Oh, We're So Back!

February Wrap-Up & What to Expect from Brock's Gay Bookstack

Mar 04, 2025

Prologue: Oh, Hi!

Hey there! Yes, it's been a minute–a whole year, to be exact! But inspiration has struck, and I'm excited to relaunch this newsletter with a fresh new vibe. Before we dive into that, let's recap what I did in February's.

Chapter 1: Passion, Pages & Plates

Last month I hosted a spicy romance book themed dinner party. Me and my friends take turns hosting themed dinner parties each month and I enthusiastically volunteered for February because I knew I could do some sort of romance book theme. Enter: Passion, Pages, & Plates.

Because I’m a very visual person, I started with a mood board and went from there. I knew I wanted the decor to include a lot of books, candles, flowers, and elegant pops of red and pink. Everyone embraced the "date night chic" dress code, adding to the ambiance.

Oh, and for the invites—which is what the screenshot above is from—we use Partiful and it honestly makes hosting parties way more fun and easy for people to RSVP.

For the menu, I leaned into the "spicy" theme. I knew from the start that I wanted to organize the menu like a book, because it just felt right! And as you can see, I decided to carry that theme through to the newsletter format too.

And, because I’m a freak and can’t just host a simple dinner party like a normal person, I had to go overboard and plan some other activities. We set up a blind date with a book station (everyone brought a book and wrapped and designed it to swap), DIY bookmark crafting, and a book to screen movie viewing. We ended up not watching the movie but the book swap and bookmark making were a blast. Overall, it was a night filled with friends, food, and books so I mean, what more could you ask for?! If you want to see some other photos you can check out my post on Instagram and Threads.

Inspiration Alert: Remember that you have free will and you can host a spontaneous book themed dinner party with your friends, or yourself! Go for it, seriously!

Chapter 2: What I’ve been reading

Not only was February full of me stressing about making sure that dinner party went off without a hitch, but I also managed to get some reading done.

This Will be Fun by E. B. Asher (Review tk on Instagram)
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.5 stars

The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune (Review posted on Instagram!)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 stars

You & I, Rewritten by my friend Chip Pons (Read this with my book club on Fable 🫶)
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.5 stars

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (Review coming to Instagram this week 🙌)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 stars

You can follow along with what I read on Fable & Instagram!

Chapter 3: Sound & Screen

My top artists in February were Taylor Swift, Gracie Abrams, & Maisie Peters. Yea, I’m that type of gay, what can I say 🤷🏻‍♂️

As for what I’ve been watching, I’ve been rewatching X-men: Evolution after reinfluencing myself when I made my “Where My Lore Started” post on Instagram.

Epilogue: What to Expect from Brock’s Gay Bookstack

As you've noticed, the newsletter has undergone a major makeover, inlcuding the name and logo. I felt like Brock’s Gay Bookstack—”stack” because substack. . . get it?—was more in line with my presence on my other social media platforms.

When I started Substack, previously, I wanted to start practicing writing more but I don’t think I really had a clear vision for what I wanted to do here. Now, however, I do and I’m ready to have fun with it. You can expect content on Queer literature, book marketing, content creation, and lifestyle topics. Here's a glimpse of some ideas. I have brewing:

Influencer marketing & publisher ARC programs I’m a part of
How I’ve made money as a bookish influencer
What’s on my TBR
Queer books available on Kindle Unlimited
Hobbies beyond reading
Gay dating apps

Of course, as a mood reader and writer, these ideas will likely change so stay tuned to see what I actually cook up! And if you have any suggestions, leave a comment below.