As of this past Sunday, it is officially FALL, which means that our 2025 Summer Reading Challenge has come to an end. (Yes, we did extend it a bit beyond our original September 1st end date so we could have at least a week per challenge. We felt it was only fair!) 

We have absolutely loved reading your responses to our challenges over on our Patreon this summer. You gave us a TON of new, wonderful books to check out, and continually inspired both us and your fellow readers. Thank you for joining us this year!

As promised, we do have a winner for our book-themed care package… but first, here are our final wrap ups!

Brittany:

Okay, here is my final list (I won’t elaborate on the title if I already did in our mid-challenge update post!) I switched some out from last time to try to get a different book for each of the challenges and, as you’ll see, I was ALMOST successful this year! 

A Book with a Pink Cover – I Survived Capitalism and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt by Madeline Pendleton – Wrote about this one last time!

A Book by a Debut Author Whose First Book Comes Out This Summer – The Phoenix Pencil Company by Allison King – I’m really not sure how I ultimately felt about this one. I mostly enjoyed it, and it was certainly a brisk, easy read. I loved the slight, quiet magic of the story and the intergenerational perspective flipping too. The basic premise is that the women of a certain family have the magical ability to bleed out the hearts of pencils, essentially copying out everything that particular pencil has ever written. Along with the actual words, drawings, etc, they also receive the feelings that person felt as they were using the pencil. This ability can obviously be used for good (as when one of the women is able to give another women fleeing persecution the last poems of her late husband), but it can also be used for evil (as when one of the women is forced to act as a spy and bleed out the conspiratorial writings of enemies of the state for those in charge, who then meet fates often not explicitly mentioned but easily imagined.) The message frequently pushed, because of this, is that stories can be dangerous and not all stories should be shared with everyone. As a folklorist, I was very conflicted about this, as you might imagine! In fact, the character who wants to archive stories is painted as short sighted, even problematic, as if archiving stories is a project that isn’t well thought out enough yet. She is portrayed as pushy, as if she is almost stealing from people by wanting them to share their stories with her and the world. Honestly, I’m not sure I’m being quite fair to the book by saying that, but that’s how I felt throughout, so overall it was a complicated read that I’m still grappling with.     

A Book by An Author You’ve Already Read and Loved – Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste – A book that starts with the premise that Lucy Westenra of Dracula and Bertha Mason of Jane Eyre are BFFs living in late 1960s Los Angeles? Where do I sign?? This book was a LOT of fun. I don’t think it 100% lived up to its potential, and it dragged a tiny bit in spots, but I still had a blast reading it. Totally perfect atmosphere with a bizarre but wonderful mashup. I’d read Gwendolyn Kiste’s first collection of short stories, and loved it, so I was really excited to read a novel from her. I wasn’t disappointed. This one also fits the “Twist on a Classic” and “Something Gothic” categories!

A Short Story – “The Knight and the Butcherbird” by Alix E. Harrow – Wrote about this one last time! This one could also fit the “Something Science Fiction” category. 

Something Gothic – The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – This one more precisely fits into the witches category, I guess, but they’re not really the kind of witches I like, so I’m reluctant to put it there. These witches are the hardcore, Gothic, scary witches, so I’m putting this book here instead (if it doesn’t read as quite Gothic enough to you, you can sub in But Not Too Bold here, which is very obviously Gothic.) This was a really, really hard read for me. There was a lot I loved about it (the college/academic setting, especially the focus on someone writing about a lesser known female speculative fiction writer, the three different perspective switches, the emphasis on story and the power of folklore, and the slow-build of completely Gothic, unsettling, and uncanny vibes, for example.) However, again, this book was not about my kind of witches, and nothing proved that more than the consistent animal death throughout the whole thing. Most of them weren’t strong parts of the story (a dead rat is found on a bed, for example), but there was one death in particular, which, if you know me, you will know almost stopped me from finishing this one. Yes, even despite the fact you can see it coming a mile away. In fact, when I did start to sense it was coming, I almost stopped reading then, but I remained hopeful Moreno-Garcia would choose a different path. She did not, though there IS a twist that makes it slightly less awful. I absolutely cried though, and I am sure I’m not the only one, and it really ruined the whole thing for me. I did finish it, because I wanted to know what happened, and I’m glad I did because of the twist about the death that is revealed, but overall I’m just not pleased and very sad that I’m not.   

A Twist on a Classic – Not Quite a Ghost by Anne Ursu AND The Classic It Was Based On – “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Reread!) – Sara already wrote about these last time, so I won’t go into either again except to say that both are just as excellent as she said they were!

Something Science Fiction – Starter Villain by John Scalzi – This was an absolutely ridiculous and delightful read that Josh and I listened to on a series of long car trips. I don’t want to say too much about this one, because it was so funny and weird, but basically a random guy inherits his estranged uncle’s super villain organization and shenanigans ensue. Also there are brilliant cats serving as high-level spy operatives and foul-mouthed dolphins trying to form a labor union. It’s a good (and surprisingly heart-warming) time. I think that this one could also fit into the “Romp” category! 

A Book About Witches – The White Hare by Jane Johnson – As mentioned, The Bewitching could go here, but I instead opted for The White Hare. The “witches” of The White Hare are more of the subtle, witch-Y variety, but I loved them, best part of the book. This was one of the books where the atmosphere and the vibes easily won my heart, even if the story didn’t 100%. As I said, the witch-y side characters were utterly delightful, I loved the women overcoming the patriarchy via vaguely pagan worldviews themes, and Cornwall itself was an amazing, evocative character here. This book left me desperately wanting to visit that part of the world, where craggy cliffs look over white-tipped waves and the misty chill of magic haunts the fields (maybe it’s because Brittany is just across the sea and very similar in many ways?)

A Memoir – Just Kids by Patti Smith – This memoir has been on my TBR list for a long time and, even though Madeline Pendleton’s book was technically a memoir too, I decided I wanted another one. I’m so glad that I did. This isn’t my usual kind of read at all, but Patti Smith is such an evocative writer, and I found myself underlining things to look up practically every other page (side note: I love it when books make me do that!) and/or underlining phrases that were just perfectly said. You can tell Smith is a poet, even though she’s writing prose here, and the NYC of her memories is so enticing (despite the poverty and sadness) that I want to jump back through a time portal to experience it myself, just for a little while. It’s a world where art is paramount, and it seeps into everything these “kids” touch.  

A Romp – Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis – I’ve already gone on and on about this one at book club (if you join here you can catch the recording, it was one of our best conversations I think!) so I won’t go too much into it here. I haven’t read a lot of Romantasy, and most of it isn’t my thing, but I really enjoyed this one and the way that Burgis was so consciously playing with and reversing some of the most deeply baked in stereotypes about women. It’s definitely a “romp,” very light and funny, but heartwarming too. Also, a book will always get bonus points from me for adorable crow minions.

A Feminist Fairy-Tale Retelling – But Not Too Bold by Hache Pueyo – Again, Sara wrote about this one last time, so I won’t go into it again, except to say that I actually did totally believe the romance despite, you know, spider lady munchies. This one obviously also fits into the “Something Gothic” category! 

Something Illustrated – Night Flower: The Life and Art of Vali Myers edited by Gemma Jones and Martin McIntosh – Ah, another one that’s been on my shelf forever and, despite the fact that I had taken it down and admired the illustrations over and over again for years, this time I actually sat down and read the whole thing cover to cover. And it was delightful! I always loved all the bits and pieces of Vali Myers’ life that I’d picked up from the Internet, but seeing her through the eyes of those who loved her, coupled with her beautiful artwork, just made me more dazzled by her weird and wonderful life. Her actual finished art isn’t my favorite, but her diaries, oh my God, they are incredible. They have all been digitized by the State Library of Victoria here, and it’s well worth an afternoon clicking through the images. I am endlessly enchanted and inspired by them.

Something Hopeful – Weep, Woman, Weep by Maria DeBlassie – Another book club pick, but I’m so glad we did this one! Not only is Maria just a fabulously magical person, she is also incredibly kind and brilliant – all of these qualities show in her writing. I will forever associate lemon balm soap with a brightening, hopeful feeling because of this book (in fact, I went out and bought some right after I finished it!) This one could also fit into the “Something Gothic” category (it surprises no one that many of these books could fit into that category, right?) 

Okay, you might have noticed that I skipped “A Tome” in the challenge list. That is because, technically once again, I have failed to complete the challenge, as I am only about halfway through my tome book, The Courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E. Pearson. It is 550 pages, and I think I may have psyched myself out thinking about it as “a TOME” because I am really struggling to finish this one, despite really enjoying it overall! I will get there, but sigh. I still think that, overall, I was VERY successful this year though, so I will give myself a small gold star. A silver star? Yes. 

Sara:

I had a very weird book summer. In mid-July, I caught bronchitis, which is my absolute kryptonite, and I proceeded to be disgustingly, drastically ill for 2 full months. Reading is my coping mechanism for reality, and it turns out that when I get no sleep for actual weeks on end (and go through four rounds of steroids), I struggle to read, especially anything new. Go figure. So I’ve been actively salty about most of my new reads for most of the summer, which is a wild and deeply uncharacteristic mood for me. Mercifully, the spell has been lifted (I devoured a new book in 24 hours over the weekend and loved it), and I somehow completed the challenge anyway! Here’s how it went down:

A Book with a Pink Cover – But Not Too Bold by Hache Pueyo. I wrote about this last time, but I’ll add that it was truly one of the most original, bizarre, and memorable books I’ve read so far this year! (I also read I Survived Capitalism and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt by Madeline Pendleton on Brittany’s recommendation and enjoyed it, too.)

A Book by a Debut Author Whose First Book Comes Out This Summer – Immortal Consequences by I. V. Marie. This book was billed as dark academia Hunger Games in purgatory, and thus I had to read it. The concept was really fun, but it definitely had some significant issues with execution.

A Book by An Author You’ve Already Read and Loved –  Looking for Group by Alexis Hall. Covered in our previous post. I’ll add that I also read The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam by Megan Bannen (the author of The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy) and thought it was a delightful conclusion to the Tanria trilogy. 

A Short Story – “Shimmering, Warm, and Bright” by Shveta Thakrar. I’ve read this one probably a dozen times, and I still think it’s one of the best, most honest discussions of depression I’ve seen in art. Even more admirable, it literally uses magical creativity as a metaphor but without ever crossing that dangerous line into suggesting that depression is a necessary factor or cost to having magic or being a creative person (which is a trope that needs to go die in a fire.)

Something Gothic – The Spirit Collection of Thorne Hall by J. Ann Thomas. This one was strongly recommended to me by Carterhaugh student Morag, and girl was on point. This book does a lot of things absolutely brilliantly, from adapting and fictionalizing a real location to imbuing ballads with magic to being Gothic AF. I don’t want to say too much more about it now because we are 100% going to use it in a future course. But ahhhh. So much good stuff. (Other books I read that would fit here include But Not Too Bold, Not Quite a Ghost, Weep, Woman, Weep, Gideon the Ninth, and Harrow the Ninth.)

A Twist on a Classic – Not Quite a Ghost by Anne Ursu. Wrote about this one previously, still stunned by what Ursu was able to pull off in this middle grade novel. 

The Classic It Was Based On – “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Wrote about this one previously, still bow down before the utter genius of Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Something Science Fiction – Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. One of my favorite books of all time. When I was at my lowest with bronchitis, I re-read this. Twice. And then I re-read Harrow the Ninth. Twice. I have no regrets about what I have done.

A Book About Witches – Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis. I won’t rehash this one too much since Brittany already wrote about it above. It wasn’t super my cup of tea, but I appreciate the way that Burgis was interested in exploring, reversing, and questioning very standard romance tropes.

A Memoir – All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert. Since everyone and their mother was talking about this one, I picked it up, kind of on a whim, and devoured it in about 24 hours. This was my first time reading Elizabeth Gilbert, although I knew who she was because Eat, Pray, Love. Damn, this woman can write. This book is gripping and compelling as hell, and it is harrowing. I couldn’t put it down – this was actually the new-to-me book that finally broke my reading rut – and I’m floored by Gilbert’s bravery and vulnerability. I honestly can’t believe she published it.

A Tome – We Can Do Hard Things by Glennon Doyle, Abby Wombach, and Amanda Doyle. I feel weird calling this one a tome (it certainly doesn’t read like a tome!) but at 512 pages, it’s exactly as long as the other longest book I’ve read this summer (Immortal Consequences). I’m a massive fan of the We Can Do Hard Things podcast, and I adored Glennon Doyle’s most recent memoir Untamed. As a lifelong devotee of US women’s soccer, I’m also a decades-long fan of Abby Wombach. If you like the podcast – where the three hosts and their guests talk about everything from boundaries to poetry to what success even is and so much more – you’ll love the book, which is a distillation of some of the wisdom from the show. It’s literally a guidebook for survival – how to do hard things when the world is crazy – delivered with so much heart, humor, and honesty, and I am very happy to have it.

A Romp – ZomRomCom by Olivia Dade. This book is extremely silly, and this is not a complaint. If you call your book “ZomRomCom,” that’s kind of a given. Edie attempts to save her sweet but dim neighbor from a zombie attack only to discover that he’s not only an ancient, wealthy, and superpowerful vampire but also a famous but mysterious fashion influencer. They proceed to save their neighborhood – and then THE WORLD – from the zombie outbreak and then from the politics that kicked off the attack, while occasionally pausing to have sex. Like I said, very silly, sweet, zany, and, as always, reflective of Dade’s signature body positivity.   

A Feminist Fairy-Tale Retelling – The Thorn Key: Fairy Tales in Verse by Jeana Jorgensen. Discussed in the previous write-up.

Something Illustrated – Masters of Death by Olivie Blake. Honestly, I wish I hadn’t been quite so sick with bronchitis when I was reading this one. It’s very Good Omens by way of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and I love Blake’s sense of humor. Unfortunately, my sleep-deprivation and coughing kept jolting me out of it. Definitely merits a re-read. 

Something Hopeful – A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow. I know everyone loves The Once and Future Witches, but my favorite Harrow book so far has been A Spindle Splintered, a hilarious critique of the dying girl narrative executed through a Sleeping-Beauty multiverse (which Harrow did her folklore homework to create.) A Mirror Mended is the continuation of Zinnia’s story as she accidentally falls into another sleeping princess story, Snow White. At one point Zinnia sends her best friend a single desperate text that reads “ATU 709 SOS,” and I laughed until I cried.

And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for… the winner of the challenge!! Our winner for 2025 is Melissa Butler!! Congratulations, Melissa! Look for an email from us very soon, and, again, THANK YOU to everyone who participated this year (there were so many of you!!) We hope you enjoyed the challenge as much as we did.

What was your favorite read of the summer? Reply in the comments and tell us! We always LOVE to add to our TBR piles! 

P.S. There is still time to sign up for the FREE “Dirty, Messy, Alive” series of writing workshops! We cannot stress to you enough how 🔥 these workshops are going to be. Plus, if you add the optional All-Access Pass after signing up, you get over $1000-worth of additional materials for a TINY fraction of their usual price (including our full “Find Your Fairy Tale” mini course!) This is an amazing deal, and we’re thrilled to be part of it. If you’ve ever even toyed with the idea of writing creative non-fiction, personal essays, a memoir, or anything even remotely close to those things, you absolutely MUST get in on this.

P.P.S. Enjoyed the summer reading challenge? You will LOVE our Patreon-based book club! It’s been going strong for 68 months straight (that’s over 5 years!?) and our 69th book is T. Kingfisher’s incredible A Sorceress Comes to Call. If you love an excellent fairy-tale retelling, this is seriously the month to join us and start taking part in our wonderful discussions!

P.P.P.S. Ah, one last thing! We had a poem, “Janet to the Fairy Queen,” published in the brand new fairy-tale and folklore magazine, The Otherworld! It’s a GORGEOUS issue, created by two amazing women, and you can grab it for just $5 right now! We’re so excited that this new folklore-inspired creative outlet exists, and we highly, highly encourage you to go support it! 

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