Yet another month seems to have flown by at the speed of light, leaving us ever closer to the end of 2021 (ha. haha). We have an exciting (and spooky) month planned for October, so you’ll want to stick around, but before we can get to that, here’s how our September looked.
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Book Releases: October 2021
We’re nearing the end of the year, which means it’s probably the last post this long. Over 100 LGBT books, my guys! Remember to preorder whatever you want to read, given the current publishing situation, too.
Anyway, my apologies in advance if any books are wrongly categorised – let me know & I can fix it. And as per usual, you can find all our previous releases posts here & the rainbow emoji indicates an author who id’s as LGBT.
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Book Recs: Books for fans of Mary Oliver’s poetry
It’s a companion post of sorts to one of my previous rec lists, where I recommended people books based on their favourite Richard Siken quotes. This time the quotes are lesbian, though.
The idea is very simple: I asked our followers on twitter to choose their most beloved quote by Mary Oliver (which isn’t easy, I know!) & then tried to figure out what book does it remind me of. Sometimes based on vibes alone, sometimes based more on the plot. So let’s go.
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ARC Review: The City Beautiful
If you’re on a lookout for a spooky read with the autumn fast approaching, look no further! Just let us tell you why you should absolutely be reading The City Beautiful, for all your gothic needs.
And remember, we actually talked with Aden Polydoros a few days ago!
So have fun, and get scared!
Death lurks around every corner in this unforgettable Jewish historical fantasy about a city, a boy, and the shadows of the past that bind them both together.
Chicago, 1893. For Alter Rosen, this is the land of opportunity, and he dreams of the day he’ll have enough money to bring his mother and sisters to America, freeing them from the oppression they face in his native Romania.
But when Alter’s best friend, Yakov, becomes the latest victim in a long line of murdered Jewish boys, his dream begins to slip away. While the rest of the city is busy celebrating the World’s Fair, Alter is now living a nightmare: possessed by Yakov’s dybbuk, he is plunged into a world of corruption and deceit, and thrown back into the arms of a dangerous boy from his past. A boy who means more to Alter than anyone knows.
Now, with only days to spare until the dybbuk takes over Alter’s body completely, the two boys must race to track down the killer—before the killer claims them next.
The City Beautiful
Aden Polydoros
Rep: Romanian Jewish gay mc, Lithuanian Jewish gay li, Ukrainian Jewish gay li
TW: antisemitism, mentions of past rape, mentions of past pedophilia, body horror (chapter 42), blood, gore, violence, murder, drowning, vomiting, fire, immolation
Release: 5th October 2021 -
Author Interview: Aden Polydoros
I’m sure that, much like us, The City Beautiful is one of your most anticipated releases. And now, approaching the end of September, there’s only a few more days to go! Just to whet your appetite a little bit more, we have a couple of exciting posts upcoming, the first of which is today’s interview.
So get yourself a drink, make sure you’re following Aden on twitter, and give this a read.
And here’s the preorder link, because you’re going to want it!
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ARC Review: To Break a Covenant
I’m sure this next book is one you’ve all been highly anticipating (and if not, why not?). It’s also coming out at the perfect time for Halloween and all things spooky! If you want a book that’ll scare you out of your wits (and I’m not just saying this as a certified wimp), then this is the book for you.
So, sit back, give Alison a follow on twitter, and get yourself ready for the perfect spooky season read!
Debut voice Alison Ames delivers with a chilling, feminist thriller, perfect for fans of Wilder Girls and Sawkill Girls.
Moon Basin has been haunted for as long as anyone can remember. It started when an explosion in the mine killed sixteen people. The disaster made it impossible to live in town, with underground fires spewing ash into the sky. But life in New Basin is just as fraught. The ex-mining town relies on its haunted reputation to bring in tourists, but there’s more truth to the rumors than most are willing to admit, and the mine still has a hold on everyone who lives there.
Clem and Nina form a perfect loop—best friends forever, and perhaps something more. Their circle opens up for a strange girl named Lisey with a knack for training crows, and Piper, whose father is fascinated with the mine in a way that’s anything but ordinary. The people of New Basin start experiencing strange phenomena—sleepwalking, night terrors, voices that only they can hear. And no matter how many vans of ghost hunters roll through, nobody can get to the bottom of what’s really going on. Which is why the girls decide to enter the mine themselves.
To Break a Covenant
Alison Ames
Rep: lesbian mc, bi li
CWs: animal death, death of a parent, gore
Release: 21st September 2021 -
ARC Review: Iron Widow
Iron Widow is one of those 2021 debuts that possibly everyone has already heard about it and is (rightly!) excited about, so let us stoke the fires some more with our reviews of this glorious beast of a book. There’s a music mix, too!
And if you want to do yourself a big favour, go ahead & follow Xiran on twitter already!
The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.
When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.​
To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia​. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.
Iron Widow
Xiran Jay Zhao
Rep: Chinese-coded cast, bi mcs, polyamory
CWs: gore, murder, torture, mentions of rape, threats of rape, misogyny, femicide, suicide ideation, abuse, alcohol addiction
Release: 21st September 2021 -
Author Interview: Soman Chainani
If, a few days back, you read our review of Beasts and Beauty by Soman Chainani, and thought to yourself, wow I wish I could find out a bit more about this book and the author, well we have a treat for you today!
And after that, while you wait, you can follow him on twitter, and also preorder a copy of Beasts and Beauty (links can be found here).
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Book Recs: Historical Romances
There’s something about a good histrom that just perfectly scratches a certain itch for me. And once I find an author whose books I enjoy, I will binge their entire backlist. That being said, it’s still an area where, at least in tradpub, it’s very cishet and white. So, here I’ve done my utmost to find you 10 recs that are very much not cishet (although they do remain quite white, so if anyone has recs of their own, please do drop them in the comments!). For that time when you just need a good histrom.
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ARC Review: Beasts and Beauty
If you ever have a burning desire for dark and dangerous fairytale retellings, then I have the book for you today, with a review of Soman Chainani’s upcoming Beasts and Beauty, which is out at the end of the month. You can preorder it via Bookshop (UK, US—these are affiliate links), but in the meantime, here’s five reasons you really should be looking forward to this one.
You think you know these stories, don’t you?
You are wrong.
You don’t know them at all.
Twelve tales, twelve dangerous tales of mystery, magic, and rebellious hearts. Each twists like a spindle to reveal truths full of warning and triumph, truths that capture hearts long kept tame and set them free, truths that explore life . . . and death.
A prince has a surprising awakening . . .                          Â
A beauty fights like a beast . . .
A boy refuses to become prey . . .
A path to happiness is lost. . . . then found again.
New York Times bestselling author Soman Chainani respins old stories into fresh fairy tales for a new era and creates a world like no other. These stories know you. They understand you. They reflect you. They are tales for our times. So read on, if you dare.Â
Beasts and Beauty
Soman Chainani
Rep: gay mcs
CWs: blood, racism/racial trauma, implied rape, emotional abuse, implied child trafficking
Release: 28th September 2021 -
Author Interview: Mark Oshiro
We have a very exciting interview for you today! We spoke with Mark Oshiro, whose debut middle grade releases in just 12 days. Undoubtedly, you’re all highly anticipating it, so let us whet your appetite with this interview!
And after that, while you wait, you can follow them on twitter, and also preorder a copy of The Insiders (out on 21st September. Links can be found here and here.)
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Music Releases: LGBT songs of August 2021
It’s that time at the beginning of a new month, when I bring you all the songs LGBT artists released in the previous month. That I know about, of course. Feel free to list in the comments any I’ve missed and I will add them to the mix (available at the end of the post!), but in the meantime check out ten of my personal favourites.
That’s not enough for you? Try all my previous monthly posts right here!
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ARC Review: The Final Child
I’m sure by now you know that I a) love thrillers, and b) love Fran Dorricott’s thrillers. If you don’t? Well, here I am to put you right on that. If you’re looking for something fast-paced and full of action to read this week, then I offer you this one.
Erin and her brother Alex were the last children abducted by ‘the Father’, a serial killer who only ever took pairs of siblings. She escaped, but her brother was never seen again. Traumatised, Erin couldn’t remember anything about her ordeal, and the Father was never caught.
Eighteen years later, Erin has done her best to put the past behind her. But then she meets Harriet. Harriet’s young cousins were the Father’s first victims and, haunted by their deaths, she is writing a book about the disappearances and is desperate for an interview. At first, Erin wants nothing to do with her. But then she starts receiving sinister gifts, her house is broken into, and she can’t shake the feeling that she’s being watched. After all these years, Erin believed that the Father was gone, but now she begins to wonder if he was only waiting…
The Final Child
Fran Dorricott
Rep: lesbian mcs
CWs: child death, child abduction, gore, amputation, violence, child abuse, past suicide
Release: 7th September 2021 -
Book of the Month: A Tale of Two Omars
After months and months of fiction for our BOTM feature, for September, we’ve taken a different tack, and selected a memoir. It’s due out in just over a month so still plenty of time to preorder, if you find it’s of interest to you. So take a look, and let us know!
Related: Don’t forget all releases can be found in our monthly lists here.
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Wrap-up: August 2021
It’s the end of August and the end of the summer (if you’re in the northern hemisphere, that is), which brings us to our wrap up post. I don’t know about you, but time seems to be passing so quickly at the moment and yet, at the same time, I do not remember reading half of these books in August. We have a jam-packed September for you, but first, let’s recap the previous month.
