Pretty homophobic but Pride Month is over. Everyone celebrated in different ways, be it at marches or through reading LGBT books, or by simply existing in this world.
So here’s a rundown of what Charlotte & me read and watched in this gayest of months, which isn’t really any shorter than a list of what we read in any other month… Check it out, though, maybe get inspired, tell us what you read yourself!
And hey, no spoilers, but keep an eye out for the blog in upcoming days! We have something exciting to share!
What we read
Anna
🔥 Nature Poem by Tommy Pico (poetry) – 4 🌈
The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere by John Chu (Chinese gay mc, gay li) – 4 🌈 tw abuse and homophobia from sibling
The Way It Breaks by Polis Loizou (bi mc, bi character, gay character) – 3 🌈 tw fatphobia, internalised fatphobia, xenophobia [review]
The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska (Polish-coded cast & setting, lesbian mc, bi female mc, lesbian character, gay character, bi male character) – 5 🌈 tw child abuse, blood, body horror (brief), death, murder [review]
The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons (biracial Black mlm trans mc, gay li, bi side character, autistic side character, Black side characters, nonbinary side character, mlm side character) – 4 🌈 tw mentions of past transphobic violence, religious homophobia, mentions of past overdose
Sunset Springs by Kacen Callender (Black trans gay mc, gay li) – 3 🌈 tw transphobia, homophobia, racism
The Hollow Heart by Marie Rutkoski (poc lesbian mc, nonbinary lesbian mc, poc gay side character) – 4 🌈 tw death, murder, poison, blood, executions
Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure by Courtney Milan (lesbian mcs) – 4 🌈 tw mention of past rape, misogyny
Charlotte
Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart (lesbian character) – 2 🌈 cw torture, violence, gore
The Bone Way by Holly J. Underhill (sapphic mcs) – 3 🌈 [review]
All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O’Donoghue (sapphic mc, bi genderfluid li, lesbian side characters) – 4 🌈 cw homophobic violence, religious homophobia
Fandom by Eden Finley (bi mcs) – 3 🌈 cw past suicidal thoughts, alcohol abuse
Hit the Brakes by Beth Bolden (bi mc, gay mc) – 2 🌈
The Best Friend by Raleigh Ruebins (gay mc) – 2.5 🌈
The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer (pan mc, gay li) – 3.5 🌈 [review]
Role Model by Rachel Reid (gay mcs) – 3.5 🌈 [review] cw mentions of rape, homophobia
After You Died by Dea Poirier (bi mc, South Asian American gay li) – 2.5 🌈 [review] cw domestic abuse, suicidal thoughts, torture, mentions of csa, institutional abuse, attempted suicide, violence, gore, murder
To Break a Covenant by Alison Ames (lesbian mc, bi li) – 4.5 🌈 [review] cw animal death, death of a parent, gore
Rummage by Ife-Chudeni A. Oputa (poetry) – 4 🌈
How Much of These Hills is Gold by C. Pam Zhang (Chinese American trans mc) – 2.5 🌈 cw misgendering, transphobia, racial slurs, racism
Water Horse by Melissa Scott (bi mcs, lesbian mcs, gay mc) – 4 🌈
Heaven Official’s Blessing by Mo Xiang Tongxiu (Chinese gay mcs) – 4 🌈 cw violence, self harm, suicide
City of Shattered Light by Claire Winn (bi mcs, gay side characters, nonbinary side character) – 2 🌈 [review]
Thanks a Lot, Universe by Chad Lucas (Trinidadian Polish American gay mc) – 3 🌈 cw suicide attempt, panic attacks
The Hellblazer, Vol 1: The Poison Truth by Simon Oliver (bi mc) – 2 🌈
Sistersong by Lucy Holland (trans mc, genderfluid side character) – 4 🌈 cw transphobia, deadnaming, misgendering, violence
Twelve Kings in Sharakhai by Bradley P. Beaulieu (bi mc) – 2 🌈 cw violence
A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske (gay mcs) – 3.5 🌈 [review] cw torture
Line Mates & Study Dates by Eden Finley & Saxon James (pan mc, gay mc) – 2 🌈
Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg (Jewish butch lesbian mc, lesbian side characters, trans side characters) – 4 🌈 cw implied rape (ch 1, 3), police violence (ch 1, 3, 5), institutionalisation (ch 2), gang rape (ch 4), lesbophobic slurs, antisemitism, transphobia, rape (ch 5), sexual harassment (ch 7), injury (ch 9), homophobic violence (ch 10, 23), suicide
Maurice by E.M. Forster (gay mcs, bi(?) li) – 3 🌈 cw period typical homophobia, suicidal ideation
The Devourers by Indra Das (Indian cast & setting, achillean mcs) – 4 🌈 cw gore, violence, rape
How to Become a Planet by Nicole Melleby (sapphic mc with depression & anxiety, nonbinary li, sapphic side characters) – 3 🌈 cw panic attacks
What we watched (and listened to)
Charlotte
(hahaha.)
Anna
Dance of the Forty One (2020), dir. David Pablos (Mexican cast, gay mc & li, gay side characters) – 2.5 🌈 tw homophobia, public homophobic violence, off-screen torture & death
Special (2019-2021; S2), cr. Ryan O’Connell (gay mc with cerebral palsy, gay li, gay li on an autistic spectrum, gay side characters, sapphic side character) – 4.5 🌈 tw ableism
Feel Good (2020-2021; S2), cr. Mae Martin & Joe Hampson (bisexual nonbinary mc with addiction & PTSD, bisexual li, Black bisexual polyam side character) – 4 🌈 tw biphobia, past paedophilia, discussion of past sexual assault
Plan B (2021), dir. Natalie Morales (Mexican American sapphic mc, Black sapphic character) – 3 🌈 tw vomiting, drugs
On the blog
- Our June book of the month.
- Interviews with Regina Jamison & James Sie.
- A series of 9 rec lists “In The Intersection”: Black, African, and Caribbean LGBT Lit, East Asian LGBT Lit, West Asian LGBT Lit, South Asian LGBT Lit, Southeast Asian LGBT Lit, Latine LGBT Lit, Indigenous LGBT Lit, LGBT Lit and Faith & Neurodiversity and Disability in LGBT Lit.
- Rec lists for songs of May & 100+ Books by Trans & Non-Binary Authors (in colaboration with Mols & other bloggers!).
- ARC reviews (and mixes!) for The Passing Playbook, The Way It Breaks, The Jasmine Throne, Love and Other Natural Disasters & The Wolf and the Woodsman.
- Our most anticipated 2021 releases from July to December.
- All of July’s releases.
On other blogs
- Pippa @ thelittlebookowl reviewed A Master of Djinn by P. D. Clark.
- Fadwa @ Word Wonders interviewed Kayla Ancrum, whose newest book Darling just released June 22nd, and created a list of SFF books by BIPOC authors.
- Lucy @ Lucy’s Novel Purpose celebrated Pride by compiling a list of LGBT books she loves.
- Michelle @ Magical Reads wrote a great review of a July sapphic book, She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan, and put together a list of YA releases of 2021.
- CW & Skye @ The Quiet Pond, in continuation of the Our Friend is Here series, chatted with a number of authors for Pride, including S. Qiouyi Lu, Miel Moreland & Gabriela Martins.
- Dahlia @ LGBTQ Reads, like always, showed us all the best new covers: From Dust, A Flame, I’m So (Not) Over You, All That’s Left in the World, and more still.
- Cande @ Cande Reads, as a Pride treat, listed some books by Mexican Americans authors.
So, how was Pride? What did you read and watch?
