Michael Kist

Kist Reads

Kist

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Kist Reads

Michael Kist

Kist Reads

Kist

Welcome to our community of book reading Sickos!

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Exclusive advance digital copies of original Kist Reads books

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Kist Reads

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The Kist Master List - History Books (Updated 6/30/26)
The Kist Master List - History Books (Updated 6/30/26)

9

Mar 10 2025

October Fiction/History Book Club Options!

Hello, Sickos! The October polls for the History/Fiction Sickos Book Clubs are live! You can go vote on them in the appropriate Discord channels (scroll down and you'll see #fiction-vote and #history-vote). The polls run for 72 hours so you've got plenty of opportunity to bully and bribe.

If you're not seeing the channels, make sure you've linked your Bindery subscription to Discord via the Account Settings page. Those vote/discussion channels unlock at the Sicko plus paid tiers, so if you're a "Follower", you'll need to upgrade. Along with the book club forums you also get access to a ton of other channels for various genres, book recommendation requests, movies/TV, buddy reads and much more.

Back to the options... These are the 8 books across the 2 clubs that we're voting on.

FICTION SICKOS

Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Incarcerated people fight in televised gladiatorial matches for a chance at freedom.

James by Percival Everett

A reimagining of Huckleberry Finn that retells the journey down the Mississippi from the perspective of the enslaved Jim.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

A group of elite classics students at a New England college cross a line with deadly consequences in this dark academia novel.

She's a Doll by Barbara Truelove (a Bindery book from Ezeekat Press!)

After being murdered, a young woman possesses an antique doll and sets out for revenge against her killer.

HISTORY SICKOS

The Invention of Prehistory by Stefanos Geroulanos

How the modern idea of "prehistory" was created, and how theories about humanity's origins have been used to justify empire, racism, and violence.

Carthage Must by Destroyed by Richard Miles

The rise and destruction of Carthage, from its Phoenician origins and through the Punic Wars with Rome.

The Trojan War by Barry Strauss

A historian looks behind Homer's epics to ask what archaeology and ancient evidence can tell us about the real war that may have inspired the legend of Troy.

King of Kings by Scott Anderson

A narrative history of the 1978-1979 Iranian Revolution that brought down the Shah and transformed Iran.

That's it, go vote! (and make sure you've got your copy of A Complement of Scoundrels!)

Sep 23

Kist Reads

The titles published under my Bindery imprint!

2 Titles

 • Last updated 

Aug 18

book cover
book cover
Weekly Checkpoint + I'm Goin' to London!

Hey all, I'm back from my li'l vacation so let's get this week's update! Let me know the books you plan on reading this week in the comments and I'll share with you what I'm workin' on!

READING

REVIEW

SUNBURN by CHLOE MICHELLE HOWARTH (literary fiction)

Progress: Finished

Holy shit! I mean, holy f'n shit! I'd heard this was a wild one and I God was it ever. This was yearning on nuclear, world-ending levels and the religious imagery and exploration of Catholic guilt and young love was all just so beautifully done. I was literally holding my breath for the final sentence. This is the type of bonkers I want from any story with heavy romance from now on.

FIRE & BLOOD by GEORGE RR MARTIN (fantasy)

Progress: 350/706

I didn't even mean to pick this up I was just spot-checking things vs. the show and ended up starting from the beginning because I'm a goblin. Anyway, the King is dead, long live the King (Viserys I)! As a history reader the way this is written appeals to me, and The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu takes a similar approach to the narrative history style, if you're into that kinda thing. I'm gonna set this aside so I can start the book club reads but I'll come back to it right after.

PREVIEW/AUGUST BOOK CLUB PICKS

Little bit of a late start but this week will be all about the Fiction/History Sickos Book Club picks, The Odyssey by Homer (any translation) and Black Flag, Blue Waters by Eric Jay Dolin. I didn't get nearly as much reading done as I anticipated last week but we're gonna get stuck in.

EVERYTHING ELSE

  • Publishing News: ICYMI we announced our second acquisition earlier this month, Grave of Petals by Ofelia J. Vazquez!

  • Game of the Week: I'm up to level 52 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey with plenty of game left. This'll go great with The Odyssey read (there's so many pig farms in the game).

  • Show of the Week: I'm just about all the way done with my House of the Dragon re-watch so S3 will be started this week.

  • Movie of the Week: idk but I did see Spiderman in the theater last week so that was a good time.

  • I'll be going to England in September, huzzah! This is part of an event for Infinite Wisdom by Thomas R. Weaver, which is a sequel to the excellent Artificial Wisdom. September 11th, at the London, Penguin Random House HQ, I'll be co-hosting an event with my honorary sisters Kris & Mads. It's an exclusive event with only 150 spots, and you can apply to secure a spot here.

  • Our Monthly Wrap Call in Discord will be Tuesday, 8pm EST!

4

Aug 10

[MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT] We've acquired our second book to publish!!

Massive news for our publishing imprint, Kist Reads: we have officially acquired our second book! After reviewing dozens of manuscripts from authors and agents, one stood head-and-shoulders above the rest. Without further ado, I am thrilled to introduce:

GRAVE OF PETALS by Ofelia J. Vazquez !!!

Here's the elevator pitch for this multi-POV adult high fantasy:

"A sorceress and a bounty hunter team up to kill the president in a rootin' tootin' world inspired by the Mexican Revolution and Mesoamerican mythology.” - Ofelia J. Vazquez

And here's the blurb from the pitch letter I received that instantly grabbed my attention:

Since her country’s corrupted president executed her father, queer sorceress Petra has desired nothing more than to kill him. A military showcase might just be her best shot. But when a cadet sabotages her, Petra resorts to forbidden blood magic, bound to transform her into a monstrosity. Impossibly, she survives.

Since the schism in her monster-hunting order, Captain Fuentes has operated alone. But when a shrine keeper alerts her that a Reckoning will destroy the world in a month, she marches toward the capital to find an ancient sorceress’ grave, key to stopping it. Then she’s called to execute a monstrosity, who’s nothing but a vengeful girl. Wondering if her miraculous immunity might prevent the apocalypse, Fuentes takes her on. With a president to kill, Petra follows.

As they travel across a riots-riddled nation, sorceress and monster hunter stumble into political insurgencies, divine curses, and nefarious schemes, collecting allies as much as enemies—including ghosts from their past hellbent on opposing them before it all ends.

It's hard to narrow it down to just two comps so for the moment I'm gonna shotgun it because there are at least hints of The Jasmine Throne, The Poppy War, Gods of Jade & Shadow, Black Sun, and even Arcane.

There is plenty of work to do over the next year before this hits the shelves (likely Fall 2027), and I plan to involve this community at every step. You can look forward to advanced reader copies, opportunities to participate in publishing decisions, and interviews with the author. You will see everything before Gen Pop—which, naturally, makes you better than them.

PLUS, I snuck Ofelia in the back door of our Discord once both sides were agreed in principle and she's been an active and valued (and chaotic) member of the community. So if you have any questions for us you can always hurl them at us there and we'll answer what we can to the best of our ability. Or you can just tag her with bear memes, she loves bears.

I want to thank every one of you for your support; this project truly would not be possible without you. A significant portion of our subscription revenue is being poured directly into the imprint, ensuring we can make fair acquisition offers and provide all the resources necessary to take a manuscript from a rough draft to a bookstore shelf. Seeing that in action with A Complement of Scoundrels has been amazing and I can't wait to go through all of it again with Grave of Petals.

Thank you again, I'm hyped to share more with you in the coming days!

6

Aug 1