• Wrap Ups

    Wrap-up: July 2019

    2 August, 2019

    Personally, I don’t know when this whole month went past. If you asked me what day it is and didn’t show me a calendar, I would say it’s like… maybe… July 17th?? But here we are, already in August.

    Neither of us really read A Lot in July, which I will gladly blame on it being the summer holidays (even though I didn’t get time off from work at all). And yes, I am aware that Charlotte’s list is 23 books long, but believe me – for her? That’s nothing. On my part, I was doing pretty well, until I read struggled with this one Polish book that was so awful, it actually put me off reading for the rest of the month…

    Hopefully, August will be amazing for both of us! And for all of you, too! And now, let’s dive into the past.

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Sapphic Historical Fiction (I)

    30 July, 2019

    Approximately once a month, twitter throws up a certain argument along the lines of there is no f/f, or where is all the f/f, or where is all the hyped f/f. And while I think there is a genuine case to be made for f/f books getting less attention, that doesn’t mean there is none (and also to say there is barely any/none blatantly ignores the authors who are producing f/f and the publishers who are backing it (did you know there are several publishing houses who only publish f/f), which is not cool). Basically, it’s there if you look.

    But this will become too much of a rant unless I shut up now.

    What I’m aiming to do with this series is provide you with a bunch of rec lists so that, next time someone says there’s no f/f, you can point them in this direction. Because yes. There is f/f.

    Quickly, and finally, before I start I want to point you towards Mahana @ Sapphic Library who not only posts a lot of sapphic rec lists, but also has a twitter dedicated to it all.

    So, on with the historical f/f recs! (There is some overlap in some cases with fantasy and mystery, just fyi.)

    P. S. in the interests of full disclosure: I haven’t read all of these. This is less a rec list in the sense that these are ones I’ve read and enjoyed, more these are 20 f/f historical books as proof they do exist.

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  • Interviews

    Author Interview: Christopher Barzak

    28 July, 2019

    Today we bring to you the interview with one of my favourite authors. One of Christopher’s books – Wonders of the Invisible World – is honest to god in my all time personal top five. And to showcase just how gay I get about it, let me just say: I annotated my copy the last time I re-read it & this winter gifted it to my best friend when we went to Paris together.

    So to say I was really excited when Christopher agreed to email us his answers, is a bit of an understatement… Read on to find out what he had to say about inspiration, how music doesn’t always help you write but experience sure does, and more (and more)!

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  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: August 2019

    25 July, 2019

    The summer ends slowly but the LGBT books never stop coming your way! Granted, this month we will share only 35 titles… And yes, I can use the word “only” because, as I’m sure you remember, there were months this year with way more than forty releases.

    Feel free to check what you have missed, if you’re here for the first time:

    all our posts about LGBT books that came out in recent months

    And now, let’s just get into (gender politics) it, let’s see what gems August has in store!

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  • Book Club,  Literature

    Book Club: August Read

    23 July, 2019

    It’s time to make this official on our blog!! The choice did take us a while, because honestly, we had a lot of good candidates… But guys, we know what book our book club will be reading in August!!

    As per the poll on twitter, which you guys voted in for days, we chose a fantasy book. And as per our preferences & also a belief that a hype our books doesn’t just appear out of this air, it has to be created by readers – we chose to read an F/F book.

    First, though, let me remind you guys how we plan on doing this. We have a twitter account that we encourage you all to follow – Reads Rainbow Book Club. We’ll be using that to chat about the book, adding the hashtag #readarainbow. (Get it? Because it’s gay? Yeah, you get it.) At the end of August, we will post our reviews of the book & tell you what we plan on reading in September.

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Neurodiverse Characters

    20 July, 2019

    This rec list comes from a request I got on twitter for LGBT books with neurodiverse characters. Obviously, neurodiversity covers an enormous spectrum, so I’m in no way attempting to cover all that (and if you look at the list, you can probably see where there are gaps, i.e. rep that isn’t anxiety, depression, PTSD, because sure those are the most common disorders but there’s a lot more out there).

    What I’m attempting to give you here is a handful of recs (ownvoices where possible, elsewise covered respectfully) to start you off. And, as ever, I would happily take recs from you in return. (Also I have extended the rec list to feature 12 books instead of the usual 10 just so I can broaden the variety here.)

    P.S. I’m only giving the rep for the neurodiverse LGBT character(s) in the book, even if there are more LGBT or neurodiverse characters in all. If that makes sense.

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    Blog Tour: This is How You Lose the Time War

    18 July, 2019

    We’re so excited to be part of a blog tour for This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal el-Mohtar and Max Gladstone! This beautiful little epistolary novel is out today, and is definitely one you’re going to want to pick up (like, now, please pick it up right now). If you’ve been looking for an f/f book with that kind of intense and all-consuming romance you only ever see with m/m or m/f couples? Well, how can you say no to this?

    So, scroll down, read my review, and then head on over to the other blogs to see how they felt.

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    Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading.

    And thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more.

    Except discovery of their bond would be death for each of them. There’s still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war. That’s how war works. Right?

    This is How You Lose the Time War

    Amal el-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

    Rating: 5/5 ðŸŒˆ
    Published: 18th July 2019
    Goodreads
    Rep: wlw mcs

    But hunger is a many-splendoured thing: it needn’t be conceived in limbic terms, in biology. Hunger, Red – to sate a hunger or to stoke it, to feel hunger as a furnace, to trace its edges like teeth – is this a thing you, singly, know? Have you ever had a hunger that whetted itself on what you fed it, sharpened so keen and bright that it might split you open, break a new thing out?

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  • Interviews

    Author Interview: Adiba Jaigirdar

    14 July, 2019

    Adiba is an author we were very excited to interview! Her upcoming book is basically the sapphic rom-com of our dreams. The Henna Wars is due to come out in next spring and y’all should be counting the days, as we are.

    She’s also very active in the community (consider following her on twitter, if you aren’t already!) & genuinely such a gem. We couldn’t be more lucky that she agreed to answer our questions.

    And a little side-note: now that Pride is over, we will be publishing two interviews each month, for as long as there will be authors willing to talk with us.

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: LGBT Retellings (Fairy Tales)

    11 July, 2019

    I mentioned on twitter the other day that I was thinking of making a post like this and everyone was very into the idea. I mean, what’s better than taking a classic story we all know & putting a gay spin on it, right?

    I put a parenthesis in the title of this rec list and there’s a very simple reason for it: there are going to be two more in the “series”! One for classic books (think Peter Pan or Sherlock Holmes) and one for mythologies (in a very broad meaning of the word). So look out for those!

    Before we start, let me make an honorary mention of Ash by Malinda Lo, the lesbian retelling of Cinderella. It’s not on the list itself because I can’t rec you a book you all already know, can I? But just in case you forgot for a second…

    And now, let’s go boldly into the world of LGBT fairy tales!

    See also: LGBT retellings of folklore, fairy tales, classic books & books about historical figures
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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Poetry Collections (I)

    9 July, 2019

    The title says it’s part one & that makes it seem like what should follow is “of many”, but please don’t expect this to be like a regular series. It’s more that I couldn’t decide on just ten collections and then Charlotte made me realise: I don’t have to!

    So there will be more parts to this, because poetry is most of what I’m reading these days. Just, it’s gonna take time.

    Some of the collections I’m gonna rec are definitely obvious choices. If you know me at all, I’m sure you can guess at least one of them. But hey, we call books classics for a reason, right?

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  • Wrap Ups

    Wrap-up: June 2019

    3 July, 2019

    We had an epic June (and Pride Month), so what better way to finish it off than to give you a wrap-up of all the amazing things that happened on this blog and others! So we thought, what better than to highlight some of the best (and gayest) books and posts of the month.

    We’re starting with what each of us read and watched this month (even the stuff we hated, yes), complete with any reviews we wrote. And then we want to highlight some great posts from the community we read. Hopefully, this will become a more regular feature, but who knows.

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  • Interviews

    Author Interview: Julian Winters

    30 June, 2019

    Last day of Pride, but not the last interview!! We will be back with those in the weeks to come!

    Today though, as always, we have an interview that both Charlotte and me are super excited about! We got a chance to talk with Julian just days before the first arcs of his upcoming book – How To Be Remy Cameron – became available for readers. (It comes out on September 10th & you definitely want to pre-order a copy already!)

    We chatted about different ways of channeling your artistic energy, the spaces we still need to fill with LGBT characters, and how important it is to just be yourself.

    Have fun reading!!

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  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: July 2019

    28 June, 2019

    After the massive months of releases that were April, May and June, July is a little more chill with all that. There are only (lol) 29 releases that we know about this month (but, undoubtedly, more we don’t know about. As much as we may like to pretend, we’re not omniscient). But they are 29 excellent releases!

    Also, a little note before we continue: after the whole debacle earlier in the month with a certain book misgendering its mc in the blurb, we’ve decided we need a little policy in dealing with books that are, unfortunately, a mess (when we’ve heard something of course). Because we would rather warn you about some things than have you go in totally unawares, we’re still planning on including them in the list, but noting where we’ve seen or heard something less than great. On the off chance it’s a real shitshow, then we won’t include it, but may make a note so you know we’re aware of it and may yourself become aware also.

    But anyway, on with the list!

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