• 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,  Book Club,  Literature

    Book Club: The Disasters

    11 November, 2019

    Took us a hot second to write down the reviews, but come on guys, it just be like that sometimes… The important thing is that we’re here and we’re ready to talk about the book! Hopefully you have read it with us and we can actually have some fun chatting!

    And don’t forget: for November we chose three novellas! They’re so short, you have no excuse not to read at least one of them!

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  • Book Club,  Literature

    Book Club: November Read

    27 October, 2019

    For November, we figured we would do something a little different (given that it’s currently book club 2 – 1 Anna). So instead of a picking a single book, we’ve picked three novellas, two at 20 pages and one at 60. I (Charlotte) will be trying to read them all (cannot speak for Anna, who has not yet even started the October read), but you’re welcome to pick and choose which to read or not. And because they’re novellas, they can hopefully be read in one sitting.

    And, of course, each of the novellas contains a trans or nonbinary main character in a fantasy (or sci-fi) setting.

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Urban Fantasy (I)

    18 October, 2019

    High fantasy’s all well and good, but sometimes you just want to read something that happens in a world you recognise. So that’s what’s happening in this rec list! Ten great urban fantasy novels (featuring LGBT characters, of course).

    And just to make it that much better, I’ve tried to make this rec list as not-white as possible (though you’ll be able to tell where I failed in that), for whoever asked for this specifically (because I don’t remember, so I hope you see this!!).

    So, let’s go!

    See also: Urban LGBT Fantasy, part II.

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: LGBT Retellings (Classic Books)

    14 October, 2019

    Part three of my retellings rec lists, as promised (ages ago)! If you haven’t seen it before, take a look at part one (all about LGBT retellings of fairy tales) & part two (LGBT mythology retellings).

    Today we’re talking about new takes on classic books and when I say that, I mean books like Peter Pan or The Count of Monte Cristo. It’s interesting, actually, because there are a few books that seem extremely popular & have a lot of retellings (honestly, I could make a whole post just about Peter Pan…), but then there are some that hardly have any at all. I don’t know who decides which classics deserve to be retold in a gay way… (Whoever they are, they’re wrong, because clearly the answer is: all of them.)

    Let’s get into it, though.

    See also: LGBT retellings of folklore, fairy tales, classic books & books about historical figures
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  • Book Club,  Literature

    Book Club: October Read

    30 September, 2019

    This month, we asked something different in choosing our read. Instead of genre, we wanted to know a trope you wanted to read. (And also because Anna wanted to read contemporary because they’re picky about genre like that.)

    And the trope you picked was found family. At which point, me and Anna realised we don’t actually know any contemporary found family books that we haven’t yet read, so we ended up instead going for sci fi.

    But this is all just an incredibly rambly way of saying, we have picked our October book, and are very excited for you to join in!

    Also, don’t forget to take part in our Orientation twitter chat happening tomorrow at 4pm GMT if you read the book!

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

    Film & TV Recs: LGBT Period Dramas

    5 September, 2019

    The other day I reread one of my favourite classic novels (Evelina by Frances Burney, which I recommend wholeheartedly, even though it’s sadly not gay) (well, if you ask me there’s a butch lesbian there but) & ever since then, I was very much in the mood for period dramas.

    Naturally, I started by rewatching some favourites, as well: Pride & Prejudice (2005) and Persuasion (2007). But then I realised what I’m actually craving are gay period dramas.

    So that’s why I’m here today with 10 LGBT stories taking place in the past.

    Sadly, only two titles with trans characters made it to my list. And that’s because while there is a number of arguably good period dramas with trans characters, I’m not about to rec you movies in which those roles are played by cis actors (like The Danish Girl or Albert Nobbs or Breakfast on Pluto).

    Also, I feel like it’s important I make something clear: I did not rec any stories with Bury Your Gays trope.

    Related: LGBT period dramas, part II
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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: LGBT Retellings (Myths)

    6 August, 2019

    Part two of my retellings rec lists, as promised! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the series: LGBT fairy tales retellings & LGBT retellings of classic books.

    Now, when it comes to mythologies… I actually had a bit of a problem. I wasn’t sure if I should include retellings of The Odyssey, for example. Sure, we have mythology there, but also part three of this series is going to be Classic Texts & wouldn’t it be more of a fit there? I even ran a poll on twitter and y’all were who decided in the end. :>>

    Also obviously my first thought for this theme was The Song of Achilles, because I am gay and love to suffer, but I figured there’s no point in reccing a book we have all read multiple times.

    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.)

    See also: LGBT retellings of folklore, fairy tales, classic books & books about historical figures
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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: LGBT Retellings (Fairy Tales)

    11 July, 2019

    I mentioned on twitter the other day that I was thinking of making a post like this and everyone was very into the idea. I mean, what’s better than taking a classic story we all know & putting a gay spin on it, right?

    I put a parenthesis in the title of this rec list and there’s a very simple reason for it: there are going to be two more in the “series”! One for classic books (think Peter Pan or Sherlock Holmes) and one for mythologies (in a very broad meaning of the word). So look out for those!

    Before we start, let me make an honorary mention of Ash by Malinda Lo, the lesbian retelling of Cinderella. It’s not on the list itself because I can’t rec you a book you all already know, can I? But just in case you forgot for a second…

    And now, let’s go boldly into the world of LGBT fairy tales!

    See also: LGBT retellings of folklore, fairy tales, classic books & books about historical figures
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  • All Recommended,  Music,  Music Recs

    Music Recs: Pride Month Special

    27 June, 2019

    We don’t talk about music a lot on our blog, but I guess when we do, it’s with a bang! Which is to say, I’m here today with a list of 60 LGBT artists. And yes, I say artists, not just songs – each and every one of them is an out member of our community. (Well, there are a few bands and some of them only have a lead singer who matches that description, but you know!)

    I had to make some decisions regarding the way of presenting all this beauty to you. First of all, I divided those sixty artists into three groups of wlw, mlm & those who are not cis. (I was gonna go with “trans/nonbinary”, but there are also genderfluid, gender nonconforming artists, even a Two-Spirit one, so I figured I need a pretty broad umbrella term here). Obviously, there are some intersections within those groups, but I wanted even numbers… And lastly, I linked them all to my favourite album/single of theirs on Spotify, so I could put covers & make it all look pretty.

    So! Take a quiz and figure out who should you listen to!* Or just scroll through them all.

    Take the quiz!

    *Charlotte made me specify that when I say “dancing alone in your room” in the quiz, what I mean is dancing slowly with your eyes closed, the sound of rain coming through the window & maybe by the end of it you won’t be as tired anymore.

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Pride Month Special

    17 June, 2019

    I’m sure all of you at least once experienced this: you go to school, you study history, and then years later, in totally random circumstances, you learn that some historical figure was actually gay. And then you probably cry a little (a lot, if you’re me) and you’re angry & disappointed, because yet again your own history was taken away from you.

    That’s where we come in with this rec list! We put together fifty titles – so not a comprehensive list by any account, but it’s a place to start. To kick-off your historical journey and actually make you realise you do love history, just the one that is actually ours.

    Siken would say that “there are a lot of names in history. / none of them are ours”, but he was only halfway right. We have always existed, we just weren’t always allowed to talk about it.

    This list is divided into 5 historical eras, with a few books that are studies across eras, and then further into what types of books there are. You will find here memoirs, letters, essays, history textbooks… Anything you can think of, it’s probably here!

    Take a quiz to figure out where you should start your LGBT education:

    Take the quiz!

    Or just scroll through the whole list.

    Key:

    memoir or letters 🍃
    biography 🌻
    historical account 🐚
    essays or theory 🌼

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

    Film and TV Recs: Pride Month Special

    12 June, 2019

    Like we said at the start of the month, we’re making our Pride Month rec lists a little special. We’re adding quizzes to them! If you click the link below, the quiz will help you find a film or TV show that suits your needs. Alternatively, you can scroll through all our recs here.

    Take the quiz!

    Of course, you can be sure that these are all films and shows with happy endings for their LGBT characters (though, if we’re talking ones that haven’t finished yet, we obviously can’t confirm that). But trust us, even when it looks bad in some of them. Trust us. Also, because we haven’t watched all of them, we can’t be sure what content warnings there for them. If there is a * against one, that means we have watched it and there are some CWs, so just comment if you want to know more.

    Finally, the key:

    lesbians & wlw relationships: ☀️
    gays & mlm relationships: 🌿
    bi or pan characters: 💎
    trans, genderqueer, non-binary, gnc characters: 🌷

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Superheroes

    26 May, 2019

    Look me in the eyes and answer one single question: is there anything better than gay superheroes?

    No! The correct answer is no & I’m glad we all agree on that. It also means that I compiled a list of ten books with LGBT superheroes just for you guys. And a quick note – only two of those are comics! This is not to say that comics are anything less than, which is an absurd notion & one I absolutely do not want associated with me or this blog. But I wanted to showcase that superheroes are more than beautiful comics and can have their stories told through novels as well!

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Adult Lit (II)

    12 May, 2019

    This is part two of that really long adult lit rec list I promised you. Part one can be found here, and all the parts will be in this tag (eventually).

    You might notice as this list goes on, some genres will have fewer recs. That’s just because there’s not a lot in those genres that I’ve been able to find (as of yet!).

    Key:

    lesbians & wlw relationships: ☀️
    gays & mlm relationships: 🌿
    bisexual characters: 💎
    trans, genderqueer, non-binary, gnc characters: 🌷
    LGBT authors: 🌈

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