The Little Fox Lair September 2024 Newsletter

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Welcome to the first newsletter from The Little Fox Lair! Thank you so much to everyone that subscribed or shared this passion project so far. I appreciate every single one of you. I hope that these posts help you connect with new books, find fulfillment in reading, and learn some new things along the way.

August Reading Wrap-up

I read five books in August, and I tried to read a mix of genres. I find that any time I read a lot of high fantasy pages, I need to come back down to earth and touch grass by reading a concrete, literary fiction piece or a lighter, contemporary romance. More comprehensive reviews and discussions can be found on my social media channels linked at the bottom of this post, but below is a brief overview of what I read last month.

• The Professor by Skye Warren (Tanglewood University #1): This is not my typical read, but sometimes I live on the edge and go on a blind date with a book. The meet cute in this is very reminiscent of the movie Pretty Woman (1990), but the story quickly morphs into a contemporary crossover of The Skulls (2000) meets Submission (2017). The author does do something interesting in this book with Shakespearean themes of tragedy and nihilism. It definitely helps if you have read Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and Hamlet before reading this. The Professor is dark romance with mature content, so please check trigger warnings prior to reading.

• Throne of Glass Tandem Read: Empire of Storms (Book #5) and Tower of Dawn (Book #6) by Sarah J. Maas: In a future post, I will do a comprehensive review of the entire Throne of Glass series, but for now I’ll make a general recommendation that you should read ToG if you haven’t yet. It is a high fantasy collection with a side of romance. This is marketed as Young Adult, but after reading the last two books, I would prefer to categorize it as New Adult due to some of the content.

  Note: If you are going to read this series, there are two different ways to read it. T.L. Branson created a Throne of Glass Reading Guide that walks you through the “Purist” order vs. the “Romantic” order and how to set up the tandem read for books five and six. I read The Assassin’s Blade first, and I would not change the way I did it. This novella takes place prior to where Throne of Glass starts off, and I appreciated having backstory in advance.

• Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner: This book is up there on my favorite literary fiction reads of 2024. Long Island Compromise is a family drama mixed with dark satire. It examines generational wealth in America along with the dysfunctional culture of affluence. If you liked Arrested Development or The Royal Tenenbaums, then you will probably like this novel. It is more of a character-driven portrait versus a plot-driven story.

• Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood: In addition to writing stellar romance, Ali Hazelwood creates authentic, female characters in STEM. Not in Love is a slight deviation from her previous works, but Hazelwood acknowledges this with a statement at the beginning of the book. She advises readers of heavy themes and mature content between the pages. Not in Love touches upon subject matter such as childhood trauma, food insecurity, and vulnerability in relationships. I personally read this book to have strong neurodivergent representation through the female main character, Rue Siebert, and I found Eli Killgore to be a darling male lead. His character trope is “dominant cinnamon roll”, so if you’re into that personality type in your romance reads, then you’ll love this book. 

September Book Releases for the “To Be Read” List

Like all bibliophiles, I am always on the lookout for upcoming book releases to add to my To Be Read list. These are books releasing in September that piqued my interest. I have already read A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft, as I did receive an advanced reader copy of the book and reviewed it on my social media channels back in July. Phantasma by Kaylie Smith arrived this week in my Book of the Month Club box as well.

Indie/ Publishing News

I think the entire reading community celebrates when a self-published author has huge success. The marketing efforts that indie authors have to manage and fund in addition to writing and publishing their own books is a huge undertaking. This is why I urge readers to seek out indie titles when expanding their libraries.

I found The Kindred’s Curse Saga by Penn Cole when she had first self-published the books. I’m so excited to share that these were picked up by Atria Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) in a traditional publishing deal. 

This is my favorite fantasy series I have read this year, so I wrote an expanded review that discusses Penn Cole’s stylistic approach and my overall thoughts on the first three books. The review below is spoiler-free.

Series Review of The Kindred’s Curse Saga (Books 1-3)

Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole is the first book in the Kindred’s Curse Saga, an adult fantasy romance series. It follows a mortal healer, Diem Bellator, living in an impoverished town that is ruled by magical, ruthless Descendants of the gods. Through mysterious and unfortunate events, Diem is thrown into the world of the Descendants. We watch her search for her place in a society that she was raised to abhor, but that she must assimilate into to survive. Spark has all the ingredients of top-tier romantasy–strong female and male leads, enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, slow burn romance, a love triangle, secrets and mystery, and unmatched world building.

As we move to Glow of the Everflame, it is apparent that Penn Cole has a unique writing style within the fantasy genre. She utilizes unconventional world building techniques to hook and engage her readers. Traditionally in fantasy, we see info dumps of exposition at the beginning of a book or when a new setting is introduced (e.g., J.R.R. Tolkien, Jay Kristoff, and Cassandra Clare to name a few). This approach creates a voyeuristic atmosphere—similar to the experience of watching a film. The world is laid out on the screen in front of the audience, the characters walk in, they interact with each other, conflict happens, and the plot moves forward. The viewer or reader is a spectator on the sidelines of the story and not part of an interactive exploration.

Penn Cole’s method is different. She eases her readers into an immersive journey. Instead of an intensive info dump, Cole peppers every page of her books with small pieces of world building information (specifics about the magic system, what the scenery looks like, what the laws between mortals and Descendants are, the history of the characters, etc…) The world building is beautifully woven throughout the narrative and the dialogue of the characters. The reader never gets stuck with long bouts of exposition. They are constantly engaged in the process of learning about Emarion alongside the cast. This style is appealing to readers that get easily overwhelmed or bored by heavy expatiation.

Heat of the Everflame is a turning point in The Kindred’s Curse Saga. In order to better understand why book three worked so well, I need to explain something that occurs in television that can also be applied to literature. In TV shows, the third season is often a dealbreaker for networks and viewers. By season three, a series has a dedicated following that proves it is successful; however, this is also when characters and plot lines can become stale. It is the point in the storyline where something needs to happen to shake things up to keep viewers invested. Sometimes this comes in the form of a huge character change or intense, jarring conflict that comes out of left field. Followers either love this, or they hate it. It’s the same with book series, and why you’ll see a lot of authors opt to do trilogies to avoid having to deal with this at all. 

In Heat of the Everflame, Penn Cole uses a different strategy that catapults readers deeper into her saga. She doesn’t risk reader disappointment with the traditional “book three formula” that axes favorite characters or decimates existing storylines. Instead, Cole debuts a whole new cast and fresh scenery via new realms to her audience. This is a lot more work, but highly effective. The additional development creates potential for auxiliary storylines and series expansion. It also creates new settings for conflict to occur in. The way Cole crafts Heat of the Everflame leaves the door open for sequels, prequels, and spinoffs.

Overall, I highly recommend The Kindred’s Curse Saga—especially for fans of slow burns, the found family trope, and enemies-to-lovers. If you need to cure your book hangover from A Court of Thorns and Roses, Throne of Glass, or Fourth Wing, then this could be your next read.

Advocacy News

Each month, our newsletter will include advocacy news in relation to reading, publishing, and libraries. This month we will focus on reading freedom, as Banned Books Week is September 22-28, 2024.

I know this is a controversial topic in the United States. Thousands of titles have been challenged and removed from libraries all over the country. If you read my introduction post, you know that I consider The Little Fox Lair to be an inclusive space. This is a community where I encourage readers to read for pleasure, but to also read books where they engage in critical analysis to broaden their knowledge and expand their worldviews. Sometimes this means reading stories or perspectives that are unfamiliar or uncomfortable to us in order to better understand human nature or someone else’s circumstances. Doing this increases our emotional intelligence, ability to empathize, and capability to connect to others outside of our limited communities.

When I speak with people that are in favor of book banning, they often reduce their argument to the issue of age-appropriateness of subject matter. Is this a concern? Of course. However, the broader concerns of censorship and intellectual freedom also need to be taken into consideration. Banning a book entirely versus advocating for more accurate categorization of that book are two wildly different things. I recategorize books that I review all the time if I feel that they contain mature content that wasn’t flagged for readers by the publisher. Classification is fairly objective, but also somewhat subjective due to varying belief systems. That is why it is important to allow the reader or guardian to make the decision as to whether a book is appropriate to read or not, but to still have it available in public spaces for those looking for the information.

Many of us love books because we see a part of our own essence or circumstances in the characters or stories we read. We connect to and feel the emotions that the author is trying to convey. Imagine walking into a library and finding no books that contain representation of your lived experience because a small group of people felt uncomfortable by it. Some may argue that the person could then go out and buy the book that they are looking for, but this is a privileged view that doesn’t account for socioeconomic status. It is also in direct opposition of the concept of free, public library access.

The idea of intellectual freedom supports free and uncensored access to titles for those who seek to find representation in literature. What you read or do not read is your personal choice for yourself and your family; however, here we advocate for titles to be available in free and public libraries so that those who want to read books containing diverse representation are able to do so. If you are not comfortable with a title, you have the freedom to not read that book. If it is in a school setting, parents or students have the option to request an alternative assignment. There are so many solutions that don’t involve taking away someone else’s freedom to read.

The American Library Association has the most comprehensive catalog of information, resources, and materials pertaining to banned and challenged books. You can visit their website and spend hours reading through material, data, legislature, and guides by clicking here.

Thank you for taking the time to read. If you enjoyed the newsletter, please share with your friends to grow the community. I will see you in October with some Halloween reads!