It’s Native American Heritage Month! I have a couple of queer SFF books by Indigenous authors to recommend, but before we get there, if you are living on stolen land (as I am), consider using this month to educate yourself on colonialism and Indigenous resistance in your area, and check out LANDBACK for more information on Indigenous sovereignty.
Bookish Goods
From the Queer Library of…Bookplate by OWhatAFeeling
Make sure your borrowed queer books make their way back to you with these queer ex libris stickers. $2 each or five for $6.
New Releases
Màgòdiz by Gabe Calderón (Two-Spirit Sci-Fi)
In this dystopian future, after a war destroys most of the world, the remaining humans have forgotten how to read, write, or create the tools they once had. Enforcers controlled by the spirit who started this war roam the Earth to keep them in line. Màgòdiz follows six Indigenous people, some of them Two-Spirit, as they survive and fight back against this invading force.
How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow (Lesbian YA Romance)
Hitting May with her car was an accident; Shani was a little distracted by her recent breakup. Still, it’s not surprising that it started May and Shani’s relationship off on the wrong foot. When they’re snowed in together on Christmas Eve, though, these two Jewish lesbian teenagers start to fall for each other — but is Shani ready for that kind of vulnerability? (Also, crucially, look at the corgi with his little booties on the cover!!)
Small Game: A Novel by Blair Braverman (Sapphic Survival Thriller)
Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun (F/F Holiday Romance)
Paris Daillencourt Is About to Crumble by Alexis Hall (M/M Romance)
A Restless Truth (The Last Binding #2) by Freya Marske (Lesbian Fantasy)
Ocean’s Echo (Winter’s Orbit #2) by Everina Maxwell (M/M Sci-Fi)
The Reckless Kind by Carly Heath (Asexual YA Historical Fiction) (Paperback Rerelease)
Girls of Fate and Fury (Girls of Paper and Fire #3) by Natasha Ngan (Sapphic YA Fantasy) (Paperback Rerelease)
Silver in the Mist by Emily Victoria (Asexual YA Fantasy)
They Both Die at the End Collector’s Edition by Adam Silvera (M/M YA SFF)
My Pinup by Hilton Als (Queer Memoir)
I Am Onir and I Am Gay: A Memoir by Onir Onir (Gay Memoir)
Love This For You: How to Rewrite the Rules and Live Authentically by Deni Todorović (Queer & Nonbinary Nonfiction)
Heaven by Emerson Whitney (Nonbinary Nonfiction)
Rethinking Gender: An Illustrated Exploration by Louie Läuger (Trans & Nonbinary Graphic Nonfiction)
The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On by Franny Choi (Queer Poetry)
For more new releases, check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
November is Native American Heritage Month! Here are a couple great queer SFF books by Native American authors to add to your TBR this month or any time.
Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction edited by Joshua Whitehead
SFF is pretty firmly rooted in colonialism, from medieval Europe as the default fantasy setting to literally colonizing or being invaded as a go-to plot in sci-fi. These Indigiqueer and Two-Spirit speculative fiction stories take a very different perspective, and I think just the introduction by Joshua Whitehead is worth picking this book up for, though I enjoyed all the stories! Also, there’s an M/M teen romance where one of them is an AI, cyber-engineered, super-intelligent rat, so what are you waiting for?
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
If you’re looking for an expansive high fantasy story that isn’t based on medieval Europe, you should definitely pick up the Between Earth and Sky series, which is inspired by Pre-Columbian Americas and packed full of queer as well as disabled characters. From the starred Kirkus review: “A beautifully crafted setting with complex character dynamics and layers of political intrigue? Perfection.”
As always, if there’s a topic you’d like queer books recommendations for, let me know on Twitter and it might be my next Riot Rec!
All the Links Fit to Click
Out100 2022: LGBTQ+ Literary and Publishing Stars
Life Advice for Book Lovers: Finding Solace in the Sad and Sapphic
Gutter Talk: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Making Queer Comics With the Creators of Blade Maidens
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