I just got Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen in the mail, and it is burning a hole in my bookshelf. Lesbian sasquatch romcom/horror!! What could be better? But I’ll hold off long enough to finish this newsletter. That’s how much I care about you.
Given the shirt I’m featuring in today’s email, I thought I’d use this space to point you towards the Trans Justice Funding Project: a “community-led funding initiative supporting grassroots, trans justice groups run by and for trans people.” You can help support their work at their donation page.
Bookish Goods
Protect Trans Kids T-Shirt by MegEmikoArt
It’s just that simple. Also, 50% of the proceeds from the sales of this shirt go to the Trans Justice Funding Project! $29
New Releases
The Feeling of Falling in Love by Mason Deaver (Trans Guy/Nonbinary Romance)
Neil needs a date for his brother’s wedding, and friends-with-benefits Josh seems like an obvious choice — until Josh confesses his love for Neil, which is unrequited. Awkward. So now he’s convinced his roommate Wyatt to join him. This is a romance between a trans guy and a nonbinary person, and it seems to have that classic grumpy one/sunshine one dynamic, so it’s a perfect fit if you enjoy a prickly main character.
Me & My Dysphoria Monster by Laura Kate Dale and Hui Qing Ang (Trans Girl Picture Book)
I’m so excited to see how much queer and trans kidlit has grown in recent years. This picture book has a trans girl main character who meets a trans man mentor who helps her deal with dysmorphia, imagining as a monster. I can only imagine how helpful this will be for trans kids who don’t yet have the words to describe their feelings of dysphoria.
Cherry on Top by Georgia Beers (F/F Romance)
Parallel Paradise by Mayapee Chowdhury (Bisexual F/F Romance)
Royal Exposé (Royal Generations #1) by Jenny Frame (F/F Royal Romance)
The Inconvenient Heiress by Jane Walsh (F/F Regency Romance)
Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo (Queer Horror) (Paperback Rerelease)
The Oleander Sword (The Burning Kingdoms #2) by Tasha Suri (F/F Fantasy)
The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones (Bisexual F/M YA Fantasy)
The Honeys by Ryan La Sala Genderfluid (YA Horror)
Fence: Rise (Vol. 5) by C. S. Pacat (M/M YA Comics)
Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi (Novel), Vol. 3 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu and illustrated by Marina Privalova (M/M Light Novel)
Song of My Softening by Omotara James (Queer Poetry)
Antiman: A Hybrid Memoir by Rajiv Mohabir (Queer Memoir) (Paperback Rerelease)
For more new releases, check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
Last newsletter, I asked you to tell me what genre/subgenre/topic you’d like to see covered in Riot Recs, and cozy mystery was the top request! (Along with mystery more generally, and queer men rep more generally.) I’m still looking for more suggestions, so let me know on Twitter!
Unfortunately, while cozy mysteries are getting more diverse and “quozies” (queer cozy mysteries) are starting to make an appearance, they don’t seem to have overlapped yet: I couldn’t find any by authors of color. If you know of one, please let me know!
The Tita Rosie’s Kitchen series is by a queer Filipino author and has queer side characters, so that’s a good one to check out, too. (Fingers crossed that those characters get their own spin-off book!)
Renovated to Death by Frank Anthony Polito
A gay couple who host a home renovation reality show and solve crimes together? Yes, thank you. If you’re someone who loves to zone out in front of HGTV, this is the cozy mystery for you. Plus, it’s the beginning of a series, so there should be more soon!
Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies by Misha Popp
Daisy has a mobile bakery called Pies Before Guys. What could be more cozy than baking pies? And if those pies happen to also act as a magical method of revenge against men who’ve done terrible things, that’s just a happy bonus. When Daisy starts getting blackmailed, though, she’ll have to find out who is holding this secret over her — with enough time to win the state pie baking competition.
All the Links Fit to Click
23 New LGBTQ+ YA Novels To Chill With This Summer
Elana Dykewomon, Author Who Explored Lesbian Lives, Dies at 72
That’s it for me this week! Until next time, you can find me at my sapphic 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