Welcome back to another month of musings from a book nerd.

If you’re new here – heyyyy. If you’re not new here – heyyyyy. Difference in the heys? Eyebrows. You just can’t see them because, alas, this is the written word.

We hit 10k followers on Instagram in early May, and I have to be honest – it felt pretty good. It was a goal we set ourselves early on, and reaching it means something. Not in a “we have ascended” kind of way. More in a “holy shit, there are 10,000 of you here voluntarily” kind of way.

I love our community. I love oversharing book information in DMs, showing you special editions up close and personal, and sharing banter with anyone brave enough to engage with a feral book nerd on the internet.

Since we’re not a physical store, it has always mattered to me that our social media – specifically Instagram, because I am a millennial who struggles with TikTok and regularly forgets Facebook exists – serves as a touchpoint for customer questions, updates, and general bookish nonsense. Basically, the closest thing we have to you wandering into the shop and asking what fresh chaos has arrived.

So thank you for joining us there, following along with our unboxings, fun videos, questionable banter, and the occasional dramatic zoom-in on sprayed edges. Important journalism, really.

As we leave May behind and officially enter June, I want to talk about something incredibly important to me: my Oodie. No, this is not sponsored. Although, Oodie, call me.

After many, many hints, my husband got me one for Mother’s Day. He sat down with our two children, and together they picked out the one they thought was the coolest. It is baby pink and purple, which is certainly a choice. A bold one. The children stand by their decision.

And yet, this wearable blanket is life-changing.

If you weren’t around this time last year, you wouldn’t know that it was around this time last year that I discovered my wall was crying. AKA, we had a leak in the upstairs bathroom.

My wonderful husband, who is a builder, pulled the gib off the wall, and we got the leak fixed. Full credit to the boys. However, like all good tradie husbands, he did not then fix the wall. So here I am, about to go through yet another winter with my lounge in frames. Rustic. Exposed. Deeply inconvenient.

We have had many discussions about when the wall might be fixed. “Next month.” “Before Kin’s birthday party.” “While I’m on break over summer.”

And yet, here I am.

Singing my husband’s praises – not because he finally put the walls back up so I no longer have a four-metre-long hole directly to the underfloor, but because he purchased me a wearable blanket, and hot damn, I fucking love it.

And because he is the disgustingly supportive husband that he is, I know he will be reading this two weeks after it has been sent to everyone, so:

Hi my love. Any chance of some walls?

Outside of passively-aggressively publicly shaming my husband for his lack of wall repairs, I also read some rather fun books this weekend.

This year has not been a consistent reading year for me. I have had some absolute bangers, and then quite a few deeply meh reads. The kind of meh where you keep reading because you’ve already committed, which is not growth. It is stubbornness in an Oodie.

After finishing a book that was a bit of a slog, I jumped onto Reddit for recommendations. A particular series kept coming up, so I thought, “Fuck it. Let’s see what it’s like.”

That series was Hey There, Hop Stuff by Sedona Ashe. A reverse harem bunny shifter x wolf shifter paranormal romance.

Female bunnies get assigned “fluffles” because their heats are so intense they can kill their mates from too much sex.

Guys. I gave it four stars.

It was short, only about 200 pages, and it was great. I laughed. I got mad. I questioned my sanity. Then I read all three standalones in the series over the weekend, because once you’ve accepted the premise of deadly bunny heat, you may as well see it through.

Honestly? Great time. So if you’re looking for something different and light-hearted, while still having some darker themes, hop right into this series.

King's Birthday Sale!

Behind the Pages | Bookish Updates

News

Off-Campus Series
If you haven’t been living in a reading cave, you will have seen that Off Campus hit Amazon Prime in May, and book people are LOVING IT. I loved it. My dad started watching it with me and loved it. Matthew loved it and has since rewatched it, which feels like commitment. Possibly concern. We still have some copies of The Deal available – the book the series is based on – and we are waiting to hear whether a restock will be available for the others.

Just Released
A Parade of Horribles has also released. If you haven’t noticed by now, we are big DCC fans and were eagerly awaiting Book 8. We are now in the awkward “who are we?” phase while we wait for news on Books 9 and 10. In the meantime, the UK hardback edition has hit our shelves this week.

Riftborne is Selling Fast
Riftborne popped off – did you get a copy? They are stunning, they are selling quickly, and there will be no restock. So, lovingly, do not muck around.

June Releases to get Amped About

Light Wielder – Rachel Schneider's sequel to Metal Slinger. I am scared, guys.

Kissed by the Gods – Caty Rogan's edition is BEAUTIFUL. Why are we not all shouting about this?

The Inadequate Heir – book three in the deluxe edition re-release. As always, the art is god tier.

Once Upon a Demon’s Heart – K. M. Moronova’s newest trad release duo, hitting our shelves in hardback for the first time.

Storm of Secrets and Sorrow – Melissa K. Roehrich’s book two in her Legacy series. This series broke me. I still haven’t put myself back together enough to finish it.

Tempting Venom – Rina Kent. The queen herself. Words not needed.

Releases Coming in Hot This June

Thank you Grim Fam!

Thanks for hanging out in this month’s corner of bookish chaos. May your parcels arrive quickly, your sprayed edges be immaculate, and your bank account forgive you eventually. Remember: you didn’t buy too many books – you simply underestimated your future reading pace.

Stay cosy, stay chaotic, and for the love of all things fictional, read something unhinged.

Anastasia
Book Nerd & Founder of The Grimoire
hello@thegrimoire.co.nz