reviews, releases and recommendations of LGBT media
Monica Robinson’s new novella, to rule the desert, a sapphic adaptation (loosely) of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, comes out in just two more days, and we’re delighted to be able to feature her on the blog in the lead up to that. This piece looks at how the idea for the novella grew and how her own experiences growing up inform her works.
Before you dive in, don’t forget you can still preorder to rule the desert here!
Personally, I don’t think you can truly call yourself a science fiction fan until you’ve read some of Ann Leckie’s work. The Imperial Radch series is one of my absolute favourite series, so I was so excited to get to read the next book in it. If you’ve read the original trilogy, or even if you haven’t, Translation State is one you won’t want to miss out on!
Don’t forget, you can still preorder Translation State wherever books are sold up until 6th June: US, UK, & int’l.
Qven was created to be a Presger translator. The pride of their Clade, they always had a clear path before them: learn human ways, and eventually, make a match and serve as an intermediary between the dangerous alien Presger and the human worlds. The realization that they might want something else isn’t “optimal behavior”. It’s the type of behavior that results in elimination.Â
But Qven rebels. And in doing so, their path collides with those of two others. Enae, a reluctant diplomat whose dead grandmaman has left hir an impossible task as an inheritance: hunting down a fugitive who has been missing for over 200 years. And Reet, an adopted mechanic who is increasingly desperate to learn about his genetic roots—or anything that might explain why he operates so differently from those around him.
As a Conclave of the various species approaches—and the long-standing treaty between the humans and the Presger is on the line—the decisions of all three will have ripple effects across the stars.
Ann Leckie
Rep: nonbinary mcs & side characters, achillean mc
CWs: gore, cannibalism
Release: 6th June 2023
April was a quick month, I’m not even sure how & when May started. But the playlist I have for you isn’t quick, that’s for certain! There are over 100 songs by LGBT artists on there. So have fun listening!
Like always, 12 songs are listed in the post itself, the ones I especially wanted to highlight, and at the end there’s a Spotify playlist with hours of music. Enjoy!
Want more music? Check out the previous monthly posts right here!
I’ve been thinking about this list for a little while. Because, while I’m sure we can all agree that sometimes all you need is a good romance, there are other times when a romance just isn’t doing it for you, but something more litfic-esque, a bit more introspective and (on occasion) in depth, suits just fine. Yes, this is a different list to either of the litfic lists we’ve done haha what do you mean. But anyway, if you’re looking for a lesbian book to read in this, the birth week of all lesbians everywhere, then here are 10 to start you off!
A lot of these 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.)
The other day, as I was reading a mainstream f/f romance, I thought to myself, wow so much of mainstream f/f centres feminine and/or femme characters. Where are all the butches? (I say “mainstream”, because, firstly, these are the books that seem most popular, and secondly, if you go into indie and self-published works, you’ll find a lot more butch & stud rep I can guarantee.) So, this list, which I’ve been meaning to write for a while anyway, was born. There are only lesbians on this post, but if you’re looking for masc bi women, I did make a small list for someone here.
A lot of these 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.)
It was really just an off-hand comment I made to Charlotte the other day, about how reality TV shows are becoming a pretty popular setting in books and possibly there are enough such books for a rec list. She thought that’s a good idea. And who am I to say no? Especially if it allows me to rec a book by one of my favourite YA authors!
I did cheat a tiny bit and included an upcoming book on the list itself, I know! But to counter-act that, I added one more book. And listed two more upcoming ones at the end. I’m truly bringing all my gifts to y’all here today.
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.)
This month I’m here with close to 140 songs by LGBT artists! Surely everyone will be able to find a new favourite here (or a dozen)!
As you know, 12 songs are listed in the post itself, the ones I especially wanted to highlight, and at the end there’s a Spotify playlist with seven (7) hours of music. Enjoy!
Want more music? Check out the previous monthly posts right here!
We have another exciting interview for you today! F. T. Lukens’ next book releases tomorrow and this interview is for anyone who’s impatiently waiting for it (less than 24 hours to go now!). For those of you who haven’t heard about this one, there’s still time to look into it and preorder Spell Bound here! But, if you need a bit more convincing, let this interview be a start!
As ever, you can, of course, also follow F. T. Lukens on twitter.
Closing in on the end of March and, finally, our first rec list of the year! Completely by accident, this follows on from our last one of cosy fantasy with something that’s almost entirely the opposite. Epic fantasy, in my mind, is characterised by lots of POVs, a story that spans multiple continents or countries, and also just a feeling. The stories feel epic, like a saga. So, with luck, these 10 books fit that remit!
A lot of these 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.)
A bit later than usually, sorry about that! But we did have a few posts we needed to post at the beginning of the month. But still, I’m here with over a 100 February songs by LGBT artists, so hopefully you can forgive me for being tardy (all of them are in the Spotify playlist at the end of the post).
Want more music? Check out the previous monthly posts right here!
Fans of sapphic thrillers, I’m sure, will have been waiting impatiently for the release of Sarah Lyu’s I Will Find You Again. Well the time is almost upon us! In less than 24 hours, you’ll be able to get your hands on it. But if that’s still too long a wait, you can give our interview with Sarah a read in the meantime.
Before we start, you can follow Sarah on twitter and there’s still time to preorder I Will Find You Again here!
We haven’t done an interview with a musician in ages! So it’s very exciting that after such a long break, we got to chat with SATCH. His latest single Jet Lag was just released a week ago, and you might have noticed the previous one (Springsteen) on our January releases playlist.
And of course, you can listen to SATCH’s music here, and follow him on instagram.
For the past eight months or so, we’ve both been obsessed over one particular book — Alice Winn’s In Memoriam — and it’s just your luck that we’ve finally reached its release date! Now all of you will be able to read this book too and suffer just like we did! But, just in case you needed a bit more convincing, check out our review below!
Don’t forget you can follow Alice on instagram too.
A gripping, heart-shattering love story between two soldiers in the First World War
It’s 1914, and talk of war feels far away to Henry Gaunt, Sidney Ellwood and the rest of their classmates, safely ensconced in their idyllic boarding school in the English countryside. At seventeen, they’re too young to enlist, and anyway, Gaunt is fighting his own private battle – an all-consuming infatuation with his best friend, the dreamy, poetic Ellwood – not having a clue that Ellwood is in love with him, always has been. When Gaunt’s German mother asks him to enlist as an officer in the British army to protect the family from anti-German attacks, Gaunt signs up immediately, relieved to escape his overwhelming feelings for Ellwood.
The front is horrific, of course, and though Gaunt tries to dissuade Ellwood from joining him on the battlefield, Ellwood soon rushes to join him, spurred on by his love of Greek heroes and romantic poetry. Before long, their classmates have followed suit. Once in the trenches, Ellwood and Gaunt find fleeting moments of solace in one another, but their friends are all dying, right in front of them, and at any moment they could be next.
An epic tale of both the devastating tragedies of war and the forbidden romance that blooms in its grip, In Memoriam is a breathtaking debut.
Alice Winn
Rep: Jewish gay mc, gay mc
CWs: gore, violence, suicide, period typical antisemitism, period typical homophobia, internalised homophobia, PTSD, panic attacks
Release: 7th March 2023
Today’s guest post is the very first one on the blog written by a musician! And it marks a sort of first for the artist as well, since in the post he talks about a brand new single: new in the way of just being releases today and in the way of it being completely different from his previous work. But don’t let me spoil you Jxckson’s own explanation!
Read and then listen to DROWING!
This post, like all the previous ones, only features books with trans rep in the form of a main character, a love interest, or a truly major side character. The goal is to give you something you can cherish, not just an afterthought. The term ‘non-cis’ in the title is used as a little umbrella. (And as always, if you catch any mistakes, please leave a comment!)
Also, a lot of those titles are (or will be) 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.)
