Hello from the heat wave! I live in the area of Canada with the mildest weather, which means we are all very delicate flowers, and I am struggling with these record-breaking temperatures. But an air conditioner is supposed to arrive today, so fingers crossed the sleepless overheating nights are over!
Today, I wanted to highlight the charity SAGE, which advocates and provides services for LGBT elders. You can find out more on their website and you can support them on their donation page.
Check out Book Riot’s newest podcast! BookRiot.com co-founder Jeff O’Neal explores the wide bookish world. Interviews, lists, rankings, retrospectives, recommendations, and much more, featuring people who know and love books. Subscribe to First Edition on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your podcatcher of choice.
Bookish Goods
Read Queer Books Bookmark by BookishlyUK
The readers of this newsletter don’t really need reminding, but this Read Queer Books bookmark was too good to miss. $5
New Releases
Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee (M/M YA Romance)
This cover alone is irresistible. A cute queer baking romance? With a corgi sidekick?? Dylan is in a mooncake baking competition for teen chefs when he meets Theo, who is wealthy, handsome, and extremely distracting, especially when he asks Dylan to be his fake date to a wedding. When he brings rich people problems with him, though, Dylan will have to decide what’s more important: the competition that could save his parents’ restaurant, or this fledgling romance?
Miss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary by Toshio Meronek and Miss Major (Trans Memoir)
Miss Major is an icon in queer history, a veteran of the Stonewall Riots who has spent decades fighting for trans rights, as well as starting a needle exchange clinic and organizing for sex workers’ safety. In this memoir, she advises this generation of activists how to handle the obstacles in their way and how to learn from the conversations and strategies of activists who came before.
Dykette by Jenny Fran Davis (Queer Fiction)
Greenland by David Santos Donaldson (Queer Fiction) (Paperback Rerelease)
Concerning My Daughter by Kim Hye-jin, translated by Jamie Chang, and narrated by Michelle H. Lee (Queer Fiction) (Audiobook Rerelease)
Glassworks by Olivia Wolfgang-Smith (Queer Fiction)
Game Misconduct by Ari Baran (M/M Romance)
Roux for Two by Aurora Rey (Cis F/Trans M Foodie Romance)
The Accidental Bride by Jane Walsh (F/F Historical Romance)
A Long Time Dead by Samara Breger (Lesbian Vampire Horror Romance)
Light Carries On by Ray Nadine (Queer Graphic Novel)
Enlightened Transsexual Comix by Sam Szabo (Trans Graphic Novel)
apocrifa by Amber Flame (Queer Poetry)
I am the Most Dangerous Thing by Candace Williams (Queer Poetry)
From Here by Luma Mufleh (Gay Woman Memoir)
A Trans Man Walks Into a Gay Bar: A Journey of Self (and Sexual) Discovery by Harry Nicholas (Gay Trans Guy Memoir)
Ma and Me: A Memoir by Putsata Reang (Queer Memoir) (Paperback Rerelease)
The Yards Between Us: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Football by R.K. Russell (Bisexual Memoir)
The T Guide : Our Trans Experiences and a Celebration of Gender Expression-Man, Woman, Nonbinary, and Beyond by Gigi Gorgeous & Gottmilk with Swan Huntley (Trans Nonfiction)
The DC Book of Pride: A Celebration of DC’s LGBTQIA+ Characters by Jadzia Axelrod (LGBTQ Nonfiction)
For more new releases, check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
In honor of Fake Dates and Mooncakes as well as AAPI Heritage Month, here are two more queer YA romance novels by Asian American authors! I wasn’t able to find any queer romances by Pacific Islander authors, but if you have any recommendations, please let me know.
Café Con Lychee by Emery Lee
Theo and Gabi’s parents have competing restaurants — an Asian American café and a Puerto Rican bakery — which has made them rivals. But when both businesses are threatened by the opening of a new fusion café, they realize they’ll have to work together to fight back, coordinating an underground snacks operation. But as they spend more time together, that rivalry transforms into something else.
Also check out Emery Lee’s Meet Cute Diary for a queer and trans YA fake dating romance!
She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick
Molly is a mixed race, Korean American teen who has started college with a major crush on a girl — but she can’t get the nerve up to talk to her. Alex just got in a major fight with her girlfriend for flirting with every girl she meets. So she has a plan: she’ll help Molly go on a date with her crush and prove that she can be just friends. But things don’t exactly go to plan.
Also check out Alyson Derrick’s Forget Me Not, an F/F YA amnesia romance!
All the Links Fit to Click
Vanity Fair: In Dykette, Jenny Fran Davis Makes Her Contribution to the Lesbian Lexicon
That’s it for me this week! Until next time, you can find me at my sapphic book blog the Lesbrary and (sigh) Twitter. You can also hear me on All the Books or you can read my Book Riot posts.
Happy reading!
Danika