For some of us (and by some of us, I mean Charlotte) December was an amazing month, reading-wise. Some of us read literally dozens of books and have a lot of recs to share with you guys. Other people (and by other people, I mean me, Anna) focused on watching gay movies & have close to nothing to share with you guys, because watching gay movies is a lot like playing Russian roulette – you just can’t tell which one will do you in.
Regardless, we both ended the year on a very gay note, so explore!
What we read
Anna
π₯ Crush by Richard Siken (poetry; gay author) – 5 π
π₯ Fanfik by Natalia OsiΕska (trans gay mc, gay side characters) – 5 π
π₯ Slash by Natalia OsiΕska (gay mc, trans gay li, side LGBT characters) – 5 π
π₯ Fluff by Natalia OsiΕska (lesbian mc, autistic sapphic li, side gay trans character, side gay characters, side nb character) – 5 π
π₯ War of the Foxes by Richard Siken (poetry; gay author) – 5 π
π₯ Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong (poetry; gay Vietnamese-American author) – 5 π
The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza by Shaun David Hutchinson (bi Cuban-American mc, sapphic li, Muslim ace (questioning) side character) – 4 π
Charlotte
π₯ Wonders of the Invisible World by Christopher Barzak (gay mc & li) – 5 π
The Gay Girl’s Guide to Ruining Prom by Siera Maley (lesbian mc & li) – 5 π
Blood is Another Word for Hunger by Rivers Solomon (wlw mc, Black characters) – 2.5 π
Everything That Isn’t Winter by Margaret Killjoy (nonbinary mc, bi li) – 2 π
The Devil in America by Kai Ashante Wilson (wlw mc, Black characters) – 4 π
Water: A History by K. J. Kabza (wlw mc) – 3 π
A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. DjΓ¨lΓ Clark (wlw mc) – 4 π
A (Fake) Boyfriend for Christmas by Sean Ashcroft (gay mc & li) – 4 π
A Match Made at Christmas by Ellen Jane (lesbian mc & li) – 3 π
A Sweet & Merry Christmas by MariaLisa DeMora (wlw mc & li) – 2 π
Old Media by Annalee Newitz (bi mc) – 2 π
Between the Firmaments by JY Yang (gay mc & li) – 3 π
Fly With Me by Hudson Lin (Chinese Canadian bi mc) – 1 π
His Footsteps, Through Darkness and Light by Mimi Mondal (Indian mlm mc & li) – 4.5 π
Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales (gay mc, bi li & side character) – 2.5 π [review]
Into the Gray by Margaret Killjoy (trans wlw mc, wlw li) – 3 π
Beyond the El by John Chu (Taiwanese American gay mc) – 3 π
Hearts Alight by Elliot Cooper (Jewish bi mc & gay li, trans side character) – 2 π
Cold Wind by Nicola Griffith (wlw mc) – 3 π
Nine Last Days on Planet Earth by Daryl Gregory (gay mc & li) – 4 π
In the Sight of Akresa by Ray Wood (wlw mc & li) – 2 π
The Causal Angel by Hannu Rajaniemi (lesbian mc) – 4 π
Queen of Coin and Whispers by Helen Corcoran (lesbian mcs) – 4.5 π [review]
The Water that Falls on You from Nowhere by John Chu (Chinese American gay mc, gay li) – 4 π
A Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Proposed Trade-Offs for the Overhaul of the Barricade by John Chu (bi characters) – 4 π
Ex-Boyfriend Material by Sean Ashcroft (bi mc & li) – 3 π
Why Love Matters by Jay Northcote (bi mc, gay li) – 1.5 π
The Blue Place by Nicola Griffith (lesbian mc & li) – 1 π
Duende by E. E. Ottoman (Black mlm mc, Indian mlm mc) – 2 π
Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone (Chinese American lesbian mc) – 4 π
The Library of Lost Things by Matthew Bright (mlm mc & li) – 4 π
Angel of the Blockade by Alex Wells (bi mc, nonbinary li) – 3 π
Fabulous Beasts by Priya Sharma (wlw mc) – 3 π
All Systems Red by Martha Wells (agender mc, wlw side characters) – 2 π
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo (nonbinary mc, wlw side characters) – 4.5 π [review]
Elephants and Corpses by Kameron Hurley (trans mc) – 4 π
River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey (bi mcs, nonbinary mc) – 3 π
Witchmark by C. L. Polk (mlm mc & li) – 3 π
How to Piss Off a Failed Super-Soldier by John Chu (gay mc & li) – 3 π
The Pigeon Summer by Lee Mandelo (nonbinary mc) – 2 π
A Human Stain by Kelly Robson (wlw mc) – 3 π
If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again by Zen Cho (wlw mc, agender mc) – 4 π
Nottingham by Anna Burke (lesbian mcs & side characters, trans side character) – 3 π
The Man with the Knives by Ellen Kushner (bi mc) – 3 π
Prelude to Bruise by Saeed Jones (poetry) – 3 π
City of Lies by Sam Hawke (wlw & mlm characters) – 3.5π
π₯ Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (Mexican American bi mc with ADHD, gay li with depression) – 4.5 π [review]
The Relic Spell by Jimena I. Novaro (Japanese Argentine American bi mc, nonbinary side character) – 4 π [review]
What we watched
Charlotte
9-1-1 (S3) dir. Brad Falchuk, Tim Minnear, Ryan Murphy (Black lesbian mcs, Black gay side character) – 4 π
WTFock (S3) dir. Tom Goris (gay mc) – 4 π
Anna
The Family Stone, dir. Thomas Bezucha (deaf gay side character, Black gay side character) – 1.5 π
Love the Coopers, dir. Jessie Nelson (Black gay side character) – 3 π
Breakfast with Scot, dir. Laurie Lynd (gay mcs) – 3.5 π
Other People, dir. Chris Kelly (gay mc & side characters) – 4 π
Go, dir. Doug Liman (gay couple) – 3 π
Portrait of a Lady on Fire, dir. CΓ©line Sciamma (sapphic mc & li) – 5 π
Lez Bomb, dir. Jenna Laurenzo (lesbian mc & li) – 1 π
Make the Yuletide Gay, dir. Rob Williams (gay mc & li) – 3.5 π
Giant Little Ones, dir. Keith Behrman (mlm mc, gay side characters) – 3.5 π
Princess Cyd, dir. Stephen Cone (bi/pan mc, sapphic li, sapphic side characters, gay side character) – 4 π
In the Name of…, dir. MaΕgorzata Szumowska (gay mc & side characters) – 2 π
π₯ 4th Man Out, dir. Andrew Nackman (gay mc & side characters) – 3.5 π
Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party, dir. Stephen Cone (mlm mc, Black gay side character, lesbian side character) – 3 π (tw: explicit self harm, blood, mention of suicide attempt, vomiting, homophobia, racism)
Esteros, dir. Papu Curotto (mlm mc, gay li) – 3.5 π
π₯ Alexander, dir. Oliver Stone (mlm mc & li) – 3 π
Home for Christmas (S1), cr: Per-Olav SΓΈrensen (side lesbian character) – 3.5 π
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (S3), cr: Amy Sherman-Palladino (side Black gay character) – 3 π
π₯ Black Sails (S1), cr: Jonathan E. Steinberg & Robert Levine (gay mc, Black lesbian mc, bi mc, lesbian mc) – 5 π (tw: blood, violence, death, rape)
π₯ Yuri!!! on Ice (S1), cr: Yamamoto Sayo & Kubo MitsurΕ (mlm mc & li, Japanese cast) – 5 π
Star Trek: Discovery (S1), cr: Bryan Fuller & Alex Kurtzman (mlm side characters) – 3.5 π
On the blog
- Interviews with Courtney Gould and Maria Ingrande Mora.
- Rec lists for winter holiday books, Anna’s favourite songs of April and May, and gay Christmas movies.
- The review of our December reads, The Shape of My Name, Sky and Dew, and Witch, Cat & Cobb.
- Our January book reveal for the book club.
- First half of January’s book releases!
- The results of our Alternative(ish) Choice Awards.
- Our most anticipated releases of January-June 2020.
- The 10 best books we’ve read in 2019.
- And all the 2019 LGBT releases we have sadly missed throughout the year.
On other blogs
- Asha @ A Cat, A Book, and A Cup of Tea hosted a guest post by author Heather Rose Jones.
- Silvia @ Silvia Reads Books reviewed The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern.
- Fadwa @ Word Wonders reviewed one of mine and Anna’s favourites, Work for It by Talia Hibbert.
- Mahana @ Sapphic Library listed all the f/f releases in January, and reviewed another f/f release, The Falling-in-Love Montage by Ciara Smyth.
- I (Charlotte) wrote an enormous list of f/f recs for #FFFeb, which I am hosting on twitter (yes I had to advertise on here too…).
So, how was December for you? Did you read or watch anything truly great?
