7 Days of Giveaways: DAYS FOUR AND FIVE

I made a booboo and didn't get to my daily giveaway yesterday, but we'll do two today and announce them both with tomorrow's giveaway!

As for our winner for Friday's giveaway: Congrats to AnnmarieK._ Please watch your email today. I will be reaching out for your mailing address so that our team can get your ARC mailed out for you!

Now for today's giveaways!!!

WHAT ARE WE GIVING AWAY TODAY?

• TWO ARCs of Devil of the Deep by Falencia Jean-Francois. This is the second acquisition for our imprint-- Left Unread Books. It will be launching in April of 2026 and is an exploration and scathing rebuke of Christian nationalism packaged within a Haitian mermaid & pirate story. It follows a Black woman who has built a name for herself as the most fearsome pirate on the seas after she comes across a young mermaid who has fled her home to protect a mystical artifact from the underwater cult that is pursuing her. Together, along with her long lost love--a Black trans man who has found himself aligned with the very cult they are fleeing from--they must tackle not only the organization trying to destroy them, but wrestle with the ideologies that have robbed so many of their people of their ancestral identities. This is a story about wrestling with colonial religion and reclaiming ancestral identity and faith.

HOW DO YOU ENTER?

• Be subscribed to this community at any tier. Including the free tier.
• Comment on this post with the title of the book that most impacted you this year.

FOR EXTRA ENTRIES:

• Subscribe at a paying tier. 1 entry for the $5 tier, two for the $12 tier, 3 for the $25 tier
• Email me a receipt of your pre-order of Cry, Voidbringer
  michael_laborn@icloud.com
• Share this giveaway on your socials and post a link in the comments.

WHEN WILL THE GIVEAWAY WINNER BE DRAWN

I will draw both winners tonight at 12:00 am CST and will make a post in the morning announcing our winners and providing details for tomorrow's giveaway. The winner will receive an email from me soon after and, once they have provided their mailing address, I will forward that to our team, who will ship their copy of Devil of the Deep.

If you are not in our community discord, make sure you go to the "my account" tab and sync your discord. We have subscriber exclusive roles and channels there and I would love to be able to connect with you more effectively!

Comments

• WillWrightSoWrong: I think the book that impacted me the most this year was May a Divine Awaken by Michael Tinsley, but it’s not for a reason people might think. I actually DNF’d this book because, while I can get into a certain mindset to read certain triggers, I can’t get past animal cruelty, even small instances of it. I tried to push past it, but it was affecting my reading experience, so unfortunately I had to stop.

• teagano: I read Hum by Helen Phillips this year and was spooked - not in a jump-scare sort of way, but more along the lines of unsettling realities just around the corner for humanity. It’s also been a while since I’ve picked up a book with a less-than-obvious conclusion. It was refreshing to stretch that muscle.

• Mandie: I read Hum last year but have to echo this. It was one of the most deeply unsettling things I've ever read and I still think about it regularly.

• WyrdLea: Honestly, the book which affected me the most had less to do with the book’s contents themselves but more to do with the author, why they wrote it, and how it bringing a community together to help save a queer author. The book is THE WITCH WHO CHASES THE SUN and it’s created a new community.

• Beckett: Daughter of the Merciful Deep by Lesley Penelope and The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Demiline haunt me daily in the most bittersweet way.

• Kay Saenz: Currently reading the Sum of Us by Heather McGhee, and that might unseat my current book (Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng).

• SilverKat: Death of the Author.

• TeeKay987: I think the book that most impacted me this year was Parable of the Sower (the whole duology really).

• JlSpark: OK. OK. It was A Court of Thornes and Roses. I was trying to get back into reading this year after about 12 years of not picking up a novel. I hated that book so much I had to start reading more books just to confirm that I actually enjoyed reading and wasn't just having nostalgia for my teenage years. On track to finishing 22 this year. OK, impactful read in a good way this year was All About Love by Bell Hooks.

• Ladyleo3: I've read so many great books this year! But one that I felt in my heart was Don't Cry for Me by Daniel Black. I experienced having a dying father and making amends before his death.

• BookDragon36: So many great books this year! I am torn between The Last Dragon On Mars and The Will Of The Many. Both amazing reads at different levels.

• LAL0612: I can’t decide between The Reformatory by Tananarive Due and House of Frank by Kay Synclaire.

• SkieNight: I think the book that most impacted me was How to Read Now by Elaine Castillo, which helped put words to a lot of feelings I've had around media literacy as well and connected new thoughts and gave me a lot of new insights.

• FatSapphicBro: I reread parable of the sower and then read parable of the talents and they were both so impactful and intense and too fucking real.

• Casscae: I think A Short Stay In Hell impacted me in a way that had me thinking for days about what my personal hell would be, and religion in general, but also A Chosen Queen. It was the woman’s side of the story about King Arthur.

• kae_aspirations: Sunrise on the Reaping took me back to my childhood. I haven’t read as much this year, but this was definitely one of my reading highlights that really reminded me of my love for reading even way back then. Although I’m also currently rereading A Catalogue For the End of Humanity by Timothy Hickson and it’s an incredibly thoughtful read, something nice and short that’s cathartic for me to revisit on occasion. Those were probably my most impactful, though I haven’t read much this year that really called out to me that I’ve finished.

• Mandie: Just finished Bless the Blood by Walela Nehanda and a book has never made me hate our society so much. It was heart wrenching, devastating, and so depressing.