reviews, releases and recommendations of LGBT media
A mere week after I started working on this post, it is finally ready to go. If you were wondering exactly what sapphic books are upcoming in 2021, then look no further! There are over 250 for you right here, and just in time for f/f February, should you decide to take part in that.
Undoubtedly I have missed off books (I’m already predicting that I’ll find another as soon as I hit post on this), so I will be going through the post fairly regularly and adding more that I find, don’t worry!
In desperation, two days ago, I asked for a rec list theme. The response I got was the theme of pirates, or the sea in general. Now, I’ve not read that many pirate books (not that I would feel able to rec, at least), so I went with the latter.
So, if you’ve been listening to sea shanties non-stop for however long, in this list you’ll be able to find yourself a book that they’re the perfect soundtrack to.
We asked what rec lists you guys would like to see & got this gorgeous request that maybe, possibly we have almost fought over. Just maybe.
So anyway, the request was: “wholesome books full of queer characters if possible, essentially just books that feel like a big queer warm hug because I cannot handle reading anything else”. You would fight to recommend people books like that, too, wouldn’t you? Enjoy then!
I already showed you all the M/M books written by achillean authors that were published in the first half of this year. Now it’s time for the second half!
I use the “ownvoices” term from the title in a pretty loose sense. So you will find books here by gay authors featuring bi characters, and so on. But at the end of the day, all the authors in this post know first-hand what love between men looks like.
Without a further ado, then!
Books which features coming out scenes are all very well and good — we do, after all, need to see a wide range of those and there are areas where that story still hasn’t been told — but sometimes you just want to read a book where the fact that the main character is gay is wholly incidental to the story. That is, not a coming out story, nor really a romance.
So, here are 10 books which (hopefully) suit that remit. Yes, some do feature romances, but they aren’t romance books, in the sense that it’s central to the story. (Oh, and they’re all contemporary, because it doesn’t really make sense to make my task easier by including other genres, since obviously they wouldn’t have coming out scenes.)
But anyway. On with the list.
Okay, before we start: yes, there’s only one movie with trans rep and it’s a short feature at that. I know. (I made the list 11 titles long instead of the usual 10 to counterbalance that.) I was going to include Boy Meets Girl (which features a trans actress in the main role, in case you didn’t know), but frankly I have very mixed feelings about that movie. It feels a lot like a film for cis audience and not at all for trans people, and I really, really don’t understand why they didn’t go the sapphic route all the way.
I will tell you about an upcoming romcom with a trans main character played by a trans actress, though! Right now it’s called Re-Live: A Tale of an American Island Cheerleader and it stars Rain Valdez in the main role. Look out for that in 2021!
I had absolutely no idea what rec list to make for today so, in a sort of democracy I suppose, I got people on twitter to choose between this, butch lesbians and yes this book is gay. (Don’t worry, the latter two will be coming, although maybe not so soon.)
We all know that yearning is a massive part of the best LGBT lit, at what we all yearn (lol) for. So, here are ten of my favourites that just hit that sweet spot.
Yes, there are some upcoming books on this list, I can’t be held accountable for it though.
Today’s list, brought to you late this evening, is one I touted doing a few months’ back, which got added to my (long) list of post ideas and which I am just now finally getting around to. So, here we are. Ten books featuring bi MCs in m/f romances. And, because when I started listing all the books I knew, the list got steadily longer and longer (if we include those I still need to read), this will have multiple parts to come.
One little note before we start: this list includes bi MCs with POVs only. That is, a bi love interest, despite the fact they are a pretty major character, would not get included. For this list alone, obviously.
I’ve made a rec list for LGBT graphic novels before (funnily enough, it was on Christmas Eve two years ago) and you can check it out here. But the truth is, you can never have too many of those in your life! Which is why I decided that part two of that particular rec list is long overdue.
So here we are! Ten more LGBT graphic novels, across a bunch of genres and for various target audiences. Hope you will find a new favourite here.
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that more m/m books come out each year compared to f/f ones. This is not to say that there aren’t a lot of sapphic books, though! And if you think otherwise, take a look at Charlotte’s posts of this year releases: part one & part two. But this is not really my point.
My point is that a vast majority of the m/m books are actually written by women. Very often straight women. There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with that, per se, those can still be good books. (They very often don’t offer good, respectful gay representation, but that’s a whole other conversation.)
It got me thinking, though. How many books written by mlm authors were published this year? Turns out not that many… Which only means we should support them all the more.
See also: ownvoices m/m books of July-December 2020, of January-June 2021 & of July-December 2021.
It’s been a good few months since I did a post like this, and since I hit…uh…500 books so far this year, I figure I’ve read enough more books to do a second post. So, here we are! Once again, there is a wide range of books on this post, so hopefully you find something you’ll enjoy.
If you want to know what I recced in the first post, take a peek here.
And, once again, the books on this list, where possible, are not ones that only have fewer than 400* ratings by dint of being published recently (i.e. within the last month, I figure).
*Although by some strange coincidence, none of these actually have over 204 ratings…
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).
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!
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.
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.
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.
Z Jeffries
Published: 15th October 2020
Goodreads
Rep: bi mc, nonbinary character, Black lesbian character
