reviews, releases and recommendations of LGBT media
Another month, another book of the month. This one is one I’m very excited about, an urban fantasy that honestly sounds absolutely wild and I’m so very here for that. Puppets come to life? A quest to save the world from one of your own father’s creations? Tell me more.
You can, of course, find out more by following Josh Winning on twitter. And don’t forget to have a look at why we think this is the book for you!
Today is the (long awaited, in my view) UK release day of what is undoubtedly one of the best books I read last year. Hannah Kent’s Devotion is a gorgeous historical tale, that spans lives and loves. If you’ve never read one of her works before, this is the perfect place to start. But if you’re somehow not convinced by the blurb alone, you can find my review for it in this post.
And you should also go ahead and follow Hannah on twitter and instagram!
1836, Prussia. Hanne is nearly fifteen and the domestic world of womanhood is quickly closing in on her. A child of nature, she yearns instead for the rush of the river, the wind dancing around her. Hanne finds little comfort in the local girls and friendship doesn’t come easily, until she meets Thea and she finds in her a kindred spirit and finally, acceptance.
Hanne’s family are Old Lutherans, and in her small village hushed worship is done secretly – this is a community under threat. But when they are granted safe passage to Australia, the community rejoices: at last a place they can pray without fear, a permanent home. Freedom.
It’s a promise of freedom that will have devastating consequences for Hanne and Thea, but, on that long and brutal journey, their bond proves too strong for even nature to break . . .
Hannah Kent
Rep: lesbian mc, lesbian li
Release: 3rd February 2022
January was a bumper month for us: we hit our new record views for a day, and also for the month (by a long way), we hit 5k followers on twitter, and then we surpassed our record views for the day again. (Now all that’s left is to hit 1k followers on here…) There was a lot going on. And in between all that, we read a few things (though neither of us managed to watch anything gay at all).
As ever, when I run out of rec list ideas, I turn back to this one. Books which I consider underrated (where “underrated” is specifically defined as “less than 400 ratings on Goodreads. Yeah, Goodreads is not the be all and end all, yeah, 400 is pretty harsh comparably, but it’ll do. At least until I run out of books and need to increase the number haha). I’ve done this 3 times already, so this rec list marks the 76th-100th books (round of applause please). Hopefully, there’s something here for everyone.
And don’t forget, you can also check out the previous posts: find the first post here, the second one here and the third one here.
Today’s interview is an incredibly exciting one from our point of view. Cait Nary’s debut Season’s Change (out in just a few days’ time on 1st February) is hands-down one of our favourite romance novels ever (Anna even said it was probably their outright favourite). This is one that you absolutely do not want to miss out on. But while we’re waiting those interminable 6 days, take a read of our interview with Cait to get yourself all the more excited! (Also I think it should be noted that Cait supports categorically the best hockey team. Anna agrees.)
And don’t forget to follow her on twitter!
January on Reads Rainbow means big releases posts (big as in long & time-consuming to draft; not big as in only about big books!). And today it’s time for books with bi and/or pan rep.m
Those posts have been going for a few years, but just as a reminder: I only include books where there’s no doubt that a character actually is bisexual (or pansexual). That means the character either uses a label or the narrative makes it abundantly clear (especially in case of sff novels). Also, I include books with bi/pan main characters and love interests, and sometimes really major side characters.
If you know any books I missed or mistakes I made, please let me know in the comment! And like always, the rainbow emoji means the author is LGBT. Happy reading!
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.)
It’s the fourth year in a row of me making a list of trans & nonbinary books, so I’m lowkey hopeful we all know the drill by now. The post itself is titled “non-cis books” to make sure it’s true for all the books included in it (especially novels with Indigenous gender identities, or simply sci-fi ones with no labels). And also because that’s what I used in my first post…
This post only allows rep in the form of a main character, a love interest, or a truly major side character (usually a parent or someone like that). So you can be sure it’s not small or insignificant.
If you know of any books I’ve missed or caught any mistakes I’ve made, please leave a comment! And as always, books by LGBT authors have a rainbow emoji next to the title.
Also, 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.)
It’s the moment you’ve all undoubtedly been waiting for, the first of our 2022 sapphic releases posts! This one is the biggest initial post so far, with over 300 releases that I know about as of this moment in time. Yeah, it’s a monster post, and I am somewhat exhausted just making it. There’s something for everyone here, so dive in!
Update, 27/1/22: I’ve decided to add in rep again here, since sapphic is a blanket term and books here do include sapphic mcs in m/f relationships, as well as those in f/f relationships and, while I know which are which, and also that I mean it in this blanket sense, others may not. This will, of course, be updated as I read more of the books/it’s easier to find rep info.
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.)
This is a post I’ve been meaning to do for a while. We all know about all of the Big 5 books, the ones that appear on most rec lists most often, that get more marketing (comparatively speaking) and which more people know about. So, today’s rec list is specifically the opposite of that. Today, I’m reccing you books by independent publishers, small presses, and self-published authors.
For ease, the definition of indie here that I’m using is “not Big 5 or an imprint of Big 5”. That is, not Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, or Hachette. Since the indies range in size beyond that, I’ve split those into two sections: smaller and larger (generally decided by output).
A little key before we start:
💛 = sapphic
💚 = achillean
💙 = trans or nonbinary
🌻 = contemporary
🌿 = historical
🐚 = fantasy
🌺 = mystery/thriller
🍂 = paranormal/horror
🍃 = science fiction
For this list, I stuck to a single book by each author (although there are many where I’d rec multiple books) because I figured, hey, this can be a series! So, check back later this year for more, I guess!
We’re breaking up our releases posts a little now to bring you another interview, this time with Jae Waller, author of the fantasy series The Call of the Rift. As ever, we spoke about a number of things, so read on to find out more about Jae and her series!
And don’t forget to follow her on twitter!
It’s the day you’ve all undoubtedly been waiting for! That is, it’s The Bone Spindle‘s book birthday! If you haven’t been excited about this one I am forced to assume you’ve been living under a rock. I mean, what could be better than Sleeping Beauty crossed with Indiana Jones? Nothing, I tell you. But if, for whatever ungodly reason, you’re still on the fence about this one, let me try convince you with this review!
And don’t forget to follow Leslie on twitter too!
Fi is a bookish treasure hunter with a knack for ruins and riddles, who definitely doesn’t believe in true love.
Shane is a tough-as-dirt girl warrior from the north who likes cracking skulls, pretty girls, and doing things her own way.
Briar Rose is a prince under a sleeping curse, who’s been waiting a hundred years for the kiss that will wake him.
Cursed princes are nothing but ancient history to Fi–until she pricks her finger on a bone spindle while exploring a long-lost ruin. Now she’s stuck with the spirit of Briar Rose until she and Shane can break the century-old curse on his kingdom.
Dark magic, Witch Hunters, and bad exes all stand in her way–not to mention a mysterious witch who might wind up stealing Shane’s heart, along with whatever else she’s after. But nothing scares Fi more than the possibility of falling in love with Briar Rose.
Leslie Vedder
Rep: lesbian mc, sapphic li
Release: 11th January 2022
YA lovers, rejoice! Here’s the compilation post you’ve been looking for: all (hopefully) LGBT YA books of this half of 2022. It’s over 150 books long, and I probably still missed a few!
It’s not easy to be very specific with the LGBT rep without having read all the books myself, but I tried my best. If there are any mistakes or something could be more detailed, feel free to let me know in the comments. And like always, books by LGBT authors are marked with a rainbow emoji.
Enjoy and preorder! 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.)
Bringing you the last of 2021 songs by LGBT artists that I know about! It was a hell of a year, but we got some really incredible music. As always, ten songs are highlighted in the post itself and all of them are available in the Spotify playlist.
That’s still not enough music for you? Try all my previous monthly posts right here!
We’re starting the year strong with some Black magic! Frankly what could be better than a solid middle grade fantasy novel, right? So absolutely do keep this book on your radar, and follow Jamar J. Perry on twitter, so you won’t miss any other news from him!
After giving you a couple of entire year wrap ups in the form of best of posts (books and tv/film), we’re taking a quick step back with our final wrap up post of 2021, before we continue forward into January’s post. So, if you’re interested in what we read, watched and listened to in December, take a look!
