• Discussions and Guest Posts

    Discussion: Goodreads Awards 2020 & LGBT Books

    30 October, 2020

    We’re turning our awards into a yearly thing! Because really, if we spend all day every day promoting LGBT books, we should be able to celebrate them with awards, too! And what’s a better time to do it than the same as Goodreads’ Choice Awards.

    The rules for the Goodreads’ Choice Awards stay the same: 20 categories and 15 books nominated in each in the first round. There are of course a few books nominated in more than one category, but for ease of conversation let’s say it’s 300 books.

    Now. We know about a lot of LGBT books, but we’re aware it’s not possible we know about all of them that came out this year. Even with that in mind, and even only counting books that came out between January and October, we know about 1148. Just so you have some kind of frame of mind here.

    Below you will find LGBT books nominated in each category. This year there is only one category without any LGBT nominees and that is Science & Technology, so frankly, that’s fair enough. Everything else? Well.

    And of course! We prepared our own Alternative Choice Awards, where all the nominated books are LGBT. Below you have a link to cast your vote! Yes, you can write in your choices as well.

    Vote in our LGBT Alternative Choice Awards!

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  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: November 2020

    28 October, 2020

    We’ve reached the point in the year where the number of LGBT releases starts to drop off. But, happily, all that really means is that we’ve got 58 releases for you today (which is still the equivalent of almost two per day). 2020 has been so good to us (in terms of LGBT releases. Not much else, I’ll admit).

    As ever, you can find all our previous releases posts here and the rainbow emoji indicates an author who id’s as LGBT.

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

    Film & TV Recs: Movies with two QPOC leads

    26 October, 2020

    I’m sure y’all noticed that weird trend in Hollywood where if one half of a gay couple is POC, the other, without fail, is white. Yeah, we can have some diversity, but just not too much.

    So that’s why this rec list came to be. Here you will find ten gay and lesbian movies where both the main character and the love interest are QPOC. Turns out, it’s not impossible to achieve!

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: King and Lionheart

    24 October, 2020

    Initially, I had not a clue what my second rec list this month would be. Spooky season recs was an obvious one, but after that, I was stuck. But then along came Shri and told me to rec books that fit the king and lionheart trope.

    Before we start, though, a quick definition, courtesy of Shri, again:

    it’s like hero burdened with the main problem and person who is unconditionally loyal to them and a protector. their rock if you will.

    For want of a better example, think Merlin and Arthur from BBC’s Merlin. And since what’s better than a trope, than that same trope made gay, I come bearing recs (sometimes romantic, sometimes not).

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  • Interviews

    Author Interview: Kalynn Bayron

    20 October, 2020

    Back with another interview for you today, and it’s an exciting one! Cinderella is Dead was one of our most anticipated reads this year, so we’re absolutely stoked to be able to interview Kalynn Bayron. So, if you want to find out how exactly she’d describe her current project, which character she’d fight zombies with, and more, read on!

    And don’t forget to follow her on Twitter!

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Spooky Season

    17 October, 2020

    It being October, and almost Halloween, clearly the time was perfect for a rec list that combines the best of the spooky season and LGBT rep. Now, full disclosure, I’m very easily spooked (ha) when it comes to these things (especially if I’m reading late at night) – although not as easily as Anna.

    I’ve tried for variety in these recs, so it’s not going to be all horror (since I don’t read a whole lot of that, for the aforementioned reason), but anything that features something that you might see around All Hallows’ Eve/All Saint’s Day.

    So have a scroll, and let me know what else you would rec!

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Gay books matching the feeling of Siken poetry

    15 October, 2020

    My credentials to write this post are as follows: I have read War of the Foxes 6 times, and Crush 27 times. When I say I’m obssessed with Siken’s poetry…

    I asked people on twitter to share their favourite quotes by Siken with me. And granted, that happened a few months ago, but time flows differently in 2020. So here I am today, with gay and sapphic novels that somehow match the feelings evoked by said Siken quotes. Some of them will make you cry, as they should, but some of them are just beautifully hopeful.

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  • All Reviews,  Interviews,  Literature

    ARC Review + Author Interview: Z Jeffries

    12 October, 2020

    It’s two posts for the price of one on Reads Rainbow today as we are bringing you both an ARC review and an author interview. Chase: The Boy Who Hid is a middle grade science fiction novel, out in just a few days, and we had the pleasure of talking to the author, Z Jeffries, about it (among other things).

    So, this post starts with five reasons you should read this book, and follows on with the interview. Enjoy!

    Don’t forget, you can also follow Z Jeffries on twitter.

    40864832

    Don’t hide from your feelings. Hide from the giant robot trying to kill you.

    I always knew I’d inherited my grandad’s mind for science and technology, but when he goes missing, I get his spot in a top-secret government game of hide and seek. The military camouflage challenge, DARPA’s game where shapeshifters, mechs, and telepaths hide from a robot seeker, is also where Grandad vanished.

    To find out what happened, I’ll play along- gain the team’s trust, master the tech, and avoid catching feelings for the team navigator. If I can do all that, then maybe I can survive the dangerous game. But if it comes down to winning or finding Grandad, I’ll ditch the game and betray my team in a millisecond. Even if it means I go missing, too.

    Book One in the Hide & Seek Series, the action-packed coming of age stories of STEM-minded queer kids getting their hands on the tech of the future.

    Chase: The Boy Who Hid

    Z Jeffries

    Published: 15th October 2020
    Goodreads
    Rep: bi mc, nonbinary character, Black lesbian character

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  • All Releases,  Music,  Music Releases

    Music Releases: LGBT songs of September 2020

    8 October, 2020

    I feel like every month there are more amazing songs by LGBT artists coming out, and every month my job in choosing ten the most favourite is harder. But hey, someone has to do it. On the plus side, though, no one can stop me from making the whole playlist for the month (available at the end of the psot) 50 songs long.

    If you want even more music, check out all my previous monthly posts right here!

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  • Book of the Month,  Literature

    Book of the Month: The Liar’s Guide to the Night Sky

    5 October, 2020

    It’s been a little while since we featured a sapphic book on our book of the month feature, but this month’s is just that! I (Charlotte) have read this book and adored it, so I can’t recommend highly enough that you preorder it. (You can also read some of the other works by this author in the meantime, which are also not straight so…)

    But anyway, read on to find out more about this book!

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

    Wrap-up: September 2020

    2 October, 2020

    Do you ever get the feeling that September just doesn’t feel real? Like, I feel as though it was August, I blinked, and now it’s October. That may just be me.

    September, as you can see, was a productive month. Anna watched a lot, I read a lot (I don’t want to talk about it), time went by. So take a scroll through, and let us know how September was for you!

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  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: October 2020

    30 September, 2020

    If you’re looking for something new to read this fall, you’re in luck. Actually, if you’re looking for something spooky, you’re also in luck – there are quite a few horrors and thrillers coming out in October. Among other kinds of books. Among almost 90 titles.

    A little bit different than I usually do on my posts, but I decided with Charlotte that’s actually a more important piece of information. So. 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: Middle Grade

    28 September, 2020

    Have you ever picked up a gay middle grade book, in the hopes of something lighter to read in between YA or adult books, and suddenly found yourself bawling over it, because there’s something about MG that just hits and yet is so hopeful?

    If you haven’t, you’re missing out.

    So, in the interests of helping you not miss out any more, I have compiled a rec list of MG books for you to cry over*.

    *Disclaimer: you might not actually cry. I don’t know.

    Because I haven’t read huge amounts of LGBT MG myself, here you’ll find 6 books I’d rec, and 4 upcoming releases I can’t wait to read.

    Enjoy!

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Sapphic Science Fiction (I)

    24 September, 2020

    After a last minute switcheroo, today’s rec list is a long-awaited continuation of all those other sapphic rec lists (all the previous posts are here) which you have probably forgotten about. On request, this iteration is the first of (hopefully) many sapphic science fiction rec posts!

    Same disclaimer as in that adult sci fi rec list (in which I apparently recced most of these books anyway…huh) applies: I really like hard sci fi, but I know that that’s not the case for everyone, so there are soft sci fi recs in here too (although by some strange coincidence, most of these recs take place in space…proof space is gay I think).

    And, because I like fun, 5 of the books on this list are upcoming! (Okay, 6, but does it really count when that 6th is out in 5 days?).

    So have a gander!

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