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Black Bi & Lesbian Book Recommendations for Black History Month and F/F February

Fiction:

The Color Purple by Alice Walker 

The Summer We Got Free by Mia Mckenzie 

In Another Place, Not Here by Dionne Brand 

The Heart Does Not Bend by Makeda Silvera 

Jam on the Vine by LaShonda Katrice Barnett (Historical Fiction)

Coffee Will Make You Black by April Sinclair (Historical Fiction)

Don’t Explain by Jewelle Gomez (Short Stories)

Fantasy:

The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson  

Falling in Love with Hominids by Nalo Hopkinson

Everfair by Nisi Shawl (Steampunk)

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez (Vampires)

Science Fiction:

Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi

Escaping Exodus by Nicky Drayden

Romance and Erotica:

Better Off Red by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole

Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Nonfiction:

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay

The Other Side of Paradise by Staceyann Chin 

Homegirls: A Black Feminist Anthology edited by Barbara Smith 

Poetry:

The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde

The Complete Works of Pat Parker edited by Julie R. Enszer

Head Off & Split by Nikky Finney

YA:

This is What it Feels Like by Rebecca Barrow   

Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert

The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus

Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett 

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson 

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron (YA Fantasy)

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland (YA Horror)

Middle Grade:

The House You Pass on the Way by Jacqueline Woodson

Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender

Goldie Vance series by Hope Larson (Author) and Brittney Williams (illustrator) (Comics)

I’ve been featuring a Black sapphic book a day on tumblr for Black History Month, but if you want to see them all in one place, including some short reviews and a video where I discuss them, check out the Lesbrary post!

If you like what we do here, consider supporting the Lesbrary on Patreon! At $2 or more a month, you’re entered to win a queer women book every month! You can also check out the Lesbrary Amazon page for lists of all the sapphic books I recommend.

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8 Cute Queer Holiday Romances to Snuggle up with this Holigay Season | Autostraddle

[image description: the covers of the books listed below, with the text “Cute F/F Holiday Romances]

Collie Jolly by Leigh Landry

Mangos and Mistletoe by Adriana Herrera

Eight Kinky Nights by Xan West

The Wrong McElroy by KL Hughes

Under a Falling Star by Jae

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Whether you like your private investigators to veer into the paranormal or love worlds of magic with a bit of murder mystery on the side, these books are for you~! 

Witchmark by C.L. Polk (mlm, sequel to have wlw)

Widdershins by Jordan Hawk (mlm)

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey (various)

Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody (L/B/Demi)

Iron & Velvet by Alexis Hall (various)

The Brilliant Death by Amy Rose Capetta (genderfluid)

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holy grail

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Queers Against Empire narrative media recs

Brought on by a conversation with @revolutionaryjo. Recs written by me or my nerd-ass wonderful wife @ritterssport

Special note! LITERALLY NONE OF THIS IS YA YOU’RE WELCOME

TV

Black Sails - 

This it it folx - the show that sparked this post, because we’re watching it several years late! Anyway, outsiders fight “Civilization” because they all know it’s bullshit. 

Queerness: 10/10. Excellent heterobaiting.

Anti-empire: 10/10

Tone: horny and angry, executive produced by michael bay

Books

Ancillary Justice, et al - 

A space opera about revenge and personhood, in a world where the language of the empire only has one pronoun and it’s “she.” Only book to ever win the trio of major SFF awards. Has excellent audiobooks too, but can be confusing at first in audio format - it’s ok - push through it!

Queerness: 9/10 - well, there’s not recognized gender so it’s all queer. the nuclear family as we understand it is not a recognized unit - families are organized along other lines.

Anti-empire: like 15/10. Truly.

Tone: starts serious and is full of emotions, but also a goddamn romp by the 2nd book

The Murderbot Diaries - 

A space sitcom about revenge and personhood. Ft. extremely relatable protag who just wants to watch tv and not think about all this god damn it but oh no starts to care. Also has an excellent audiobook.

Queerness: 5/10 - Protag is ace but protag is a robot, so only half-counting that. Not romance focused in any way, which is nice. Multi-gender poly relationships are the norm in-world, and basically all of the non-robot supporting cast is in the above.

Anti-empire: 7/10 - the dominant power structure of the setting is a corporate oligarchy and the characters are fighting it. very much emphasizing the military industrial complex.

Tone: more explicitly a goddamn romp

Fire Logic et al - 

A low-fantasy novel about a country that has under invasion and conquest for a decade, following a handful of characters trying to craft a future that doesn’t destroy either the country (or its values of hospitality and openness) or lead to endless war. Has a good audiobook.

Queerness: 10/10 - There’s only one (1) straight relationship in the large ensemble cast, all the main protagonists are gay, about 80% of every mentioned character is gay, and the normal family structure is multiple-adults-in various-relationships-often-poly-with-each-other. Also, unlike almost every other fantasy book that claims “oh men and women are equal and don’t have rigid gender roles”, this one actually backs it up.

Anti-empire: 9/10 - All about resisting conquest and building a path to peace. One of the main characters is the last surviving member of an indigenous people 

Tone: heavy my dude but hopeful

The Traitor Baru Cormorant - 

One of the few where there’s an audiobook, but I haven’t read it. I couldn’t read it because it made my wife too sad! But here’s her pitch - I actually could not believe that a white man wrote this book and kept flipping to the back jacket to double-check. Lesbian mathematical savant resolves to bring down the empire that colonized her country from within, but maybe she’s too good at the “from within” part. 

Queerness: 8/10 - lesbian protag, but it’s written by a straight man, so it’s a plot point (not in a weird way) not a sensibility

Anti-empire: 10/10 - vivid depictions of the tactics and campaigns of empire; protag’s whole drive is towards bringing down the empire.

Tone: more tragic than this bitch can handle, but mad respect

So Long Been Dreaming - 

“Postcolonial Science Fiction & Fantasy”: it’s right there in the subtitle! A collection of short stories by authors of color. Most of them aren’t queer, but there are couple in there. 

Left Hand of Darkness - 

A CLASSIC. Space diplomat arrives to persuade a mono-gendered society to join the federation, but has a hard time Understanding them and becomes embroiled in local politics. Said embroiling includes FALLING IN LOVE* (*look. I suppose some people could read this and not think Genly Ai falls in love. they’re wrong though.) Good audiobook exists.

Queerness: 6 - It’s Complicated TM. One-gender society = no concept of gender roles = totally different concept of sexuality. I personally do not find Le Guin’s writing on gender and sexuality particularly dated in anything more than terminology and the grain she was writing against, but I suppose some people might.

Anti-empire: 7 - more anti-nationalist than anything else, but it is Agreed Upon By All that imperialism is bad.

Tone: old sci fi with Something To Say

Trouble and Her Friends - 

Trouble was one of the best hackers in the game, but she’s been retired for years—until someone starts going by her old handle on the Net, putting the government on her tail, which means she has to track this upstart down, and stop them. Which also means she has to ask her ex-girlfriend for help.

Queerness: 10/10 - the lesbian network is real, and sometimes it’s made up of cyberpunk hackers.

Anti-empire: FIGHT THE MAN

Tone: old-school cyberpunk, but old-school cyberpunk that wasn’t written by a man who thinks his self-insert is the coolest thing since sliced bread.

The Fortunate Fall - 

I can’t really give a good summary of this one because I remember it like a dream. Broad strokes, the main character is a “camera”—a reporter with implants that mean everything she sees, hears or feels can be immediately broadcast to millions—investigating a government-led coverup of a series of massacres. Spectacular worldbuilding, plenty of feelings. Written by a long-time intersex activist and very cool person.

Queerness: 9/10

Anti-empire: 7/10

Tone: Sad and weird and dreamlike. Complicated ending.

Podcasts

The Strange Case of Starship Iris - 

Unproblematic Firefly. very cute, funny, and free! 

Queerness: 10/10 - all over the acronym, including trans and nb characters! hooray! Special shoutout for having both an alien and a human nb character.

Anti-empire: 9/10 - anti-prison, anti-endless war

Tone: your friends who like fanfic and found family and aren’t afraid to sing in public put on a podcast.

Music videos:

Janelle Monáe’s entire ouvre, but especially Dirty Computer.

Details: nothing the average tumblr user doesn’t already know? Go watch Dirty Computer.

Honorable Mentions:

Parable of the Sower - 

Another classic. If you hadn’t heard of it before 2016, you probably heard about it after for its prescient use of “make America great again” as a fascist slogan.

Queerness: less than I’d like

Anti-empire: don’t remember well enough to rate. more focused on some other things, but it’s there.

Despised and Rejected - 

Gay pacifism in the face of WWI. Partly on here because you’ve almost certainly not read it, since it was only recently re-printed by a small feminist publisher. Shoutout to their Categories: buried somewhere towards the end is “Men (books about)” and “Men (books by)”.

Queerness: 10/10 - explicitly gay (both male and female gay protagonists, even!) in 1918

Anti-empire: falls into another genre of - hey, you got your gay awakening in my socialism! you got your socialism in my gay awakening! (see also: Pride (2014) and the end of Tipping the Velvet)

Tone: it was written in 1918

At Swim, Two Boys - 

Gay Easter Rising historical fiction. Gorgeous prose, referentially dense. 

Queerness: 10/10

Anti-empire: fuck the English in particular. 

Tone: ow ow ow my poor gay irish catholic heart

Monstrous Regiment - 

Ritterssport says: I can’t believe maybe my favorite “girl dresses up as a boy to go fight” book was written by a straight man.

Queerness: 7/10

Anti-empire: 5/10

Tone: Hijinks With Thinks, like all of Discworld. Only the lesbians get any romance.

Ninefox Gambit - 

Putting this on the honorable mentions list only because neither of us have read the sequels, which I’m pretty sure would 100% put it on the list proper.

Queerness: 8/10 - queer sensibility and main characters, trans author

Anti-empire: don’t remember well enough to put a number on it

Tone: Moral complexity! Mathematical complexity! May bend your brain a bit!

PLEASE add to this list! I want more! One rule: not YA! I am an adult and I am so tired of stories about little baby children please I am so tired!

Also, <3 if you read/listen to/watch some of these because of this and like them, I’m 100% down to chat about them!

Edit: I hope y’all like this, because tumblr mobile fucked up the formatting so badly I had to redo it 3 times. whoops.

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Fictober 2019

Here is the list for October this year. Write something short (or long) and tag it with #fictober19. Let’s see your creativity!

“It will be fun, trust me.”

“Just follow me, I know the area.”

“Now? Now you listen to me?”

“I know you didn’t ask for this.”

“I might just kiss you.”

“Yes, I’m aware. Your point?”

“No, and that’s final.”

“Can you stay?”

“There is a certain taste to it.”

“Listen, I can’t explain it, you’ll have to trust me.”

“It’s not always like this.”

“What if I don’t see it?”

“I never knew it could be this way.”

“I can’t come back.”

“That’s what I’m talking about!”

“Listen. No, really listen.”

“There is just something about them/her/him.”

“Secrets? I love secrets.”

“Yes, I admit it, you were right.”

“You could talk about it, you know?”

“Change is annoyingly difficult.”

“We could have a chance.”

“You can’t give more than yourself.”

“Patience… is not something I’m known for.”

“I could really eat something.”

“You keep me warm.”

“Can you wait for me?”

“Enough! I heard enough.”

“I’m doing this for you.”

“I’m with you, you know that.”

“Scared, me?”

This event is open to all fanfiction and original fiction.

Start October the First. You do not have to do the prompts in order. Tag your posts with #fictober19. Please state if your entry is original fiction or fanfiction and what fandom at the top. State common warnings and triggers at the top and tag accordingly. I reserve the right to not reblog fics that I find inappropriate. I will reblog things here on @fictober-event, follow this blog to see all the entries.

Go forth and write!

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I gotta ask. Is there any wlw book that ACTUALLY has used the enemies to lovers trope? I don't know how to look for it😂😂

Of course! Where do you think all the trope-y fanfics go after a while? Mostly to publishers :p

I wasn’t sure what kind of “enemies” you were looking for so I tried covering different types:

A&B by J.C. Lillis

Tell Me How You Really Feel by Aminah Mae Safi

The Copper Egg by Catherine Friend

First Position by Melissa Brayden

Blend by Georgia Beers

The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum

The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie

Moribund by Genevieve Iseult Eldredge

Parties in Congress by Colette Moody

The Red Files by Lee Winter

There’s some contemporary, some ya some more adult, fantasy and scifi, so hope some of it is to your liking! :)

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Books with Established F/F Relationships

Books that start with the couple already together! The x is linked to where the recommendation was pulled from.

YA:

This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp (x)

Under Threat by Robin Stevenson (x)

Lunaside by JL Douglas (x)

Bleeding Earth by Kaitlin Ward (x)

Without Annette by Jane B. Mason (x)

SFF/Horror:

Chameleon Moon by RoAnna Sylver (SFF/superheros) (f/f/f triad) (x)

Mother of Souls by Heather Rose Jones (Fantasy) (x)

The Olive Conspiracy by Shira Glassman (Fantasy) (x)

The House by Eden Darry (Horror) (x)

The Queen of Rhodia by Effie Calvin (Fantasy) (x)

everafter by Nell Stark and Trinity Tam (Vampires) (x)

You could argue that Alice Isn’t Dead by Joseph Fink fits this: this follows a woman whose wife disappears one day, and she goes searching for her.

Comics:

The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars by Michael Dante DiMartino

The One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg (review)

The couple in Goldie Vance gets together in the first book (review)

Other:

Lambs Can Always Become Lions by Charlotte Hamilton (Robin Hood retelling) (x)

Mistletoe Mishap by Siri Caldwell (Erotica) (my review)

The Campaign by Tracey Richardson (Romance) (x)

The Tattered Heiress by Debra Hyde (Mystery) (x) – Has flashbacks to them getting together

There are also some lesbian mysteries where the couple gets together in the first book, but the next books have them as an established couple:

Kate & Liz series by Helen Shacklady

Ari Adams series by Ann Roberts

Kate Delafield series by Katherine V. Forrest (get together in book 3)

Cassandra Slick Mysteries by Mary Wilbon (established from book 1?)

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No offense but can ya’ll like also normalize trans guys that DON’T bind.  Like there’s guys who don’t want to, choose not to because of the risks, and guys who CAN’T because of medical reasons.  Not every Trans dude is wearing a binder 24/7 and some don’t ever. 

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The Plus in Plus Size - Lola Keeley talks Weight, Women and the Wonders of Fiction

We speak to author Lola Keeley about what being queer and plus size means to her.

[Read this honest, insightful blog here].

Let’s face it, there’s definitely a look that dominates the visuals when queer women are profiled or featured in media. It’s your Ruby Rose, Ellen Page, Cara Delevigne kind of woman. Model-thin, preferably petite in every way, and able to wear everything cropped, ripped, or barely-there without anyone batting an eyelid. While I celebrate these women and their impact on popular culture in terms of representation, I know it’s going to be a long time before someone even approaching my size makes a splash.

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Cover Reveal: “The Roommate Arrangement” by best-selling author Jae

Coming October 2019

[If you don’t want to miss out on this or other future publications, subscribe to our newsletter  here]

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sometimes you have written a 77-word sentence with 2 dashes and 5 commas in it, and that’s just how it goes

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I think my overwhelming urge to buy books stems from my deep-rooted regency soul which wants me to invite guests to my library and have them remark on my extensive and impressive collection

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Person A is secretly crushing on Person B and always calls them late at night when they know they won’t answer. Person A records a voicemail every time to confess their true feelings about Person B, but presses ‘no’ when asked if they want to send it. One day Person A accidentally presses ‘yes’.