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❤️ 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

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The Archive will be down for about 3 hours of maintenance tomorrow, Jan 14 at 22:00 UTC. Check what time that is for you: https://bit.ly/4aiO4Cs.

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Happy with my reading wrap-up this year. A record year for me. Here’s to trying less hard in 2025 and a goal that’s more reasonable with my work schedule.

now can anyone tell me how to turn the cover collage into a really good book mark?

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i'm curious, because while i certainly have genres i favor, i genuinely don't think there are any genres i dislike - every genre i can name at least a couple titles i've enjoyed.

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genuinely upset that the Graceling series isn't popular because it's prime Tumblr fandom material like genuinely the world building is fantastic and the whole graceling thing AND seven kingdoms thing makes it perfect for OC creation, the stories are fascinating and entertaining and the leading characters in all 4 books are women, written in an interesting and stereotype defying way, there's explicit poc, queer, disabled representation (both main and side characters!) , discussion of class disparity, a great analysis of how a world would work when a section of the population has randomly assigned magical abilities, THERE'S AN ENTIRE NEW ALPHABET, and most importantly the writing is genuinely entertaining and fun and capturing. if I could change one thing about Tumblr it would be to make this fandom more popular Kristin Cashore deserves the world

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The library had another used book sale. here’s the haul.

only one accidental duplicate because apparently I hadn’t updated my lists. (A Bad Beginning ASOUE 1)

one duplicate on purpose because my wife wanted the og cover. (The Perks of Being a Wallflower)

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October Wrap Up

I am falling behind my reading goal. Despite this, I remain determined, though I think the 24 books I read in March may have made me over confident. October was a pretty good month for me, book wise.

The seven books I read last month below the cut.

Percy Jackson and the Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan:(4 stars): The new books in the PJO series are just fun. I have a good time reading them. They remind me of elementary school. I will always love Percy and Annabeth and Grover and the antics they get up to. I will read this again when I reread the whole series again. Nothing revolutionary here, but I still loved it.

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson: (5 stars): I have read this book before. Many times, though not for four years. I was a very different person last time I read this book and I wanted to read it again to see if it resonates the same way. It still resonates! I still love it! But not in the same way. When I read this in high school -- so many times that the annotations in my copy are actually distracting -- I connected with Noah. His fears and his troubles and learning to accept himself. Now, I connect more with Jude (the later years). She wants to be fully understood. I get that. This book will always deserve its special place in my heart.

The Fowl Twins Get What They Deserve by Eoin Colfer: (3 stars): I finally finished all existing Artemis Fowl books from the extended universe. I have very little to say here. This was a fun read, but I am not its target audience anymore and I accept that. I will give the Fowl books to my kids (when I have them) and even read these to them. But I don't expect to revisit the Fowl Twins before then. That said, I did have fun. Get these books for your grade school kids.

Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli: (4.25 stars): I will repeat what I said when I finished this book in the middle of the night. Resonated with me and hurt me in a good way. I cannot emphasize enough how much this would have meant to me in high school. Much the way Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda did. No one should ever have to be outed or come out before they’re ready or in a way that isn’t about them. I will be reading this again. I should probably also read Simon again now that I think of it.

Loveless by Alice Oseman: (3.5 stars): I have been on a YA queer lit kick. Alice Oseman's novels felt like the next logical step. I love the Heartstopper books and novellas. I am enjoying her other novels too. Loveless is great for understanding the Aro/Ace perspective. This one maybe didn't resonate with me as much as some of the other books have, especially because the main character spends much of the book hating herself. This book is great and important. Not my personal favorite though.

Critical Role - The Mighty Nein: The Nine Eyes of Lucien by Madeleine Roux: (3 stars): I have had the Critical Role novels on my TBR for a while since I want to know more about the universe and expanded stories of the characters. I put holds on all of them in Libby and this one came in first. I liked it, though a lot of it was the same as what happened in the end of the campaign. It was fun to get Lucien's perspective on the whole somnovem saga. I probably won't reread this, but it was fun to listen to the audiobook. Plus having the whole cast reading their parts was great.

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman: (4.5 stars): This was a favorite read from this month for me. I loved the characters and the fact that while, yes, the story was queer, it wasn't really about that. Nor was it a love story. I liked the mystery and the friendship. I will absolutely be reading this one again. I loved this book, I simply don't have a lot to say.

Happy reading!!

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September Wrap-Up

Four new books this month and two rereads. Thank goodness for good (and familiar) audiobooks getting me out of that slump at the beginning of the month.

Pride and Prejudice - I have previously talked about the audiobook version I found that made me fall in love with this book. I will be reading it again.

Then, my two rereads, or in this case — relistens. Fire and Bitterblue. Forever favorites of mine. This is at least my fourth time with each of them. They shall be seen again!

In the last weekend of September I finished three books all of which I thoroughly enjoyed.

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston - CMQ writes rom coms I want to read. I read the first 150 pages (Theo’s perspective) all in one sitting bc, to be frank, I did not connect with them as much. As soon as I got to Kit I promised myself I would go to sleep (it was midnight on a work night) but would reading for two more hours bc I couldn’t go to sleep with Kit and Theo apart. I finally went to sleep at 2 am and finished the book the next night. Not my favorite of McQuiston’s books (just so much food and drama, not totally my thing), but very enjoyable.

Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune - I had thought about rereading the first book (House on the Cerulean Sea) before this one but realized I just wanted to get into it. I enjoyed this book, but to be honest, it’s not anything amazing. It was fun to see where the characters stories go after the end of book one, but nothing unexpected happened and frankly I would have been happy to stay with my happy imagination. Unless you’re just in love with the Cerulean Sea characters, I can’t recommend the sequel.

This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki with Jillian Tamak - I found this on the banned books table at my favorite local bookshop. I am finding more and more that I like graphic novels like this one which are so rooted in reality. I felt like I was right there in the complexities of middle school with the main characters. A quick read, but definitely worth the money and one I will return to.

Had I finished this post last week when I started it, I would have listed the books I intended to read next, starting with Rick Riordan’s new Percy Jackson book “Wrath of the Triple Goddess” and then moving onto Heather Fawcett’s “Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands”. I did read Wrath but the rest of the plan was derailed. more on that later.

In the meantime. HAPPY READING!

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I stayed up all night reading a book I should have read a long time ago. Work in six and a half hours. I was tired today, I can be tired tomorrow right?

The book is Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli. Resonated with me and hurt me in a good way. I cannot emphasize enough how much this would have meant to me in high school. Much the way Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda did. No one should ever have to be outed or come out before they’re ready or in a way that isn’t about them.

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I managed to convince myself to hold off on the next Graceling Realm audiobook (Bitterblue) and finished Pride and Prejudice!

I know I should not promote audible because amazon sucks, but their version of the P&P audiobook read by Rosamund Pike held my attention in a way the one I had access to on Libby did not. Pike gave an excellent performance!

Pride and Prejudice was a delightful read for me. I am such a fan of modern rom-com novels and movies that I fully expected to enjoy it as quintessential of the genre. I was right! I had a great time reading it – I switched between the audiobook and a physical copy depending on where/when I was reading – and plan to read it again someday.

Next I Iisten to Bitterblue while reading some new releases from the last two months. First up, Casey McQuiston’s The Pairing.

Happy reading!

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I finished it. I fucking love that book. Everyone go read the Graceling Realm books right now. Especially Fire. But read Graceling first. And then read Bitterblue. fuck. I need to finish Pride and Prejudice but i’m probably going to read Bitterblue now anyway.

it will surprise no one who knows me that I am now listening to the Fire audiobook

I LOVE this series, and i’ve never read them in chronological order before so this’ll be fun

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it will surprise no one who knows me that I am now listening to the Fire audiobook

I LOVE this series, and i’ve never read them in chronological order before so this’ll be fun

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Reading so for in September has been a struggle… trying to read Pride and Prejudice for the first time. I like it, but i’m struggling to hold onto the prose. It requires me to have no distractions when I read it. That’s hard for me to do. 🤞🏼 Hopefully i’ll finish it this month.

also can someone please convince me not to start listening to the Graceling series again? I need to focus on my current reads. But fuck if i’m not dreaming about those books again.

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love the library used book sale!

A haul from my local library’s used book sale. I love the public library and I especially love getting to build up my collection. Lots of new reads in this collection and one for childhood memories (Ingrid Law’s “Savvy”).

Now back to reading!

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Story Graph August Wrap-Up

A good month of mostly re-reads for me. I listened to the last few Artemis Fowl audiobooks in my reread of the series of my youth. Then I was feeling sappy so I listened to the Red, White, and Royal Blue audiobook for the second time this year. It’s my favorite at the moment. When queer people get to be in love and get a happy ending. That’s my comfort read.

My serious read this month was Ruth Ozeki’s “The Book of Form and Emptiness”. I started it shortly after a series of very non-serious reads so it took me a bit to get into it. I needed to adjust my mindset to match the tone of the novel before I truly enjoyed it. I really liked this book. It was esoteric and full of deep cogitations on human nature. And also it says a lot about story telling. I love it when a book is meta about itself. I am keeping this book on the list of books to read-read and now much looking forward to reading Ruth Ozeki’s other books. Starting with “A Tale for the Time Being”.

Happy Reading!