• All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Gay Adult Fantasy

    5 November, 2021

    During Lesbian Visibility Week earlier this year, I made a whole rec list of adult fantasy books featuring lesbian rep. And I left it at that. But then, while thinking of possible further rec lists to post on the blog, I went back to it and thought: what if I made this a series, with one rec list for every letter of the LGBT acronym? And hence, this rec list (and two future ones) was born.

    I admit, this one was a little tricky to do: turns out I know a lot more achillean adult fantasy books with bi mcs than gay mcs (this may be a pattern? Much like there seems to be more sapphic than achillean high fantasy, at least right now. Both may also just be confirmation bias of some sort), but we got there! Ten adult fantasy recs are ready and waiting for you just below.

    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.)

    And if you want to check out the other posts in this series:

    Lesbian | Bi/Pan | Trans

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  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: November 2021

    30 October, 2021

    If you thought that the releases were slowing down as the year comes to a close, you would be wrong because today I have for you, 138 more releases for November! Okay, so I went through a few more lists with the intention of just double-checking that all the dates were right after a series of delays, and came out with… oh, just another 50 books. But hey! That just gives you another 138 books to look forward to in 2021!

    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 Reviews,  Literature

    Book Reviews: Comics to Cap Off Your Spooky Season

    28 October, 2021

    October is drawing to a close now and we’re approaching Halloween itself. And, since there are three days left in the month (and only two more months in the rest of the year), perhaps you’re starting to think about how best to complete your Goodreads challenge. Fret not! Because today, we come bearing comic recs.

    So if you’re looking for the perfect short read to cap off your spooky season, Boom! Studios has you covered! Check these four out and let us know what you think!

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  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: Twitter’s Anticipated Releases, Or A Look at What 2022 Has in Store

    26 October, 2021

    In my humble opinion, today’s post is the most exciting post we have this month. A while ago on twitter (a while because I got impatient and didn’t want to wait), we asked the question: what are your most anticipated 2022 LGBT releases. And, lo and behold, here they are, all in a post, so you can get excited about what’s to come! (And obviously, get a few preorders in, since we are hitting somewhat of a crisis.)

    We also did this last year, if you remember, so you can check that out, and see how much the list has grown (66 books on that post—but 2 delayed—vs. 120 on this), and also have a look to see how many you’ve read!

    Finally, a little key (bearing in mind that it’s a little hard to confirm rep so far out & some we think might be gay, but only based on an author’s previous output):

    🧡 = sapphic rep
    💛 = achillean rep
    💙 = trans or nonbinary rep
    💚 = other or unknown rep

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: LGBT Retellings

    24 October, 2021

    There are already 3 posts about LGBT retellings on the blog: for fairy tales, for mythology and for classic books. They’re all a few years old, though, so it was a high time for an update. So I asked on twitter what kind of retellings y’all would want to see the most and the answer was “a little bit of everything”

    And that’s exactly what I’m bringing you today. I divided my recs into four categories, for ease of browsing. There is, of course, some overlap, because books aren’t always clean cut & they might fit into more than one category, but there needs to be some kind of logic to the chaos. So let’s go! Choose what you’re interested in the most (or simply browse all the recs):

    folklore • fairy tales • classic books • historical figures

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Get Your Spook On

    20 October, 2021

    It’s October, it’s autumn, it’s spooky season, so what better rec list today than a BUMPER rec list of books to read when you want to feel extra spooky! You can even pick your reads based on the emojis below, depending on what you feel like. It’s a win-win situation, I’m sure.

    And if you want yet more recs, here’s the list I made last year.

    Pick your spooky season emoji of choice!

    🧙🏼‍♀️ • 👻 • 🎃 • 🐺 • 🧛🏼‍♂️ • 🧟

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Adult Fantasy (II)

    14 October, 2021

    By happy coincidence (or not, you decide), our rec list today comes on the heels of some twitter discourse stemming from an opinion that is—how to put this politely—really fucking stupid. And because of that opinion, in addition to making sure that each of these books is gay, today I’ve challenged* myself to not include a single cis white man!

    *It’s not really a challenge.

    You can also find part one of this list here. And, handily, you can find a massive thread of recs here!

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: LGBT Sports Lit

    10 October, 2021

    I think we can all agree that books including sports in any way, be it a romance between two teammates or the main character running marathons, just somehow hit harder. Sometimes they’re truly all you need in life! Which is why I’m here with ten sports books.

    Anyway, I hope no one is surprised that more than half of this list are YA books…

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  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: 2021 Middle Grade & Picture Books

    7 October, 2021

    Today’s post is a new addition to our myriad of releases posts! If you’re looking for books for age groups younger than young adult, perhaps even for small children, then trust me, this is exactly what you’ve been waiting for. A round-up of all the middle grade and picture book releases of 2021! It’s a little delayed, it’s true, partly because we decided to do this post on a whim, but it’s here! And there’s so many exciting books on offer!

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: Payback’s a Witch

    5 October, 2021

    Today’s post is part of a blog blast to celebrate the release of Lana Harper’s John Tucker Must Die inspired fantasy romcom, Payback’s a Witch. Also known as the most perfect read for spooky season. And you can read it right away, there’s no need to wait! But if you’re not quite convinced yet, let us help you with that…

    And don’t forget to follow Lana on twitter too!

    Emmy Harlow is a witch but not a very powerful one—in part because she hasn’t been home to the magical town of Thistle Grove in years. Her self-imposed exile has a lot to do with a complicated family history and a desire to forge her own way in the world, and only the very tiniest bit to do with Gareth Blackmoore, heir to the most powerful magical family in town and casual breaker of hearts and destroyer of dreams.

    But when a spellcasting tournament that her family serves as arbiters for approaches, it turns out the pull of tradition (or the truly impressive parental guilt trip that comes with it) is strong enough to bring Emmy back. She’s determined to do her familial duty; spend some quality time with her best friend, Linden Thorn; and get back to her real life in Chicago.

    On her first night home, Emmy runs into Talia Avramov—an all-around badass adept in the darker magical arts—who is fresh off a bad breakup . . . with Gareth Blackmoore. Talia had let herself be charmed, only to discover that Gareth was also seeing Linden—unbeknownst to either of them. And now she and Linden want revenge. Only one question stands: Is Emmy in?

    But most concerning of all: Why can’t she stop thinking about the terrifyingly competent, devastatingly gorgeous, wickedly charming Talia Avramov?

    Payback’s a Witch

    Lana Harper

    Goodreads

    Rep: bi mc, Russian American bi li
    Release: 5th October 2021

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  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: October 2021

    29 September, 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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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Books for fans of Mary Oliver’s poetry

    27 September, 2021

    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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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: The City Beautiful

    25 September, 2021

    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

    Goodreads

    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

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