If you got a second chance to build the life of your dreams, what would it look like?

Our January book is Recipes for an Unexpected Afterlife by Deston J. Munden!

An undead orc knight leaves battle behind for a new kind of afterlife—one with good food, good friends, and maybe even fatherhood.

Rottgor is worn out. Literally. Barely held together by dark magic, he has protected the Necropolis for centuries. When he's forced into retirement, he's faced with a new challenge: to forge a future guided not by obligation, but by passion.

Following his heart (and stomach), he decides to open a restaurant where the city's undead and living residents can share food and community. He's helped in his quest by an unlikely assortment of neighbors, including elves, skeletons, vampires—and a young orphan girl named Astra, whose ancestry, if discovered, could put her and the entire Necropolis in danger. To protect Astra and the life he's building, Rottgor must face his past and form new alliances built on friendship, loyalty, and love. As comforting as warm pumpkin bread, this gentle fantasy traces how even a dark history can rise into a bright future.

Deston Munden is the author of several books, including Tavern, also set in Dargath. Born and raised near the Outer Banks, he can be found writing, cooking, playing World of Warcraft, and cosplaying in the way-too-hot North Carolina weather.

Fat Forward Book Club will meet Friday, January 16 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT to discuss Recipes for n Unexpected Afterlife in the community Discord!

Meeting on the third Friday of every month at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT via Discord, Fat Forward Book Club will read and discuss a variety of books by fat authors, about fat experiences, and/or featuring fat characters based on votes from Bindery subscribers. We'll explore books across multiple genres and target audiences/age groups to discuss depictions of fatness in fiction and nonfiction, as well as how perceptions of fatness in the book world have changed or stayed the same in recent years.

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