Camera-shy ‘book nerd’ Basil Forest, left, and Mercury Stardust.
Madison-based TikToker and author Mercury Stardust (she/they), known for spreading both queer joy and compassionate home repair tips, has turned a new page. After releasing her bestselling nonfiction book in 2023, Safe and Sound: A Renter-Friendly Guide to Home Repair, she and her team launched a book club called Basil’s Book Bugs.
“With the release of Mercury’s book last year in August, we thought [the book club] might be a fun way to engage her community and do something that we both love to do, which is read books,” says Basil Forest (they/he), vice president and creative director of Mercury Stardust Media. “It’s been a lot of fun.”
The book club itself is Forest’s brainchild, which is why the title carries their name. “I have always been a huge book nerd,” Forest says. “I was homeschooled, and my grandma lived just a few blocks away from the public library, so I spent a lot of my time there. I’ve always been devouring books. It’s so great to get paid to read and talk about books now.”
Despite struggling with dyslexia and not identifying as a “reader,” Stardust loved the book club idea. “I talk a lot,” she says. The book club “gives me an excuse to use my big mouth to talk about things I really like with one of my best friends.” To keep up with the reading assignments, Stardust listens to audio books, which make it easier for her to process information than reading print books.
Book lovers can tune into the free Basil’s Book Bugs podcast to listen to Stardust and Forest unpack a new book each month and reflect on its themes. As with everything Stardust puts into the world, the discussions are supportive and compassionate and packed with her iconic laugh. To engage with other readers directly, fans can chat about the books on the Mercury Stardust Discord community.
Though most of the book club titles are written by transgender authors, readers of all backgrounds are welcome. “We really want to talk to queer readers and also people who don’t necessarily read a lot of queer authors,” Forest says. “Mercury’s audience is huge and all across the board. We reach a lot of different age groups and different kinds of people. So we were hoping that this would be almost like an introduction to the world of queer authors.”
Stardust says the book she was most excited to read this year was the club’s March pick: Dreadnought by April Daniels. This 2017 young adult novel tells the story of a trans teenager who inherits superpowers and inadvertently goes through a gender affirming physical transition. Though most of the books on the reading list are new to both Stardust and Forest, this one is a re-read for Stardust.
“It’s one of the books that I read that really pushed me over to ‘oh yeah, I’m definitely that,’” Stardust says, referring to her realization that she was trans. She goes on to explain that this book is especially powerful against a backdrop of nationwide anti-trans legislation. The story “puts all the power in the hands of a child, and how they deal with the public pressure of being themselves in front of adults.”
The book Forest is most looking forward to is also a young adult novel: Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender, the club’s August 2024 read. “It looks really sweet.”
As Stardust’s following continues to grow, so does the scope of her creative endeavors. She’s embarking on a new writing project about homeownership. After 17 years as a renter, she’s looking to buy a house. She says her aim is to “demystify” the financial steps involved in becoming a homeowner. (The financial challenges of buying a house will be especially stark if Mercury buys a home in Madison, where home prices have grown faster than income for several years.)
The rest of the book will help new homeowners tackle maintenance and repairs, everything from how to clean the gutters to how to fix electrical wiring — and how to prioritize those projects. “Because that first year of home ownership is absolutely wild,” says Stardust. “If you ask new homeowners about the first thing they did, it’s never the same answer. There are so many variables.”
Mercury Stardust Media has other projects in works, too, including some that Madisonians can take advantage of. “We really care about building community here [in Madison],” Forest says. “We are hoping eventually to open a tool library and to do more community building events.”
