queerlit

[queerlit]

🔮 Good afternoon, my bookish bats. I hope you've had an enchanting, spell-binding October so far. If you want to add a little more magic to your TBR, consider these witchlit books featuring sapphic witches and other mystical beings!

🔮 The Scapegracers by Hannah Abigail Clarke 🪄 Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper 🔮 These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling 🪄 Sweet & Bitter Magic by Adrienne Tooley 🔮 The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska 🪄 Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft

🔮 Now She Is Witch by Kirsty Logan 🪄 The Dark Tide by Alicia Jasinska 🔮 The Circle by M. Strandberg & S.B. Elfgren 🪄 The Witch and the Vampire by Francesca Flores 🔮 The Shadow Cabinet by Juno Dawson 🪄 Elysium Girls by Kate Pentecost

🔮 Edie in Between by Laura Sibson 🪄 When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey 🔮 Marvel's The Runaways 🪄 Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson 🔮 Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall 🪄 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Willow & Tara

🔮 All the Bad Apples by Moïra Fowley-Doyle 🪄 The Severed Thread by Leslie Vedder 🔮 The Lost Coast by A.R. Capetta 🪄 Romancing a Gorgon by Tallie Rose 🔮 Improbable Magic for Cynical Witches by Kate Scelsa 🪄 The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

🔮 Not Your Average Love Spell by Barbara Ann Wright 🪄 The Sting of Victory by S.D. Simper 🔮 Summer of Salt by Katrina Leno 🪄 The Reluctant Witch by Kristen S. Walker 🔮 Witching Moon by Poppy Woods 🪄 Keep Your Witches Close by Colette Rivera

🔮 Walking Through Shadows by Sheri Lewis Wohl 🪄 Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moïra Fowley-Doyle 🔮 Out of Salem by Hal Schrieve 🪄 Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker & Wendy Xu

[queerlit]

RECENT READS: “Carmilla" by J. Sheridan LeFanu

“You must come with me, loving me, to death; or else hate me, and still come with me, and hating me through death and after. There is no such word as indifference in my apathetic nature.”

[queerlit]

Hi! I would love to hear some of your all time favourties :)

Okay, but as long as we acknowledge it’s just some. I always accidentally leave out huge favorites! (All links are to Bookshop, except where they don’t carry said book, because may as well treat yourself and support LGBTQReads and independent bookstores at the same time, right?)

YA Thriller: 

Female protag: Sadie by Courtney Summers

Male protag: Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig

Contemporary YA Romance

m/m: Beating Heart Baby by Lio Min 

f/f: She Gets the Girl by Alyson Derrick and Rachael Lippincott

m/f: Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan

Heavier contemporary YA, all of which totally coincidentally have bi protags:

Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett

The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake

Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake 

Every Time You Hear That Song by Jenna Voris

History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera 

It Goes Like This by Miel Moreland (Please read it if you’re a fan of stuff like Daisy Jones and the Six, pleeeease)

Paranormal YA:  Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

YA Sci-fi: The Disasters by MK England

YA Fantasy:

Standalone: Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust

Duology: The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski

Trilogy: Black Wings Beating by Alex London

YA Horror: The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros

YA Magical Realism: Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore

YA Fabulism: This Rebel Heart by Katherine Locke

Historical YA: The above two titles and Self-Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore

YA Graphic Novels:

Male protag: Flamer by Mike Curato

Female protag: Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu (but truly, The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz is right behind it)

New Adult Romance:

m/m: Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

f/f: Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon

m/f: Hold Me by Courtney Milan

Adult Contemporary Romance:

m/m: The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun

f/f:  Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner

m/f: The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan

polyam: Triple Sec by TJ Alexander (f/f/gq)

Adult Historical Romance:

m/m: We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian

f/f: The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite

Adult Contemporary Fiction:

In at the Deep End by Kate Davies

The Guncle by Steven Rowley

Endpapers by Jennifer Savran Kelly

Body Grammar by Jules Ohman

Adult Mystery Series:

Contemporary: Roxane Weary by Kristen Lepionka

Historical: Evander Mills by Lev A.C. Rosen 

Adult Thriller: 

Male protag: Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage

Female protag: Temper by Layne Fargo

Adult Horror: Tripping Arcadia by Kit Mayquist

Adult Science Fantasy: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (adult science fantasy)

Adult Fantasy: 

Standalone: The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

Series: The Unspoken Name by AK Larkwood (please for the love of god at least try this if you’re a huge fan of Gideon already)

Adult Sci-Fi: This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

[queerlit]

Vibes

[queerlit]

Celebrate Pride With These 10 Incredible LGBTQ+ Characters

[queerlit]

Happy First Day of Pride 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

To kickstart this month, I went to the local bookstore and bought this beauty, which I’m very excited to read.

🏳️‍⚧️ Transmogrify! : 14 Fantastic Tales of Trans Magic edited by G. Haron Davis

[queerlit]

KATHLEEN HANNA ANNOUNCES MEMOIR, REBEL GIRL: MY LIFE AS A FEMINIST PUNK

7/13/23: Kathleen Hanna has announced that she’s releasing a memoir in May of next year: Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk is out Tuesday, May 14, 2024, via Ecco (a HarperCollins imprint). The book will follow Hanna’s story from childhood to her college years in Olympia, Washington.

Kathleen Hanna's rallying cry to feminists echoed far and wide through the punk scene of the 90s and beyond. Her band, Bikini Kill, embodies this iconic time, and today her personal yet feminist lyrics on anthems like "Rebel Girl" and "Double Dare Ya" are more powerful than ever. But where did this transformative voice come from? In Rebel Girl, Hanna's raw and insightful new memoir, she takes us from her tumultuous childhood home to her formative college years in Olympia, Washington, and on to her first years on tour, fighting hard for gigs and for her band. As Hanna makes clear, being in a "girl band," especially a punk girl band, in those years was not a simple or safe prospect. Male violence and antagonism threatened at every turn, and surviving as a singer who was a lightening rod for controversy took limitless amounts of determination. But the relationships she developed during those years buoyed her--including with her bandmates, Tobi Vail, Kathi Wilcox, and Johanna Fateman; her friendships with Kurt Cobain and Ian MacKaye; and her introduction to Joan Jett-- were all a testament to how the punk world could nurture and care for its own. Hanna opens up about falling in love with Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys and her debilitating battle with Lyme disease, and she brings us behind the scenes of her musical growth in her bands, Le Tigre and The Julie Ruin. She also writes candidly about the Riot Grrrl movement, documenting with love its grassroots origins but critiquing its later exclusivity. In an uncut voice all her own, Hanna reveals the hardest times along with the most joyful--and how it continues to fuel her revolutionary art and music.

you can pre-order Rebel Girl now though bookshop.org!

[queerlit]

Disability in Books: Disabled Lesbian MCs

[ID: A poster. Large black text reading "Disabled Lesbian MCs" is in the centre. Above it, to the left, smaller black text reading "Disability in Books". The background is a straight diagonal version of the Disability Pride flag. In the upper right corner, the logo for the Disability Book Archive. In the lower left corner, the Lesbian Pride flag. /end]

[ID: The same poster. The flag and logo have shrunken slightly in size. The title has been removed, replaced with three book covers and some text. The first cover is "10 Things I Can See From Here" by Carrie Mac down the left hand side. Black text listed next to it reads "Anxiety", "Addiction (SC)", "Contemporary", "Romance", "Canada", "Bisexual SCs" and "Young Adult". The second cover is "Bianca Torre is Afraid of Everything" by Justine Pucella Winans and is in the upper right corner. Black text listed next to it reads "Anxiety", "Contemporary", "Myster", "Transgender SCs", "Non-Binary SCs", and "Young Adult". The third cover is "The Degenerates" by J. Albert Mann and is in the lower left corner. Black text listed next to it reads "Club Foot", "Down Syndrome", "Historical", "1920s USA", "Young Adult" and "Multiple POV". /end]

[ID: The same poster. The book covers and text have changed. The first cover is "The Faithless" by C. L. Clark. Black text listed next to it reads "Adult", "Cane User", "Chronic Pain", "PTSD", "High Fantasy", "Series" and "2nd Bisexual MC". The second cover is "Harrow the Ninth" by Tamsyn Muir. Black text listed next to it reads "Adult", "Schizophrenia", "Science Fiction Fantasy", "Horror", "Series" and "Necromancy". The third cover is "Honey Girl" by Morgan Rogers. Black text listed next to it reads "Adult", "Anxiety", "Depression", "Biracial MC", "Japanese-American LI" and "Romance". /end]

[ID: The same poster. The book covers and text have changed. The first cover is "The No-Girlfriend Rule" by Christen Randall. Black text listed next to it reads "Young Adult", "Anxiety", "ADHD (SC)", "Romance", "Contemporary", "Comedy" and "Fat MC". The second cover is "Margo Zimmerman Gets the Girl" by Brianna R. Shrum. Black text listed next to it reads "Young Adult", "Autism", "ADHD", "Romance", "Contemporary" and "Jewish Characters". The third cover is "The Second Mango" by Shira Glassman. Black text listed next to it reads "Young Adult", "Severe Food Intolerances", "Fantasy", "Romance", "Series", "POC MC" and "Magic". /end]

[ID: The same poster. The book covers and text have changed. The first cover is "The Outside" by Ada Hoffman. Black text listed next to it reads "Adult", "Autism", "ADHD (SC)", "Science Fiction", "Horror", "Space Opera", "Series", "Asexual SC" and "Genderfluid SC". The second cover is "Everyone in this Room Will Some Day Be Dead" by Emily Augustin. Black text listed next to it reads "Anxiety", "Addiction (SC), "Depression", "Contemporary", "Canada" and "Transgender SC". The third cover is "How to Become A Planet" by Nicole Melleby. Black text listed next to it reads "Middle-Grade/Young Adult", "Anxiety", "Depression", "OCD (SC)", "Non-Binary Questioning LI", "Contemporary", and "Astronomy". /end]

❤️🤍🩷❤️🤍🩷❤️🤍🩷❤️🤍🩷❤️🤍🩷❤️🤍🩷❤️🤍🩷 ❤️

[22 heart emojis, alternating between red, white and pink]

A short collection of books featuring disabled lesbian MCs!

I missed lesbian visibility week, and I wanted to post this on Saturday but my internet decided to die a fiery death over the weekend so I am very very late on everything. Hopefully this begins to makes up for it!

Books on this list:

❤️ "10 Things I Can See From Here"- Mac, Carrie

🤍 "Bianca Torre is Afraid of Everything"- Winans, Justine Pucella

🩷 "The Degenerates"- Mann, J. Albert

❤️ "The Faithless"- Clark, C. L.

🤍 "Harrow the Ninth"- Muir, Tamsyn

🩷 "Honey Girl"- Rogers, Morgan

❤️ "The No-Girlfriend Rule"- Randall, Christen

🤍 "Margo Zimmerman Gets the Girl"- Shrum, Brianna R.

🩷 "The Second Mango"- Glassman, Shira

❤️ "The Outside"- Hoffman, Ada

🤍 "Everyone in this Room Will Some Day Be Dead"- Augstin, Emily

🩷 "How to Become A Planet"- Melleby, Nicole

Every book on this list and more can be found in the disability book archive!

Happy Browsing!

[queerlit]

Mad Honey, Jodi Picoult

[queerlit]

Title: Sisters of the Lost Nation

Author: Nick Medina

Series or standalone: standalone

Publication year: 2023

Genres: fiction, horror, mystery, thriller, fantasy, mythology, magical realism

Blurb: Anna Horn is always looking over her shoulder - for the bullies who torment her, for the entitled visitors at the reservation's casino, and for the nameless disembodied entity that stalks her every step: an ancient tribal myth come to life, one that's intent on devouring her whole. With strange and sinister happenings occurring around the casino, Anna starts to suspect that not all the horrors on the reservation are old. As girls begin to go missing and the tribe scrambles to find answers, Anna struggles with her place on the rez, desperately searching for the key she's sure lies in the legends of her tribe's past. When Anna's own little sister disappears, she'll do anything to bring Grace home...but the demons plaguing the reservation - both ancient and new - are strong, and sometimes, it's the stories that never get told that are the most important.

[queerlit]

– Nghi Vo, Siren Queen

[queerlit]

5 Insanely Underrated (Dark) Queer Book Recs for Your TBR (No Spoiler Reviews!)

I ain’t gonna beat around the bush, folks–this post has been a long time coming. Over the past year, I have somehow stumbled into my new favorite genre, leaving the careful days of YA comforting fantasy reads behind (but not forgotten!). I used to never be one for the dark, grisly, and not so man-made horrors beyond comprehension. But with the help of time, mind devouring storytelling, and gut wrenching emotions the world loves to carve out of us all, tastes have changed! So without further ado, let me recommend 5 of my favorite (darker) queer reads of 2022. Titles are linked to official Goodreads summaries while I have included my no-spoiler reviews below.

Keep reading

[queerlit]

Independent Bookstore Day!!

(okay we’re a day late but shhhhhhh)

If you found a book that you love through our library and just have to have a copy to keep forever here are some queer & indie bookstores we recommend!

Tombolo Books (FL)

Hello Again Books (FL)

Violet Valley Bookstore (MS)

A Room of One’s Own (WI) @roomofonesownbookstore

Gay’s the Word (UK) @gaystheword

All She Wrote (MA)

Book Woman (TX)

Burdock Book Collective (AL)

Fabulosa Books (CA)

Reparations Club (CA)

Philly AIDS Thrift at Giovanni’s Room (PA)

Irreverent Bookworm (MN)

Left Bank Books (MO) @leftbankbooks

Little District Books (DC)

Little Sister’s book & art emporium (Canada)

Under the Umbrella (UT)

Astoria Bookshop (NY)

Bluestockings (NY)

[queerlit]

Here's how my huge stack of queer books is going

(trust me this is impressive as a dyslexic person)

Ignore the Edgar Allan Poe book it's just there to be huge n press flowers

Technically Stone Butch Blues is in both the categories (have read this year) and (want to read a 2nd time)

[queerlit]

"If the butch deconstructs gender, the femme constructs gender. She puts together her own special ingredients for what it is to be a "woman," an identity with which she can live and love"

Joan Nestle, The Persistent Desire: A Femme-Butch Reader

[queerlit]

Hi, I'm not sure if this has been done earlier, but do you have any recs for books queer and autistic MCs? It would prefer it if the author is autistic and queer too. Thank you!!

Sure do! https://lgbtqreads.com/representation/disability-neurodivergence/ I thiiiiink all of the authors ID as queer and at least most also as autistic. 

[queerlit]

Devon didn't stick around. Melodrama was for heroes, and people who had too much spare time.

  —  The Book Eaters (Sunyi Dean)