Hello comrades! As I write this, October is on the horizon. We are currently halfway to our goal of 100 Rebel subscribers by the end of September. On the bright side, there is no hard cap on reaching that milestone. This isn’t Kickstarter! We will reach it when we reach it. When we do, I can make my case to Bindery that the Rebel Ever After community deserves to launch our very own publishing imprint. 

To entice folks who haven’t taken the leap to subscribe yet, I have a devious proposal. Introducing the RUIN ELLA'S TBR SUBSCRIPTION DRIVE. For every marker we hit on the way to 100 Rebels, I will read and react to a… punishing book. A book I know I will not enjoy. A book I will have THOUGHTS on. 

When we reach 60 paid subscribers, I will read Purple State by Dana Perino, the Fox News host and former White House press secretary for George W. Bush.

Words cannot express how little I want to read this “across party lines” novel about a liberal PR professional from NYC who moves to Wisconsin and falls for “a big-hearted, truck-driving guy who follows hockey, not headlines.” Is it fascist propaganda? Indubitably. Will I read it for the good of publishing progressive romance novels that do not urge women to give up their values and marry men who vote against their rights? Yes, I will. 

When we reach 75 subscribers, I will read The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. Yes, that The Notebook.

I vaguely remember reading this book as a teenager at the public library and enjoying it a lot less without Ryan Gosling to stare at. I genuinely don’t know how this book holds up (if it ever held up??), but I trust Sparks to give me plenty of material to find frustrating. Especially because he's revealed a nasty bigoted streak.

When we reach 100 subscribers, I will read The Most Dangerous Games by MrBeast and James Patterson.

This cash grab slop is not a romance novel. That being said, it will drive me to the edge of my sanity, much to the delight of the Rebel Ever After discord community. The reviews are so bad, y'all. Just so, so bad.

Ruin my TBR pile for a good cause! You have your marching orders — subscribe if you haven’t already, recommend the podcast and the Bindery community to a friend who loves romance (or MrBeast??), and cross your fingers for my mental wellbeing. Let’s publish some books that make the world better.

(Also, just in case it needs to be said: Don't buy these books! These authors are bad people! If you want to read them with me, get them from your public library like I plan to.)