#alice & vivek

[angstfactory]

@touchofmxgic (alice)

"No, don't worry, I'll grab it when I get back," Vivek said this over shoulder, laughter in his tone, shoving his way through the front door of Windsor Sporting Goods with a big box in arm. Of course, not paying attention to where he was going went about as well as one would expect; he collided with someone.

"Oh, excuse me," Vivek was quick to apologize, turning to face them as he kept the box from dropping. "Are you okay?" But then the man did a double take, once he saw who it was. "Alice?"

Vivek stepped out from the door, allowing it to close behind him now as he smiled. "Hey, I didn't know you were back.." He cleared his throat. "Not that you need to check in with me or anything," the man tacked on, hugging the box with both arms now. "I just... wasn't expecting to see you." They never could quite get on the same page of things, and whenever they tried, something or other always came up. Things were complicated, in both their lives.

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

❤️ Black History Month - Queer Books + Black Authors

🦇 Good evening, beloved bookish bats. I hope you're having a wonderful weekend so far! Are you trying to read more queer books this year? More books by diverse authors? Books by black authors, not only for Black History Month, but all year long? Do I have a list for you (now featuring four new slides / 48 new books!).

❓What queer book and/or book featuring black characters have you recently read? Which one is on your tbr?

❤️ The Taking of Jake Livingston - Ryan Douglass ❤️ Mademoiselle Revolution - Zoe Sivak ❤️ Brown Girl Dreaming - Jacqueline Woodson ❤️ Alex Wise vs. the End of the World - Terry J. Benton-Walker ❤️ The Forest Demands its Due - Kosoko Jackson ❤️ Monstrous - Jessica Lewis ❤️ Thank You for Sharing - Rachel Runya Katz ❤️ Salt the Water - Candice Iloh ❤️ Trailer Park Prince - Andre L. Bradley ❤️ Blessings - Chukwuebuka Ibeh ❤️ Escaping Mr. Rochester - L.L. McKinney ❤️ Whenever You’re Ready - Rachel Runya Katz

❤️ Blood Justice - Terry J. Benton-Walker ❤️ Something Kindred - Ciara Burch ❤️ Infinity Alchemist - Kacen Callender ❤️ Vagabonds! - Eloghosa Osunde ❤️ Songs of Irie - Asha Ashanti Bromfield ❤️ Love and Sportsball - Meka James ❤️ Dead Girls Walking - Sami Ellis ❤️ Sleep Like Death - Kalynn Bayron ❤️ Where Shadows Meet - Patrice Caldwell ❤️ Family Meal - Bryan Washington ❤️ Where Sleeping Girls Lie - Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé ❤️ Leather, Lace, and Locs - Anne Shade

❤️ Brooms - Jasmine Walls & Teo DuVall ❤️ Lush Lives - J. Vanessa Lyon ❤️ Second Night Stand - Karelia & Fay Stetz-Waters ❤️ Broughtupsy - Christina Cooke ❤️ Skye Falling - Mia McKenzie ❤️ It’s About Damn Time - Arlan Hamilton & Rachel L. Nelson ❤️ The Color Purple - Alice Walker ❤️ And Then He Sang a Lullaby - Ani Kayode ❤️ Till the Last Beat of My Heart - Louangie Bou-Montes ❤️ Stars in Your Eyes - Kacen Callender ❤️ Prince of the Palisades - Julian Winters ❤️ Icarus - K. Ancrum

❤️ The Black Period - Hafizah Augustus Geter ❤️ How Long Til Black Future Month? - N. K. Jemisin ❤️ The Poisons We Drink - Bethany Baptiste ❤️ I Think They Love You - Julian Winters ❤️ Dear Senthuran - Akwaeke Emezi ❤️ Another Brooklyn - Jacqueline Woodson ❤️ D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding - Chencia C. Higgins ❤️ So Let Them Burn - Kamilah Cole ❤️ Sister Outsider - Audre Lorde ❤️ Red at the Bone - Jacqueline Woodson ❤️ How to Live Free in a Dangerous World - Shayla Lawson ❤️ I’m So (Not) Over You - Kosoko Jackson

❤️ Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender ❤️ Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta ❤️ Warrior of the Wind by Suyi Davies Okungbowa ❤️ I'm a Wild Seed by Sharon Lee De La Cruz ❤️ Real Life by Brandon Taylor ❤️ Ruthless Pamela Jean by Carol Denise Mitchell ❤️ The Unbroken by C.L. Clark ❤️ Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova ❤️ Skin Deep Magic by Craig Laurance Gidney ❤️ The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi ❤️ That Could Be Enough by Alyssa Cole ❤️ Work for It by Talia Hibbert

❤️ All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson ❤️ The Deep by Rivers Solomon ❤️ How to Be Remy Cameron by Julian Winters ❤️ Running With Lions by Julian Winters ❤️ Right Where I Left You by Julian Winters ❤️ This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kacen Callender ❤️ The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum ❤️ This Is What It Feels Like by Rebecca Barrow ❤️ Son of the Storm by Suyi Davies Okungbowa ❤️ Black Boy Joy by Kwame Mbalia ❤️ Legendborn by Tracy Deonn ❤️ The Wicker King by K. Ancrum

❤️ Pet by Akwaeke Emezi ❤️ You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson ❤️ Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole ❤️ Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron ❤️ Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann ❤️ A Spectral Hue by Craig Laurance Gidney ❤️ Power & Magic by Joamette Gil ❤️ The Black Veins by Ashia Monet ❤️ Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon ❤️ The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow ❤️ Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James ❤️ Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett

❤️ The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta ❤️ Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee ❤️ A Phoenix First Must Burn (edited) by Patrice Caldwell ❤️ Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson ❤️ Things We Couldn't Say by Jay Coles ❤️ Black Boy Out of Time by Hari Ziyad ❤️ Darling by K. Ancrum ❤️ The Secrets of Eden by Brandon Goode ❤️ Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé ❤️ Off the Record by Camryn Garrett ❤️ Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers ❤️ The Henna Wars - Adiba Jaigirdar

❤️ How to Dispatch a Human by Stephanie Andrea Allen ❤️ Black Girl, Call Home by Jasmine Mans ❤️ The Essential June Jordan (edited) by Jan Heller Levi and Christoph Keller ❤️ A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark ❤️ A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney ❤️ Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo ❤️ Dread Nation by Justina Ireland ❤️ Punch Me Up to the Gods by Brian Broome ❤️ Masquerade by Anne Shade ❤️ One of the Good Ones by Maika Moulite & Maritza Moulite ❤️ Soulstar by C.L. Polk ❤️ 100 Boyfriends by Brontez Purnell

❤️ Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender ❤️ Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby ❤️ A Little Kissing Between Friends - Chencia C. Higgins ❤️ The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi ❤️ If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann ❤️ Sweethand by N.G. Peltier ❤️ This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron ❤️ Better Off Red by Rebekah Weatherspoon ❤️ Friday I’m in Love by Camryn Garrett ❤️ Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez ❤️ Memorial by Bryan Washington ❤️ Patsy by Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn

❤️ Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon ❤️ How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole ❤️ Yesterday is History by Kosoko Jackosn ❤️ Mouths of Rain (edited) by Briona Simone Jones ❤️ Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia ❤️ Love's Divine by Ava Freeman ❤️ The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr ❤️ Odd One Out by Nic Stone ❤️ Symbiosis by Nicky Drayden ❤️ Thanks a Lot, Universe by Chad Lucas ❤️ The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons ❤️ Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

❤️ Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert ❤️ My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson ❤️ Pleasure and Spice by Fiona Zedde ❤️ No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull ❤️ The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus ❤️ Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor ❤️ The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin ❤️ Peaces by Helen Oyeyem ❤️ The Beauty That Remains by Ashley Woodfolk ❤️ Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh ❤️ Bingo Love by Tee Franklin, Jenn St-Onge, Joy San ❤️ The Heart Does Not Bend by Makeda Silvera

❤️ King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender ❤️ By Any Means Necessary by Candice Montgomery ❤️ Busy Ain't the Half of It by Frederick Smith & Chaz Lamar Cruz ❤️ Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo ❤️ Sin Against the Race by Gar McVey-Russell ❤️ Trumpet by Jackie Kay ❤️ Remembrance by Rita Woods ❤️ Daughters of Nri by Reni K. Amayo ❤️ You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour ❤️ The Summer of Everything by Julian Winters ❤️ Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi ❤️ Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyem

[measureformeasure]

list of my unread books so i finish them

sometimes u just have to make a catalogue. how do i have all these books. where did they come from. i am not allowed to get more. current progress: 5/38

Started and stalled

Plays: A Time to Die & A Time to Live, Eric Bentley The Bacchae of Euripides, Wole Soyinka Six tragedies of Seneca, trans. Emily Wilson

Fiction Piranesi, Susanna Clarke Memoirs of Hadrian, Marguerite Yourcenar Winter Harvest, Ioanna Papadopoulou The Death of Vivek Oji, Akwaeke Emezi The Basic Eight, Daniel Handler

Poetry, etc. How to Be Queer Beowulf, trans. Maria Dahvana Headley Helen in Egypt, H. D.

Unread

Plays Galileo, Bertolt Brecht Mother Courage and her Children, Bertolt Brecht The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Bertolt Brecht Death and the King’s Horseman, Wole Soyinka Tiger at the Gates, Jean Giraudoux Trojan Women trans(?). Gwendolyn MacEwen & Helen and Orestes by Yannis Ritsos Electra, Nick Payne The Green Line, Makram Ayache 21 Black Futures A working draft of a script from 2011 from an American playwright I found literally on the side of the road?

Fiction A Visit From the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov The Waves, Virginia Woolf House of Names, Colm Tóibín Outline, Rachel Cusk Held, Anne Michaels Motherthing, Ainslie Hogarth

Nonfiction Brecht on Theatre, ed. Willett Towards a Poor Theatre, Jerzy Grotowski Miscellaneous book on ancient Greek theatre Truth and Repair, Judith Herman

Poetry, short stories, and anthologies Nine Stories, J. D. Salinger An extremely local short story collection Memorial, Alice Oswald Apollinaire’s Bestiary Daydream and Drunkenness of a Young Lady, Clarice Lispector Glass and God, Anne Carson

[lawandotherdruggs]

Introduction post

Hello!!! I finally made my booklr blog and this is my obligatory introductory post. My name is Rathi, and my pronouns are she/they. I am a law student whose main hobby is to read. I am 18 and I'm queer and I'm always open to making friends on tumblr:)

I read across several genres, but if I had to call a few favourites, they would have to be literary fiction, horror and fantasy. I'm also trying to get into non-fiction lately! Some authors I really enjoy and sort of consistently read from are Fredrik Backman, T J Klune, Nina Lacour, Alice Oseman, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett and Jacqueline Wilson.

Some of my all-time favorites that I will probably consistently scream about in this blog:

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

We Are Okay by Nina Lacour

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T J Klune

Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

We Are Not Ourselves by Mathew Thomas

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

The Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss

Last read: All The Lovers In The Night Mieko Kawakami

Currently reading: Baby Love by Jacqueline Wilson

[read-alert]

May TBR!

May is Asian American and Pacific Island Heritage Month and Jewish American Heritage Month, so I wanted to read from all Asian and/or Jewish authors, but I couldn't get the Teen Titans from my April TBR from the library soon enough to read it in April, so it's getting tacked on to this month.

The Skin and Its Girl by Sarah Cypher

Book of My Mother by Albert Cohen

Even This Page is White by Vivek Shraya

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard

Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life by Alice Wong

The Siren, the Song, and the Spy by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

This Arab is Queer ed by Elias Jahshan

The Forbidden Book by Sacha Lamb

The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar

Finn and Ezra's Bar Mitzvah Time Loop by Joshua S Levy

Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj

The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf

Temple of Secrets by Christina Soontornvat

Babel by RF Kuang

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

The Many Mysteries of the Finkel Family by Sarah Kapit

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao (reread)

Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao

Jade City by Fonda Lee

The Arabic Quilt by Aya Khalil and Anait Semirdzhyan

Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Yas Imamura

Too Many Golems by Jane Yolen and Maya Shleifer

Baddawi by Leila Abdelrazaq

Nayra and the Djinn by Iasmin Omar Ata

The Rabbi's Cat 2 by Joann Sfar, Alexis Siegel, Anjali Singh, and Brigitte Findakly

Sailor Moon Vol 1 by Naoko Takeuchi

No 6 Volume 6 by Atsuko Asano and Hinoki Kino

Noodle & Bao by Shaina Lu

Hereville by Barry Deutsch

The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All Volume 2 by Sumiko Arai

The Drifting Classroom by Kazuo Umezu

Teen Titans vol 4 The Future is Now by Geoff Johns et al

[a-captions-blog]

[Image descriptions: A series of graphics titled, ‘Queer Books to Add to Your Library.’ Each is sorted according to the original pride flag colours and meanings. The graphics show each book with its cover, title, and a short summary. Long descriptions follow.

Pink = Sex

Park Cruising by Marcus McCann: Park Cruising takes a long look at the men who cruise for sex in urban parks. Human rights layer Marcus McCann uses park cruising as a point of departure for discussions of consent, empathy, public health, municipal planning, and our relationship to strangers.

Secret Historian by Justin Spring: An intimate friend of Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toxias, and Thornton Wider, Steward maintained a secret sex ife from childhood on, and documented these experiences in brilliantly vivid and and often very funny detail.

The Male Gazed by Manuel Betancourt: Featuring deep dives into thirst traps, drag queens, Antonio Banderas, and telenovelas—all in the service of helping us reframe how we talk about (desiring) men—this insightful memoir-in-essays is as muh a coming of age as a coming out book.

Whore of New York by Liara Roux: Why would someone ever voluntarily become a sex worker? Liara Roux writes about the salacious details leading up to her decision to become a career sex worker, and the unexpected truths she learned while working in the industry.

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert: Eve Brown is a certified hot mess. No matter how hard she strives to do right, her life always goes horribly wrong. So she’s given up trying. But when her personal brand of chaos ruins an expensive wedding (someone had to liberate those poor doves), her parents draw the line. It ś time for Eve to grow up and prove herself—even though she’s not entirely sure how..

Red = Life

I Hope We Choose Love by Kai Cheng Thom: what can we hope for at the end of the world? What can we trust in when community has broken our hearts? What would it mean to pursue justice without violence? How can we love in the absence of faith?

A Spidle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow: It’s Zinnia Gray’s twenty-first birthday, which is extra special because it’s the last birthday she’ll ever have. When she was young, an industrial accident left Zinnia with a rare condition. Not much is known about her illness, just that no-one has lived past twenty-one.

People Change by Vivek Shraya: Vivek Shraya knows this to be true: people change. We change our haircuts and our outfits and our minds. We change names, titles, labels. We attempt to blend in or to stand out. We outgrow relationships, we abandon dreams for new ones, we start fresh. We seize control of our stories. We make resolutions.

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw: You may think you know how the fairy tale goes: a mermaid comes to shore and weds the prince. But what the fables forget is that mermaids have teeth. And now, her daughters have devoured the kingdom and burned it to ashes.

Tarta Americana by J. Michael Martinez: A suite of poems that channels the legendary singer-songwriter Ritchie Valens to examine and question mid-twentieth-century conceptions of race and art, identity and desire.

Orange = Healing

Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H: A queer hijabi Muslim immigrant survives her coming-of-age by drawing strength and hope from stories in the Quran in this “raw and relatable memoir that challenges societal norms and expectations” (Linah Mohammad, NPR).

The Cancer Journal by Audre Lorde: Moving between journal entry, memoir, and exposition, Audre Lorde fuses the personal and political as she reflects on her experience coping with breast cancer and a radical mastectomy.

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeka Emezi: Feyi Adekole wants to learn how to be alive again. It’s been give years since the accident that killed the love of her life and she’s almost a new person now—an artist with her own studio and sharing a brownstone apartment with her ride-or-die best friend, Joy, who insists it’s time for Feyi to ease back into the dating scene. Feyi isn’t ready for anything serious, but a steamy encounter at a rooftop party cascades into a whirlwind summer she could never have imagined: a luxury trip to a tropical island, decadent meals in the glamorous home of a celebrity chef, and a major curator who wants to launch her art career.

How We Show Up by Mia Birdsong: A provocative, essential guide to community and solidarity from an activist, community organizer, and thought leader whose viral TED talk has been viewed more than 1.5 million times.

The Tea Dragon Society by K. O’Neill: In the bewitching Tea Dragon Society series, two-time Eisner Award-winning creator K. O’Neill offers three stories featuring the enchanting world of Tea Dragons.

Yellow = The Sun

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers: It’s been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend.

A Phoenix Must First Burn by Patrice Caldwell: Evoking Beyonce’s Lemonade for a teen audience, these authors who are truly Octavia Butler’s heirs, have woven worlds to create a stunning narrative that centers Black women and gender nonconforming individuals. A Phoenix Must First Burn will take you on a journey from folktales retold to futuristic societies and everything in between.

Hi Honey, I’m Homo! by Matt Baume: For decades, amdist the bright lights, studio-audience laughs, and absurdly large apartment sets, the real-life story of American LGBTQ+ liberation unfolded in plain sight in front of millions of viewers, most of whom were laughing too hard to mind.

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Bernnan: Elliot doesn’t want to fight, keeps saying the wrong thing, and is definitely the grouchiest human in fantasyland.

Mouthful of Forevers by Clementine Von Radics: Clementine von Radics writes of love, loss, and the uncertainties and beauties of life with a ravishing poetic voice and piercing bravura that speak directly not only to the sensibility of her generation, but to anyone who has ever been young.

Green = Nature

The Flowing Wand by Sophie Strang: A deep exploration of the regenerative and magical secrets of sacred masculinity hidden in familiar myths both ancient and modern

Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss: A taut, gripping tale of a young woman and an Iron Age reenactment trip that unearths frightening behavior.

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant: The ocean is home to many myths, but some are deadly. Seven years ago the atargatis set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a mockumentary bringing to life ancient sea creatures of legend. It was lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a tragedy.

The Devouring Gray by C. L. Herman: After her sister’s death, seventeen-year-old Violet Saunders finds herself dragged to Four Paths, New York. Violet may be a newcomer, but she soon learns her mother isn’t: They belong to one of the revered founding families of the town, where stone bells hang above every doorway and danger lurks in the depths of the woods.

Queer Ducks by Eliot Schrefer: This groundbreaking illustrated YA nonfiction title from two-time National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author Eliot Schrefer is a well-researched and teen-friendly exploration of the gamut of queer behaviors observed in various animals.

Turquoise = Art and Magic

Dinner on Monster Island by Tania de Rozaria: In this unusual, engaging, and intimate collection of personal essays, Lamba Literary Award finalist Tania De Rozario recalls growing up as a queer, brown, fat girl in Singapore, blending memoir with elements of history, pop culture, horror films, and current events to explore the nature of monsters and what it means to be different.

Eyeliner: A Cultural History by Zahra Hankir: From the acclaimed editor of Our Women on the Ground comes a dazzling exploration of the intersections of beauty and power around the glob, told through the lens of an iconic cosmetic.

Black Futures by Jenna Wortham and Kimberly Drew: Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham have brought together this collection of work—images, photos, essays, memes, dialogues, recipes, tweets, poetry, and more—to tell the story of the radical, imaginative, provocative, and gorgeous world that Black creators are bringing forth today. The book presents a succession of startling and beautiful pieces that generate an entrancing rhythm. Readers will go from conversations with activists and academics to memes and Instagram posts, from powerful essays to dazzling paintings and insightful infographics.

Queer Magic by Tomás Prower: Queer Magic provides nourishment for LGBTQ+ souls and their allies who are interested in learning about the significant prescence and influence of queer folks throughout history. Explore fascinating insights into queer relationships and spiritual practices from different regions of the world.

Queering the Tarot by Cassandra Snow: Tarot is best used as a tool for self-discovery, healing, growth, empowerment, and liberation. Tarot archetypes provide the reader with a window into present circumstances and future potential. But what if that window only opened up on a world that was white, European, and heterosexual?

Blue = Serenity

Three Simple Lines by Natalie Goldberg: A haiku is three simple lines. But it is also, as Allen Ginsberg put it, three lines that ‘make the mind leap.’ A good one, he said, lets the mind experience ‘a small sensation of space which is nothing less than God.’ As many spiritual practices seek to do, the haikus spare yet acute noticing of the immediate and often ordinary grounds the reader in the pure awareness of now.

Body Work by Melissa Febos: Memoir meets craft master class in this “daring, honest, pyschologically insightful’ exploration of how we think and write about intimate experiences—‘a must read for anybody shoving a pen across paper or staring into a screen or a past’ (Mary Karr)

Amateur by Thomas Page McBee: In this “refreshing and radical” (The Guardian) narrative, Thomas McBee, a trans man, sets out to uncover what makes a man—and what being a “good” man even means—through his experience training for and fighting in a charity boxing match at Madison Square Garden.

On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden: A ragtag crew travels to the deepest reaches of space, rebuilding beautiful, broken structures to piece the past together.

Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser: From writer Jamila Rowser and artist Robyn Smith comes a captivating graphic novel love letter to the beauty and endurance of Black women, their friendships, and their hair.

Purple = Spirit

God Themselves by Jae Nichelle: Let this book be a celebration of queerness, Blackness, and love. Let these words be a modern church, these poems a holy space.

Dear Senthuran by Awkaeke Emezi: Through candid, intimate correspondence with friends, lovers, and family, Emezi traces the unfolding of a self and the unforgettable journey of a creative spirit stepping into power in the human world.

Dark and Deepest Red by A.M. McLemore: Summer, 1518. A strange sickness sweeps through Strasbourg: women dance in the streets, some until they fall down dead. As rumors of witchcraft spread, suspicious turns towards Lavinia and her family, and Lavinia may have to do the unimaginable to save herself and everyone she loves.

Sacrament of Bodies by Romeo Oriogun: In Sacrement of Bodie Romio Oriogun interrogates what it means to be queer, male, and Nigerian. In this groundberaking work, Oriogun seeks to understand how a queer man can heal in a society where everything is designed to prevent such restoration.

Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars by Kai Cheng Thom: At once a love letter and challenge to the traditional transgender memoir, Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars is a playful, surrealist dance through queer coming of age. \End ID]

[Reblog plain text: Avatar

I'm listing Queer fiction that I've read for this list. If folks want to see more queer fiction and nonfiction to check out, this list here and this one are fairly comprehensive.

Other queer fiction to add to the above list: Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (first published in 2021) I adore this book so much. It's about a violin teacher who has to collect one more soul in order to complete her contract with the devil (so the devil won't take her soul). She finds a homeless trans girl and meets the (secret) alien owner of a donut shop (that hides a spaceship). The prose in this blew me away. It's so damn gorgeous, especially with how music is described. I could almost hear the music lifting out of the pages. It's also the queerest book I ever read, and it makes me so happy.

Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden (first published in 1982). About two teenage girls who fall in love and swear to stay true each other despite the challenges faced by both. One goes to a Catholic school, who cracks down hard on LGBTQIA stuff, and the other goes to the city's public school. It's a gorgeous tale and one of the first LGBTQIA books I read. I read it over and over again as a source of comfort.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker (first published in 1982) Seriously, one of the most iconic and ground-breaking LGBT novel ever written. It focuses on the life of Celie as she grows up and must contend with abuse, being married off to a man she doesn't love and is abusive, and how she falls in love with another woman.

Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown (first published in 1973) This is the third LGBT book I ever read. It had a lesbian cult following for awhile. It explored Molly Bolt's life, and how she understood her sexuality from a young age. Molly ultimately rejects gender roles and binaries, and it's a lovely coming of age and romantic story.

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters (first published in 1998) Nan is smitten with a male impersonator named Kitty. They go to London and shenanigans happen. I honestly loved reading this one, and the romance between the two is sometimes angsty but also so sweet. It's about gender experimentation and queerness and how these two survive in Victorian London.

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon (first published in 2017) I absolutely adore anything Rivers Solomon writes to be honest. It's about drama and intrigue on a generations spaceship, which became regimented and ruled by oppression, generations after humanity left earth. Our heroes fight back against the oppressive systems on the spaceship, and there's all sorts of LGBTQIA characters (some are even nonbinary!).

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James (first published in 2020) This book has some amazingly beautiful prose. It's also very graphic in describing certain types of violence and sex. It's about a mercenary hired to find a missing boy, but the world in which these people live is full of mythic wonders and monsters. It's a bit of a hard read with some of its themes, but the way Marlon constructs his sentences with gorgeous imagery leaves me breathless.

The Deep by Rivers Solomon (first published in 2019) This book blew me away. It's about a mermaid culture that develops undersea by pregnant African women thrown overboard during the slave trade. One mermaid, Yetu, who carries the history of her people in her head, flees to the surface, and discovers the true history of her people. (And also has some super adorable scenes with the woman on the surface.) Yes, it's about intergenerational trauma, but it's also about the freedom of this mermaid culture to love whoever they wish.

Dreadnought by April Daniels (first published in 2017) Loved this one. Danny gains powers when a superhero dying in front of her passes his powers to her. She's faced with transphobia, sexism, and abuse at every turn, but it also celebrates her coming into herself as a trans queer woman. We need more queer trans superheroes, honestly! (Also, she reminded me a bit of Nia Nal in Supergirl, who is a trans superhero named Dreamer. Mostly because of their personalities having a lot of overlapping traits. :) )

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (first published in 2020) Absolutely breathtaking prose and wonderfully gorgeous romance. It stars two time agents -- Red and Blue are their codenames -- who are imbroiled in a time war. They're on opposite sides, but the slow burn is exquisite. Just love this novella to death.

The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson (first published in 2004) It's about three friends who are separated for a few months. Nina returns from her summer adventures with stories of her and her crush, but then she witnesses her two best friends kissing. The shenanigans, drama, and growth that ensues was both hilarious at time but also heart-wrenchingly real. I truly loved it, and sometimes I still think about these three friends and how they navigated relationships together.

Am I Blue?: Coming Out from the Silence by Marion Dane Bauer (first published in 1995) This is one of the first LGBTQIA anthologies I read. It's a collection of short stories about LGBTQIA folks coming out and navigating societal crap while coming to terms with their gender identity and/or sexual orientation. It brought me to tears in some places, and helped me find the courage to come out myself as queer.

The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos, #1) by Samantha Shannon (first published in 2019) I adored the characters and worldbuilding in this novel; the gorgeous prose and immersive storytelling had me enraptured. Plus it's hard to resist any book that has folks riding dragons. It's also one of those books where I shouted, "That's so gay. These two better get together in the end." Queen Saban and Ead (who is a magic user posing as her aide) fall in love, and yes, it's a slow burn, but it's also full of angst, fluff, and just 'awwww' moments. There's also the plot at large about evil dragons wanting to enslave the world, but well, I sort of got more invested in Saban and Ead. lol I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin (first published in 1969) This book had a profound effect on me as it got me thinking of gender fluidity, and gave me courage to experiment more with gender. It's about a human ambassador who goes on a mission to Gethen, where androgynous and intersex humans live in a very gender fluid culture. The people on Gethen can become either sex depending on their partners. It's a fascinating book, and caused quite a stir when it first came out.

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisen (first published in 2020) I adored this book. All the characters are some flavor of queer (except for the white gal who represents Staten Island). The gist of the story is that sometimes cities come alive, and they chose human avatars. New York City ends up choosing an avatar for each borough to help protect its main avatar, who is being attacked by a Cthulhu-like entity. Damn good story, fantastically colorful characters, and gosh, I just adored it.

The Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce (first published in 2006) This is the final book in the Circle series (The Circle of Magic Quartet, The Circle Opens Quartet). Our four friends, who form a family of their own, travel to the kingdom of Namorn. There they encounter drama, espionage, kidnapping, and court politics. Daja, one of my favorite of the four, discovers she's gay, and her romance is adorable. I read these four - Sandry, Tris, Briar, and Daja - throughout my pre-teens and teenage years. I sort of grew up with them, so I have a soft spot in my heart for this book.

Followups of Queer books I either am in the process or reading or is on my to read next list that are not on the lists mentioned above: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr. The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree Ash by Malinda Lo Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

My tags for the thoughts on the books listed in the images from makingqueerhistory: \End PT]

[Tag transcriptions: #I have one-fourth of these books already [smiley face] #There’s some great ones listed #I absolutely adore Becky Chambers Monk and Robot series – a Psalm for the Wild Built #Queer magic and Queering the Tarot were fun reads too #How we show up by Mia Birdsong really helped me get perspective on how we can build up solidarity and community #A Phoenix Must First Burn was absolutely lovely anthology with majority being Latinx (and often LGBTQIA) characters #I’ve been trying to find a copy of Black Futures for awhile now but it is for some reason incredibly expensive so I can’t afford it yet #Honestly all the books I own in this list were fantastic reads. \End transcription]

Read the rainbow!

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

❤️ Black History Month - Queer Books + Black Authors

🦇 Good evening, beloved bookish bats. I hope you're having a wonderful weekend so far! Are you trying to read more queer books this year? More books by diverse authors? Books by black authors, not only for Black History Month, but all year long? Do I have a list for you (now featuring four new slides / 48 new books!).

❓What queer book and/or book featuring black characters have you recently read? Which one is on your tbr?

❤️ The Taking of Jake Livingston - Ryan Douglass ❤️ Mademoiselle Revolution - Zoe Sivak ❤️ Brown Girl Dreaming - Jacqueline Woodson ❤️ Alex Wise vs. the End of the World - Terry J. Benton-Walker ❤️ The Forest Demands its Due - Kosoko Jackson ❤️ Monstrous - Jessica Lewis ❤️ Thank You for Sharing - Rachel Runya Katz ❤️ Salt the Water - Candice Iloh ❤️ Trailer Park Prince - Andre L. Bradley ❤️ Blessings - Chukwuebuka Ibeh ❤️ Escaping Mr. Rochester - L.L. McKinney ❤️ Whenever You’re Ready - Rachel Runya Katz

❤️ Blood Justice - Terry J. Benton-Walker ❤️ Something Kindred - Ciara Burch ❤️ Infinity Alchemist - Kacen Callender ❤️ Vagabonds! - Eloghosa Osunde ❤️ Songs of Irie - Asha Ashanti Bromfield ❤️ Love and Sportsball - Meka James ❤️ Dead Girls Walking - Sami Ellis ❤️ Sleep Like Death - Kalynn Bayron ❤️ Where Shadows Meet - Patrice Caldwell ❤️ Family Meal - Bryan Washington ❤️ Where Sleeping Girls Lie - Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé ❤️ Leather, Lace, and Locs - Anne Shade

❤️ Brooms - Jasmine Walls & Teo DuVall ❤️ Lush Lives - J. Vanessa Lyon ❤️ Second Night Stand - Karelia & Fay Stetz-Waters ❤️ Broughtupsy - Christina Cooke ❤️ Skye Falling - Mia McKenzie ❤️ It’s About Damn Time - Arlan Hamilton & Rachel L. Nelson ❤️ The Color Purple - Alice Walker ❤️ And Then He Sang a Lullaby - Ani Kayode ❤️ Till the Last Beat of My Heart - Louangie Bou-Montes ❤️ Stars in Your Eyes - Kacen Callender ❤️ Prince of the Palisades - Julian Winters ❤️ Icarus - K. Ancrum

❤️ The Black Period - Hafizah Augustus Geter ❤️ How Long Til Black Future Month? - N. K. Jemisin ❤️ The Poisons We Drink - Bethany Baptiste ❤️ I Think They Love You - Julian Winters ❤️ Dear Senthuran - Akwaeke Emezi ❤️ Another Brooklyn - Jacqueline Woodson ❤️ D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding - Chencia C. Higgins ❤️ So Let Them Burn - Kamilah Cole ❤️ Sister Outsider - Audre Lorde ❤️ Red at the Bone - Jacqueline Woodson ❤️ How to Live Free in a Dangerous World - Shayla Lawson ❤️ I’m So (Not) Over You - Kosoko Jackson

❤️ Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender ❤️ Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta ❤️ Warrior of the Wind by Suyi Davies Okungbowa ❤️ I'm a Wild Seed by Sharon Lee De La Cruz ❤️ Real Life by Brandon Taylor ❤️ Ruthless Pamela Jean by Carol Denise Mitchell ❤️ The Unbroken by C.L. Clark ❤️ Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova ❤️ Skin Deep Magic by Craig Laurance Gidney ❤️ The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi ❤️ That Could Be Enough by Alyssa Cole ❤️ Work for It by Talia Hibbert

❤️ All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson ❤️ The Deep by Rivers Solomon ❤️ How to Be Remy Cameron by Julian Winters ❤️ Running With Lions by Julian Winters ❤️ Right Where I Left You by Julian Winters ❤️ This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kacen Callender ❤️ The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum ❤️ This Is What It Feels Like by Rebecca Barrow ❤️ Son of the Storm by Suyi Davies Okungbowa ❤️ Black Boy Joy by Kwame Mbalia ❤️ Legendborn by Tracy Deonn ❤️ The Wicker King by K. Ancrum

❤️ Pet by Akwaeke Emezi ❤️ You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson ❤️ Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole ❤️ Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron ❤️ Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann ❤️ A Spectral Hue by Craig Laurance Gidney ❤️ Power & Magic by Joamette Gil ❤️ The Black Veins by Ashia Monet ❤️ Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon ❤️ The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow ❤️ Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James ❤️ Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett

❤️ The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta ❤️ Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee ❤️ A Phoenix First Must Burn (edited) by Patrice Caldwell ❤️ Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson ❤️ Things We Couldn't Say by Jay Coles ❤️ Black Boy Out of Time by Hari Ziyad ❤️ Darling by K. Ancrum ❤️ The Secrets of Eden by Brandon Goode ❤️ Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé ❤️ Off the Record by Camryn Garrett ❤️ Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers ❤️ The Henna Wars - Adiba Jaigirdar

❤️ How to Dispatch a Human by Stephanie Andrea Allen ❤️ Black Girl, Call Home by Jasmine Mans ❤️ The Essential June Jordan (edited) by Jan Heller Levi and Christoph Keller ❤️ A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark ❤️ A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney ❤️ Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo ❤️ Dread Nation by Justina Ireland ❤️ Punch Me Up to the Gods by Brian Broome ❤️ Masquerade by Anne Shade ❤️ One of the Good Ones by Maika Moulite & Maritza Moulite ❤️ Soulstar by C.L. Polk ❤️ 100 Boyfriends by Brontez Purnell

❤️ Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender ❤️ Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby ❤️ A Little Kissing Between Friends - Chencia C. Higgins ❤️ The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi ❤️ If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann ❤️ Sweethand by N.G. Peltier ❤️ This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron ❤️ Better Off Red by Rebekah Weatherspoon ❤️ Friday I’m in Love by Camryn Garrett ❤️ Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez ❤️ Memorial by Bryan Washington ❤️ Patsy by Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn

❤️ Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon ❤️ How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole ❤️ Yesterday is History by Kosoko Jackosn ❤️ Mouths of Rain (edited) by Briona Simone Jones ❤️ Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia ❤️ Love's Divine by Ava Freeman ❤️ The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr ❤️ Odd One Out by Nic Stone ❤️ Symbiosis by Nicky Drayden ❤️ Thanks a Lot, Universe by Chad Lucas ❤️ The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons ❤️ Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

❤️ Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert ❤️ My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson ❤️ Pleasure and Spice by Fiona Zedde ❤️ No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull ❤️ The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus ❤️ Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor ❤️ The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin ❤️ Peaces by Helen Oyeyem ❤️ The Beauty That Remains by Ashley Woodfolk ❤️ Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh ❤️ Bingo Love by Tee Franklin, Jenn St-Onge, Joy San ❤️ The Heart Does Not Bend by Makeda Silvera

❤️ King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender ❤️ By Any Means Necessary by Candice Montgomery ❤️ Busy Ain't the Half of It by Frederick Smith & Chaz Lamar Cruz ❤️ Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo ❤️ Sin Against the Race by Gar McVey-Russell ❤️ Trumpet by Jackie Kay ❤️ Remembrance by Rita Woods ❤️ Daughters of Nri by Reni K. Amayo ❤️ You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour ❤️ The Summer of Everything by Julian Winters ❤️ Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi ❤️ Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyem

[burningdarkfire]

books i read in mar 2024

[these are all short + casual reviews - feel free to ask about individual ones if u want my full thoughts or ask for my goodreads!!] 

great pace for february! i’m in the complete opposite of a reading slump where i’m loving everything that i read 🤗

dark heir - c.s. pacat ★★★★★ (fantasy)

i don't know what it is about c.s. pacat's writing that makes character beats just hit so brutally hard but man, i wish i had it. i was absolutely insane while reading this book and i can't wait for the next in the series!!

the tainted cup - robert jackson bennett ★★★★☆ (fantasy mystery)

fantasy sherlock-and-watson is already a strong starting point but the world was really the fascinating part of this book! a civilization that experiences a recurring apocalypse is .. topical, to say the least, and RJB certainly believes in the fantastical serving the real

if an egyptian cannot speak english - noor naga ★★★★☆ (contemporary)

i love books about messy people in messy circumstances .. still unsure how i feel about the ending but damn if the author doesn't know exactly what she's going for

delicious in dungeon vols. 1-3 - ryoko kui ★★★★☆ (fantasy)

the anime seems to be a pretty true adaptation, but tbh there's a babygirl quality that is much more present on the printed page

swimming in the dark - tomasz jedrowski ★★★★☆ (historical)

extremely similar vibes to call me by your name so if you want more of the deeply moving gay european experience, it's here!

sadie - courtney summers ★★★★☆ (contemporary)

strong, evocative writing grounded in a gritty realism. it nails the catharsis but man, it is not a happy read

a scatter of light - malinda lo ★★★★☆ (contemporary)

great character work, i really enjoyed aria as a teenage MC. it was also very interesting to read this as a companion book to last night at the telegraph club and see the style and story transposed across the decades!

the death of vivek oji - akwaeke emezi ★★★★☆ (contemporary)

beautiful, flowery writing. it meanders but it's a book that demands patience from the first page, and it's worth the effort

parachutes - kelly yang ★★★★☆ (contemporary)

pretty serviceable YA except that the first third reads like it's from a completely different book lol so many things just get dropped but it's fun and an easy read

civil service - claire schwartz ★★★☆☆ (contemporary, poetry)

some poems were great, some poems read like they were directly off of twitter. i did like the visual aspect of this collection!

lavender house & the bell in the fog - lev a.c. rosen ★★★☆☆ (historical, mystery)

i'll read pretty much any mystery and a historical series with a gay lead is definitely enough to catch my attention! the historical context is fascinating and works at interesting odds with the genre - what is "justice" if you're locked outside of the system to start?

the midnight library - matt haig ★★★☆☆ (contemporary)

fine conceptually but it feels like the most basic and boring way this concept could possibly be written

no one can know - kate alice marshall ★★☆☆☆ (thriller)

totally uninventive domestic thriller without a shred of sense!

[DNF] the cooking gene - michael w. twitty ★★★☆☆ (nonfiction, memoir, food)

here is a man who loves a list! he loves commas! he loves packing ten different ideas into one paragraph! it was a fascinating read but too dense for someone (me) unfamiliar with the subject matter

[bookclub4m]

Episode 177 - Book Clubs

This episode we’re talking about the concept of mass promotional book clubs! Whether it’s One City, One Read, Canada Reads, or Oprah’s book club, listen to us discuss if we read book club books, the celebrity book club we wish existed, and the idea of “the book club book.”

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jam Edwards

Media We Mentioned

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton

A Million Little Pieces by James Frey

The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by Dalai Lama XIV and Desmond Tutu, translated by Douglas Carlton Abrams

Links, Articles, and Things

Oprah’s Book Club

Oprah's Book Club 2.0

Reese's Book Club

Buffs One Read

Rams Read

Canada Reads

One City One Book

One Book, One Vancouver | Vancouver Public Library | BiblioCommons 

Wanted: A Hitchhiker's Guide to the VPL's Book Choice

#NerdyGirlzBookClub 

Natalie’s Book Club

The Inner Lives of Book Clubs 

35 Recent* Essay Collections by BIPOC Authors

*Published within the last 2 years.

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies: A Lyric Essay by Julian Aguon

Everybody Come Alive: A Memoir in Essays by Marcie Alvis-Walker

Black on Black: On Our Resilience and Brilliance in America by Daniel Black

¡Hola Papi!: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons by John Paul Brammer

Unfollow Me: Essays on Complicity by Jill Louise Busby

Black Paper: Writing in a Dark Time by Teju Cole

Black and Female by Tsitsi Dangarembga

Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden by Camille T. Dungy

Black Nerd Problems by William Evans & Omar Holmon

Crimes of the Tongue: Essays and Stories by Alicia Gaspar De Alba

Inciting Joy by Ross Gay

Nonwhite and Woman: 131 Micro Essays on Being in the World edited by by Darien Hsu Gee & Carla Crujido

Abolition Geography: Essays Towards Liberation by Ruth Wilson Gilmore

Truth Telling: Seven Conversations about Indigenous Life in Canada by Michelle Good 

Brown Neon by Raquel Gutiérrez

My People: Five Decades of Writing About Black Lives by Charlayne Hunter-Gault

You Don't Know Us Negroes and Other Essays by Zora Neale Hurston

Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby

Some of My Best Friends: Essays on Lip Service by Tajja Isen

Shelter: A Black Tale of Homeland, Baltimore by Lawrence Jackson

Who Will Pay Reparations On My Soul? by Jesse McCarthy

Carrying It Forward: Essays from Kistahpinanihk by John Brady McDonald

The Racism of People Who Love You: Essays on Mixed Race Belonging by Samira Mehta

She's Nice Though: Essays on Being Bad at Being Good by Mia Mercado

Sometimes I Trip On How Happy We Could Be by Nichole Perkins

The Future Is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes, and Mourning Songs by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

You've Changed: Fake Accents, Feminism, and Other Comedies from Myanmar by Pyae Moe Thet War

Please Don't Sit on My Bed in Your Outside Clothes by Phoebe Robinson

Decolonial Marxism: Essays from the Pan-African Revolution by Walter Rodney

People Change by Vivek Shraya

Oh My Mother!: A Memoir in Nine Adventures by Connie Wang

White Magic by Elissa Washuta

Making Love with the Land by Joshua Whitehead

Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life by Alice Wong

Making a Scene by Constance Wu

Give us feedback!

Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Twitter or Instagram, join our Facebook Group, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday,  July 4th we’ll be discussing non-fiction books about UFOs and Aliens!

Then on Tuesday, July 4th we’ll be pitching books for our very own annual One Podcast, One Book!

[pensivegladiola]

Emotional Damage:

Cry your heart out over these novels:

[nemossubmarine]

Warhammer 40k: Wrath & Glory RP #7

We start with Alice and Larry, who are hoping to get the frick out of the gang, before people start looking too deep into them. They find Iris with her head down in the toilet, complaining about a weird feeling in her cybernetic additions. Alice has to carry her to the motorbike and off they go. The vox doesn’t work so they can’t contact Vivek. Larry suggests they might look into what’s in the data-chip, as so many people are interested in it. Alice is doubtful, but says that if Larry wants to look into it, she can stay back with Iris.

So they find an abandoned post-office, and Larry sticks the data-chip into one of the machines there. There’s a brief video showing a huge, blonde man in fine armor, the Primarch of the Dark Angels, but before anything else happens, the video turns to static. And the static starts emitting from Larry’s and Alice’s vox beads, and then from Iris, who collapses. Larry yanks the data chip away, but the static continues, so he shoots the machine. The static continues and spreads. Alice calls out to Larry that he broke Iris. Iris suddenly gets up and lunges at Alice.

Meanwhile, Izarak and Coco make their way out in search of Father Antonius. Izarak stops to ask a Sister Hospitaller, who, Coco notices, clearly doesn’t care for the man, but they manage to locate father Antonius, preaching about repentance to some poor civilians. After he has done preaching, Izarak and Coco approach him and ask to speak in private about his and Izarak’s last meeting. Antonius vehemently denies shooting Izarak, though his gun is gone (apparently he has given it to the soldiers), lying through his teeth it seems. Izarak avoids leveling a full accusation, saying he doesn’t want to bring this to the higher ups, which Antonius notes means that they’re in an impasse. Their conversation is suddenly interrupted by shout of “the Mechanicus are attacking!”

Iris has indeed attacked Alice, who swiftly puts the smaller woman in a headlock. Nothing else to be done, they take off her cybernetic limbs and haul her to the back of the hover-bike, and ride off to see what’s up. And what’s up is bad. There’s shouts and explosions and none of the good stuff. A Dark Angel stumbles into view and he asks for assistance in taking off his power armor. Larry and Alice help, asking what has happened. The Dark Angel says that the Mechanicus have suddenly turned on them, and many other mechanical things have stopped working. He mentions noticing Larry being quite apt with the hover-bike and when Larry confirms he is a good pilot, the Angel informs him that he has been recruited. He and Alice need to get a crew together and get out of the planet and get help. The Angel visibly cringes when he asks the two to go to a nearby planet named Jonah’s World and inform the Space Wolves there of the situation. The Angel introduces himself as Cassiel, and he is clearly quite young for a Space Marine. Larry asks if he could look after Iris, as taking her off the planet seems unwise, and maybe look for a Martian sergeant while he’s at it. Cassiel says can do.

Unsurprisingly Alice and Larry run into Izarak and Coco, who get roped into the crew. The quartet splits up to get some crew. Izarak goes to find Rebecca’s people, who have gotten into a tussle with some Mechanicus. They’ve lost contact with the Navaros, but few people do join Izarak. Coco goes to get Ranan and Hackney. A Mechanicus attacks her but Ranan snipes him down before Coco gets too hurt. Larry heads to a race track where he has done some racing, where he picks up a co-pilot by the name of Brakes McGee and few others. Alice returns to their gang’s base, but gets cut off by Mechanicus. She does run into Gunhildr, and ropes her in to the crew. This makes up a crew of 14 so they pick up a random woman and her 3-year-old as the final two. 

Cassius returns with a small ship, which he has made safe by punching out the radio. With that they are off. Coco acts as the ship’s map-reader and radar-technician, Izarak does the healing and some of the engineering, Alice helps with the heavy lifting and Larry, obviously, is the captain. 

While they have the time, Coco and Larry get to talking. Coco asks if Larry knows Space Wolves, as he seems to. Larry says he does, and he apparently doesn’t hold them in high regard, thinking them dumb brutes, but if that’s what is needed right now, then so it is. Larry asks what Coco does for a living anyway. Coco says she’s a gun for hire, though not currently hired by anyone. Larry mentions that he can’t pay her currently, so hopefully she is okay with being on his ship. Coco points out that isn’t the ship technically the Dark Angels’?

Well, technicalities aside, they get to talking about what to do after the invasion of Dimmamar is hopefully done. Larry mentions wanting to get in contact with his mother, who, he worries, believes him dead. Asking about Coco’s family makes Larry learn that Coco’s brother is dead, and her family believes her responsible for it.

Coco mentions hoping to get information out to her boyfriend that she is okay. She jokingly mentions about him offering her a power armour, but she didn’t want it as she needs to make her own way. Larry finds this curious and mentions that someone is not taking full advantage of that. Larry asks if Coco’s boyfriend is a noble, and Coco answers vaguely that he is someone important. Larry hopes he helps common folk too, as many people rich enough to offer power armours around are assholes. But regardless, Larry is single and ready to mingle is Coco knows other rich single folk. Alice is also on the market. Izarak, probably not, as he’s saving himself for the Emperor presumably. 

When Coco is done with the conversation, Izarak is next up for a talk with Larry. He asks if Larry knows about Jonah’s World. Larry doesn’t. Izarak does. Jonah’s World was a Shrine World dedicated to Saint Jonah. Keyword was, as a pandemic by Nurgle destroyed the planet some time ago. Not the most hospitable place. Izarak asks Larry’s opinion on whether to tell the crew, and Larry thinks they should.

Larry asks if Izarak needs to remain silent about a confession. Izarak says he does, unless demonic activity is involved. So Larry asks Izarak to go to the bedroom where they can talk in private. There’s bunk beds, and Izarak takes the top bed, while Larry takes the bottom, so they don’t have to talk face to face. Larry confesses, after a few jokes, that he might have caused whatever happened to the Mechanicus on Dimmamar. He explains that they were looking for the data-chip for the Mechanicus and since many people wanted it, he wanted to look into it. Izarak asks where the data-chip is now, and Larry says it’s in their possession (technically in Alice’s). They didn’t want to give it to the Dark Angels, out of the fear that the Angels would call the Inquisition. 

Izarak thinks about this confession for a while, and then says that Larry didn’t do this intentionally. It’s a wrong that needs to righted. And if Larry is worried about his and Alice’s safety, Izarak can take the datachip and hand it over anonymously. Larry considers this and mentions that it’s a bit tricky since the data-chip is the only thing of value he and Alice own at the moment. But he promises to talk it over with Alice.

Insert 1.

Next time, the party will hopefully get to Jonah’s World and go to look for some Wolves!

[ilovethecolorpink]

lol i just came across this post from may 2020 (when i had literally Just gotten back into reading. like i might have read 1 or 2 books at that point in my reading journey) and oh boy would my answer be different now !

i am definitely a huge reader now lol so here are some recs no one asked for, four years later

fiction:

-the entire beartown series by fredrik backman. it owns my entire heart

-beautiful world, where are you and normal people by sally rooney

-the kite runner and a thousand splendid suns by khaled hosseini

-the death of vivek oji by akaweke emezi

-i know this much is true by wally lamb

-the great believers by rebecca makkai

-on earth we’re briefly gorgeous by ocean vuong

-tin man by sarah winman

-foster by claire keegan

-firefly lane by kristin hannah

-pachinko by min jin lee

-i’ll give you the sun by jandy nelson

-radio silence by alice oseman

-giovanni’s room by james baldwin

-east of eden by john steinbeck

nonfiction:

-all about love by bell hooks

-educated by tara westover

-in the dream house by carmen maria machado

Do you have any book recommendations or essays that changed your point of view on life/ humanity? Or books that taught you more about love and the earth?

oh baby i wish i did. i’m not a huge reader, though i wish i was, and i definitely want to get more into that and am going to try to this summer

i feel bad that i can’t offer you anything but i do know that in my tagged/reference there are lots of books and essays both to buy and free to download (things i tell myself i’ll get to eventually, smh) and hopefully somewhere in there there might be something you’re looking for

and to suffice even if just a little bit, here are some of my favorite tedtalks and other things that have impacted my view on life and humanity in some way or taught me more about life and life or just have a really important message within them

I grew up in the Westboro Baptist Church. Here's why I left

The power of vulnerability

this post

this tweet

this dm from harry to a fan (i know...)

this new york times article

this tweet

this jenny slate quote 

dead poets society (1989)

the shawshank redemption (1994)

wild strawberries (1957)

[edenprime]

LGBT+ books by authors of color

For those of us tired of LGBT+ romance always being featured between white characters, or from the perspective of white characters, here’s a list of LGBT+ novels by authors of color centered on characters of color.

Thank you so much @percyannabcth​ for your recs! ♡

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz: a beautiful mlm coming of age story between two brown latino boys. Personally, one of my favorite books (young adult).

We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia: first of a series set in fantasy Latin America with a main couple compromised of brown wlw (young adult).

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone: enemies-to-lovers time travel fantasy novel featuring wlwoc (adult).

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan: I’ll admit, this one wasn’t my cup of tea, but I’m more the exception to the rule. Fantasy with main asian wlw. Heavy rape and abuse tw (young adult).

It’s Not Like It’s a Secret by Misa Sugiura: contemporary novel with a japanese protagonist that falls in love with a latina girl (young adult). 

When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie Mclemore: not a mlm or wlw story, but one with a latina protagonist and a love interest that’s a Pakistani trans boy (young adult).

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera: borrowing elements from both sci-fi and contemporary, this is a story about the hardships a Puerto Rican boy from the Bronx has with coming on his own. Suicide and homophobia tw (young adult)

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong: beautiful novel that tackles a lot of themes, including coming to terms with being LGBT+, from the point of view of an Asian man (adult). 

Tell Me Again How A Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan: coming of age contemporary novel about a persian girl that falls in love with one of her friends (young adult).

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender: contemporary novel in a high-school setting about a black trans boy learning to navigate the dificulties that are put in his path due to his identity. Transphobia tw (young adult).

Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender and Kheryn Callender: a tale of magical realism about a girl whose luck was sealed when she was born on the dreaded day of a hurricane (middle grade).

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera: Juliet, a Puerto Rican lesbian, moves out of her family’s home and leaves to explore what her identity means both for herself and for those around her (new adult).

Ash by Malinda Lo: a wlw retelling of Cinderella with a girl of color as a protagonist and a very quick, entertaining read (young adult).

A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo: a contemporary novel where the main character, an asian girl called Jess Wong, used to being on the sidelines, becomes the protagonist of her own story as she falls in love with her best friend (young adult). 

Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann: Alice, an asexual black girl, learns to navigate her sexuality and how the perception of others affects her (or not) after a break up with her girlfriend and the start of adult life (adult).

Seven Tears at High Tide by C. B. Lee: Kevin Luong, an asian-american guy, asks the ocean for one summer where he can find love - and a selkie boy hears his pleading and seeks him out, willing to give him exactly that (young adult).

Not Your Sidekick by C. B. Lee: an intern girl with no powers at a superhero school starts getting notes from a mysterious person that goes by “M”. Bisexual main character, and the sequel includes a trans boy on the main cast, both people of color (young adult).

The Wicker King by K. Ancrum: prepare for your heart to be torn out by this not-quite psychological thriller about two boys in a codependent relationship that must learn to cope with their less-than-ideal circumstances, and their also less-than-ideal dynamic. Read the book’s description for potential trigger warnings (young adult).

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo: a series of short tales that tells the stories of british black women through different years, including the those of lgbt+ women (adult).

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson: when a girl’s attempt to get a scolarship to the college of her dreams falls through, her only choice if she wants her life to keep going on the path she’s set for herself is to become prom queen. It’s just too bad that the competition is so cute (young adult).

Final Draft by Riley Redgate: an 18 year old writer, who happens to be a plus-size pansexual ecuatorian girl, learns the perils of adulthood and gains life experience in this extremely relatable contemporary novel (young adult).

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera: a heart-wrenching novel about two boys that meet up to live the entirety of their life in a day - a day which happens to be their last. (death tw) (young adult).

Adaptation by Malinda Lo: when strange events turn the American government into a paranoid mess, Reese wakes up with a month of her life gone from her memories. This time, as our main character finds herself pulled in two directions, the love triangle is bisexual (young adult).

The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum: a slow-burn, slow-paced romance between two women that will leave the reader bewildered and feeling like they have a new understanding of life, with a touch of sci-fi (young adult).

She of the Mountains by Vivek Shraya: an illustrated novel that touches on gender, sexuality and a re-imagining of Hindu mythology (adult).

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin: fantasy novel set in an apocalyptic world, with a cast made up mainly of black characters, that includes polyamory in the first book and wlw relationships on the latter ones (adult). Be wary of possible trigger warnings.

Note: all the links redirect to The Storygraph, a Black-owned site currently on Beta! Consider checking it out and giving it your support - it lets you import all of your books and shelves from Goodreads, but unlike Goodreads, it’s not owned and ran by Amazon.

[queerlit]

Eight Black LGBTQ+ Authors

James Baldwin

Photo Source

Some Notable Works:

Go Tell It on the Mountain

Giovanni's Room

Notes of a Native Son

Roxane Gay

Photo Source

Some Notable Works:

Bad Feminist

An Untamed State

Hunger

Nicole Dennis-Benn

Photo Source

Some Notable Works:

Here Comes the Sun

PATSY

Alice Walker

Photo Source

Some Notable Works:

The Color Purple

The Third Life of Grange Copeland

Janet Mock

Photo Source

Some Notable Works:

Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More

Surpassing Certainty: What My Twenties Taught Me

Kacen Callender

Photo Source

Some Notable Works:

Hurricane Child

King and the Dragonflies

Felix Ever After

Chinelo Okparanta

Photo Source

Some Notable Works:

Happiness, Like Water

Under the Udala Trees

Akwaeke Emezi

Photo Source

Some Notable Works:

Freshwater

Pet

The Death of Vivek Oji

Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir

[variousqueerthings]

Some Queer Reading Resources (non-comprehensive)

@youandthemountains and @hunkydorkling

Some Queer Reading Resources (non-comprehensive) that follow along a varied memoir, autobiographical, political fictional line – that is, all of these are stories, whether non-fictional or fictional. Most (possibly/probably all) are political in the sense that queer bodies are – as other marginalised bodies – forced to consider themselves as political, and often choose to revel in this politicalness by being deliberately openly radical in response.

There are books that are purely academic and/or political texts (such as the recent “The Transgender Issue” by Shon Faye) that I haven’t included, since I felt like “story” was the keyword here. However, if anyone wants another list that’s more objective theory, culture, politics, history, I can do an equally non-comprehensive list on that.

The other part of its premise is the messiness of queer identity – how it intersects, argues, shifts, collides, co-inhabits, and contradicts. There are a lot of heavy themes, but – I think anyway – a lot of joy in community and discovery. Do look up trigger warnings if you need them.

Last of all, that non-comprehensive part. I am but an single person, with my limitations. If you have access to libraries or book shops with LGBTQ+ sections I recommend asking there if you want something specific. My main limitations are country-specific. A lot of these are based in the US or the UK (with a couple outside and/or with mixed ethnicities and/or locations within them).

Anyone can feel free to add if there’s something they feel passionate about in terms of the power of memoir and/or stories that connect to queer community/history/politics.

Books that have made me feel things:

Now You See Me: Lesbian Life Stories edited by Jane Traies

Amateur: A True Story Of What Makes A Man by Thomas Page McBee

Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women, And The Rest Of Us by Kate Bornstein

There Is No Word For It edited by Libro Bridgeman (note, it may be under their former name)

The Appendix: Transmasculine Joy in a Transphobic Culture by Liam Konemann

Zami: A New Spelling Of My Name by Audre Lorde

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

Dykes To Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel

To Survive On These Shores edited by Jess T Dugan and Vanessa Fabbre: https://www.tosurviveonthisshore.com/interviews

***

Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg

Confessions Of The Fox by Jordy Rosenberg

Maurice by EM Forster

The Price Of Salt by Patricia Highsmith

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Midnight Cowboy by James Leo Herlihy 

Books I have yet to read:

Are You My Mother by Alison Bechdel

The Secret To Superhuman Strength by Alison Bechdel

Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation edited by Kate Bornstein

We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir by Samra Habib

Unicorn: The Memoir Of A Muslim Drag Queen by Amrou Al-Kadhi

Man Alive by Thomas Page McBee

Detransition Baby by Torrey Peters

Trans/Love: Radical Sex Love And Relationships Beyond The Gender Binary edited by Morty Diamond

Take Me There: Trans and Genderqueer Erotica edited by Tristan Taormino

Same-Sex Love in India Readings from Literature and History by Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai

Read My Lips: Sexual Subversion and the End of Gender edited by Riki Wilchins and Julia Serano

Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme edited by Ivan E. Coyote and Zena Sharman

Nonbinary Memoirs of Gender and Identity by Micah Rajunov and Scott Duane

Let the Record Show A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993 by Sarah Schulman

Burn The Binary: Selected Writing On The Politics Of Being Trans, Genderqueer, And Nonbinary edited by Riki Anne Wilchins

Becoming A Visible Man by Jamison Green

Drag King Dreams by Leslie Feinberg

I’m Afraid Of Men by Vivek Shraya

Eating Fire: My Life As A Lesbian Avenger by Kelly Cogswell

Exile And Pride: Disability, Queerness, And Liberation by Eli Clare

The Butch Monologues edited by Libro Bridgeman (note, it may be under their former name)

Disavowals / Aveux Non Avenus by Claude Cahun (if anyone knows of a translation of this from French to English I would be eternally at their service)

Free To Be Me: Refugee Stories From The Lesbian Immigration Support Group edited by Jane Traies

Under The Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta

La Bastarda by Trifonia Melibea Obono

[rlyalone]

What are your favorite books? I need new recs

alone with you in the ether by olivie blake, the death of vivek oji by akwaeke emezi, all the ugly and wonderful things by bryn greenwood, wait for it by mariana zapata, radio silence by alice oseman, song of achilles by madeline miller, magnolia parks by jessa hastings, homesick for another world by ottessa moshfegh, a little life by hanya yanagihara, call me by your name by andre aciman, her body and other parties by carmen maria machado, on earth we're briefly gorgeous by ocean vuong- those are off the top of my head but this could go on forever so there ya go