Tastemaker Salon: An interview with Gare @gareindeedreads
The appeal of "cozy vibes for dark books," the power of foreshadowing, and why author love bombing isn't the way to go
I met Gare way back in 2023, when he and my friend Kate Hergott were kind enough to have me on their podcast before my second book, The Hurricane Blonde, came out! We wound up chatting for hours—I think we even said a “goodbye” on the call and then wound up chatting for another 45 minutes. It was, honestly, one of the highlights for me of that publishing season.
Gare has excellent taste in thrillers, an amazing Instagram aesthetic, and comes up with the best dream-casts and movie posters for books he connects with. I’m so excited to bring you this interview with him!
What's your bookstagram handle?
When did you start your bookstagram?
I started my Bookstagram in January 2017!
How did you get started/what made you get started?
I would occasionally post a picture on my personal Instagram of what books I read that I loved recently and then when I would run into friends, they would tell me they really like my recommendations. One of those friends had told me “there’s a huge community of people on Instagram who post only pictures of books, you should do that!”
How many books a year do you read?
Typically around 100-150. I know it seems like a lot but I like to have 2-3 books a week to dive into!
What are your favorite genres? How would you describe your taste/social media aesthetic?
I’m mostly into thrillers but I love a dark and bleak story that is character driven! When those get a little much I also read male/male romance! My taste can be all over the place and I am definitely a mood reader but I want my aesthetic to be what I would consider “cozy vibes of dark books” where my pictures aren’t exactly perfectly curated with a lot of props but my current read(s) on my bed or nightstand of what the life of me as a reader looks like. I also enjoy creating content that is an imaginary film studio of all the books I love including film posters and large Hollywood casts!
What do you know about Bookstagram now that you didn't when you first started?
Post what you want and do what you want and don’t compare yourself to anyone else. This should be your outlet, not something you feel like is a competition. [Editor’s note: Great advice, all around.]
Who are some of your favorite authors? What about their work really captures you?
I love authors who can write thrillers with character driven stories that stick with you long after you read them. I love Jennifer Hillier, Karin Slaughter, Jessica Knoll, Stacy Willingham, Carola Lovering, and Lucinda Berry!
What makes a book stand out to you?
Any emotional reaction. Whether it scares me and gives me nightmares, makes me feel misty-eyed, or something that sticks with me long after I am done reading it. I also love a great twist or plot reveal that doesn’t feel forced!
What do you wish people knew about bookstagram/booktok/the book blogging community?
It’s a lot of hard work to make content and read and answer DMs and stuff but we are all here because we enjoy it and if you want to be part of that community, a lot of people are so helpful and welcoming!
How do you decide which books to read, and then which books to feature?
I read things based on my mood and try to go by the publication date if I have an advanced copy of something so I can have my review out around the publication date! I feature book mail so I can thank the authors and publishers, I like to do a spotlight on books that I am really excited for or if they are by an author I love, and then I only post positive book reviews as I want this to be a digital scrapbook of my reading journey and the stories I’ve loved from when I started until present!
What's the best way for authors to reach out to you? Are there things authors do when they reach out that you hate?
An author can always DM me if they are interested in being featured or would like me to read their book. The only thing that’s difficult with that is there may be times where that isn’t up my alley as to what I read or if I do read it, it may not work for me like it would other readers and it can get a little tricky when an author is kind of pushing for you to read their book or asking consistently if you liked it/when you will review it.
What kind of book are you dying to read? (I don't mean a book that exists—but if you could design the perfect book you're dying to read, what would it be/what kind of elements would it have?)
I would love a dark serial killer thriller with dark academia vibes, a bleak plot, and an extensive cast of BIPOC and queer characters that are well represented. [Editor’s note: Uh, yeah, me too!]
What's a thing you see publishers or authors do on social media that drives you CRAZY and not in a good way? (you don't have to name names!)
I’ve had some authors be very kind to me and DM back and forth with me and act like they are building a friendship until you post about their book or review it and then sort of “ghost” me. I was loving and praising an author’s book when it had come out and posted a positive review at which she thanked me only for her to unfollow me later. I’d rather deal with a publisher in those instances who can say “thanks for the review” instead of someone who is just going to make me feel used to highlight their story.
What's the book you recommend the most often and why?
Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll. The writing is dense and beautiful, the plot is poignant and timely, and the cast is fantastic. I also love how she wrote about a true crime case everyone knows about from the victim and female perspective instead of highlighting or talking about the defendant a lot. Although the case is older, I thought this was really powerful as it’s something you see way too much with true crime where there’s little attention or focus on the victims but so much spotlight on the monster who has committed these crimes.
What's a book you love that you don't see getting enough love on social media?
There is this very timely and bleak story that came out recently that I read and it was fantastic but I didn’t see hardly anyone post about it and it’s called The Final Act by Lisa Gray! I absolutely loved it and the reveals and twists were sensational and sad.
What hooks you about a book and keeps you reading? And for the books that you really love, what do you notice that makes you connect with them so strongly?
I love a strong opening or something foreshadowing what’s to come that grips me. From there, I love to be right along with the characters and leave nothing unnoticed because a character driven story will always keep me addicted from cover to cover.
Do you ever DNF books? And if so, at what point/what causes you to DNF?
I’m a lot better at DNFing a book than I used to be. Sometimes if it’s not grabbing my attention or I can’t really connect with the story, I usually give a book about 100 pages before I decide if I will continue or not!
What question(s) do you wish people asked the bookstagram community more (and then answer it!)?
I think you covered all of them here!
Backlist beauties
Recommending: Trap for Cinderella by Sébastien Japrisot
Year published: 1963
Ugh, I promise this isn’t about to become a men’s fiction recommendations newsletter. But I do have to shout about Trap for Cinderella, the exceptional French crime novel by Sébastien Japrisot that I read earlier this year. This slim crime novel in translation pulled off a trick I’ve never seen before: By the end of the novel, our narrator has been victim, perpetrator, witness, and detective—all to the same crime.
!!
A young woman wakes in a hospital, with burns all over her face and body. She has no memory of who she is, although when she wakes, she is told she’s Micky—a young heiress who survived a murder attempt by arson by her childhood friend, Dominique. But as Micky starts to insert herself back into her old life, she begins to wonder if she might not actually be Dominique instead…
That sounds like I’m giving the premise away, but I promise you, what Japrisot does with this book (which is short! Less than 200 pages!) is way more interesting and complicated than I can lay out here.