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We’re officially in spooky season and we couldn’t be happier. Not only does it mean shorter days and perfect conditions for reading horror novels during dark and stormy nights, it also means our love for Mary Shelley and Frankenstein isn’t super out of place. (We love her year-round. You’ve read Monster, She Wrote, right?) So today, we're celebrating the strange experiment that Dr. Frankenstein got up to with books that we’d love to “Frankenstein” together. But proceed with caution! Dr. Frankenstein’s experiment was also his downfall.

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.

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!

Coffee shops have become a ubiquitous element of modern life. But despite the institution of the coffee shop being older than Shakespeare, they are often absent from the annals of classic literature. So, how would characters from classic fiction order if they found themselves in the equivalent of a 2019 Starbucks?