Possibly the longest year known to mankind has finally ended! Just in time for what could be the second longest year known to mankind. But overall, December was somewhat kind to us (although Anna’s books read total might suggest otherwise). And now we’re finally in 2021 (and so close to all those amazing new books)!
What we read
Anna
Beyond the Ruby Veil by Mara Fitzgerald (lesbian mc, gay side character, wlw side character) β 3 π tw gore, blood, torture, eye horror/body mutilation including eating of an eyeball (chapter 16 & 18), murder, body horror (especially chapter 19)
The Sky Blues by Robbie Couch (gay mc, mlm li, Black sc, Iraqi sc, trans sc, autistic sc, gay scs) β 5 π tw homophobia, racism, f-slur, past car accident, past death of a parent, vomiting [review]
π₯ Crush by Richard Siken (poetry; gay author) β 5 π
Charlotte
The Split by Laura Kay (lesbian mc, bi li, gay character) – 4 π [review]
Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power (lesbian mc) – 3.5 π [review]
Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard (Vietnamese-coded lesbian mc & lis) – 4 π [review]
The Set Piece by Catherine Lane (lesbian mc & li, gay character) – 2 π
A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (lesbian mcs, bi character) – 5 π [review]
π₯ The Pursuit Of… by Courtney Milan (Black gay mc, gay mc) – 4.5 π
The Factory Witches of Lowell by C. S. Malerich (wlw mcs) – 3 π
Ruinsong by Julia Ember (lesbian mcs) – 2 π cw torture, gore, animal torture and death, lesbophobia
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth (lesbian mcs, bi mcs) – 1 π [review] cw gore, attempted rape, past suicide
These Feathered Flames by Alexandra Overy (lesbian mc & li) – 3 π [review]
You Can’t Die but Once by Penny Mickelbury (lesbian mc, Black lesbian mc, wlw & trans side characters) – 2.5 π [review] cw child prostitution, sex trafficking, rape, domestic abuse, murder, child death, Antisemitic violence
Highland Haunting by Lily Maxton (gay mcs) – 3 π
Blue by Abigail Padgett (lesbian mc) – 2 π [review] cw murder, mentions of rape
Spring Strings by Lily Morton (gay mcs) – 3 π
A Cathedral of Myth and Bone by Kat Howard (wlw & nonbinary characters) – 3 π
Forget This Ever Happened by Cassandra Rose Clarke (bi mc, Mexican American lesbian mc) – 2.5 π cw internalised homophobia
Home Remedies by Xuan Juliana Wang (Chinese gay character) – 2 π cw internalised homophobia
The Way of Kings, Part One by Brandon Sanderson (bi mc, autistic gay side character) – 4 π
Seven of Infinities by Aliette de Bodard (Vietnamese coded wlw mcs) – 4 π
The Mask of Mirrors by M. A. Carrick (bi mc, lesbian side character, trans side character) – 2 π [review]
This Town Sleeps by Dennis E. Staples (Ojibwe gay mc, gay li) – 4 π cw violence, implied rape, murder, drug abuse, internalised homophobia, homophobic slurs
The Way of Kings, Part Two by Brandon Sanderson (bi mc, autistic gay side character) – 5 π
The Sky Blues by Robbie Couch (gay mc, mlm li, trans side character) – 3.5 π [review] cw car accident, past death of a parent, homophobia, homophobic slurs, racist slurs, religious intolerance, vomiting
Point Roberts by Alexander Rigby (gay mc) – 2 π [review] cw murder, gore
The Councillor by E. J. Beaton (bi mc, mlm & wlw characters) – 4.5 π [review]
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan (Chinese nonbinary lesbian mc, Chinese lesbian mc, Mongolian bi mc, Chinese gay mc) – 5 π [review]
Her Hometown Girl by Lorelie Brown (lesbian mcs) – 2 π cw abusive relationship, rape
Hearts in the Hard Ground by G. V. Anderson (wlw mc & li) – 4 π
Scandalous Passions by Nicola Davidson (bi mcs, polyamory) – 2 π
Night Tide by Anna Burke (bi mc, lesbian mc with MS) – 5 π [review]
Heart of Stone by Johannes T. Evans (autistic gay mc, gay mc with ADHD) – 3.5 π
The Faerie Hounds of York by Arden Powell (gay mc & li) – 3.5 π
The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe (bi mc, bi/pan li with endometriosis) – 4 π [review] cw child abuse, domestic abuse, violence, threats of rape, implied torture, implied child sexual abuse
What we watched (and listened to)
Charlotte
Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (S1) cr. Radford Sechrist & Bill Wolkoff (Black gay mc) – 3.5 π
Schitt’s Creek (S6) cr. Dan Levy & Eugene Levy (pan mc, gay li, Black lesbian side character) – 3 π
Anna
The Christmas House (2020), dir. Michael Grossman (gay mc, gay character) – 3 π
Ghosting: The Spirit of Christmas (2019), dir. Theresa Bennett (Asian-American lesbian character, Black lesbian character) – 4 π
I Hate New Yearβs (2020), dir. Christin Baker (half-Korean American lesbian mc, Filipino-American lesbian mc) – 3 π
A New York Christmas Wedding (2020), dir. Otoja Abit (Afro-Latina bi mc, Italian-American lesbian li) – 3.5 π tw past suicide
The Christmas Setup (2020), dir. Pat Mills (gay characters) – 3.5 π
Dashing in December (2020), dir. Jake Helgren (gay mc, gay Colombian-American mc) β 3.5 π
Four Weddings and a Funeral (S1), cr. Mindy Kaling & Matt Warburton (Black gay character, gay character) – 2.5 π tw death, racism, homophobia
On the blog
- Interviews with LΓ XΔ«ng and Aish Divine.
- Rec lists for SFF outside the gender binary, YA contemporary that isn’t about coming out, LGBT romcoms, Christmas songs by LGBT artists and songs from November.
- The Alternative Choice Awards results.
- A list of 2020’s ownvoices m/m releases from July to December.
- Some reviews of lesbian books.
- Our December book of the month.
- All of January’s releases.
- A post of all the books we missed in our releases posts throughout the year.
On other blogs
- CW @ The Quiet Pond interviewed Diana Pinguicha.
- Alex @ Almost, Almost wrote some bitesize reviews of LGBT books.
- Delph @ Delph Reads reviewed The Henna Wars.
- Annie @ Queer Books Unbound featured a sneak peek at A. M. Arthur’s Right Move.
So, how was December? What did you read and watch?
