• Book Features

    Cover Reveal + Excerpt: Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston

    Today’s post is probably our most exciting post of the month. We are delighted to help Esme Symes-Smith reveal the cover of their debut middle grade, Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston, coming out on 1st November! This cover is designed by Michelle Cunningham, with art by Kate Sheridan, and it is truly gorgeous.

    And not only do we have a cover for you today, but we also have a sneak preview of the book itself! Everyone wins today.

    Once you’ve read all this, of course, you can preorder and also follow Esme on twitter!

  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Adult LGBT Books with YA Crossover Appeal

    You know when you want to read a YA book, but actually you don’t want to read about teenagers, because you just got back home from your day job & you’re in a different head space? I got you!

    Just so we’re clear, though, I’m not saying those books should be shelved as YA, I’m not saying those authors didn’t know what they were writing, I’m not saying those authors have no idea how to write adult books… I’m not here to infantilise anyone, I’m simply offering you books with the vibes you’re looking for.

  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Sapphic Fantasy (II)

    About two years back now, maybe nearer three, I started a rec series of posts of sapphic books split by genre. Then, sometime early 2020, I got bored, and stopped. Now, though, I’ve decided to come back to it, partly because I’ve read so much more since then I feel I have more content to rec. Partly because of recent dumbass twitter discourse. So yeah.

    It’s been a while, though. It’s been so long, in fact, I decided I had to expand how many books I included in here, just so none of my favourites would have to miss out! I upped it to 25 and there are still more that I haven’t added, so keep an eye out for a third post sometime soon…haha…

    As ever, all of the previous posts can be found here.

  • Book of the Month,  Literature

    Book of the Month: The Shadow Glass

    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!

  • All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: Devotion

    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 . . .

    Devotion

    Hannah Kent

    Goodreads

    Rep: lesbian mc, lesbian li
    Release: 3rd February 2022

  • Wrap Ups

    Wrap-up: January 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).

  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Books With Less Than 400 Goodreads Ratings (IV)

    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.

  • Interviews

    Author Interview: Cait Nary

    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!

  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: January-June 2022 Books With Bi Protagonists

    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.)

  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: 2022 Books With Non-Cis Protagonists

    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.)

  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: 2022 Sapphic Releases (January to June)

    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.

    Looking for July to December? Find it here!

    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.)

  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Indie, Small Press & Self Published Books

    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!