Parisian Phoenix Publishing

Last year, I read at least 80 books. (I also spent $5,000 on books in 2024, which was shocking to realize.) I balance the titles I chose to read among many categories. I rotate between small press and independent authors who I meet. I regularly pick something popular; I just finished Rebecca Yarros’ dragon series. Last year, I read several titles by Emily Henry.

I aim to read one writing craft book a month so I can reference it in this newsletter and add an annotated review to my master list available to paid subscribers. I try to keep a classic and/or new horror book on the pile, because that’s the genre I write in. I also have my daughter recommend books to me, and we often discuss them, so I get a better idea what her generation might be looking for.

But last week I realized that we are almost 2/3 of the way through September, and I have not finished a book this month. (Unless you count my skim of the 2023, 2024, and 2025 versions of Emily Harstone’s guide on publishers compiled for Authors Publish. See below for more details.)

I have three books currently in progress:

1. NYPD— A Thread in Time: The Contrarian by Michael Watson, a self-published book by a former New York City cop. He is working on a sequel and has asked if I would be interested.
2. L’étranger by Albert Camus, the original French text of The Stranger. A few weeks ago, I wrote about existentialism and that got me wanting to read/reread some works in this philosophical movement. Except I only have a copy in French. And that is slow-going.
3. The Very Bloody Marys by M.Christian, a vampire novel that Parisian Phoenix will be releasing as a third-ish print edition in 2026.

So, I realized… I needed to read something fun. I selected The Messy Lives of Book People by Phaedra Patrick.

I purchased this book on my birthday outing to Firefly Bookstore in Kutztown, Pa. It will eventually appear in my readers resources section where I review books and movies that feature writers. In this quirky book, Liv, a house cleaner, has to finish her favorite author’s final book. And when I say “finish,” I don’t mean reading it— Liv must secretly ghostwrite the author’s final manuscript after her sudden death.

Now, I am halfway through, and I started the book two days ago. I am enjoying it immensely but I believe that the author, Essie Starling, is not really dead. But I may be wrong.

The review of this book can be found on my Substack.