June 2026 Roundup
Book Rants--June Books Were Bleh. But Shout-Outs are Awesome.
Hello!
June went by in a blur. One of the highlights is my interview with Ani King. I learned a lot about using Audacity—but I am still very new. That being said, I’m proud of the hard work I’ve put into learning it all. I’m still learning how to use Substack and WordPress, too. I should have gone with SquareSpace because it is more user friendly, but I overestimated my ability to learn things quickly. Yes, I could transfer my domain, but that feels like too much of a hassel and gives me anxiety. I’d rather fuss with RSS and learn about open API and be angry about closed API. I only understood enough of what I just said to make a list of my latest posts on my website. But not a pretty list…sigh.
Do the heart-shaped like button thingy and the share button please xoxo.
Unfortuneatly, Stanchion has just announced they (or rather Jeff Bogle since it is a labor of love with a sort-of one man team [sort-of since I’m sure his family is supportive] but we say ‘they’ like the royal we) are going to cease print issues of the zine. It’s very difficult to do print, which is why so many lit mags are online—and also why so many lit mags don’t pay contributors. They honestly cannot afford to do so. Some have the financial support of the university they are published out of (which still isn’t a lot of support), and others are estabilished enough from years gone by to have enough readers.
The moral of the story is, I don’t know man, none of us have money and funing is nonexistent because something about defunding the arts /sarcasm. But tell everyone to read more, to look for small presses, to buy their books from independent sellers instead of Amazon or even Barnes and Noble (and that would be a whole other post), and to start reading lit mags. So many lit mags are free to read online and they are sustained by tip jars and overworked/underpaid EICs. (And for some crazy reason, me and Ziggy want to join in on this).
Speaking of supporting small presses and the dystopian capitalist society we all inhabit…Read of listen to the interview with Ani King! They give so many book and lit mag recs, your summer reading list is covered!
Book Reviews (Rants?)
The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King. The audio book is read by several people, all wonderful, and King gives his introductions. A collection of stories for every mood. Of course King writes horror, and the collection begins with a killer car a la Christine, but there is always more. This collection also has introductions to each story where King talks about the inspiration behind the piece or how the piece took shape over a long period. As with any collection, I didn’t like all of them, or I had an issue with parts of them. “Ur” for example was a fun story about alternate universes having more books published than our own. But it lacked female authors. A 20th century lit professor couldn’t think of any women authors? Imagine that class. It is a sausage fest, but worse, it it speaks to a deficite in education. (I’m not 100% done yet).
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. I tried to get into this. As I said in my post (linked below), Cameron is a shithead. Unredeamable in my eyes. He has zero empathy for anyone (except his aunt) but expects it all. But there seems to be a trend where males can be shits but it’s okay because they have suffered minor inconviences—and not just in books. Tova was a good character, and brings out some good in him. I think the film adaptation made Cameron likeable by cutting out his shittiness. But the book needed more Marcellus. He was only there for the twist that had Cameron taken more than one minute to think about would have figured out. Moments come up that aren’t returned to, like Tova’s special beach. And chapters with Marcellus felt like they were there only for filler. The book also needed more Knit Wits. They show up occasionally, but their relationship with Tova should have been more of a back bone. DNF.
The Eyes are the Best Part by Monika Kim. I wanted to like this because I’m a fan of body horror. It’s heavily implied the protagonist will eventually eat human eyes, but it takes her longer than half the book to get there. The plot is so slow in part because the protagonist keeps explaining away creepy behavior. The mom’s new bf George is a perverted creep who shouldn’t be around teen girls. Somehow mom doesn’t see this, and neither daughter speaks to her about it. Her friend Geoffrey is also a predator, but every time he does something possessive, she writes it off. Style wise, the author will go into a flashback for context for a scene that is only a few paragraphs and felt like it had little consequence. Her friends were mad at her and…they are still mad. No weight to the story. I guessed a lot of what happened and eventually DNF.
We Burned So Bright by TJ Klune. I usually love a Klune novel. This one is different than what he usually writes, and I knew that going in. There were moments I did enjoy, but I thought the most interesting parts were summarized and I would have preferred a longer novel to flesh out the relationships. However, if you’re looking for an end-of-the-world novel where the main characters are on one last quest before the world ends, and you want to read a story where the main characters meet someone new every chapter, you might enjoy it. It’s about family and love and how people are coping with the inevitable end (some not well, understandably).
That all being said, I just started Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro and I’m loving it. I saw a trailor for the film, and it looked adorable. I wanted to read it before the film came out. It’s only 10 hours long, and the Libby loan came faster than expected, so King is on hold for Ishiguro. Bet.
My Brilliant Friend
I’ve taken inspiration from the fabulous Elena Ferrante and added a new section to the monthly roundup emails. In this section, I’ll celebrate my brilliant friends’ acheivements—publications and more!
Here’s what I have this month! Strangely, or not, all poetry wins.
Ella B. Winters has several wins this month (and shared several rejections with her hilarious blackout rejection poetry on her Instagram @elle.b.winters). Smitten with the Written anthology from Arcana Poetry Press —also includes work from Rachel Beachy, who published poems pretty much nonstop and is another poetical force (is poetical correct? sure why not). Ella also has a poem in Grasshopper Poetry. If you like shaped poem, read it. AND in Hyacinth Review. That’s available here.
Michael DuBon is also crushing it with poetry. His bilingual love poem, “Mañanas Ambientes,” is published in SHINE Poetry Quarterly’s Summer Issue, available to order. And in Poetry in Brief (and a few others forthcoming, but let’s save that for July). Link to his other published work here. Mostly excited to share that he’s publishing a chapbook next year! Fragilidad y Free Dissociation with Girl Noise Press.
Kailah Figueroa has two poems in Vol. 44 no.2 of Callaloo Journal!
KT Amrine & Darby Power have coauthored a chapbook Anything but Hermit Crabs through Fifth Wheel Press. It’s available on a sliding scale, techinically for free, but any payment goes directly to the authors.
Are you a brilliant friend of mine? Let me know! Are you brilliant but we’re not friends yet? Let’s be friends!
NEXT WEEK: Your America 250 Reading List. XOXO I spent a lot of time prepping this list, and you’re going to forking love it. (I’m rewatching The Good Place.)
My Latest Publications
“All the Tomorrows,” microfiction, print, Stanchion Issue 23, June 2026
“Alice Should Have Known Better,” microfiction, Trash Cat Lit, May 2026
“Serendipity” + 4 poems, poetry, Blood + Honey Lit Mag, Feb. 2026
“When You Find the Secret Tunnel Hidden Behind the Panel,” flash fiction, A Curious Moon Issue 2, Dec. 2025
“Kaleidoscope,” micro fiction, Silly Goose Press Issue 6, Nov. 2025
“New Yorkers,” flash fiction, Etched Onyx Issue 18, Sept. 2025