Book Beat: Nerdy Romance, Crafts, & More

Welcome to Book Beat!

Book Beat aims to highlight other books that we may hear about through friends, social media, or other sources. We could see a gorgeous ad! Or find a new-to-us author on a list of underrated romances! Think of Book Beat as Teen Beat or Tiger Beat, but for books. And no staples to open to get the fold-out poster.

• Candy Hearts

  

  What’s sweeter than a low angst queer romance at Valentine’s Day? How about sixteen of them brought together in one anthology to help support a good cause?

  Each novella in the Candy Hearts Anthology is overflowing with red-hot romance and all the good feels. And this time around, every story has a secret—a secret admirer.

  The Candy Hearts Anthology will be available for a limited time, and all proceeds will benefit the Transgender Law Center and the National Center for Transgender Equality.

  Participating authors in this inaugural volume are:
  Becca Seymour
  Beck Grey
  Bix Barrow
  Chantal Mer
  D.K. Sutton
  Finn Dixon
  Lee Blair
  Linden Bell
  ‘Nathan Burgoine
  Nic Starr
  Rain Carrington
  Riley Long
  Stella Rainbow
  Susan Scott Shelley
  Toby Wise
  Victoria Gillilan

  Thanks to everyone who put this anthology on our radar! Proceeds go to a good cause and you get a whole bunch of low angst, queer romances. 

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• The Dawnhounds

  

  A police officer is murdered, brought back to life with a mysterious new power, and tasked with protecting her city from an insidious evil threatening to destroy it.

  The port city of Hainak is alive: its buildings, its fashion, even its weapons. But, after a devastating war and a sweeping biotech revolution, all its inhabitants want is peace, no one more so than Yat Jyn-Hok a reformed-thief-turned-cop who patrols the streets at night.

  Yat has recently been demoted on the force due to “lifestyle choices” after being caught at a gay club. She’s barely holding it together, haunted by memories of a lover who vanished and voices that float in and out of her head like radio signals. When she stumbles across a dead body on her patrol, two fellow officers gruesomely murder her and dump her into the harbor. Unfortunately for them, she wakes up.

  Resurrected by an ancient power, she finds herself with the new ability to manipulate life force. Quickly falling in with the pirate crew who has found her, she must race against time to stop a plague from being unleashed by the evil that has taken root in Hainak.

  I’ve heard such good things about the worldbuilding in this one. 

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• Dungeons and Drama

  

  When it comes to romance, sometimes it doesn’t hurt to play games. A fun YA romcom full of fake dating hijinks!

  Musical lover Riley has big aspirations to become a director on Broadway. Crucial to this plan is to bring back her high school’s spring musical, but when Riley takes her mom’s car without permission, she’s grounded and stuck with the worst punishment: spending her after-school hours working at her dad’s game shop.

  Riley can’t waste her time working when she has a musical to save, so she convinces Nathan—a nerdy teen employee—to cover her shifts and, in exchange, she’ll flirt with him to make his gamer-girl crush jealous.

  But Riley didn’t realize that meant joining Nathan’s Dungeons & Dragons game…or that role playing would be so fun. Soon, Riley starts to think that flirting with Nathan doesn’t require as much acting as she would’ve thought…

  Look at these two nerds, falling in love!

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• Shitty Craft Club

  

  Shitty Craft Club is a uniquely empowering guide that allows burnt-out, pressured people to accept their imperfections and find inner calm with whatever shitty thing they can make.

  Did you know that you are a glorious and incredible artist? Wait, really? Well, you are. Through silly and deeply relatable tales from her life, Sam Reece, founder of the Shitty Craft Club, guides you through dozens of craft projects that give you permission to be as weird, wild, and wonderful as you want to be.

  Melding the nihilistic spirit of millennial/Gen Z humor with Amy Sedaris’s gonzo crafting style and a healthy dose of Lisa Frank vibes, the Shitty Craft Club proves there’s no limit to what a craft can be. Making a bunch of pom-poms so you can be your own cheerleader? That’s a craft. Sculpting a rhinestone shrimp out of aluminum foil and a glue gun? A craft. Having literally one sip of water (congrats, by the way)? Yup, you bet—a craft. Because life is hard. So why not spend a bit of time gluing some trash to more trash if it makes you happy?

  This is your sign to embrace anti-perfectionism. Join us at the Shitty Craft Club!

  SELF-ESTEEM OVER SELF-IMPROVEMENT: In times of uncertainty, we all need a little more self-compassion. Treat yourself with kindness and care. Shitty Craft Club gives us the tools to cope in a creative and fun way, without feeling the pressure to make everything perfect.

  A SHITTY PHENOMENON: From in-person events at the Ace Hotel and Milk Bar to viral projects on Instagram and TikTok, Sam Reece, the creator of Shitty Craft Club, has cultivated a movement that embraces the weird and wonderful over the perfect. This book captures all that magic of Shitty Craft Club (and hopefully inspires you to start your own).

  FOR FANS OF MAKING IT AND AT HOME WITH AMY SEDARIS: With projects like Rhinestone Wall Shrimp, the Corndle, and the Shitty Trophy, this book will inspire you to pick up a glue gun, buy a bucket of beads, and make your own strange and beautiful creations.

  Perfect for:

  • Fans of Sam Reece and Shitty Craft Club
  • Crafters and DIY enthusiasts looking for a humorous take on creativity
  • Self-care and mindfulness practitioners
  • Fans of Making It, Nailed It!, and At Home with Amy Sedaris
  • Creative gift for Mother’s Day, graduation, holidays, and birthday

  I follow the author of social media and I highly recommend their quirky, chaotic approach to crafting. 

  Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

  As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
  
  We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as
  well. Thanks!