ \ Casey\ \ • Jun 22

Happy Monday! Today I am encouraging you to read Love at 350 Degrees by Lisa Peers. I adored this sapphic romance when it came out a few years ago and feel like it did not get the love it should have! Set on a TV baking competition (it's certainly not The Great British Bake Off, I don't know why you'd think that), this is a romance between a contestant and a judge on the show.\ \ I totally understand why this book was a hard sell on bookstagram - it's a slow burn, closed door romance. But my god, the LONGING! The PINING! It's so good. Add in some really good competition scenes and some really excellent food descriptions, and we're cooking (sorry, I couldn't help myself)!\ \ Another thing I loved about this books is that both the main characters are over 40, with Tori having teenage kids and contentiously divorced from her wife. I loved that she and Kendra both knew themselves (including their weaknesses) and still grew emotionally - both together and separately - in a believable way.\ \ So, if you're looking for a Pride read that's not on every reading list already, please give Love at 350 Degrees a try!\ \ Join for free or login

Must Read Monday: Love at 350 Degrees

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Casey the Reader\ \ Casey\ \ • Jun 19

[Happy Friday, and happy Juneteenth! I hope you will consider donating to a Black-led cause or organization near you today, especially if you're a white person with the day off work. \ \ My favorite read this week was Seasons of Glass and Iron by Amal El-Mohtar. I know this is quite a shock considering I have literally tattooed This Is How You Lose The Time War onto my body, lol. \ \ This book is a short story collection, which I often have a hard time with because I want more time in each story's world. But El-Mohtar is so good at spinning up perfect, tiny little universes in just a few paragraphs. Sure, I wanted some of these to go on longer, but that's just me being greedy.\ \ I think what draws me to her writing is how ethereal it is. The descriptions of the settings are so gorgeous, and even when the action doesn't make Earth-bound logical sense, I'm willing to follow it. That's probably actually why I'm willing to follow it, actually, because I often have no idea where things are going to go.\ \ El-Mohtar does bring the real world into some of the stories. There are a few that focus on queer and/or Arab experiences that weave the magic into the heartbreak.\ \ I just love her so much. I hope you'll pick this book up, even if short stories aren't usually your jam.\ \

Friday Faves - June 19, 2026

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Casey the Reader\ \ Casey\ \ • Jun 15

Today for Must Read Monday, I bring you The Revisioners by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton. The story follows two women from three time periods - Josephine, both during and after her enslavement, and 100 years later, her descendant Ava. Josephine, in 1925, lives on land she used to work, and strikes up an uneasy friendship with her new white woman neighbor. Ava, in 2015, is a single mother who moves in with her white grandmother - fraught, as she is the mother of a black boy around an old woman slowly losing her grip on time and reality.\ \ The three story threads weave together beautifully, making time bend in on itself. The women are extraordinary, each survivors in their own way.\ \ There is a slight magical element to this story, which puts this book almost directly in conversation with THE WATER DANCER by Ta-Nehisi Coates, which came out around the same time. Both explore time and memory and how racism drains a community, but THE REVISIONERS puts women's power at the center. It's not only their powerful need to be free, but their relationships with friends, family, and their own selves.\ \ Join for free or login

Must Read Monday: The Revisioners

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Casey the Reader\ \ Casey\ \ • Jun 12

[Happy Friday! Ready for another round of faves? Be sure to share your faves in my Discord server as well.\ \

Friday Faves - June 12, 2026

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Casey the Reader\ \ Casey\ \ • Jun 8

Monday again? At least we have Must Read Monday to get us through it.\ \ Today's pick is Coming Home by Brittney Griner. This got a pretty good amount of buzz when it came out, but not as much as I think it deserved.\ \ As you might expect, this memoir covers Griner's time spent detained in Russia. If you're unfamiliar with the event, she was traveling to play on a team there during the WNBA's offseason and had accidentally left a mostly empty weed pen in her luggage. She was held for ten months in a Russian prison.\ \ This is a horrific read, to be clear. Griner experienced a lot of emotional and physical pain, and she doesn't sugarcoat it. She speaks about the specific dangers of being a tall, masculine Black lesbian in this situation. However, she tells the story with such clarity and care that it's impossible to put down.\ \ This is also a story about how the general disrespect of professional women athletes led to this situation. If the WNBA had been paying players salaries commensurate with their talent, Griner would not have had to play in a shady Russian league in the offseason to stay afloat.\ \ Join for free or login

Must Read Monday: Coming Home

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Casey the Reader\ \ Casey\ \ • Jun 5

[Happy Friday, friends! I'm back with this week's edition of Friday Faves. Make sure to join my Discord server and share your own weekly faves with everyone there!\ \

Friday Faves - June 5, 2026

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Casey the Reader\ \ Casey\ \ • Jun 2

ANNOUNCING FOUND FAMILY BOOK CLUB

ANNOUNCING FOUND FAMILY BOOK CLUB

Hi friends! I’m so excited to announce that I’m starting a book club! This club will focus on books featuring found families - one of my very favorite tropes.

Our first pick is SEVEN DEVILS by L.R. Lam and Elizabeth May. I’ve had this one on my TBR for ages, and it seems like the perfect book to kick off this club. I’ve put the description below.

Book club will be held asynchronous chat style in my Discord server, which you can join by visiting my Bindery page linked in my bio. Discussion day will be the last Monday of every month, but the channel will be open for chatting before and after that date, so there’s no need to be available at a specific time for the discussion. I hope you’ll join us!

Synopsis: When Eris faked her death, she thought she had left her old life as the heir to the galaxy’s most ruthless empire behind. But her recruitment by the Novantaen Resistance, an organization opposed to the empire’s voracious expansion, throws her right back into the fray. Eris has been assigned a new mission: to infiltrate a spaceship ferrying deadly cargo and return the intelligence gathered to the Resistance. But her partner for the mission, mechanic and hotshot pilot Cloelia, bears an old grudge against Eris, making an already difficult infiltration even more complicated. When they find the ship, they discover more than they bargained for: three fugitives with firsthand knowledge of the corrupt empire’s inner workings.

[ ID: Photo - Casey holding up a copy of SEVEN DEVILS next to her face. ]

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Casey the Reader\ \ Casey\ \ • Jun 1

Happy Monday! For Must Read Monday this week, I'm featuring The Actual Star by Monica Byrne.\ \ This is one of those books where I finished it and just kind of had to stare at the wall for awhile while I processed it.\ \ The Actual Star is a massive undertaking, telling the stories of three sets of people in three timelines each a thousand years apart. We watch as their stories braid, repeat, differ, and merge. I saw elements of Ursula LeGuin, Octavia E. Butler, Simon Jimenez, and more from across decades of sci-fi and fantasy literature in this story (and know I do not invoke these greats lightly!)\ \ Often with multi-timeline books, I find myself wishing to get back to a particular story, but here I felt deeply invested in each timeline, and was on the edge of my seat as the stories came together. It’s quite a feat to make a slow paced, 600+ page novel a page turner.\ \ The worldbuilding is intricate but never bogged down in the details, and it weaves in a little sci-fi, a little fantasy, and a little mystery as you begin to piece together the overarching story.\ \ Join for free or login

Must Read Monday: The Actual Star

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Casey the Reader\ \ Casey\ \ • May 29

[Happy Friday! Here are my faves of the week - I hope you'll join my Discord server and share yours as well!\ \

Friday Faves - May 29, 2026

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