• All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: January-June 2020 Books With Bi Protagonists

    12 March, 2020

    If you’re looking for books with bisexual and/or pansexual characters, you’re in luck. Here’s a list of all books coming out in January-June 2020 that fit that description. (The July-December list is available here.)

    Finding specific rep in upcoming books isn’t always easy, so I want to make some things clear before we start:

    1) I included only books that use the bi & pan labels or, in case of sff ones, that make it clear from context the characters are bi or pan. It’s not always clear-cut but I figured that if you’re looking for bi/pan rep, you’re looking for something concrete;

    2) I did not include books which I wasn’t sure about, because I didn’t want to falsely advertise. If there’s anything I missed that you know for a fact features a bi or pan protag, please let me know!

    I’ll be also marking YA books with a ✌️ emoji, if that’s something that you’re interested in. And, as always, a 🌈 emoji indicates a book is by an LGBT author.

    (You might also be interested in these posts about 2020 YA releases & 2020 releases with non-cis characters.)

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Books By and About QPOC

    17 February, 2020

    Today, I have for you a massive rec list of books by and about QPOC (and Latinx authors/characters). There are fifty books on here – though that isn’t the sum total of those I know, so if your favourite isn’t here, it’s simply because I couldn’t fit it.

    It’s gonna go like this: I’ve split this post into contemporary, historical, science fiction or dystopia, and fantasy sections. In each section, half the books have been released, half are upcoming (barring sci fi, where I could only find 4 upcoming releases).

    So, enjoy!

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Poetry Collections (II)

    13 February, 2020

    I said I want to make this a series of poetry recommendations, but the first and only post so far is from July last year… But I am here with ten more poetry collections and better late than never, right?

    Like last time, I changed our traditional “Why Should I Read It?” section into a place to share my favourite quotes from a book. Or at least one of many favourites…

    Let’s go then!

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: Moontangled

    31 January, 2020
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    Take one ambitious politician and one determined magician with wildly different aims for their next meeting.

    Add a secret betrothal, a family scandal, and a heaping of dangerous fey magic in an enchanted wood…and watch the sparks fly!

    For just one moonlit, memorable night, Thornfell College of Magic has flung open its doors, inviting guests from around the nation to an outdoor ball intended to introduce the first-ever class of women magicians to society…but one magician and one invited guest have far more pressing goals of their own for the night.

    Quietly brilliant Juliana Banks is determined to win back the affections of her secret fiancée, rising politician Caroline Fennell, who has become inexplicably distant. If Juliana needs to use magic to get her stubborn fiancée to pay her attention…well, then, as the top student in her class, she is more than ready to take on that challenge!

    Unbeknownst to Juliana, though, Caroline plans to nobly sacrifice their betrothal for Juliana’s own sake – and no one has ever accused iron-willed Caroline Fennell of being easy to deter from any goal.

    Their path to mutual happiness may seem tangled beyond repair…but when they enter the fey-ruled woods that border Thornfell College, these two determined women will find all of their plans upended in a night of unexpected and magical possibilities.

    Moontangled

    Stephanie Burgis

    Published: 3rd February 2020
    Goodreads
    Rep: wlw mcs

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  • Book Club,  Literature

    Book Club: February Read

    26 January, 2020

    February brings us both Black History Month (and associated readathons) and #FFFeb. So, obviously, it made most sense for us to pick an f/f book with Black MCs, by a Black author.

    And also we heard this one would make us cry, and who doesn’t want a good cry over a book.

    So, without further ado, the book.

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Tor Novellas

    21 January, 2020

    At the beginning of December, I decided (foolishly) to aim to have read 400 books in 2019 (being, at the time, only on about 325). I made it, exhaustedly sure, but I made it. And I did so by reading a lot of novellas on tor.com.

    So, obviously, armed with that knowledge, I had to make a rec list. There are only my favourite 10 on here, but I also made a longer thread on twitter, with every single one I read over that time.

    So enjoy!

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  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: 2020 Books With Non-Cis Protagonists

    16 January, 2020

    I told you about all the YA upcoming books of the first half of the year & today I’m here to tell you about all the 2020 books with non-cis protagonists. As the title implies, this list is compiled of books with main characters who are trans or non-binary, or both, or genderfluid… Everyone who is not cis.

    I want to make three things clear:

    1) this is a list of all the books I know of at the moment which is not to say it’s a list of all the books in existence;

    2) I decided to include love interests as well, since they usually play a pretty major role in the story, but not other side characters;

    3) I’m marking with a 🌈 emoji books written by LGBT authors – please correct me, if I got something wrong.

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: Nottingham

    14 January, 2020
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    Robyn Hood didn’t set out to rob the rich, but in Nottingham, nothing ever goes according to plan….

    After a fateful hunting accident sends her on the run from the law, Robyn finds herself deep in the heart of Sherwood Forest. All she really wants to do is provide for her family and stay out of trouble, but when the Sheriff of Nottingham levies the largest tax in the history of England, she’s forced to take matters into her own hands. Relying on the help of her band of merry women and the Sheriff’s intriguing—and off limits—daughter, Marian, Robyn must find a way to pull off the biggest heist Sherwood has ever seen.

    With both heart and freedom at stake, just how much will she risk to ensure the safety of the ones she loves?

    Nottingham

    Anna Burke

    Published: 21st January 2020
    Goodreads
    Rep: lesbian mcs, lesbian & bi side characters, trans side character
    CWs: self-harm, mentions of gendered violence/rape, homophobia & internalised homophobia

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Sapphic Mystery/Thrillers (II)

    10 January, 2020

    I’m back with another sapphic rec list and just in time for #FFFeb! (If you haven’t heard, I’m running a month of only reading sapphic books on twitter and you’re welcome to join! More info is here.) Since mystery is my favourite genre (and Mahana @ Sapphic Library told me to do thrillers), this rec list is, unsurprisingly, full of mystery and thrillers.

    To note first though, a fair few books on here are upcoming, so I have occasionally only been able to find limited information about them. So, apologies if I have made a mistake anywhere.

    As ever, all the previous posts are here.

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  • Book Club,  Literature

    Book Club: January Read

    28 December, 2019

    It’s approaching the end of December which means it’s time to announce our book club read for January! As ever, we got you to vote on twitter and you picked the genre of… (drum roll please) ROMANCE!

    Read on to find out which book we selected! And look out for our reviews* of December’s read sometime next month.

    *Disclaimer: we may not actually have read it by that point… oops.

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

    Film & TV Recs: Gay Christmas Movies

    26 December, 2019

    This winter both Charlotte and I wanted to rec you some holiday stories. Charlotte went for novellas and you can find her post here. I decided to rec you Christmas movies. Only… I knew there aren’t many, but I didn’t realise there are actually three and two of them are unwatchable…

    If you’re looking for a list of those netflix-like movies of switched princesses and time-travelling knights and princes falling for regular people, but Make It Gay… If you’re hoping for that, this list isn’t for you, because movies like that still don’t exist for us.

    But if you’re looking for some pretty cool movies with a christmasy theme in one way or another, you may just find something for yourself here. At the very least, you’ll find canon rep.

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Christmas (and Other Winter Holidays)

    13 December, 2019

    Because we promised (vaguely, maybe a while back on twitter), me and Anna have some wintery rec lists for you! We’ve trawled through all the Christmas (and other winter holiday) media, just to find something gay all for you (ask Anna about her travails with Christmas films I dare you).

    And here is the first of those rec lists! Ten books (mostly novellas in this one) for you set during Christmas (or another winter holiday, but mostly Christmas because it’s surprisingly difficult to find holiday novellas that are a) gay and b) not Christmas-specific. Obviously I wasn’t trying hard enough).

    But anyway. Onwards.

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  • Book Club,  Literature

    Book Club: December Read

    25 November, 2019

    In November, we tried out a new thing of offering multiple novellas to pick and choose from. This month we’re going back to a single book (though a fairly short one).

    So, you voted, and the genre we’re reading is historical! Don’t worry, though, there’s still plenty of time to read November’s choice(s) before we get to it.

    But, without further ado, here’s our choice.

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