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We can’t all be excited independent readers. For some of us, reading feels too much like school. (And some of us really loved school.) Or maybe the weather is getting us down; not enough sunlight, not enough warmth. (While some of us really love cuddling up with a warm blanket, lighting some candles, and getting cozy with a book.) Whatever the reason, it’s perfectly normal to get grouchy around reading. Here are some of our favorite surefire recommendations for reluctant and grouchy readers.

What's up next on the TBR list for the author of For Your Consideration: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson? Let's find out!

Hey Tres! If you were stranded on Mars and could only have one book to read, what would it be?

American Gods. It's so rereadable and, maybe most importantly given the situation, it's pretty long.

What's your fandom?

Power Rangers is the big one. I literally never stopped watching it growing up until it temporarily went off the air in 2009. It's always meant a lot to me and I'm still pretty keyed into the fandom of it. And then there's Star Wars but like, duh, I'm a person with eyes who watches movies. Of course I'm a part of the Star Wars fandom.

What book is up next on your TBR?

I'm currently in the middle of making my way through Power Rangers: Shattered Grid, which was a big comic crossover event that went down last year. After that though, I've got a book I'm really excited about lined up: The Ceremonies by T.E.D Klein. Last year my bud Steve Foxe wrote a list for Paste Magazine outlining some of the best horror novels of all time. A couple of days later Stephen King reached out to him on Twitter totally unprompted and recommended he check out The Ceremonies as it wasn't included on the list. He said it's "the Moby Dick of horror" which is high praise coming from him. A few weeks ago I found a copy in a used bookstore so I'm stoked to finally give this one a shot—feels like the perfect October read. 

If you were a Quirk book (not your own), which one would you be?

We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix. I'm a horror movie nerd who grew up playing in punk and metal bands. Seems like an obvious call.

You wrote a fill in the blank post for the Quirk blog where the reader is invited to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's birthday party. What would you do if you were invited to an epic birthday party thrown by The Rock?

Die of excitement before I ever got to attend.

What is your favorite fact about the The Rock that you learned while writing For Your Consideration: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson?

Oh man, I really love the story about how much work he put into vocal training to sing "You're Welcome" in Moana. 

Rank your top five movies starring The Rock.

I'm doing a version of this that only allows for ONE Fast & Furious installment because otherwise it'd be a really boring list.

5. Pain & Gain
4. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
3. Central Intelligence
2. G.I. Joe: Retaliation
1. Fast Five

What's up next on the TBR list for the authors of For Your Consideration: Keanu Reeves? Read on to find out!

It’s National Coming Out Day and we couldn’t be happier. As a publisher that prioritizes intersectionally feminist titles, we’re so pleased to have three queer titles to celebrate today. (Three of them!) For all the new parents, aunts, uncles, and proud friends, we’re recommending our newest picture book: The GayBCs by M.L. Webb, an inclusive book of ABCs meant to encourage conversation among children.

For our young adult readers – and YA fans of all ages – we have Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston, a raucous adventure perfect for anyone who’s braved a con, stayed up all night working on cosplay, or written a piece of fanfic. It’s also super queer in a romcom way, so you don’t have to be a fangirl yourself to fangirl over Imogen and Jessica.

And for long time fans of Quirk Books, dig into our back catalogue with Born This Way by Paul Vitagliano, a book of over one hundred memories from LGBTQIA+ folks about their childhood. It’s a celebration of our true queer selves.

In celebration of this beautiful day, here are our (other) favorite queer-centric books, featuring some of our favorite young adult protagonists.

*You found the Quirk or Treat giveaway!*

October and all things spooky are officially upon us. We imagine Guillermo del Toro exiting some gothic style home right now, donning Dracula’s cape and Dr. Caligari’s top hat. While fans of del Toro might be tempted to watch his films this October, might we suggest a few spooky reads instead?

We seem to have misplaced our calendar. Can anyone tell us what day it is?

Oh that’s right. It’s Mean Girls day! And while we could just spend all day organizing a living room read of Much Ado About Mean Girls – we’re biased, but it’s hilarious – what we really want to do is head on over to North Shore High School and start handing out book recommendations around the cafeteria. Admit it, you want to know what The Plastics are reading when they’re not plotting everyone else’s complete demise. (It’s the picture book Corduroy. We know. We were surprised too.) Read on to see what else we’re recommending!