Hoodie Season evokes nostalgia and acceptance, highlighting comfort amidst change during October's chill.

Author: Dan ChaonPublisher: Henry Holt & Co. / Macmillan AudioPublication Date: September 23, 2025Format: Audiobook (NetGalley ARC) 📚 Buy the book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop A Story That Drifts Before It Dares One of Us is the kind of book that doesn’t rush to tell you what it’s doing—and honestly, I liked that. The first half feels a little plotless, but not in a bad way.

A weekly light — poetry, stories, and reflections from the strange in-between. Lantern at the Door I leave a light for the ones who wander,the restless, the dreamers,the ones who look backward when the night gets too quiet. This door opens to nowhere and everywhere.Inside: stories that hum like trapped bees,poems stitched from old smoke and new sorrow.

Genre: Cozy FantasyRating: ★★★★★Buy It Here: Amazon | Barnes & Noble I Didn’t Expect to Love This Genre as Much as I Do I would’ve never guessed that queer cozy fantasy would end up being one of my favorite genres—but here we are. Keeper of Magical Things surprised me in the best possible way. Julie Leong delivers something soft, slow, and incredibly charming.

We’re Trevor and Tara, and we’re raising funds to help our family after a recent accident invol… Trevor Wright needs your support for Dusty's Road to Recovery

Author: Carissa OrlandoPublisher: Berkley 📚 Buy the book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop Some books sneak up on you, and The September House was one of those for me. I’d give it about 3.75 stars — not perfect, but definitely a worthwhile read that left me glad I stuck with it. From the start, the setup hooked me: an old Victorian home filled with strange noises, blood running down the walls, and a main character who refuses to leave despite the horrors inside.

Over the Garden Wall isn’t just a show — it’s an autumn ritual. A journey through haunted woods, half-remembered songs, and the beautiful in-between where childhood and memory fade into the Unknown.

Featuring my poem: The Hungry Ghosts of Starved Rock Amazon

How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps doesn’t try to be perfect—and that’s part of its charm. It’s quick, clever, and highly enjoyable, especially for readers who grew up on RPGs, video game mechanics, and classic save-the-world setups. From the start, we follow Yui, an underdog who’s not “the chosen one” by any stretch. But through stubborn determination, clever workarounds, and an unshakable belief in doing what’s right, she sets off to stop the Demon King anyway.

"There's some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for."—Samwise Gamgee September 22nd is Hobbit Day. And every year, I come back to the same place: Middle-earth. Not because it’s trendy, and not just out of nostalgia, but because I need the escape. I need stories like this—the kind that pull me out of the noise and give me something grounded, something real, even in all its fantasy.

Author: Wilson RawlsPublisher: Yearling Buy Now: Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Bookshop.org(supports indie bookstores) Even knowing what was coming, this book still broke me. Some books lose their magic when you revisit them as an adult — this one doesn’t. If anything, it hits harder. Where the Red Fern Grows is my dad’s favorite book, and picking it back up after all these years felt like stepping into one of his stories.

Author: Adam CesarePublisher: HarperTeenBuy Now: Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Bookshop.org (supports indie bookstores) I’ve been all-in with this series since book one, so I went into Clown in a Cornfield 3: The Church of Frendo with high expectations. While I liked it, this one didn’t quite hit as hard for me as the first two. The pacing felt slower early on, and I found myself waiting for the story to hit that sharp, slasher energy I have come to love.

Author: Adam CesarePublisher: HarperTeenPublication Date: August 23, 2022Buy Now: Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Bookshop.org (supports indie bookstores) Sequels usually make me nervous. Too often they ride the coattails of the original without bringing anything new. But Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives doesn’t just hold its own—it might have outdone the first. The slasher energy is alive and well here: bigger kills, faster pacing, and plenty of over-the-top chaos.

Genre: Horror / SlasherRating: ★★★★☆Publisher: HarperCollinsBuy It Here: Amazon | Barnes & Noble 🤡 A Bloody Love Letter to ’80s SlashersClown in a Cornfield is exactly what it promises—a fast-paced, bloody slasher that plays like an ’80s B-horror flick in the best way possible. It’s got the small-town backdrop, the creepy setup, and the killer-in-a-mask chaos you want from this kind of story.

Genre: Contemporary FictionRating: ★★★★☆Buy It Here: Amazon / Barnes & Noble A Quirky Hostage Story with Heart Backman is one of those authors who can make you laugh and cry on the same page. Anxious People starts as a bizarre, almost slapstick situation: a failed bank robbery leads to a group of strangers held hostage in an apartment. At first, I wasn’t sure if the quirky chaos would click for me—but then Backman did what he always does.

Genre: Contemporary / Speculative FictionRating: ★★★★☆Publisher: Simon & SchusterBuy It Here: Amazon Barnes & Noble ✨ Strange, Funny, and Quietly Profound Some books sneak up on you, and The Humans is one of them. At first, it’s just funny and odd—an alien trying to figure out why humans love peanut butter sandwiches, math, and awkward small talk. But then, almost without you noticing, it shifts into something deeper.

One Year, One Book, No Excuses. Today I turn 39, and I’m officially putting the universe on notice: by the time I turn 40, I’m publishing a book. Not thinking about it, not quietly tinkering while making excuses. A real book. With my name on the cover. Something you can hold, read, spill coffee on, and—if you must—use as a coaster.

Genre: MemoirRating: ★★★★★Format: Audiobook (Narrated by the Author)Buy It Here: Amazon | Barnes & Noble 🎙 An Audiobook Experience That Hits DifferentI knew My Next Breath would be moving, but listening to Jeremy Renner tell his own story takes it to another level entirely. His voice carries every ounce of the pain, gratitude, and raw emotion he’s lived through.

I didn’t see Superman (2025) right away. By the time I made it to the theater, it was already well into its run, and by the time I processed how much it meant to me, the moment felt like it had passed. So I kept my thoughts to myself. But now that the movie’s out to buy or rent digitally—and more people are finally seeing it for the first time at home—it feels like the right time to share what it gave me: something I’ve been waiting for my whole life.

Genre: Gothic ThrillerRating: ★★★★☆Publisher: DuttonBuy It Here: Amazon | Barnes & Noble Moody, Twisty, and Seriously Hard to Put Down From page one, The Only One Left had me. A crumbling mansion on a cliff, a mysterious woman accused of murder, and a nurse with secrets of her own? Yeah, I was all in. Riley Sager knows how to set a scene—and this one drips with atmosphere.

Genre: Cozy FantasyRating: ★★★★☆Publisher: Aethervale PublishingBuy It Here: Amazon --- 🍹 Comfort Fantasy Done Right Lately, I’ve been diving into cozy fantasy reads, and Cursed Cocktails by S.L. Rowland hit all the right notes. It's low-stakes, full of heart, and moved at a pace that felt effortless to fall into. There’s something incredibly refreshing about a fantasy book that’s not trying to save the world—but just tell a story that makes you feel good being in it.

Every year, right before baseball season starts, I rewatch Moneyball. It’s become a tradition at this point—something about that mix of strategy, stubbornness, and slow-burn momentum gets me hyped for opening day. But this year, I finally picked up the book behind it all. And I’ll be honest—this isn’t the kind of book I usually reach for. I don’t gravitate toward nonfiction about stats or economics, and I definitely wasn’t expecting to connect with something that breaks down sabermetrics.

Featuring my poem: Beneath the Peach Tree Amazon