• All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Adult Fantasy

    15 August, 2020

    Full disclosure, this year has been bad for me in terms of reading and loving YA fantasy. Yes, I have loved some, but also I’ve been bored as anything by others. So I’ve turned a fair bit to adult fantasy — mostly avoiding all the white cishet men writing it, of course.

    This is not a definitive list of all the LGBT adult fantasy novels I have loved, of course. I went to write down possible entries to this list and ended up with about twice as many that I loved, and maybe three or four times as many that I would rec. But these are ten of my favourites.

    So, dive in, and I hope you find something to enjoy here!

    See also: Adult LGBT Sci Fi Books
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  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: 2020 Sapphic Releases (July to December)

    11 August, 2020

    It’s August which means it’s time for PART TWO of 2020’s sapphic releases (part one here). These are all the sapphic releases that I know about from July to December this year (so, usual disclaimer of it not being on here generally means I don’t know about it. Sometimes means I completely forgot even if I did know).

    As ever, 🌈 means the author identifies as LGBT. Apologies if I have screwed up a date somewhere — they’ve changed so often I know I haven’t kept track of them all.

    For clarification: I have included in this list books where the sapphic character is either the main character/protagonist, has a POV, or is a major character who affects the plot.

    So let’s go!

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    Book Reviews: Backlist Releases You May Have Missed

    27 July, 2020

    Something a bit different for you today, with a series of reviews of books that have been published recently (and a little less recently) that you might have missed out on. A little disclaimer first up, though: copies of these books were kindly provided us by the authors, but these are my unbiased reviews.

    So dive in! And I hope you find something here that interests you.

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  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: July-December 2020 Books With Bi Protagonists

    18 July, 2020

    A second part to the post I made at the beginning of the year, where I listed books with bi/pan main characters which were published between January and June (it’s here!). Now it’s time for the second half of the year.

    Once again, I want to make some things clear:

    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!

    The rainbow emoji indicates that the book is written by an LGBT author, and just for fun, I also marked YA books with a ✌️ emoji. Please let me know if I missed or mislabeled something!

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  • Book of the Month,  Literature

    Book of the Month: Spellbound: A Graphic Memoir

    3 July, 2020

    It’s a new month, which means a new book of the month! As ever, there were so many potential books to choose from, so, if you want to see what we sadly couldn’t choose, keep an eye out for our August releases post later in the month.

    That said, here is what we did choose. And hopefully it’s introducing you to a whole new book!

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

    ARC Review: The Four Profound Weaves

    31 May, 2020
    49245102

    Wind: To match one’s body with one’s heart
    Sand: To take the bearer where they wish
    Song: In praise of the goddess Bird
    Bone: To move unheard in the night

    The Surun’ do not speak of the master weaver, Benesret, who creates the cloth of bone for assassins in the Great Burri Desert. But Uiziya now seeks her aunt Benesret in order to learn the final weave, although the price for knowledge may be far too dear to pay.

    Among the Khana, women travel in caravans to trade, while men remain in the inner quarter as scholars. A nameless man struggles to embody Khana masculinity, after many years of performing the life of a woman, trader, wife, and grandmother.

    As the past catches up to the nameless man, he must choose between the life he dreamed of and Uiziya, and Uiziya must discover how to challenge a tyrant, and weave from deaths that matter.

    Set in R. B. Lemberg’s beloved Birdverse, The Four Profound Weaves hearkens to Ursula Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness. In this breathtaking debut, Lemberg offers a timeless chronicle of claiming one’s identity in a hostile world.

    The Four Profound Weaves

    R. B. Lemberg

    Published: 4th September 2020
    Goodreads
    Rep: trans mcs, nonbinary side character, past polyamory
    CWs: deadnaming, misgendering, transphobia

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Twitter’s Favourite Trans Books

    13 May, 2020

    The other day I asked people on Twitter to give me their 5 favourite trans books. Now, I’m using trans here as an umbrella term to include all non-cis identities, so you will find recs with nonbinary characters, genderqueer characters and more.

    And let me just say, the responses were great and I managed to compile a list of so many gems! And a lot of them seem to be rather overlooked, which is just another bonus & very good news to people starved for rep, who have already read all the popular titles.

    Of course, as always on this blog, books by LGBT authors are marked with a 🌈 emoji. Please let me know if I got something wrong, so I can correct it!

    See also: 100+ books by trans & nonbinary authors
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  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: 2020 Sapphic Releases (January to June)

    8 May, 2020

    Not to be bringing any sort of bitterness to this blog or anything, but there’s only so many times you can see “there’s no (good) f/f” as a tweet before you snap. So in the interests of not snapping, I compiled a list of all the sapphic releases I know about this year.

    And I know a lot.

    So this list is actually going to be split into two. The first, this post, is going to take us from January to June. The second will come in a few months time and focus on July to December. Actually, the post is based on a thread I did on twitter, so if you’re impatient, go check that out (though dates aren’t always correct, and it’s not the most up to date).

    So do you want to read f/f books but you don’t want to look for them?

    Well it’s your lucky day. I did the looking for you!

    P.S. dates are correct to the best of my knowledge, but if I have missed a postponement somewhere, please let me know.

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

    Film & TV Recs: LGBT Period Dramas (II)

    18 April, 2020

    A long promised continuation to my first rec list of LGBT period dramas. Definitely check out that post for more recommendations!

    Like in that previous post, I’d like to say that I’m aware there are barely any movies with trans rep on the list. I did my best. All the other period dramas featuring trans characters that I know of, gave those roles to cis actors & I’m not about to recommend that here.

    I accidentally made about half of this rec list about titles based on real stories & people, it wasn’t a conscious choice. But it does mean that not all of the movies listed are exactly super happy & gracious to the LGBT characters.

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Scribd LGBT Starter Pack

    13 April, 2020

    It’s quarantine day 2839394, you already baked your sourdough bread, learned how to embroider, cleaned all the grout in your flat, and – in a ideal world – finished all the books on your bookshelves. What to do now, you ask? Read more, of course!

    Because we’re all tight on funds right about now, I would like to remind you that Scribd is offering a 30 days free trial on their whole library. If you’re not familiar with the website, this post would be a good place for you to get going. I tried to include a variety of genres in this list, but like it says in the title, it literally is just a starter pack.

    (And if you’ll use my invite link, you will actually get two months off and I will get one, too. It’s a win-win situation.)

    Final note: I very much encourage you to leave reviews of the books you’ll read on amazon and/or goodreads, and buying your own copies, if you can afford it. Or requesting them at your local library once it’s open again!

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  • 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: 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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