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    Book Recs: LGBT Lit in Translation

    22 May, 2024

    I have to admit, I had another rec list planned for today (one that I keep meaning to do but I still haven’t got the perfect ten books), so instead, I’m following Anna’s suggestion of translated LGBT lit. Some time last year, I decided to challenge myself to read a book from every country in the world and, in part, this is a result of that. So, let’s make 2024 the year of opening horizons and reading in translation!

    In making this list, I’ve tried to keep from adding books that I had on the classics rec list (which was only a few anyway) from some years back. There is, however, more overlap between this and the various lists we did in 2021 for Pride Month. Those are longer lists, though, so if you read this list and you want more recs, go check them out!

    Before we start, if you’re reading this post, please take the time to visit gazafunds.com (@gazafunds on twitter), where you’ll find any number of campaigns from Gazans to share and donate to. Every time you refresh, you’ll see a new campaign spotlighted. You can also “adopt” a campaign, which means repeatedly sharing it online to keep it in people’s awareness and collect donations. So, please do!

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    Book Recs: Adult Sci Fi (II)

    20 March, 2024

    It’s been a while since we did one of these, right? What with our beginning of the year focus on releases lists, plus work taking up a lot of time (and energy!), rec lists have been sort of on the backburner. But not any longer! Since there’s been so much incredible sci fi being released in the past few years, what better time to do a part two to an adult sci fi rec list I first made, oh, only 4 years ago now. Part one of this rec list be found here.

    But before we start, I’m sure everyone is aware of the genocidal campaign that’s been conducted on Gaza for the past 6 months. If you have a bit of spare income and are looking for places to donate let us direct you to a few: you can find verified gofundmes to donate to here and here, you can donate to UNRWA directly, or to the Crips for eSims for Gaza campaign, or you can purchase your own eSims (tutorials here and here), or to organisations directly in Gaza, or you can donate to Anera. On top of this, you can also keep lobbying the people in power, and protesting, and just generally disrupting everyday life.

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    Book Recs: Butch Lesbians & Studs

    18 April, 2023

    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.)

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    Book Recs: LGBT Books About Reality TV Shows

    13 April, 2023

    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.)

    Related: LGBT Fake Dating
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    Film & TV Recs: LGBT Christmas Movies (II)

    23 December, 2022

    Christmas celebrations start tomorrow (if you’re Slavic, like me), and so I am finally here with a bunch of movies (and shows) you can watch to get in the mood! And if you don’t celebrate, you might still enjoy some winter-y silliness & gay kisses.

    Funnily enough, though, some of my favourite gay Christmas movies are actually in Part I of this rec list, which I made last year. I strongly encourage you to check that out, too!

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    Book Recs: Cosy Fantasy

    20 December, 2022

    Suffering through the shortest days of the year as we northern hemisphere folk are, what better rec list for these long winter nights than cosy fantasy. Snuggle up with a blanket and watch the snow fall outside as these books warm your soul. It’s a tried and trusted method, believe me!

    Before we start, though, let me just mention that our awards start tomorrow at 10am GMT! Nominations run until 4th January, so if you’re looking to support the great LGBT lit published this year, check it out.

    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.)

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    Film & TV Recs: Achillean Love Stories

    10 December, 2022

    This post could have a lot of different titles, to be frank: gay romances, gay melodramas… But really, it’s just a compilation of movies with gay love at their centre. Hence the title I actually settled on. (And of course, achillean as the more inclusive term, since there’s a few bi characters or ones who don’t really use labels.)

    The first movie I thought of for this rec list was Moonlight, so that should tell you all you need to know about it.

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    Book Recs: LGBT Sports Lit (II)

    25 November, 2022

    A while back, Anna did a post of LGBT sports lit that they’d recommend, so now it’s my turn! There’s a variety of books here and, combined with the previous post, hopefully something that appeals for everyone. Although, I would say, if you’re looking for more sports romances, Anna’s post might be the better place to be, since the bulk of them are on there. But if you’re looking for more literary fiction or otherwise contemporary novels, then scroll on!

    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.)

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    Book Recs: LGBT Literary Fiction (II)

    15 November, 2022

    The me from a year ago would never even dream of making this rec list. And here we are! But also, before we go into the heavy detail, let me just say that I use a very rough definition of ‘literary fiction’. And by that I mean that in my mind it’s mostly just… character-driven, hard to define stories. That’s it. I’m literally just here for the vibes and to have a good time.

    Anyway, Charlotte also recced some lit fic this year (and she included one of my favourite books of all time – On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous), so check out her post, too!

    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.)

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    Book Recs: Historical (II)

    25 October, 2022

    Not the post we necessarily planned coming to you today, but a quick one we threw together at almost the last minute (haha blogging amirite?). If you’re a fan of historical fiction, then this is a list for you! Of course, it’s actually part two of the list (part one can be found here), but honestly, I’m a little happier with this one than the last, because I didn’t have to resort to histroms to fill in the gaps (which, let’s be clear, is not a bad thing, but I had a whole separate list for historical romances, as opposed to historical fiction which might or might not include romance). But anyways. I’ll not keep you waiting any longer for it!

    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.)

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    Book Recs: What to Read If You Like Wheel of Time

    26 September, 2022

    On a whim, I decided to start a whole new style of rec post on this blog. I’ve done a few of these on my own blog before, so I figured why not transfer the idea over to this one! Here’s how it goes: I pick (or you suggest—feel free to leave any requests in comments!) a popular book or series, think of a bunch of tropes, themes or character archtypes in that book/series, and rec books which also fit those tropes, themes and archetypes. And in this case, they’re all gay!

    The first of these posts is going to be about the big fantasy monster that is Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time. Fourteen books long, it’s one you would be excused of being intimidated by. If you have read it, however, and are looking for similar(ish) books, then this post is for you! So let’s get going.

    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.)

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    Book Recs: LGBT Romances

    24 September, 2022

    When I told Charlotte that I want to make a rec list for LGBT romance books, she told me to only include “actually romantic ones”. If I knew what she meant. And I did! I really did.

    So that’s what you can expect here: 10 romance books with pining turned up to the absolute maximum, and ones where you can almost physically feel the love the characters have for one another. You’ll probably gonna cry, but you can thank me later!

    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.)

    Related: Historical LGBT Romances, New Adult LGBT Romances
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    Book Recs: Sapphic Fantasy (III)

    20 September, 2022

    Running out of ideas for rec posts as I am (which, let me be clear, is a hint for you guys to maybe offer some ideas of what you want to see), I returned to an old stalwart on this blog: sapphic fantasy! Obviously, I’ve already done two parts to this post but I’ve (finally) reached the point where I’m minorly struggling to find 20 books I would highly recommend. Guess that just means I need to go and read some more… But anyway! Check out the 20 I’ve decided to rec this time.

    As ever, all of the previous posts (including those two other fantasy posts) can be found 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.)

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    Book Recs: Dark Academia

    24 August, 2022

    I have to start off today’s rec list with a little definition because, above all others, dark academia seems to be a genre that could mean absolutely anything. I mean, when I was researching for this list, someone had added Pride and Prejudice as dark academia to their recs. So, before we go anywhere, I’m going to lay out what I consider to be the hallmarks of dark academia (and thus, the criteria by which I’ve selected these recs).

    First and foremost, I think this is a genre that needs to be set in and around academia. I mean, it’s in the name! Thus, these books are set at university and/or other schools (or school-equivalents). Secondly, I think what makes this genre is the themes, that is those of obsession, possessiveness, unhealthy relationships and desire. There’s a certain headiness to the genre, where, while events may seem outlandish, while you’re reading you’re just as absorbed as the characters themselves. Oh, and there might be a little pinch of murder to spice it up.

    So, with luck, I’ve selected 10 books that fit this description. And hey! They are, as ever, all gay.

    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.)

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