Welcome! I’ve been thinking about this newsletter for several months now, and I’m so excited for the first issue to drop next week. In the meantime, here’s a little bit about me and what this newsletter is all about.
I’ve been a reader all my life. Ever since I started writing about books on the internet a few years back (mostly on Book Riot, but elsewhere as well), I’ve been looking for a way to shout about the books I love the most. I started a blog, which I updated on and off for a few years. I never fully committed to it. It was too big a project, too open-ended. I was trying to review every book I read, and that was too much. But it was hard to reign myself in, and so, overwhelmed, I ended up just dropping the whole project.
What I wanted was a structure. Something with parameters, manageable but exciting. I wanted a vessel that I could fill, a pre-determined shape into which I could pour my excitement about books. Happily, the form I was looking for is all the rage right now, because that’s exactly what a weekly newsletter is. This newsletter will have the same format each week, but it’ll feature different books that I absolutely love and very badly want everyone to read. It’ll also feature a fair bit of food-related deliciousness, because baking is my other love.
Here’s what you’ll find in your inbox every Wednesday:
3 book recommendations on a theme: In general I’ll include not-at-all-similar books across different genres, though they’ll all relate to the theme somehow. I’ll always include a backlist book, a new release, and an upcoming book. I mostly read queer books, so this newsletter will mostly be about queer books. I’ll never feature a book I didn’t love or haven’t read. I also promise that I will break all of these rules at some point.
A recipe for a tasty treat: Cookies! Cakes! Scones! Pies! I’ve never met a baked good I didn’t want to make. Okay, that’s actually a lie: they do some things with gelatin on The Great British Bake Off that I can’t say I’m eager to attempt. In any case, you can look forward to a recipe for a treat I love every week. Maybe I’ll tell you all about these incredible brownies I made the other day and enjoyed at teatime:
A non-recipe for a one bowl/one pan meal: Because cooking is hard and a lot of us are busy and tired at the end of the day.
Some jumping up and down about audiobooks: In other words, I’ll tell you about my current listen and why I’m loving it (or not).
A look into my reading life: Tidbits from my bookshelf, links to my writing around the internet, and bonus recs about the week’s theme.
Some beauty and some links: The words and/or images that are getting me through the week, and some of the organizations/organizers/radical work I believe in and support.
I said I’d tell you a little bit about me. Well: I’m a queer human, lifelong reader, and self-taught baker. I live in rural Massachusetts with my pup. I was a farmer for most of my adult life, but over the past year, I’ve switched to mostly desk work. I am still getting used to it, but most of the time it feels energizing. When I’m not writing about books, I’m keeping books (i.e. my other job is as a bookkeeper). I love winter. A lot. I also like some things about summer, including growing flowers in my community garden plot and swimming at the river. I’m an avid library user. I’ve recently come to deeply appreciate the possibilities of being a beginner.
Why the paid option? There are currently no special perks that come with a paid subscription. I’m here to rave about books, and I want to rave about them to anyone who wants to listen, whether you can afford a subscription or not. But I do put a ton of care, thought, and time into this newsletter. It’s work I love, but work nonetheless. So, if you enjoy what you read, and you can afford $5/month (I know all the little things add up!), you’ll have my appreciation and gratitude.
You can find all the books I recommend here at the Books & Bakes Bookshop. If you buy books via the links in this newsletter (or by visiting the shop), I’ll get a small commission. You’ll also be supporting indie bookstores all over the country!
Now that you know what to expect, I hope you’ll join me for some fantastic books and delicious treats!vYou can subscribe below, and, if you are so inclined, tell your friends. Meanwhile, you can find me on Instagram (@openbookopen) and Goodreads (but never on Twitter, sorry/not sorry).