• All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    In the Intersection: South Asian LGBT Lit

    16 June, 2021

    After digging around for hours for South Asian lit that wasn’t primarily Indian, we finally have managed to get together 30 books for you, of which only about half are Indian (perhaps unsurprisingly those are the easiest to find, comparatively). Once again, there’s a mixture of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, so we hope you’ll find something to enjoy here.

    As before, we’re using flags to mark a country of origin (where possible) and a separate emoji (🏹) to mark if the author is a diaspora author.

    And once again, briefly, some links to the series so far: Black, African & Caribbean lit, East Asian lit, West Asian lit, Southeast Asian lit, Latine lit, Indigenous lit, religion in lit, and neurodiversity & disability in lit.

    And if you want more links, there are (so many) more lists here, here, here, here, here, and here. There’s also this zine by a Sri Lankan & an Afghan-Pakistani creator.

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    In the Intersection: West Asian LGBT Lit

    15 June, 2021

    I hope everyone’s excited for this post, because me and Anna are! Of the posts we’ve collated so far, this is the one that’s required the most digging (I think Anna is most proud of finding a book by a Yemeni author), especially since we’ve done our best to cover as wide an area as we can with these recs. But we managed it! So here are 30 recs for you by West Asian authors.

    As before, we’re using flags to mark a country of origin (where possible) and a separate emoji (🏹) to mark if the author is a diaspora author.

    Before we start, briefly, some links to the series: Black, African & Caribbean lit, East Asian lit, South Asian lit, Southeast Asian lit, Latine lit, Indigenous lit, religion in lit, and neurodiversity & disability in lit.

    And if you want more links… well we found a couple of untranslated books too! Here’s one from Georgia, one from Azerbaijan and one from Syria (available in Swedish or German).

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    In the Intersection: East Asian LGBT Lit

    13 June, 2021

    It’s like buses: you wait ages for one pride rec list and then two arrive at once! Today we’re covering East Asian LGBT lit, both that which is translated, and that which comes from diaspora authors. Once again, we’ve not read everything on this list (in fact, because we do want to prioritise translated lit in general, there’s a fair bit that’s not read), so it’s more a starter list for everyone.

    As before, we’re using flags to mark a country of origin (where possible) and a separate emoji (🏹) to mark if the author is a diaspora author.

    All of the series: Black, African & Caribbean lit, West Asian lit, South Asian lit, Southeast Asian lit, Latine lit, Indigenous lit, religion in lit, and neurodiversity & disability in lit.

    Once again, some more links if you want to read more: translated literature from Taiwan and China, Japanese literature, Korean literature (also here – in Korean).

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    In the Intersection: Black, African, and Caribbean LGBT Lit

    12 June, 2021

    For Pride Month 2021, our rec posts are taking a bit of a different shape. Over the course of June, we’ll have nine posts for you (of which this is, obviously, the first) in which we rec books where LGBT-ness intersects with another identity, be it race, disability or religion. These posts are only intended as starter packs, mind, and we’re going to try include books that may be less talked about. Ideally, we’ll have read most of the books we’re reccing, but sometimes that might not be the case (in a way, these are as much lists for ourselves as for you!).

    And, also, a brief note on “ownvoices” (or however you wish to refer to it): all of the books we rec are (for the most part—there are a handful of exceptions though) by authors who ID as LGBT, although maybe not the specific identity of their characters. The other part of the intersection will more strictly match up with the character’s identity (within reason, i.e. whether the author talks about it specifically in terms of themself).

    In the case of this list, we’ve used flag emojis to mark a country of origin (where possible) and a separate emoji (🏹) to mark if the author is a diaspora author.

    All of the series: East Asian lit, West Asian lit, South Asian lit, Southeast Asian lit, Latine lit, Indigenous lit, religion in lit, and neurodiversity & disability in lit.

    And, if after reading this you’re looking for more LGBT lit by African authors, let us point you in the direction of this list.

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: Love and Other Natural Disasters

    8 June, 2021

    To say that Love and Other Natural Disasters was our most anticipated summer YA release, would probably be an understatement. And listen. It delivered all that we were hoping for & more.

    So if you’re looking for a sweet sapphic rom-com, absolutely do not look further. Maybe just read our reviews and let us convince you in more words that you should read this one! And listen to our mix while reading it, of course!

    Before all that, though, follow Misa Sugiura on twitter!

    When Nozomi Nagai pictured the ideal summer romance, a fake one wasn’t what she had in mind.

    That was before she met the perfect girl. Willow is gorgeous, glamorous, and…heartbroken? And when she enlists Nozomi to pose as her new girlfriend to make her ex jealous, Nozomi is a willing volunteer.

    Because Nozomi has a master plan of her own: one to show Willow she’s better than a stand-in, and turn their fauxmance into something real. But as the lies pile up, it’s not long before Nozomi’s schemes take a turn toward disaster…and maybe a chance at love she didn’t plan for.

    Love and Other Natural Disasters

    Misa Sugiura

    Goodreads

    Rep: Japanese American lesbian mc, Japanese American lesbian li, Taiwanese American sapphic li, Black bi side character, Japanese American gay side character, Filipino American gay side character
    CWs: homophobia
    Release: 8th June 2021

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: The Jasmine Throne

    7 June, 2021

    Today’s review is of what was probably our single most anticipated release of 2021. If, for whatever reason, you haven’t already heard about The Jasmine Throne, let this be your moment of epiphany. And, if you trust only one of our recs this whole year, let it be this one. The Jasmine Throne is probably one of the best books to be released this year, if not all time. It’s a book that will leave you hollowed out and unable to even think of picking anything else up for the foreseeable future.

    But enough of that here. Read our reviews and you’ll find out just how much we adore this book. Before you do, though, don’t forget to follow Tasha on twitter.

    And remember, there’s a music mix at the end of this post!

    Author of Empire of Sand and Realm of Ash Tasha Suri’s The Jasmine Throne, beginning a new trilogy set in a world inspired by the history and epics of India, in which a captive princess and a maidservant in possession of forbidden magic become unlikely allies on a dark journey to save their empire from the princess’s traitor brother.

    Imprisoned by her dictator brother, Malini spends her days in isolation in the Hirana: an ancient temple that was once the source of the powerful, magical deathless waters — but is now little more than a decaying ruin.

    Priya is a maidservant, one among several who make the treacherous journey to the top of the Hirana every night to clean Malini’s chambers. She is happy to be an anonymous drudge, so long as it keeps anyone from guessing the dangerous secret she hides.

    But when Malini accidentally bears witness to Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a vengeful princess seeking to depose her brother from his throne. The other is a priestess seeking to find her family. Together, they will change the fate of an empire.

    The Jasmine Throne

    Tasha Suri

    Goodreads

    Rep: Indian-coded cast, lesbian mcs
    CWs: violence, gore, homophobia, execution by burning, forced drug use
    Release: 10th June 2021

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: The Passing Playbook

    3 June, 2021

    So you’re looking for an ownvoices trans m/m book by a Black author? Boy, do we have a treat for you! And listen, even more importantly The Passing Playbook is one of the most joyful & loving young adult books we know of – loving in a way that it lets the LGBT teens know they’re loved and valued.

    Read on to see more reasons why you absolutely should order yourself a copy, too! And we even have a music mix to listen to while reading!

    And hey, while you’re at it, follow Isaac on twitter!

    Fifteen-year-old Spencer Harris is a proud nerd, an awesome big brother and a Messi-in-training. He’s also transgender. After transitioning at his old school leads to a year of bullying, Spencer gets a fresh start at Oakley, the most liberal private school in Ohio.

    At Oakley, Spencer seems to have it all: more accepting classmates, a decent shot at a starting position on the boy’s soccer team, great new friends, and maybe even something more than friendship with one of his teammates. The problem is, no one at Oakley knows Spencer is trans – he’s passing.

    So when a discriminatory law forces Spencer’s coach to bench him after he discovers the ‘F’ on Spencer’s birth certificate, Spencer has to make a choice: cheer his team on from the sidelines or publicly fight for his right to play, even if it means coming out to everyone – including the guy he’s falling for.

    The Passing Playbook

    Isaac Fitzsimons

    Goodreads

    Rep: biracial Black mlm trans mc, gay li, bi side character, nonbinary side character
    CWs: mentions of past transphobic violence, religious homophobia
    Release: 3rd June 2021

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun

    27 May, 2021

    Please don’t be fooled into thinking I’m biased in my opinion about Jonny’s book, I’m really not. They really just are that talented and created that lovely & soft novel. The music mix accompanying this review is titled “inside your arms i feel so much warmer” (Where We’re Going / Gregory Dillon), and that is exactly the vibe of this book.

    And hey, we actually interviewed Jonny some time ago, check it out!

    Also don’t forget to follow Jonny Garza Villa on twitter!

    A poignant, funny, openhearted novel about coming out, first love, and being your one and only best and true self.

    Julián Luna has a plan for his life: Graduate. Get into UCLA. And have the chance to move away from Corpus Christi, Texas, and the suffocating expectations of others that have forced Jules into an inauthentic life.

    Then in one reckless moment, with one impulsive tweet, his plans for a low-key nine months are thrown—literally—out the closet. The downside: the whole world knows, and Jules has to prepare for rejection. The upside: Jules now has the opportunity to be his real self.

    Then Mat, a cute, empathetic Twitter crush from Los Angeles, slides into Jules’s DMs. Jules can tell him anything. Mat makes the world seem conquerable. But when Jules’s fears about coming out come true, the person he needs most is fifteen hundred miles away. Jules has to face them alone.

    Jules accidentally propelled himself into the life he’s always dreamed of. And now that he’s in control of it, what he does next is up to him.

    Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun

    Jonny Garza Villa

    Goodreads

    Rep: Mexican American gay mc, Vietnamese American gay li, gay, lesbian, bi & pan side characters
    TWs: past & present parental abuse, physical abuse (chapter 14 & 28), homophobia, outing, mc gets kicked out
    Release: 8th June 2021

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: One Last Stop

    20 May, 2021

    Kicking off the Pride releases’ season the right way, with our reviews of an absolute gem, a sapphic time-travel rom-com of your dreams. One Last Stop hits all the spots for a perfect book.

    And as an extra treat, apart from the mix you can listen to while reading the book, we want to offer you one more thing: Charlotte actually set up a bot that will start tweeting in mid June, to avoid spoilers.

    Cynical twenty-three-year old August doesn’t believe in much. She doesn’t believe in psychics, or easily forged friendships, or finding the kind of love they make movies about. And she certainly doesn’t believe her ragtag band of new roommates, her night shifts at a 24-hour pancake diner, or her daily subway commute full of electrical outages are going to change that.

    But then, there’s Jane. Beautiful, impossible Jane.

    All hard edges with a soft smile and swoopy hair and saving August’s day when she needed it most. The person August looks forward to seeing on the train every day. The one who makes her forget about the cities she lived in that never seemed to fit, and her fear of what happens when she finally graduates, and even her cold-case obsessed mother who won’t quite let her go. And when August realizes her subway crush is impossible in more ways than one—namely, displaced in time from the 1970s—she thinks maybe it’s time to start believing.

    Casey McQuiston’s One Last Stop is a sexy, big-hearted romance where the impossible becomes possible as August does everything in her power to save the girl lost in time.

    One Last Stop

    Casey McQuiston

    Goodreads

    Rep: bi mc with anxiety, Chinese American lesbian li, gay side character, Black sapphic side character, Black gay side character, Puerto Rican American trans side character, Black pan side character
    CWs: past homophobic violence, off page death
    Release: 1st June 2021

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  • All Recommended,  Film & TV Recs,  Film & TV Shows

    Film & TV Recs: Foreign LGBT movies

    15 May, 2021

    My small offering to you in these horrible times is a list of ten LGBT movies made outside of the US (or even UK, for that matter). It’s good to remember that the world doesn’t start and end with North America, and LGBT people actually live everywhere around the globe. You might also be interested in one of my previous posts, about movies with two QPOC leads.

    And a quick reminder that on this blog we do not recommend movies with trans characters played by cis actors, ever.

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Standalone Fantasy

    13 May, 2021

    After a few days of unintentional downtime (can you tell neither me nor Anna has the slightest clue about self-hosting), we’re back with a rec list of standalone fantasy books. For those times when you don’t want to invest in reading an entire series, but you do want something fantastical.

    I’m sure we can all relate.

    But anyway. Enough waffling on, because it’s been days since we’ve been able to post. I’m sure you all just want to get straight into it (so to speak).

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Lesbian Adult Fantasy

    27 April, 2021

    In keeping with the fact it’s Lesbian Visibility Week this week, today’s rec list is going to be one of solely lesbian adult fantasy recs (as requested by Anna). And I mean specifically lesbian, rather than sapphic in general (of which I have an old list here), so we’re talking characters who are attracted to women, but also are completely not attracted to men (simplistically put).

    A couple of disclaimers: firstly, I’m fairly sure I’m right in reading these characters as lesbians. But obviously, since it’s fantasy, you don’t tend to get the word itself used, or even hedged around like in contemporary. As such, these are to-the-best-of-my-knowledge recs. Secondly, yeah, a lot of these are upcoming ones. Turns out I haven’t read all that many sapphic adult fantasies that you can pinpoint as lesbian. Something to work on.

    All that aside, though, here are ten books you absolutely need to read. Call it lesbian canon, if you will.

    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.)

    Since writing this post, I’ve continued these recs as a series, so if you want to check out the other posts in that:

    Gay | Bi/Pan | Trans

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Lesbian Lit

    23 April, 2021

    This is a rec list I keep promising and then never coming through on, but finally, finally, I’ve got my act together. If you’ve followed me on twitter, you’ll know I regularly complain about lesbians in (generally YA) lit never using the word lesbian about themselves. I even wrote a whole post about just that.

    But I never offered you the books I know that do use the word lesbian (of which, I’m finding, I know depressingly few). So, these are they (with the exception of one, which I had to get Anna to tell me how to rec). If you’re looking for more, there are some in this thread.

    Before we start, I just need to make clear how I’m deciding on these books. First and foremost, each book has to feature a lesbian character who claims the word lesbian for themselves. Not someone else calling them a lesbian, not random mentions of lesbianism but the mc never says “I’m a lesbian”. Yes, I’m being a bit strict in cases, but I want to offer you ten books where the mc claims the label in a positive context.

    I have also tried to keep only to YA books, but I had to sneak one adult in there to make up numbers.

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  • Book of the Month,  Literature

    Book of the Month: Meet Cute Diary

    6 April, 2021

    This month’s book of the month is one you have (hopefully) heard of, but there’s never any harm in just making sure, is there? Anyway, if you’re looking for a sweet summery romance, then Meet Cute Diary will be the book for you, trust me! It’s the fake-dating romcom you’ve always been craving, only it’s even better because it’s overflowing with trans joy.

    So sit yourself down in a comfy chair, and check out why we think you should be excited about this one!

    Related: Don’t forget all releases can be found in our monthly lists here.
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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: LGBT Found Family

    22 March, 2021

    Let’s be honest, we all know that there is no trope better than found family. And actually, as long as we’re being honest with each other, found family as a concept is inherently gay. There’s just something about choosing your own family, that rings true to all LGBT people.

    So yeah, here I am with ten LGBT stories featuring the found family trope. Only the best for you guys!

    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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