Wrap-up: April 2020

While March seems to have lasted forever, I’m sure we’re not alone in thinking April has shot by. Time is so fake.

But anyway, both Anna and I had good reading months in April and, for the first time since January, Anna is back to watching more than me. But it’s okay. Just wait until I bring in a “listened to” feature next month…

What we read

Anna

The Dark Tide by Alicia Jasinska (bi mc, poc sapphic mc, sapphic parents, poc side characters) – 4 🌈
🔥 Crush by Richard Siken (poetry, gay author) – 5 🌈
Weak Heart by Ban Gilmartin (mlm mc with anxiety, Filipino mlm li, wlw mc, Black lesbian li, hijabi side character, Black side character, nonbinary side character) – 4 🌈 (tw magic requiring self-harm, gore, blood, drowning)
Silverchest by Carl Phillips (poetry, Black gay author) – 5 🌈
The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic by F.T. Lukens (bi mc, Latino (half-Puerto Rican) gay li, sapphic side character, Easter European side character) – 3 🌈

Abroad by Liz Jacobs (Russian Jewish gay mc, Black gay mc, bi mc, Indian lesbian side character, trans mlm side character, Black character, mlm side character, lesbian side characters) – 4 🌈
Date Me, Bryson Keller by Kevin van Whye (mixed-race gay mc, mlm li, gay side character, Indian side character) – 1 🌈 (tw homophobia, bullying, fights, outing, another very public outing, unsupportive parents) [review]
🔥 How Not to Ask a Boy to Prom by S.J. Goslee (adopted gay mc, bi Jewish li, poc lesbian side character) – 4 🌈
🔥 Reason Number One by Briston Brooks (gay Native American mc with a heart condition, bi li, side Black character, side Japanese character, side Native American character) – 3 🌈 (tw sexual assault, physical assault, blood, talk of past rape, abuse, internalized homophobia)
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki & Rosemary Valero-O’Connell (half-East Asian lesbian mc, lesbian li, poc gay character, Black gay character, Black sapphic characters, lesbian character) – 5 🌈 (tw homophobia, cheating, unwanted pregnancy, abortion)

i love this part by Tillie Walden (Black sapphic mc, Jewish sapphic mc) – 5 🌈
A City Inside by Tillie Walden (sapphic mc, sapphic East Asian li) – 4 🌈

Charlotte

Weak Heart by Ban Gilmartin (gay mc & li, lesbian mc & li) – 4 🌈
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson (bi mc) – 5 🌈 [review]
The Four Profound Weaves by R. B. Lemberg (trans mcs) – 2.5 🌈 [review]
The Stone of Sorrow by Brooke Carter (nonbinary & wlw characters) – 2 🌈 [review]
The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake (bi mc) – 3 🌈

Cow Girl by Kirsty Eyre (lesbian mc & li) – 4 🌈 [review]
After the Wedding by Courtney Milan (bi mc) – 4.5 🌈
Burn by Patrick Ness (gay mc & li) – 4.5 🌈 [review]
A Study in Spectres by Jess Faraday (gay mc) – 3 🌈
Come Home by Raleigh Ruebins (gay mcs) – 3.5 🌈

Break Free by Raleigh Ruebins (bi mcs) – 3 🌈
Burn Zone by Annabeth Albert (gay mcs) – 2.5 🌈 [review]
I’ll Stand By You: The Letters of Sylvia Townsend Warner and Valentine Ackland ed. by Susanna Pinney (nonfiction) – 3 🌈
Romancing the Inventor by Gail Carriger (lesbian mc & li) – 1 🌈
The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang (gay mc, nonbinary characters) – 3 🌈

Useless Landscape, or a Guide for Boys by D. A. Powell (mlm poet) – 2 🌈
Peach Blossom Pavilion by Mingmei Yip (bi mc?, lesbian side character) – 1 🌈
The Suffragette Scandal by Courtney Milan (lesbian characters) – 4 🌈
Condición de Mujer by Cristina Peri Rossi (poetry) – 3 🌈
Moonlight by Barry Jenkins & Tarell Alvin McCraney (Black gay mc) – 4 🌈

The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson (Black mlm mcs) – 4 🌈
Not for Use in Navigation by Iona Datt Sharma (wlw, mlm & nonbinary characters) – 4 🌈
Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge by Paul Krueger (gay character, trans character) – 5 🌈
Wicked as You Wish by Rin Chupeco (gay character, nonbinary character) – 2 🌈

What we watched

Charlotte

9-1-1 (S3) cr. Brad Falchuk, Tim Minnear, Ryan Murphy (Black lesbian characters, Black gay character)
🔥 Cuffs (2015) cr. Julie Gearey (gay mc, lesbian mc)

Anna

Brokeback Mountain, dir. Ang Lee (gay mcs) – 5 🌈
Vita & Virginia, dir. Chanya Button (sapphic mc, bi mc, mlm side characters, wlw side characters) – 4 🌈
Christopher and His Kind, dir. Geoffrey Sax (gay mc, gay characters) – 2.5 🌈
Schitt’s Creek (S6), cr. Dan Levy & Eugene Levy (pan mc, gay mc, Black lesbian character) – 5 🌈
Never Have I Ever (S1), cr. Lang Fisher & Mindy Kaling (Black lesbian character, Jewish lesbian character, gay character) – 4 🌈
Get Even (S1), cr. Holly Phillips (sapphic mc, Black sapphic character, gay character) – 4 🌈

On the blog

• Interviews with Brooke Carter, Daniel Molyneaux and L. D. Lapinski.
• Rec lists for Twitter’s favourite sapphic romances, books you can find on Scribd, Anna’s favourite songs of December 2019 and January 2020, sapphic YA contemporary and period dramas.
• Our April book of the month.
• Five reasons you should read The Stone of Sorrows.
• All of May’s releases.
• And our reviews of Finna.

On other blogs

• Cam @ Camillea Reads wrote an excellent review of The Empress of Salt and Fortune.
• The first two posts of Shri @ sunandchai’s #TellMeAStory interviews went up featuring Georgina Kamsika and Chantel Pereira.
• Silvia @ Silvia Reads Books recommended two Thai shows.
• Annie @ Queer Books Unbound featured a guest post by author Jax Meyer.
• Emily Kate Reads showcased some upcoming sapphic books to look out for.
• For Lesbian Visibility Week, Jess @ A Lesbian and her Laptop featured 8 guest posts (and we highly recommend you check out all of them!).
• CW @ The Quiet Pond recommended some historical fiction.
• Fadwa @ Word Wonders talked with Julian Winters as part of her excellent Color the Shelves project (again, we recommend you check out the rest as well!).
• Megan and Lauren @ YABookers posted a long list of all the sapphic books they have loved.

So, how was April for you? Did you read or watch anything great?

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