Sponsored by Penguin Teen.
Now in paperback! A modern ghost story about trauma and survival, Watch Over Me is the much-anticipated new novel from the Printz Award-winning author of We Are Okay. Newly graduated from high school, Mila has aged out of the foster care system. So when she’s offered a teaching job and a place to live on an isolated part of the Northern California coast, she immediately accepts. Maybe she will finally find a new home—a real home. The farm is a refuge, but it’s also haunted by the past. And Mila’s own memories are starting to rise to the surface.
This has been one of those weeks where motivating myself to do the simplest tasks takes an animated pep talk and 45 minutes of bargaining. The dishes are overflowing the sink and the dogs are bouncing off the walls from not being walked enough, but at least we’re through the shortest days of the year and should be seeing more sun soon(ish). I can’t wait! In the meantime, I will be hibernating, thank you very much.
I’ve been reading a lot about the state of schools right now, and it’s heartbreaking. Between dealing with the pandemic, the backlash to masks and other policies, as well as the wave of homophobic and racist vitriol in response to carrying diverse books in school libraries, I can only imagine how difficult it is to teach right now. But many teachers are still going above and beyond in trying to make their schools an inclusive and safe place to be. That’s why today I wanted to highlight Donors Choose, where you can donate to classrooms and to teachers’ projects. If you search by LGBTQ, you can find campaigns to provide a GSA with snacks, stock more LGBTQ books, get pronoun pins for students, and more. This could make a huge difference for teachers and students.
Read Harder, LGBTQ Edition: Tasks 3 and 4
The Read Harder challenge is always a great way to diversify your reading, but what if you want to do it on hard mode? I’m putting together a list of LGBTQ recommendations for each of the Read Harder tasks to do an all-queer run of the challenge! Last week was tasks 1 and 2, so today is 3 and 4.
Make sure to get your own Read Harder Book Journal from Book Riot to track your reading for the year!
3. Read any book from the Women’s Prize shortlist/longlist/winner list.
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters (2002 Shortlist)
I can’t pass a chance to talk about one of my favourite books of all time. This is an intricately plotted story about a Sue, thief posing as a maid in a scheme to convince her employer, Maude, to marry Sue’s accomplice to get Maude’s fortune. But then she falls for the mark, and everything gets very messy. You could also pick up a few of Sarah Waters’s other books for this task: The Paying Guests (2015 shortlist) and The Night Watch (2006 shortlist).
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo (2020 Shortlist)
This title was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize, but won the Booker Prize! It follows 12 Black British point of view characters: 11 are women, 1 is nonbinary. There is also a lesbian main character. It’s an examination of what living as a Black women in Britain is like today, seen through many different lenses. It’s hard to overstate the praise this novel has gotten, having been called “unforgettable” by Roxane Gay and “Godlike in its scope and insight” by the Washington Post.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (2012 winner)
A Little Life by Hanya Yangihara (2016 shortlist)
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters (2021 longlist)
3. Read a book in any genre by a POC that’s about joy and not trauma.
Falling In Love With Hominids by Nalo Hopkinson
Nalo Hopkinson is one of my favourite authors, but this book is in a class of its own. As soon as I finished reading it (from the library), I immediately bought two copies: one for my permanent collection and one to give to a friend. it’s a collection of fantasy short stories that are hopeful and strange and mesmerizing. The novella has sapphic main characters, and one of the short stories is about a M/M couple trying to track down their missing fire-breathing chicken. It’s a delight.
Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu
It’s hard to think of a more joyful queer series than Check, Please!, which follows Eric, a freshman on the university hockey team. He’s finding going from his high school team to this one to be a difficult transition (which he copes with by baking). Even more distracting than having to deal with checking is Jack, the swoony and moody team captain.
This is What it Feels Like by Rebecca Barrow
Running with Lions by Julian Winters
Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole
All the Links Fit to Click
- LGBTQIA+ Books Are Under Attack as More Bills and Bans Take Them Out of Libraries and Classrooms—Here’s How Community Members Are Fighting Back
- Get ready to start preordering: here’s a list of more than 35 LGBTQ middle grade and YA books with main characters of color that are coming out in 2022! (The post will be updated throughout the year.)
- Here are 16 LGBTQ+ Novels To Look Forward To In 2022
- Read these LGBTQ novels with Korean American main characters
- These are 10 of the Best Marvel Comics With Great LGBTQ+ Representation
- Elvira lost 10,000 followers after coming out in her book Yours Cruelly, Elvira… and then gained 60,000 more!
- If you loved Heartstopper by Alice Oseman, try these books next!
- Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho was reviewed at NPR.
LGBTQ Book Riot Posts
- The Streisand Effect Won’t Save Us From Censorship
- Gideon the Ninth Gifts for Your Necromancer Heart
- 12 Queer YA Audiobooks to Listen to in the First Half of 2022
- Healthy Pairings in Boys Love Manga
New Releases This Week
It seems like I’m writing this every week, which is frustrating: this week’s new releases are disproportionately by white authors — especially if you exclude the manga titles. Publishers: we need more queer books by authors of color!
Real Easy by Marie Rutkoski (Sapphic Thriller)
This is a thriller that revolves around a murder of one of the dancers at the Lovely Lady strip club. The author draws on her experience as a former dancer to paint a vivid portrait of life at the club, including the community, friendships — and the dangers. This is being called a riveting whodunit as well as a vulnerable character portrait.
Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly (F/NB Romance)
This is one of the most anticipated LGBTQ releases of the year! It follows two contestants on a reality cooking competition show: Dahlia and London. Both are hoping to reinvent themselves. Dahlia, to distance herself from her recent divorce and avoid impending bankruptcy; and London, because they’ve just become the first the out nonbinary contestant on a popular reality TV show. But these two competitors end up finding unexpected support (and chemistry) with each other.
The Lock-Eater by Zack Loran Clark (Sapphic Middle Grade Fantasy)
This is a book I’ve been eagerly waiting to come out! It’s a middle grade fantasy novel with a sapphic main character named Melanie, who has a magical ability to open any lock. Her gift causes her to be whisked away from the orphanage by a mysterious figure — but they both have secrets to guard. I’m delighted every time a queer middle grade book comes out, because it wasn’t long ago that there were only picture books and then YA with LGBTQ characters! This looks like a rollicking adventure story that I can’t wait to dig into.
The Missing Page by Cat Sebastian (M/M Historical Mystery)
Wisdom Check (Dungeons and Dating #2) by Katherine McIntyre (M/M Romance)
Servant Mage by Kate Elliott (Bisexual Polyamorous Fantasy)
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GAME ON: 15 Stories of Wins, Losses, and Everything in Between edited by Laura Silverman (Mostly Queer Stories, YA Anthology)
Icebreaker by A.L. Graziadei (M/M YA Contemporary)
Get a Clue: A Bookish Boyfriends Novel by Tiffany Schmidt (M/M YA Contemporary/Mystery)
Coming Back by Jessi Zabarsky (F/F YA Fantasy Graphic Novel)
Boys Run the Riot Vol. 4 by Keito Gaku (Trans Manga)
Love Me for Who I Am Vol. 5 by Kata Konayama (Trans Manga)
Bloom Into You Anthology Vol. 2 by Nakatani Nio (F/F Manga)
Return Flight by Jennifer Huang (Queer Nonbinary Poetry)
Manifesto: On Never Giving Up by Bernardine Evaristo (Queer Memoir) [Note: the author writes about having a “lesbian phase,” which may be an upsetting framing for some readers.]
Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!
That’s it for me this week! Until next time, you can find me at my bi and lesbian book blog, the Lesbrary, as well as on Twitter @danikaellis. You can also hear me on All the Books or you can read my Book Riot posts.
Happy reading!
Danika