• All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: YA Contemporary That Isn’t About Coming Out

    18 December, 2020

    Books which features coming out scenes are all very well and good — we do, after all, need to see a wide range of those and there are areas where that story still hasn’t been told — but sometimes you just want to read a book where the fact that the main character is gay is wholly incidental to the story. That is, not a coming out story, nor really a romance.

    So, here are 10 books which (hopefully) suit that remit. Yes, some do feature romances, but they aren’t romance books, in the sense that it’s central to the story. (Oh, and they’re all contemporary, because it doesn’t really make sense to make my task easier by including other genres, since obviously they wouldn’t have coming out scenes.)

    But anyway. On with the list.

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  • All Recommended,  Film & TV Recs,  Film & TV Shows

    Film & TV Recs: LGBT Romcoms

    16 December, 2020

    Okay, before we start: yes, there’s only one movie with trans rep and it’s a short feature at that. I know. (I made the list 11 titles long instead of the usual 10 to counterbalance that.) I was going to include Boy Meets Girl (which features a trans actress in the main role, in case you didn’t know), but frankly I have very mixed feelings about that movie. It feels a lot like a film for cis audience and not at all for trans people, and I really, really don’t understand why they didn’t go the sapphic route all the way.

    I will tell you about an upcoming romcom with a trans main character played by a trans actress, though! Right now it’s called Re-Live: A Tale of an American Island Cheerleader and it stars Rain Valdez in the main role. Look out for that in 2021!

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  • All Recommended,  Music,  Music Recs

    Music Recs: Make The Yuletide Gay

    14 December, 2020

    Happy holigays! Last year around this time I made a rec list of Christmas movies, so I figured this year it’s time for music. Especially since so many great songs came out recently!

    The whole mix that I’m putting at the end of this post is almost 50 songs long. Which means I didn’t put them all on the post itself, but instead focused on my absolute favourites of 2020 alone.

    I didn’t want to simply put the soundtrack of Happiest Season on my mix and call it a day (yes, it’s all by LGBT artists!), so I looked far and wide for more songs for you guys! My other goal was to make this mix as full of original songs as possible, and I mostly succeeded there.

    In any case, believe me, you do want to check out the mix too, for even more holiday gay cheer!

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    Book Reviews: Lesbian Books for the Soul

    12 December, 2020

    In case you haven’t heard of Bywater Books before now, they are an independent publishing company that only publishes lesbian fiction. So obviously, they’re one of our favourites. And we are very lucky to be able to review three of their books today!

    So, if you’re looking for a contemporary romance, or a mystery, check out these books!

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  • Interviews

    Artist Interview: Aish Divine

    10 December, 2020

    We’re very happy to say we managed to chat a bit with Aish Divine! He’s an incredibly talented musician who just released his newest album The Sex Issue on December 4th (in case you somehow didn’t know that yet…).

    Read on if you want to learn how Aish’s culture was a jumping-off point of his musical career or what he thinks are the ebst kind of songs. Also join me in keeping our fingers crossed that his music will be used in Queer Eye, it’s what he (and us) deserves.

    And of course, you can listen to Aish’s music here, and follow him on twitter.

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Reads Rainbow Awards 2020: The Results

    8 December, 2020

    It’s finally time! The results are in! Six weeks of voting and over 1000 votes cast, and we finally have the winners right here.

    Last year, we included the top five (or more, since there were a lot of ties) in each category but this year, we can have a distinct top three in every category bar one, so that’s what we’ve gone with. However, if you do want to know how the numbers worked out, there’ll be a link below to the results (as of tomorrow, probably, thanks to internet connectivity and slow computer issues).

    See the breakdown of results here!

    Otherwise, happy scrolling!

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  • Book of the Month,  Literature

    Book of the Month: Wolf Moon: The Invasion of the Dolls

    6 December, 2020

    If you want something a little more light-hearted to read this or next month, perhaps some middle grade lit, perhaps featuring a trans mc, then look no further than our December book of the month! And to make it even better, the book featured here is a sequel, so you can get on the first book right away, just in time for the next one in January. And you can support a self-published author.

    It’s wins all round.

    Related: Don’t forget all releases can be found in our monthly lists here.
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  • Wrap Ups

    Wrap-up: November 2020

    1 December, 2020

    Yeah, I don’t know how on earth it’s already December, either. I feel like I blinked, didn’t sleep for a week, and the the year ended. 2020 sure is great to us.

    Personally I (Anna) have read very well in November: maybe not as much as some people (I mean Charlotte), but only good books. And because of the movie rec list I made a few weeks back, I had a lot of fun with the stuff I watched. Hopefully I can continue that this month and y’all as well.

    And, last but not least, you still have until 7th December to vote in our Alternative Choice Awards so:

    Go Vote!

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  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: December 2020

    28 November, 2020

    Can you guys believe this hell year is almost over? Yeah, me neither! I have no idea when this happened and how the time works anymore. I sure am glad that 2020 is basically behind us, though. Hopefully next year will be better. Anyway! If you’re looking for last minute holiday gifts or simply something to read on a cozy winter afternoon, browse away! There are almost 50 LGBT books coming out in December 2020!

    A reminder that a rainbow emoji indicates that the author is LGBT, but not necessarily that the specific rep in the book is ownvoices.

    And if you need some more books, you can find all our previous releases posts here.

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: It’s About the Yearning

    26 November, 2020

    I had absolutely no idea what rec list to make for today so, in a sort of democracy I suppose, I got people on twitter to choose between this, butch lesbians and yes this book is gay. (Don’t worry, the latter two will be coming, although maybe not so soon.)

    We all know that yearning is a massive part of the best LGBT lit, at what we all yearn (lol) for. So, here are ten of my favourites that just hit that sweet spot.

    Yes, there are some upcoming books on this list, I can’t be held accountable for it though.

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  • All Recommended,  Film & TV Recs,  Film & TV Shows

    Film & TV Recs: Gay Comedies

    23 November, 2020

    I don’t know about you guys, but most of the gay movies I end up watching are dramas and if there’s anything funny about them, it’s like one scene. So it got me thinking: where are the comedies? And I’m talking actually hilarious stuff. Not romcoms (that is going to be another rec list in the near future!), not slice-of-life with a few joke thrown in. Comedies.

    I put one TV show on this list, just for some variety. In all fairness, I was initially going to include Schitt’s Creek, but I figured everyone knows about that absolute gem so there’s really no point.

    And yes, I’m painfully aware there’s no trans rep on this list, hence the title, but finding good comedies with trans characters played by trans actors proved beyond my powers. If you know any, please let me know, so I can make a list just for them!

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Bi MCs and M/F Romance (I)

    20 November, 2020

    Today’s list, brought to you late this evening, is one I touted doing a few months’ back, which got added to my (long) list of post ideas and which I am just now finally getting around to. So, here we are. Ten books featuring bi MCs in m/f romances. And, because when I started listing all the books I knew, the list got steadily longer and longer (if we include those I still need to read), this will have multiple parts to come.

    One little note before we start: this list includes bi MCs with POVs only. That is, a bi love interest, despite the fact they are a pretty major character, would not get included. For this list alone, obviously.

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  • Interviews

    Author Interview: Chloe Spencer

    18 November, 2020

    After some late night internet connectivity wrangling, we finally have today’s interview post ready for you! Today (or back in August, if you want accuracy), we’re speaking with Chloe Spencer, the author of sci fi thriller Duality (among others). So get yourself a cuppa and settle in!

    And don’t forget to follow her on Twitter!

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: LGBT Graphic Novels (II)

    15 November, 2020

    I’ve made a rec list for LGBT graphic novels before (funnily enough, it was on Christmas Eve two years ago) and you can check it out here. But the truth is, you can never have too many of those in your life! Which is why I decided that part two of that particular rec list is long overdue.

    So here we are! Ten more LGBT graphic novels, across a bunch of genres and for various target audiences. Hope you will find a new favourite here.

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