Drew Broussard
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drewsof.bsky.social
Drew Broussard
@drewsof.bsky.social
2.4K followers 800 following 3.2K posts
he/him
writer
bookstore manager, Rough Draft Bar & Books
podcasts editor at Literary Hub & host of The Lit Hub Podcast

"His manners are as bad as his grasp of the issue involved" — some rando in the LH comments section
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drewsof.bsky.social
Oh shit I didn't realize Carmen Maria Machado won a Nobel Peace Prize but honestly I support it even as I wonder what she's doing in Venezuela instead of working on her next book.

(source: nymag.com/intelligence...)
dictator who held onto power after losing his 2024 reelection bid in a landslide, Trump has blithely dismissed Maduro’s main political opponent, Nobel Peace Prize winner Carmen María Machado, as “a very nice woman” who lacks “support or respect within the country.” Instead, Trump and Rubio have propped up Maduro’s vice-president
January 10, 2026 at 6:44 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
Year-in-reading! Stats + faves! 140 books this year, substantially less than the last almost-decade (full-time employment will do that) but I'm not mad about it. Also reaaaally enjoyed hand-tracking my books after years of not tracking anything post-Goodreads. More context follows, if interesting.
2025 in review BOOKS READ: 140 * - 13 ++ - 46 + - 36 ✓ - 28 ~ - 17 ☹️ - 1 2025 Releases: 71 Olde Releases: 62 2026 Releases: 7 STARRED 2025 READS: The Atlas of Hell — Nathan Ballingrud Exit Zero — Marie-Helene Bertino Gifted & Talented — Olivie Blake Red Sword — Bora Chung, tr. Anton Hur DIE, BOOK 1 — Kieron Gillen / Stephanie Hans The Everlasting — Alix E. Harrow The Road to Tender Hearts — Annie Hartnett Steering the Craft — Ursula K. Le Guin Ultramarine — Mariette Navarro, tr. Eve Hill-Agnus Money to Burn — Asta Olivia Nordenhof, tr. Caroline Waight There is No Antimemetics Division — QNTM Big Fan — Alexandra Romanoff We Hexed the Moon — Mollyhall Seeley
December 31, 2025 at 5:43 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
In better news, I want to share the 2025 bestseller lists from Rough Draft, because they really blew my mind when we ran them. Check out the top twenty fiction and non-fiction titles we sold in 2025, then read on (if you want) for some musings about the state of it all.
The 2025 Fiction Bestsellers from Rough Draft Bar & Books ("displayed" in four rows of five, backdropped by one of the brick arches inside the store) 1-5: LITTLE MYSTERIES, Sara Gran; HOW TO BE EATEN, Maria Adelmann; ULTRAMARINE, Mariette Navarro, tr. Eve Hill-Agnus; THE ROAD TO TENDER HEARTS, Annie Hartnett; ALL FOURS, Miranda July 6-10: THE EMPEROR OF GLADNESS, Ocean Vuong; ATMOSPHERE, Taylor Jenkins Reid; THE ONCE AND FUTURE WITCHES, Alix E. Harrow; PEW, Catherine Lacey; THE GOD OF THE WOODS, Liz Moore 11-15: I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN, Jacquline Harpman, tr. Ros Schwartz; MR SALARY, Sally Rooney; DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: PARTYPOOPER, Jeff Kinney; JAMES, Percival Everett; UNIVERSAL HARVESTER, John Darnielle 16-20: MARTYR!, Kaveh Akbar; A DIFFERENT KIND OF TENSION, Jonathan Lethem; HEART THE LOVER, Lily King; NORTH SUN, Ethan Rutherford; EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU, Jo Piazza The 2025 Non-Fiction Bestsellers from Rough Draft Bar & Books ("displayed" in four rows of five, backdropped by one of the brick arches inside the store) 1-5: THE SERVICEBERRY, Robin Wall Kimmerer; BRAIDING SWEETGRASS, Robin Wall Kimmerer; THE PHOENICIA DINER COOKBOOK; MUTUAL AID, Dean Spade; NINETEEN RESERVOIR, Lucy Sante 6-10: ONE DAY EVERYONE WILL HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AGAINST THIS, Omar El Akkad; ON TYRANNY, Timothy Snyder; WHAT IS COLOR?, Steven Weinberg; FOREST EUPHORIA, Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian; CAT, Rebecca van Laer 11-15: FORAGING & FEASTING, Dina Falconi; GEOLOGY OF THE HUDSON VALLEY, Steven Schimmrich; LOVE IN A F*CKED-UP WORLD, Dean Spade; ABUNDANCE, Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson; THE STORY OF HISTORIC KINGSTON 16-20: IS A RIVER ALIVE?, Robert Macfarlane; SIX SEASONS, Joshua McFadden; HOW TO FUCK LIKE A GIRL, Vera Blossom; HOT SHEET, Olga Massov & Sanae Lemoine; THE BOOK OF ALCHEMY, Suleika Jaouad
December 28, 2025 at 5:44 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
An iMessage text exchange that begins with the cover of Pope Leo XIV's forthcoming book (it's a dark brown cover, thin gold border, POPE LEO XIV in white text then, under that, PEACE BE WITH YOU! in gold text, with smaller white text beneath reading "MY WORDS TO THE CHURCH AND TO THE WORLD" and then there's the man, the myth, the American pope raising his hands and looking fly. Then there are the following texts: (blue)—just impossible to not read this with the thickest accent (blue)—ayyyy i'm da pope (gray)—He's raisin da roof (blue)—hahahaha (blue)—god bless us, every one (blue)—except the cubs (blue)—*spits*
December 20, 2025 at 3:07 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
If anybody has some money and a platform and wants to hire me to run a book club, I'm available! Might even be able to convince a man to read (gasp) a book about a woman solving a mystery!
It’s almost about what it doesn’t say. A lot of them are not a book for women, but they are a book about a woman rediscovering life after divorce. No thank you. Or there’s a whole genre of women solving mysteries where I was able to say, “No thank you.” But a lot of the books I’ve recommended are by female authors, and I would not say that my list is just books for guys. But they don’t hit that Lifetime Movie of the Week vibe. One of my favorites of last year was The Safekeep about a lesbian romance. It’s one of the best books of the year. I wouldn’t say that’s a book for guys, but I wouldn’t say it’s a book for women either in the way that the women’s marketplace is a lot of romantic fantasy and romantic mystery — more of those buzzwords that make me stay away from a book.
December 10, 2025 at 6:49 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
sure, Jan.
a screenshot of just the homepage center text of an article in The Atlantic, which reads... The Neocons Were Right Not about Iraq. But the moral tenor of their political writings could be an antidote to Trumpism. David Brooks
December 9, 2025 at 6:03 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
Hi, instead of watching the (sadly!) AI-generated dog adoption video OR continuing to post about/debate about it, I offer a timeline cleanse of my dog romping through the snow! 100% real! She's wearing a jacket! She's losing her mind!
December 6, 2025 at 9:09 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
Far be it from me to defend James Daunt but this headline is wildly misleading, since Daunt *in the article* says the following. It's surprising to me that the BBC would run such a clickbait-y headline but so it goes in 2025 I guess—but anyway, make this your quarterly reminder to READ THE ARTICLE.
In a wide-ranging interview with the BBC's Big Boss Interview podcast, Daunt said while Waterstones uses AI for logistics they currently try to keep AI-generated content out of the shops. "As a bookseller, we sell what publishers publish, but I can say that instinctively that is something that we would recoil [from]," he said.
December 6, 2025 at 2:24 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
The Rockwell painting, you know the one, from the Four Freedoms, with the blue-collar guy standing up in his dusty work jacket with suited guys looking up at him as he proudly starts to speak his mind
November 24, 2025 at 3:57 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
Do you or does someone you love live in the mid-Hudson Valley and want books for the holidays? I'm doing a limited run of curated book bags for folks — 3 titles, either hc or pb, in a Rough Draft tote with a little swag on the side. roughdraftny.square.site/shop/holiday...
A sign paperclipped to a Rough Draft tote bag (washable-brown-paper, looks kinda like leather but isn't, with festive tissue paper sticking out) The sign says HOLIDAY BOOK BAGS A personally curated bag of books from Drew and the books team! Perfect for the reader(s) in your life this holiday season! 3 hardcover books - $120 3 paperback books - $75 kids bag (3-5 books) - $75 ask the books desk for more details! in-person curation takes ~30mins and is subject to availability orders can be placed online with survey for in-store pick-up ONLY (but as I said, if you want something and you aren't local, reach out and we'll see what we can do)
November 22, 2025 at 4:32 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
On the other hand, I guess there are a lot of underappreciated old books out there. Anyway, the new Doubleday one might owe Pioneer Works some royalties on the graphic design front.
www.instagram.com/p/DQwySMjCf42/
a dark-mauve book on a pink background. at the top of the book in thin sans serif font, it reads FIXER CHAO HAN ONG over a pink line-drawing of a key hole. It's the first book out from this Doubleday "outsider editions" imprint, out 7.14.26
November 13, 2025 at 2:39 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
I fucking love bookmatch season, there are always questions that make me genuinely crack up, but this is an all-timer forever.
a screenshot of the bookmatch quiz with the question, in an brown-orange-ish box: Crazy out there. And the three choices below, in blue ovals: "Boy, I'll say." "whooo-eeee." "Eh, it'll blow over." And I chose "Boy, I'll say" because that's genuinely a conversation I have like once a day.
November 6, 2025 at 4:50 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
I have a copy soon enough winging its way to me from the fine folks at New Dominion in Charlottesville, but that doesn't mean I can't take an early flip through the finished copies of @alixeharrow.bsky.social's THE EVERLASTING aka my favorite book of the year (out on Tues! RD has signed copies!)
under the book desk at Rough Draft, at this exact moment, is a box — the box shown in a photograph here, a box filled with signed copies of Alix E. Harrow's THE EVERLASTING, which is a shiny black hardcover with a sorta stained glass Venn diagram that has a bastard sword straight down through it through which you can see a face. This book rocks.
October 23, 2025 at 6:28 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
Man, not to be grumpy online again, but... nobody fucking needs this. Publishers need to wake the fuck up and realize that chasing the bookfluencer "I'll post this but probably not read it" crowd is going to only hasten the coming crash and make it hurt that much harder when it happens
the IG ad from Penguin Random House for the "hardcover deluxe" edition of Andy Weir's THE MARTIAN, with text reading: FEATURING: * Sprayed Edges * New Cover Art on a Deluxe Jacket * Full-color Illustrated Endpapers * A Custom-Stamped Case and below that, the book itself, looking admittedly beautiful but utterly and in every way unnecessary
October 21, 2025 at 5:26 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
This from @kristenarnett.bsky.social's latest "Am I the Literary Asshole" is going to every single artist I know who has even ever been tempted by the machine: lithub.com/am-i-the-lit...
You need to stop putting your work into these platforms, immediately. [HIGHLIGHTED]I could get up on a high horse and give you a million reasons why you should not ever, under any circumstances be doing this when it comes to the greater collective (theft of others work and effort and time, the fact that it depletes our natural resources). But I only need tell you that you are ruining your chance at creative happiness. It’s ruining your brain. I know this because it’s making you bleed joy.[END HIGHLIGHTING] Your letter troubled me, friend. I worry that you have decided to just let go of all thought and let a computer think for you. That’s not what writing and passion and creativity is about. It’s not art. You do not need generative AI to give you story ideas. You do not need a robot to tell you whether your work is good. Only you can do that. Stop roadblocking your own writing life.
October 17, 2025 at 2:40 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
Perhaps the funniest moment in all of Trek, from STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME, when Scotty is told to use the computer and he starts talking to it, is instructed to use the mouse, and then he speaks into the mouse like it's a com unit. The guy helping them looks confused, while Bones looks patronizingly on at the old computer.
October 16, 2025 at 3:32 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
Just got a pitch for a 2026 title that has a pretty obviously AI generated cover. Sent this back to the publicist, in case anybody else wants to join me in saying no to such things.
As interesting as the book sounds, the fact that it has an obviously AI-generated cover means I not only have to pass, but feel compelled to write and tell you that that's why. It's an insult to the author, and to all the other authors, illustrators, and artists on the HC list, and I wish I could say I was shocked that it got past the initial design meeting let alone every successive conversation somebody had to have about it. I hope HC makes a different decision in the future, although I can't say I'm holding out hope.
October 6, 2025 at 5:44 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
Every year for the last idk how many, I've written a short piece of flash to accompany my annual October Country reading list (an assortment of eerie/spooky/strange/autumnal reads) — but I'm tired of emails, I'm even tired of most social media. So: www.drewbroussard.com/the-october-country
october 1 2025. my front yard, where the trees are thinning and turning and also not!
October 1, 2025 at 2:33 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
lol
(iykyk)
it's that dril tweet, you know the one: "and another thing: im not mad. please dont put in the newspaper that i got mad."
September 25, 2025 at 4:56 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
Vogue suggests you visit my bookstore 🥰

(come to Kingston but don't be weird about it, okay? don't ruin it for everyone?)
Rough Draft There’s something about Rough Draft that calms your soul. Maybe it’s the surroundings, both inside and out: housed in an old stone building that pre-dates the Revolutionary War, the interiors feature wood-beamed ceilings and exposed bricks. Or maybe just because it’s a fantastic indie bookstore in an age where fantastic indie bookstores feel few and far between. Order a latte—or even a cider—from their café and peruse the latest titles on its historic shelves.
September 24, 2025 at 7:41 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
I think it would be really cool if we generally tried to demilitarize our language a bit. I know this is well-meant and I don't entirely disagree with the sentiment but this sort of thing is almost as obnoxious a cosplay as the tac-vest brigade. I'm a bookseller, not a soldier.
from today's Shelf Awareness, an excerpt of the remarks that Jon Meacham gave at the NEIBA Fall Conference yesterday: "Booksellers "didn't sign up" to fight for democracy "in wartime, but it's wartime," he went on. "You are soldiers in a cause of enlightenment, democracy, dissent, and in the classical sense, liberalism.""
September 10, 2025 at 1:49 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
Hot tip for writers pitching bookstores on events: don't do this! For one, you don't know what we might have going on that isn't reflected on the external-facing calendar or why we might not have programming there but, mainly, don't *link* to our calendar in your email.
Trust me, ~we know~ about it.
I'd love to come do an author event at your store this October, if I may. I'll be in the Kingston area the week of October 15-22, when I see there is indeed space on your calendar. I'd be able to do any of your currently open dates from the 16-20th (inclusive). ("space on your calendar" is hyper-linked to... my store's events calendar.)
September 6, 2025 at 1:47 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
I'm gonna fucking lose my mind over this bullshit from the Washington BezPost: "But if you want to lower your emissions, you’d be better off changing your commute or eating less meat than stopping your AI use."

Like sure! Sure, bro! We *should* stop farming cattle AND we can stop using AI! DO BOTH!
An Instagram caption on a post from @postclimate: A single Q&A session with a large language model can consume more than a half-liter of fresh water to cool servers. Asking ChatGPT one question reportedly consumes 10 times as much electricity as a conventional Google search. And generating an image is equivalent to charging a smartphone. But if you want to lower your emissions, you’d be better off changing your commute or eating less meat than stopping your AI use.
August 27, 2025 at 5:11 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
Just received a blanket pitch from a children's book author (sent, presumably, to many indie bookstores) pitching a clearly AI-illustrated book. In the interest of public service, this was my response. I'm fucking done with being nice to these people.
Hi John — Thanks very much for reaching out. I'm assuming you've used AI to generate the art here, just based on a quick look through the attached PDF — we will not stock AI-generated works of any kind, as currently available AI tools are not only environmentally disastrous but also trained largely off the backs of stolen creative labor. I can't imagine we'll be the only store to respond in this manner, but even if we are, we'll be holding firm to this line. Better luck with your next, hopefully all-human, book.
August 23, 2025 at 2:47 PM
drewsof.bsky.social
one of the best tweets that ever tweeted, from Rachael Stott (@RachaelAtWork) Star Trek TNG episodes are called like 'Explosion' and the episode is about a big explosion. TOS episodes are called 'What yonder soul doth go hence... a brother??" and are about an omnipotent space frog who makes everyone take their clothes off
August 7, 2025 at 9:41 PM