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    Book Recs: Books Set at Boarding Schools

    First rec list published at my new flat! Because oh yeah, by the way, guys! I moved last Saturday. I’m still settling in, which is most obvious by the state of my bookcase – I just put books on it to get them out of boxes, but order? Never heard of her.

    Anyway. Back to why we are actually here. Books set at boarding schools! I feel like it’s one of those Hot Tropes that y’all really like, so I hope my selection won’t disappoint. Frankly, though, I’m treating it a little bit loosely, by which I mean there are also books set at a university or books that take place at a boarding school only for a while. Generally speaking, there’s some kind of dorm situation in each book, though. So I think we’re good. Let’s go.

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    Book Releases: May 2019 (I)

    When we say “May is a monster month”, we absolutely mean it. In May alone, we have listed 59 LGBT releases. FIFTY-NINE. So, understandably, we had to split the month into three posts. This first post takes us through the first week of May (twenty-one of the twenty-three books here are out on 7th May). The second post will cover 8th-20th, and the final post will take the rest of the month.

    May has pretty much every genre you could possibly want, and a good number of books about LGBT history (it being the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots this year). So, if you’re looking for mystery, contemporary, non-fiction, historical or fantasy, there’s something for you here.

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    Book Recs: Lesbian Authors

    April 26th is the International Lesbian Visibility Day! And what’s a better way to celebrate that than having a lesbian talk about other lesbians? (Possibly getting said lesbian a girlfriend but shh…)

    I was actually talking with Charlotte about what we should post for this occasion and at first we just wanted to go with books with lesbian protags. But then we realised… As many sapphic books as we’re getting lately, still not a lot of them uses the word “lesbian” on page. And I’m not gonna lie, I would really love for us to finally get over that and stop treating lesbian as a dirty word or whatever is happening here.

    But yes, this is why y’all are getting a rec list of books written by lesbians. We gotta stick together, right? I’m also changing the format of our rec lists for this one, because I want to highlight authors more than anything else. I’ll be putting one book per a lesbian here, but that’s not to say I think it’s the only one you should read!

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    ARC Review: I Knew Him

    40711378

    In his senior year of high school, Julian has one goal: be invisible. All he wants is to study hard, play basketball, and pretend he’s straight for one more year. Then, he can run away to university and finally tell the world he’s bisexual. And by “the world,” he means everyone but his mom and best friend. That’s two conversations he never wants to have.

    When he’s talked into auditioning for the school’s production of Hamlet, Julian fears that veering off course will lead to assumptions he’s not ready to face. Despite that, he can’t help but feel a connection to this play. His absent father haunts him like a ghost, his ex is being difficult, and he’s overthinking everything. It’s driving him crazy.

    The decision to audition leads Julian on an entirely different path. He’s cast as Hamlet, and the boy playing Horatio is unlike anyone Julian has met before. Mysterious and flirtatious, Sky draws Julian in, even though he fears his feelings at the same time. As the two grow closer, Julian begins to let out the secrets he’s never told—the ones that have paralyzed him for years. But what will he do if Sky feels the same way?

    I Knew Him

    Abigail de Niverville

    Rating: 4/5 🌈
    Published: 15th April 2019
    Goodreads
    Rep: bi mc, gay half-Filipino li, lesbian side character, gay side characters (bi author)

    And it didn’t matter to me who knew and didn’t. If people asked questions, I’d answer. I’d let them come to their own conclusions otherwise. I owed this world nothing. The only person I owed anything to was myself.

  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Upcoming Releases with Excellent Tropes

    You know how there are some big tropes that are just autoread for you? But then it turns out that 9 times out of 10 that trope is just done with a heterosexual couple and you’re like please for once will someone make this trope gay (because we all know even the best tropes become a thousand times better when they’re gay).

    Well then, you’re in luck! Because this list is ten upcoming (gay) releases that use all the best tropes. Here we have fake dating, hate to love, found family, second chance romance, friends to lovers, and that one where they’re project partners.

    But, yes, they’re all as-of-yet-unreleased. Sorry.

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    Book Recs: Historical

    Hello from Cornwall! Or not really, because this is a scheduled post and I am currently probably dragging my family around yet another castle (they should never have let me plan the trip, is all I’m saying). It’s probably apt, then, that my rec list is going to be full of history!

    Historical LGBT books are a bit of a minefield, I think we can all agree. You think you’ll have come across a good one, and then all of a sudden, it’s either a) tragic, b) buries its gays (because no gay people ever had a happy ending in the past, did they?), or c) does both. So, of the utmost importance on this list, is that the book isn’t overly tragic all the way through, and it absolutely does not bury its gays.

    So, with that in mind, here are ten historical LGBT books for you!

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    Book Releases: April 2019 (II)

    I covered books coming out between April 1st and 9th in my previous post, so check that out before we start! There are fifteen titles there. Listen, our running list of LGBT 2019 releases is over 300 books long and we’re actually a bit picky about what we put there!! Can you even imagine? So many books? We are all going to be broke when the year ends…

    Today I’m here with over twenty books, quite a few of them being F/F ones. There’s some nonfiction as well and even some poetry! I’m sure everyone will find something to be excited about in April!

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    Book Recs: High Fantasy

    Have you ever noticed how a lot of fantasy with LGBT characters tends to be urban fantasy? Obviously, that’s no bad thing, but sometimes you just want to read about LGBT characters in high fantasy settings. (Or, let’s be real, you want to read high fantasy settings without the casual homophobia, but apparently that’s too hard for some people to write. Not that I’m bitter, but.) Because it’s fantasy, so why shouldn’t we be there too?

    So here are ten high fantasy books with LGBT mains. Brief disclaimer before I begin: there are three books on here I haven’t read, but people I trust have reviewed them highly (and also I plan to read them asap).

    Related: LGBT High Fantasy, part two
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    Book Releases: April 2019 (I)

    Once again, there are just so! many! LGBT books coming out in the next month, there’s just no way I can fit them all in one post. Ahh, what a marvelous problem to have, though! Let’s be honest! I never imagined I would have one like this…

    So anyway! This means today’s post actually cover only the first two Tuesdays of April. (And a Thursday because some books just don’t wanna come out on Tuesdays with all the rest!) As always, the rep for each book will be stated, so you can clearly see why you should be excited about it. Apart from the blurb itself, that is.

    Okay, so let’s dive in! Those first nine days of the month offer us fifteen (15) books so! There’s a lot to talk about!

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    Book Recs: Witches (And Other Magic-Doers)

    LGBT people are magic, so obviously I had to do a rec list of LGBT books with witches (and various other magic-doers). Shamefully, I haven’t read all that many (that I’m willing to rec. There is that One Series We Don’t Talk About as well, but it’ll be a cold day in hell when I rec that), so some of the ones on here are ones people I trust have loved, or ones that aren’t yet published.

    But, because they’re about witches (and other magic-doers), and they’re LGBT, I can guarantee* that they’ll be amazing.

    *Please don’t actually hold me to this, thanks.

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    Book Recs: Favourite Love Confessions

    It’s niche rec list time! I asked, and you voted, so here it is: ten of my favourite love confessions. In LGBT lit, only, obviously.

    A good love confession can leave you with such a warm feeling inside, and make even the hardest of hearts feel almost like they don’t mind romance (disclaimer: I don’t actually know this). So, clearly, I had to spread the love (lol). And that warm feeling.

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    Book Recs: Books Taking Place in Space

    Not gonna lie, Charlotte was the one who came up with today’s theme. Bur surprisingly she only helped me choose I think one title? But yes, see, we work together to bring you only the best stuff!!

    Anyway, finding sci-fi books that specifically take place in space and not just in the future on a very different Earth… It’s not the easiest thing in the world. Especially, when one needs those books to have LGBT rep. Like one does. Always.

    But I hope I did a decent job and you will find something of interest here! Let’s dive in!

  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: March 2019 (I)

    March marks the busiest month so far in terms of 2019 releases. No, really, we have over thirty releases on our list (and probably a fair few we’ve missed off, if we’re being realistic) – more than one a day on average! With that in mind, the releases list is going to be split into two parts: one covering the first week of March (17 releases alone), and the other the remainder.

    So, in the interests of not making this post any longer than it has to be, let’s go!

  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Quietly Magical Books

    I am, as ever, looking for ways to procrastinate doing work (usually reading professional practice articles, because Christ how dry can you make an already really dry subject, but anyway). So I figured I’d make a rec thread of quietly magical and gay books. Because I didn’t think I had that enough to turn into a rec list. But! Lo and behold, I did. So. That’s what you’re going to get. Books which are quietly magical (and gay, because this is a LGBT only site. No straights allowed here). (And also, this is a genre that there seem to be a lot of books where you go, hey I didn’t realise that was gay. Just trying to raise awareness here.)