reviews, releases and recommendations of LGBT media
While we’re waiting for Cameron’s newest book – Cassidy is Queen – to come out in June, you can always read about their journey to becoming an author, and a dream team of characters they’d collect from all their books to fight zombies together.
And don’t forget: you can follow Cameron on twitter too!
The Goodreads Choice Awards have come and gone and if, perchance, you thought to yourself huh, where are the Reads Rainbow Awards, well here will be your answer! This being the fourth year of the awards, we decided now is the time to break away from the tyranny of the Goodreads Choice Awards and timing ours alongside, and we’ll do it a different way. So, this is a post to explain just that!
I last did one of these posts way back in January, which means I’ve surely read enough books since then to make another one! That’s how this works, right? Anyway, on this post, as the title suggests, you’ll find 25 books with less than 400 ratings on Goodreads (that being a semi-randomly selected metric by which I’ll judge “underrated”). Maybe you’ve heard of some, maybe you haven’t. Whatever the case, have at it!
And don’t forget, you can also check out the previous posts: find the first post here, the second one here, the third one here, and the fourth one here.
This post could have a lot of different titles, to be frank: gay romances, gay melodramas… But really, it’s just a compilation of movies with gay love at their centre. Hence the title I actually settled on. (And of course, achillean as the more inclusive term, since there’s a few bi characters or ones who don’t really use labels.)
The first movie I thought of for this rec list was Moonlight, so that should tell you all you need to know about it.
In case you missed it, last week the fabulous cover for The Faithless was revealed. If you haven’t seen the cover already, I’m not going to say a word more, because I don’t think there’s a way to prepare you for it, at all, but also. Just look at it. Just look.
And after all that, if you’re impatiently waiting for next March, well, maybe this interview can sate your appetite just a bit. And don’t forget: you can follow Cherae on twitter too!
It’s November’s music and that means holiday songs are slowly trickling in, guys! I even sneaked one into the post itself! (If you already want more, I made a whole playlist!) But anyway, all the LGBT songs I know of from last month are in the playlist at the end of this post. And below you will find 10 songs I want to highlight!
Want more music? Check out the previous monthly posts right here!
We open this wrap up with the news that it’ll be our penultimate one. That’s not to say we won’t be doing something similar still, but just not here on the blog. In fact, we’re transferring it over to a newsletter! The first of those went out yesterday and you can read it here (and subscribe maybe?). Instead of being simply a list of everything we read or watched, and posted, it’ll be a little more interesting than that, our favourites of the month, things we’ve seen that we want to highlight, and more besides.
But in the meantime, we’ll finish off 2022 in wrap ups at least, alongside the first couple of newsletters. So, here’s November’s for you to enjoy (maybe).
Fans of science fiction will have undoubtedly been keeping an eye out for the upcoming A Fractured Infinity, a universe-hopping action-packed book. Well, the (North American) day has very nearly arrived! This time next week the book will be in your hands. And to get you even more excited, we have an interview with Nathan Tavares for you to read today! If you’re in the USA, there’s still time to get your preorder in for this one. If you’re in the UK, you can actually get your hands on it right now!
And don’t forget: you can follow Nathan on instagram too!
A while back, Anna did a post of LGBT sports lit that they’d recommend, so now it’s my turn! There’s a variety of books here and, combined with the previous post, hopefully something that appeals for everyone. Although, I would say, if you’re looking for more sports romances, Anna’s post might be the better place to be, since the bulk of them are on there. But if you’re looking for more literary fiction or otherwise contemporary novels, then scroll on!
A lot of these titles are available on Scribd, so if you want to check out that service but don’t have an account yet, use my invite code to get 2 months for free! (This also gives me one free month.)
If you’re looking for the perfect read for December and an impending Christmastime, then look no further than Jake Maia Arlow’s How to Excavate a Heart. It’s out now in the USA, and on Thursday in the UK, so you have no excuse for not picking it up! Start your December right and let this review tell you why!
Before we get to the review though, don’t forget you can follow Jake on instagram too.
It all starts when Shani runs into May. Like, literally. With her mom’s Subaru.
Attempted vehicular manslaughter was not part of Shani’s plan. She was supposed to be focusing on her monthlong paleoichthyology internship. She was going to spend all her time thinking about dead fish and not at all about how she was unceremoniously dumped days before winter break.
It could be going better.
But when a dog-walking gig puts her back in May’s path, the fossils she’s meant to be diligently studying are pushed to the side–along with the breakup.
Then they’re snowed in together on Christmas Eve. As things start to feel more serious, though, Shani’s hurt over her ex-girlfriend’s rejection comes rushing back. Is she ready to try a committed relationship again, or is she okay with this just being a passing winter fling?
Jake Maia Arlow
Rep: Jewish lesbian mc & li, Indian American sapphic side character
CWs: past sexual assault, past controlling relationship
Release: 24th November 2022
As twitter starts its slow slide into destruction, today’s a good (great!) day to sign up to our blog so that you don’t miss posts like this: our interview with Maggie Horne! If you’re a fan of middle grade, then you won’t want to let this interview pass you by. And, hey! If you’re one of those odd people who hasn’t read Hazel Hill is Gonna Win This One yet, then maybe this will convince you to.
And don’t forget: you can follow Maggie on instagram too!
The Goodreads Choice Awards are back and so is this post! Anna being busy this afternoon, I’ve taken over writing it. Which will explain the discussion part of this at least… As with last year’s post, the books are sorted into those which have LGBT main characters and side characters alone. Particularly with side characters, it’s possible we have missed a few.
And, if you’re looking out for our awards, don’t worry if you don’t see them for a while yet! We’re working on a little something…
The me from a year ago would never even dream of making this rec list. And here we are! But also, before we go into the heavy detail, let me just say that I use a very rough definition of ‘literary fiction’. And by that I mean that in my mind it’s mostly just… character-driven, hard to define stories. That’s it. I’m literally just here for the vibes and to have a good time.
Anyway, Charlotte also recced some lit fic this year (and she included one of my favourite books of all time – On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous), so check out her post, too!
And hey, a lot of those titles are available on Scribd, so if you want to check out that service but don’t have an account yet, use my invite code to get 2 months for free! (This also gives me one free month.)
No one writes romantic SFF like Aliette de Bodard writes romantic SFF. If you haven’t given any of her books a go, then now is the time to start. The Red Scholar’s Wake is a sci fi like you’ve never read before, and one you don’t want to miss out on.
Before we start with the review though, don’t forget you can follow Aliette on twitter too (for now…).
XÃch Si: bot maker, data analyst, mother, scavenger. But those days are over now-her ship has just been captured by the Red Banner pirate fleet, famous for their double-dealing and cruelty. XÃch Si expects to be tortured to death-only for the pirates’ enigmatic leader, Rice Fish, to arrive with a different and shocking proposition: an arranged marriage between XÃch Si and herself.
Rice Fish: sentient ship, leader of the infamous Red Banner pirate fleet, wife of the Red Scholar. Or at least, she was the latter before her wife died under suspicious circumstances. Now isolated and alone, Rice Fish wants XÃch Si’s help to find out who struck against them and why. Marrying XÃch Si means Rice Fish can offer XÃch Si protection, in exchange for XÃch Si’s technical fluency: a business arrangement with nothing more to it.
But as the investigation goes on, Rice Fish and XÃch Si find themselves falling for each other. As the interstellar war against piracy intensifies and the five fleets start fighting each other, they will have to make a stand-and to decide what kind of future they have together…
Aliette de Bodard
Rep: Vietnamese cast, sapphic mcs
Release: 24th November 2022
Even if you haven’t heard the term “quozy mystery” before, you can probably work out exactly what it is. Today’s interview is with the genius mind that coined the term: Rob Osler! If you’re a fan of cozy mysteries, but you feel they too often aren’t gay, then you should check out Rob’s books.
And don’t forget: you can follow Rob on twitter too!
