Category: Our Queerest Shelves

Happy Queerentine’s Day!

Post author By Danika Ellis
Post date February 13, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Valentine’s Day! Or, for those who celebrate, Half-Off Chocolate Eve. Today I’ve got a couple of queer manga new releases about romance and heartbreak, and then some Black F/F romances that are perfect to curl up with today.

This newsletter, I wanted to highlight Black Trans Advocacy, which advocates for health, housing, and employment equality for Black trans people. You can find out more about them on their website, and you can support them at their donation page.

Bookish Goods

Pride Hearts Bookmark by SandYBrandPaper

Since it’s Valentine’s Day, I went with this bookmark covered with hearts in pride flag designs! $2

New Releases

the cover of Confessions of a Shy Baker Vol. 1

Confessions of a Shy Baker, Vol. 1 by Masaomi Ito (Gay Manga)

Toshi just started advertising his real estate company as LGBT-friendly, but it comes with the risk of outing himself. he’s willing to take that on to help other queer people, though, and to give his business a boost. He manages his stress through baking with his boyfriend, Gonta. Vol. 2 comes out in May!

The Girl That Can't Get a Girlfriend cover

The Girl That Can’t Get a Girlfriend by Mieri Hiranishi (Lesbian Manga Memoir)

If you, too, loved My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, you’ll want to pick up this new lesbian manga memoir. It follows a butch woman looking for another butch woman to date and getting her heart broken by her first girlfriend.

Maybe, Probably by Amanda Radley (F/F Romance)

Sorcery & Scones by S.R. Meadows (F/F Cozy Fantasy)

Heart, Haunt, Havoc by Freydís Moon (T4T Trans and Nonbinary Horror)

World Running Down by Al Hess (Trans M/M Apocalyptic Sci-Fi)

You’re That Bitch: & Other Cute Lessons About Being Unapologetically Yourself by Bretman Rock (Gay Essays)

Unsafe Words: Queering Consent in the #MeToo Era edited by Shantel Gabrieal Buggs and Trevor Hoppe (Queer Nonfiction)

Between Banat: Queer Arab Critique and Transnational Arab Archives by Mejdulene Bernard Shomal (Queer Nonfiction)

Monologue Woven For You , Vol. 3 by Syu Yasaka (Yuri Manga)

For more new releases, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

Last time, I highlighted some Black M/M romances, so it seemed fitting to give a couple of Black F/F romance novels the spotlight today! What better book to pick up on Valentine’s Day?

D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins

D’Vaughn and Kris are strangers on a reality show with the chance to win $100,000. All they have to do is plan their wedding in six weeks and convince their friends and family that their relationship is real. Oh, and the fake wedding will double as D’Vaughn’s coming out to her mom. There’s no way this could get complicated, right?

That Could Be Enough by Alyssa Cole

Mercy is Eliza Hamilton’s maid, and she has written off the idea of love and romance in her life: it’s not worth the heartbreak. When Andromeda, a dressmaker, shows up in Hamilton Grange, there are immediate sparks. As they get to know each other, they’ll both have to accept the vulnerability that comes with unexpectedly falling in love.

All the Links Fit to Click

“A U.S. state banned my book – yet all I was doing was trying to help people live their lives” — from the author of the Trans Teen Survival Guide

Love is for everyone. Modern romance writers are breaking barriers to show it

a graphic of the cover of Hijab Butch Blues: A Memoir

2023 New Releases: LGBTQ Middle Grade & Picture Books

Friday I’m In Love by Camryn Garrett was reviewed at Autostraddle

This Butch4Butch Manga (The Girl That Can’t Get A Girlfriend) Made Me Feel Heartbroken and Heartfixed

NPR: Hijab Butch Blues challenges stereotypes and upholds activist self-care

The podcast Out in the Bay interviewed Ann Bannon and Monica Nolan about lesbian pulp fiction, including Bannon reading excerpts of her work.

That’s it for me this week! Until next time, you can find me at my sapphic book blog, the Lesbrary. You can also hear me on All the Books or you can read my Book Riot posts.

Happy reading!
Danika

Our Queerest Shelves

Fake Dating, Friend-To-Lovers, and More Romances to Swoon Over

Post author By Danika Ellis
Post date February 8, 2023

Sponsored by

One of the new releases today is a book I read for the All the Book podcast, and never have I picked up a book where my teen self felt more seen. A fat, queer, nerdy main character obsessed with roleplaying her favorite book series with a tight-knit group of online friends? It was a little too relatable.

Looking for a present for Valentines/Galentines/Queerentines? (Okay, I made that last one up, but it should be a thing.) Gift Tailored Book Recommendations. Your giftee will tell our professional book nerds about what they love and what they don’t, what they’re reading goals are, and what they need more of in their bookish life. Then, they sit back while our Bibliologists go to work selecting books just for them. TBR has plans for every budget. Surprise your bookish boo with Tailored Book Recommendations this Valentine’s and visit mytbr.co/gift.

Today I wanted to highlight Black Trans Advocacy, which advocates for health, housing, and employment equality for Black trans people. You can find out more about them on their website, and you can support them at their donation page.

Bookish Goods

June Jordan Art Print by PanAfricanGifts

June Jordan was a Black bisexual poet who was a contemporary of Audre Lorde. You can read her work in The Essential June Jordan, if you’re not familiar. I also have to point out this gorgeous Marsha P Johnson print from the same artist! $25+

New Releases

Out of Character by Jenna Miller (Sapphic YA Contemporary)

I talked about this on the All the Books podcast, if you want to hear my full thoughts, but suffice to say this was a painfully relatable read! Cass escapes her parents’ fighting by roleplaying her favorite book with friends online. When her mom leaves for a different state, Cass has trouble surfacing into the real world at all — even as she navigates having a new girlfriend.

nothing burns as bright as you book cover

Nothing Burns as Bright as You by Ashley Woodfolk (Sapphic YA Contemporary) (Paperback Rerelease)

In case you missed it, this came out in April 2022 to a ton of praise, including five starred reviews, and it’s now available in paperback! It’s a story starring two Black teenage girls, and it examines “queer love, grief, and the complexity of female friendship.” These two characters love each other passionately and obsessively, leading to the fire that begins the novel. We then backtrack to see how they got there.

The Long Run by James Acker (M/M YA Contemporary)

Survive the Dome by Kosoko Jackson (Queer YA Dystopia) (Paperback Rerelease)

The Severed Thread (The Bone Spindle #2) by Leslie Vedder (Sapphic YA Fantasy)

No One Owns the Colors by Gianna Davy, illustrated by Brenda Rodriguez (Gender Creative Picture Book)

For more new releases, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

Since I picked two sapphic books to spotlight in new releases, I thought I’d spotlight a couple of M/M romances for Riot Recs. These are both by Black authors and have Black main characters. I feel like I’ve recommended Kosoko Jackson’s books a lot recently, but I’m So (Not) Over You would be another great pick here!

Busy Ain’t the Half of It by Frederick Smith and Chaz Lamar Cruz

This follows uncle and nephew Elijah and Justin. They’re both queer Black men who are having difficulty juggling their hectic lives and romance — Elijah is going through a rough patch with his boyfriend, Zaire, and Justin is tiptoeing into the dating scene as a single father with teenage twins. In alternating chapters, we follow them as they both invite more love into their lives. This promises to be a story that centers Black joy.

Learned Reactions by Jayce Ellis

This book is pulling at my heartstrings from the description alone. Carlton raised his nephew, and he’s just starting to get his life back after sending him off to college. But then his niece shows up in need of a home. One more catch: social services thinks a home with a couple is a better placement than a single person. So Carlton starts a fake relationship with his best friend, Deion, until the adoption is finalized. Meanwhile, Deion has been secretly in love with Carlton for years. This is about to get very complicated. (Also, that cover!! So sweet!)

All the Links Fit to Click

Maggie Millner’s Debut Novel-in-Verse Couplets Is Sweet, Sad, Sexy—And Undeniably Queer

Lamya H’s Debut Memoir Hijab Butch Blues Is a Testament to the Powers of Faith and Hope

That’s it for me this week! Until next time, you can find me at my sapphic book blog, the Lesbrary. You can also hear me on All the Books or you can read my Book Riot posts.

Happy reading!
Danika

Our Queerest Shelves

Queer Black Audiobooks with Black Narrators

Post author By Danika Ellis
Post date February 6, 2023

Sponsored by

In this round of riot recs, I get a little carried away with bonus recommendations…so heads up for that. I picked this topic earlier, but now that Viola Davis has gained EGOT status through getting a Grammy for her audiobook narration, it seems like an even better time to celebrate Black audiobook narrators!

This week, I want to spotlight The Okra Project. They offer “free, delicious, and nutritious meals to Black Trans people experiencing food insecurity.” You can help out at their donate page.

Bookish Goods

a photo of a framed poster of the I Prefer Girl lesbian pulp fiction cover

I Prefer Girls Lesbian Pulp Cover Poster by Omnialisse

I can’t get enough of the kitschy charm of lesbian pulp fiction covers. Maybe you, too, want any person who walks into your living room to know what you’re about. In my defense, this is relevant to a new release in this newsletter! $23+

New Releases

Endpapers by Jennifer Savran Kelly (Genderqueer Literary Fiction)

This is definitely in the running for the fastest I’ve added a book to my TBR after reading the description. Like most readers, I can’t resist a book about books, and if you make it queer? I’m powerless. This follows a bookbinder in the early 2000s who is questioning her gender (I’m using the pronouns used in the book description) when she finds a love letter written on the inside cover of lesbian pulp book and decides to try to track down the writer of the note. Have I mentioned I collection lesbian pulp?? I need this book in my hands ASAP.

Choosing Family: A Memoir of Queer Motherhood and Black Resistance by Francesca Royster (Queer Memoir)

This is a memoir about Francesca and her wife adopting a child while in their forties and fifties. Francesca and their daughter are Black, and her wife is white. She weaves in theory from other Black writers, including Audre Lorde, to show how Black families have a long history of “queering” families. It’s an examination of the complexities of family, adoption, and parenthood through a Black, queer, feminist perspective.

Up with the Sun by Thomas Mallon (Queer Historical Fiction)

Mimosa by Archie Bongiovanni (Queer Graphic Novel)

Hijab Butch Blues: A Memoir by Lamya H (Queer Memoir)

For more new releases, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

This week, I’m returning to the Read Harder challenge, but I’m skipping over #6, Finish a book you’ve DNFed, because that’s your business. I don’t know what you DNFed. Give The Well of Loneliness another shot, or that giant queer literary criticism book you stopped in the middle of about five years ago but still stubbornly have sitting on your Goodreads “Currently Reading” shelf like you’re going to pick it up again any day now…as a completely hypothetical example.

Instead, I’m giving recs for #7: “Listen to an audiobook performed by a person of color of a book written by an author of color.” Since it’s Our Queerest Shelves, I’m going with queer books, of course. And since it’s Black History Month, I’ve stuck with Black authors and narrators.

the audiobook cover of How We Fight for Our Lives

How We Fight for Our Lives by Saeed Jones, narrated by the author

This is a memoir about growing up a queer Black boy in the Southern U.S. It’s told in a series of vignettes about the moments that led up to becoming the person he is today. Saeed Jones is a poet, so this is a beautiful and powerful read/listen. How We Fight For Our Lives won the Kirkus Prize and the Stonewall Book Award.

A couple other queer Black nonfiction books narrated by Black authors you might also want to check out are Crossfire: A Litany for Survival by Staceyann Chin, narrated by the author, and The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin, narrated by Jesse L. Martin.

Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole, narrated by Karen Chilton

Don’t forget to make space for Black joy this BHM. One option is picking up queer Black romances! I love this second chance romance novella about an impromptu date exploring New York City.

Another option is the asexual romance The Romantic Agenda by Claire Kann, narrated by Adrienne Walker.

Okay, I know I already gave some bonus recs, but just a few more that fit to add to your listening queue: The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin, narrated by Robin Miles; Kings of B’more by R. Eric Thomas, narrated by Torian Brackett; and You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson, narrated by Alaska Jackson — to name a few!

All the Links Fit to Click

Butch Memoirs To Check Out in Honor of Hijab Butch Blues

Gutter Talk: Returning to the Comics That Understand Me

Check out the cover reveal for Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake!

I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane was reviewed at Autostraddle

That’s it for me this week! Until next time, you can find me at my sapphic book blog, the Lesbrary. You can also hear me on All the Books or you can read my Book Riot posts.

Happy reading!
Danika

Our Queerest Shelves

Learn About Our Queer Black Elders This Black History Month

Post author By Danika Ellis
Post date February 1, 2023

Sponsored by

It’s Black History Month, and while it’s always a good time to celebrate queer Black lit, I’ll be showcasing queer Black authors even more this month, starting with some biographies of queer Black historical figures.

How To Fight Book Bans and Censorship cover

How To Fight Book Bans and Censorship by Book Riot

Do you want to fight against books and censorship? Queer and BIPOC books are being taken out of schools at an unprecedented rate, and if you’re reading this, you know how important representation is, especially for kids. We just released a new book to show you how to help: How to Fight Book Bans and Censorship. It includes articles from myself, Kelly Jensen, and other Book Rioters, updated and with additional resources.

Today, I wanted to highlight the Masha P. Johnson Institute, which fights for the rights of Black trans people. You can find out more on their website, and you can help at their donation page.

Bookish Goods

Marsha P Johnson Sticker by BrownArteDesign

Marsha P Johnson is a crucial name in the history of queer liberation: she fought at the Stonewall Riots and was an AIDS activist with ACT UP. This sticker celebrates her legacy. $5

New Releases

cover of The Black Queen by Jumata Emill; illustration of the upper half of a young Black woman's face, with blood running from her hairline

The Black Queen by Jumata Emill (Queer YA Thriller)

Duchess is a queer Black girl whose best friend was just killed. Nova was about to their school’s first Black homecoming queen when she was murdered — and Duchess is pretty sure she knows who did it. Tinsley is the rich and pretty white girl who felt entitled to the crown. After all, her family had carried it many times before. Now Duchess has to prove that Tinsley wanted it badly enough to kill.

then everything happens at once book cover

Then Everything Happens at Once by M-E Girard (Bisexual YA Contemporary)

After years of having a crush on her best friend Freddie, Baylee finally has a chance with him. But there’s one catch: she just started falling for a girl she met online, Alex. Then quarantine shuts everything down and makes things even more complicated. I’m always happy to see more fat queer representation in YA (and in general)! This is from the author of Girl Mans Up.

P.S. I Miss You by Jen Petro-Roy (Sapphic Middle Grade Contemporary) (Paperback Release)

For more new releases, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

A Song for the Unsung by Carole Boston Weatherford and Rob Sanders, and illustrated by Byron McCray

I heard about this book from the Rainbow Book List, which is the ALA’s list of the top 10 queer books for kids of 2022! It’s a picture book biography of Bayard Rustin, the gay Black man who organized the 1963 March On Washington!

Miss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary by Toshio Meronek and Miss Major

Here’s one to preorder! Miss Major Griffin-Gracy is a Black trans woman who is one of the biggest names in queer history. She was at the Stonewall uprising, was Executive Director for the Transgender Gender Variant Intersex Justice Project, participated in drag balls, founded a needle exchange clinic, and so much more. In this book, out in May, she shares her thoughts on collective liberation today.

All the Links Fit to Click

Reads Rainbow Awards 2022: The Results

Books Like ‘The Last of Us’: If You Like the HBO Adaptation, You’ll Love These LGBTQ+ Books

10 Queer Romance Novels To Read For Valentine’s Day

Learning From Queer Libraries and Archives in a Time of Erasure

Queer Archivists and Library Workers on Archival Materials That Meant a Lot to Them

Queer Naija Lit: The Lives of Great Men Interrogates the Measures of Masculinity and Greatness

All Storytelling Is Nonbinary: An Interview With Jennifer Savran Kelly, author of Endpapers

That’s it for me this week! Until next time, you can find me at my sapphic book blog, the Lesbrary. You can also hear me on All the Books or you can read my Book Riot posts.

Happy reading!
Danika

Our Queerest Shelves

Magical Girls, Magical Boys, and Magical Scouts of All Genders

Post author By Danika Ellis
Post date January 30, 2023

Sponsored by

The Bookish Goods today sent me down a rabbit hole (appropriate) of queer Sailor Moon merch, and someone needs to convince me I don’t need these pins of Sailor Scouts at Pride, because currently I am losing this battle…

Today, I wanted to highlight the Trans Lifeline, a crisis hotline for trans people that also gives microgrants to help trans people change legal documentation to reflect their gender. You can find out more at their website, and you can help out at their donation page.

Bookish Goods

a patch with a Sailor Moon transformation compact with a trans pride on the background. It's on a leather jacket.

Trans Pride Sailor Moon Transformation Compact Patch by LauraKaneDesigns

Later in the newsletter, I talk about a trans take on the “magical girl” genre, so this seemed like a perfect fit, but you can get this design with a number of pride flags! $12

New Releases

The Relatives by Camilla Gibb (Sapphic Fiction)

One of the reasons I love doing this newsletter is that I discover queer new releases in my research that I hadn’t stumbled on otherwise. For example, I had no idea until today that Camilla Gibb, author of Sweetness in the Belly and other acclaimed works, has a queer book out this week! It follows Tess and Emily after their separation, while they are fighting for ownership of the embryos they intended to raise together. Meanwhile, their anonymous sperm donor is being held captive in Somalia. It’s a story about what family means today.

Sorry, Bro by Taleen Voskuni (F/F Romance)

When Nareh’s boyfriend proposes in a bar full of drunk tech bros and the sound of cowbells, she instantly knows this is not the life she wants. Her mom has a solution: a list of suitable Armenian men. With her wingwoman, Erebuni, she goes on a series of dates while exploring her Armenian culture…but why is she finding it so much more enjoyable to spend time with Erebuni than her actual dates? Read an excerpt on Book Riot!

Behind the Scenes by Karelia Stetz-Waters (F/F Romance)

The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe (Queer Sci-Fi) (Paperback Release)

Màgòdiz by Gabe Calderón, narrated by Everett Rain (Two-Spirit Dystopia) (Audiobook Release)

I’m in Love with the Villainess (Manga) Vol. 4 by Inori and Aonoshimo (Yuri Manga)

Yuri Espoir, Volume 3 by Mai Naoi (Yuri Manga)

Auto/Body by Vickie Vértiz (Queer Poetry)

Black on Black by Daniel Black (Queer Essays)

Gayface by Ash Kolodner (LGBTQ Photography)

United Queerdom: From the Legends of the Gay Liberation Front to the Queers of Tomorrow by Dan Glass (Queer Nonfiction)

For more new releases, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

I’ve returned to Read Harder 2023 again, and task #5 is “Read a completed webcomic.” There are so many great queer webcomics out there, but here are a couple I’ve read and loved that are also available in book form.

Always Human by Ari North

This is a sapphic sci-fi story set in a world where most people modify their appearances. When Sunati meets Austen, she’s intrigued by her lack of modifications. As they get to know each other, she learns that Austen has an immune condition that makes her unable to use mods. As they fall for each other, Sunati unlearns her assumptions and Austen learns to let her in.

Magical Boy by The Kao

Max comes from a long line of Magical Girls and is tasked with saving the world, but his number one complaint n this scenario is that he’s a trans guy, and he doesn’t appreciate these Magical Girl transformations. Now on top of coming out, he and his friends will have to fight evil to save humanity. This story is complete in two volumes, and it’s perfect for fans of Magical Girl manga and anime, like Sailor Moon.

All the Links Fit to Click

Telling the Truth About Our Lives Is How We Beat Anti-LGBTQ Bills in 2023

Reads Rainbow: 2023 Sapphic Releases (January to June)

Looking for queer video games? Visual novels should be your first stop

Smithsonian Magazine: Colette Revolutionized French Literature With Her Depictions of Female Desire

Global Yuri Fandom Survey Results

Quiz: Which Queer Tarot Deck Should You Try?

Publishers Weekly had a Q&A with Tess Sharpe about 6 Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did).

After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz was reviewed at The New York Times

Lesbian Death by Mairead Sullivan was reviewed at Autostraddle

That’s it for me this week! Until next time, you can find me at my sapphic book blog, the Lesbrary. You can also hear me on All the Books or you can read my Book Riot posts.

Happy reading!
Danika

Our Queerest Shelves

How To Fight Book Bans

Post author By Danika Ellis
Post date January 25, 2023

Sponsored by

I know I seem to talk about book bans every other newsletter, but that’s for good reason: it’s the biggest story in queer books, and it’s only — unbelievably — ramping up after years of increased challenges. But we can fight back, and I include some resources later.

Are you looking for the perfect Valentine’s gift for your bookish boo? Gift Tailored Book Recommendations. Your boo will tell our professional book nerds about what they love and what they don’t, what they’re reading goals are, and what they need more of in their bookish life. Then, they sit back while our Bibliologists go to work selecting books just for them. TBR has plans for every budget. Surprise your bookish boo with Tailored Book Recommendations this Valentine’s and visit mytbr.co/gift.

Today, I wanted to highlight the charity Hope In a Box. They supply rural public schools with “curated books with LGBTQ characters, detailed curriculum for these books tied to Common Core State Standards, and extensive training and mentorship on how to cultivate an inclusive classroom.” You can find out more at the Hope In a Box website and support them by donating. You can also buy a box outright for your own classroom.

Bookish Goods

a photo of a shirt with an illustration of a dragon on a hoard of rainbow books and the next We Need LGBTQIA Books

We Need LGBTQIA+ Books by We Need Diverse Books

I love everything about this shirt. Dragon? Yes. Rainbow books? Yes. The proceeds going to support LGBTQIA+ kids and teens? Yes! Available in a variety of styles. $32

New Releases

The Minus-One Club by Kekla Magoon Queer YA Contemporary

After Kermit lost his sister in a car accident, he finds an invitation in his locker signed “-1”. That’s when he discovers the Minus-One Club, made up of other students who have lost someone they loved. His crush, Matt — the only out gay guy at school — is also there, and they quickly bond. But grief isn’t easy, not for Matt or Kermit or any of the Minus-One Club members, and Kermit will have to help them face their emotions together before it tears them apart.

the cover of 6 Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did)

6 Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did) by Tess Sharpe (Sapphic YA Contemporary)

Don’t be fooled by the cute cover and the fanfic-inspired title: I have it on good authority that this YA romance has some emotionally devastating moments. I loved Sharpe’s previous YA title, The Girls I’ve Been, so I’m excited to dive into this one and get my heart broken.

The Buried and the Bound by Rochelle Hassan (Bisexual YA Fantasy)

Love without Bounds: An IntersectionAllies Book about Families by Chelsea Johnson, LaToya Council, Carolyn Choi, and Ashley Seil Smith (LGBTQ Picture Book)

For more new releases, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

The fourth task in the 2023 Read Harder Challenge is “Read a book that’s been challenged recently in your school district/library OR read one of the most-challenged/banned books of the year by a queer and/or BIPOC author.” Since LGBTQ books are some of the most commonly challenged, it sadly will be pretty easy to find a queer book to fit this challenge.

Don’t just stop at reading banned books, though: that won’t get them back on the shelf or prevent them from being pulled off in the first place. Check out our anti-censorship tool kit to learn how to fight book bans, and sign up for the Literary Activism newsletter to stay informed.

All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson

This was the second-most challenged book of last year, behind Gender Queer. It’s a beautiful memoir by a nonbinary author sharing what they’ve learned growing up Black and queer. Johnson provides advice for kids struggling with the same things they did when they were young, and it’s such a valuable story that needs be available for the young people who could most benefit from reading it.

a man in overalls standing on a ladder, trimming a giant green hedge

Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison

This adult novel is a coming-of-age story about a young gay Mexican-American man. In 2019, it won one of the American Library Association’s Alex Awards for “adult books that appeal to teen audiences.” This is a book that’s been wildly misrepresented in book challenges, inventing or misreading scenes in the book. Read it yourself and be the judge.

All the Links Fit to Click

Librarians threatened with jail if they stock LGBTQ+ books in North Dakota

Queer Your Fears With 15 of the Best LGBTQIA Horror Books

‘No Straight Lines’ unearths the hidden history of queer comic books

After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz was reviewed at The New York Times

That’s it for me this week! Until next time, you can find me at my sapphic book blog, the Lesbrary. You can also hear me on All the Books or you can read my Book Riot posts.

Happy reading!
Danika

Our Queerest Shelves

Here. Queer. Used To It?

Post author By Danika Ellis
Post date January 23, 2023

Sponsored by

After a brief departure, I’m back to giving queer recs for the Read Harder challenge! I always loving queering the prompts. This time, we’re looking at books about queer activism. We’re here, we’re queer, but some people seem to still not be used to it…

Are you looking for the perfect Valentine’s gift? Gift Tailored Book Recommendations. Your boo will tell our professional book nerds about what they love and what they don’t, what they’re reading goals are, and what they need more of in their bookish life — and they’re always happy to recommend more queer books! Then, they sit back while our Bibliologists go to work selecting books just for them. TBR has plans for every budget. Surprise your bookish boo with Tailored Book Recommendations this Valentine’s and visit mytbr.co/gift.

This week, I want to highlight OutRight Action International, an organization that fights for LGBTQ rights around the world. You can find out more about them at their website, and you can help at their donation page.

Bookish Goods

a photo of a sweatshirt with a trans flag and the text Protect Trans Kids

Protect Trans Kids Sweatshirt by MegEmikoArt

With the amount of laws recently passed targeting trans kids, there’s never been a better time to let them know you’ve got their back. 50% of proceeds from sales are donated to Trans Justice Funding Project. $36

New Releases

I’ve split new releases into adult on Tuesday and YA/children’s on Thursday — though the rest of the newsletter will always include both — but I’ve run into a problem, which is that this list is less diverse than usual, since more authors of color are being published in YA than in adult books. This is a major problem in publishing, and queer books are no exception.

After Sappho: A Novel by Selby Wynn Schwartz (Sapphic Fiction)

A novel getting longlisted for the Booker prize before its release date is certainly one way to pique my interest! This is told in a series of vignettes from the lives of women — Rina Faccio in 1892, Romaine Brooks in 1902, and Virginia Woolf in 1923 — all of whom find inspiration in Sappho as they forge their own queer identities.

Fieldwork: A Forager’s Memoir by Iliana Regan (Queer Memoir)

Iliana Regan is a Michelin star-winning chef, and in this memoir, she explores her lifelong relationship with foraging, alongside discussing her complicated relationship to her gender.

This Unlikely Soil by Andrea Routley (Queer Women Short Stories)

The World and All That It Holds by Aleksandar Hemon (Queer Historical Fiction)

For more new releases, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

I’ve dipped back into the Read Harder 2023 challenge this Riot Recs, and task #3 is: Read a book about activism. Almost every book about queer history is also a book about activism, to be honest, because it’s always been a fight to just be recognized. There are so many incredible books I could choose, but I wanted to highlight a couple you might not have heard of.

the cover of It Was Vulgar And It Was Beautiful

It Was Vulgar and It Was Beautiful: How AIDS Activists Used Art to Fight a Pandemic by Jack Lowery

I just started reading this one, and I am fascinated. It discusses how the art collective Gran Fury helped create branding and propaganda to drum up support for the fight against AIDS, and how these images helped capture media attention and therefore sway the public. This has some great practical takeaways for organizing today.

Crip Kinship: The Disability Justice & Art Activism of Sins Invalid by Shayda Kafai

Disability Justice is a movement that is led by queer and trans disabled people of color. This book looks at the creation of Sins Invalid, an art collective that puts on performances by disabled people to represent their own experiences. This is a valuable glimpse into the challenges and rewards of organizing, especially from a place of accessibility and inclusion for all bodyminds.

All the Links Fit to Click

Do a queer literature word search!

GLAAD announced their GLAAD Media Awards 2023 nominations list, including Outstanding Comic Book, Outstanding Original Graphic Novel/Anthology, and Outstanding Magazine.

6 Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did) was reviewed at Autostraddle.

That’s it for me this week! Until next time, you can find me at my sapphic book blog, the Lesbrary. You can also hear me on All the Books or you can read my Book Riot posts.

Happy reading!
Danika

Our Queerest Shelves

Vintage Gay

Post author By Danika Ellis
Post date January 18, 2023

Sponsored by

Happy Thursday, friends! I’m currently making my way through The Black Period by Hafizah Augustus Geter, which is a queer memoir that really embodies the personal as political, weaving together her story with the legacy of racism, colonialism, and other oppressions that converge on her body. It’s beautifully written and challenging in the best way.

In today’s Riot Recs, I answer a reader’s request for books about older gay and bi men! Feel free to let me know if there other topics you’d like to see in future Riot Recs.

Speaking of queer elders, LGBTQ people often face discrimination in care communities and senior housing, forcing some back into the closet. The queer community isn’t free until all of us are free, including our elders. SAGE USA offers advocacy and resources for LGBTQ+ elders, and you can help at their donation page.

Bookish Goods

the campy, pulp cover of Gay on the Range

Gay on the Range Canvas Print by CheeseBoyProducts

I often feature lesbian pulp in Bookish Goods, because I have my own collection and love the campiness. But, of course, there were also gay pulps! This one is particularly campy, and you can get it as a canvas print. $27

New Releases

As You Walk On By by Julian Winters (Queer YA Contemporary)

This one promises to be The Breakfast Club meets Can’t Hardly Wait! When Theo’s promposal at a party goes embarrassingly wrong, he hides in a bedroom, but soon he’s visited by a cast of characters who have their own reasons for wanting to hide, and they turn out to have a lot in common.

the cover of While Another Dimension of Us

While Another Dimension of Us by Mike Albo (Queer YA Speculative Fiction)

Funnily enough, this is also being compared to The Breakfast Club, but The Breakfast Club meets Stranger Things! Tommy is a teenager in 1986, in love with his best friend, Renaldo. Pris is a teen from 2044 who begins having dreams about Tommy. Then, the two meet on the astral plane, and have to work together to save Renaldo from a demon. Just like in The Breakfast Club!

Tears in the Water by Margherita Scialla (Pansexual, Gender-Questioning YA Contemporary)

They, He, She: Words for You and Me by Andy Passchier (Trans-inclusive Board Books)

Adachi and Shimamura (Light Novel) Vol. 10 by Hitoma Iruma, Non, and raemz (Yuri YA Light Novel)

For more new releases, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

I got an email from an OQS reader asking for recommendations of books about older gay or bisexual men, so here are a few! I was disappointed by how few novels I could find with queer men over 50, especially since I can think of a few queer women ones off the top of my head. I hope that we see more published soon, because it’s not just teens and twenty-somethings that are queer!

A related title you might also want to check out is the photography book Legends of Drag: Queens of a Certain Age by Devin Antheus and Harry James Hanson.

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

This is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, so I feel a little silly recommending it, but it does have a gay main character who turns 50 over the course of the novel! Arthur Less is a has-been novelist who receives an invitation to an ex-boyfriend’s wedding. To avoid it, he spontaneously accepts every invitation he’s gotten as an author, taking him on a trip around the world, where he might just bump into a new love.

Unprotected: A Memoir by Billy Porter

This is the story of how Billy Porter went from being an abused, bullied Black gay boy in Pittsburgh to an Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award winner and an icon now that he is in his 50s.

Another memoir that fits in this category is I Was Better Last Night: A Memoir by Harvey Fierstein.

All the Links Fit to Click

Amid record book bans, queer writers come out swinging in 2023

Quiz: What Queer Book in Translation Should You Read?

Autostraddle: This Is “-Ussy”: Why I’m Excited About and Wary of Mainstream Culture’s Embrace of Queer Language

INTERVIEW: Amy Chu and Soo Lee tease the mystery that is Carmilla: The First Vampire

Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt was reviewed at Autostraddle: “In a time when so many popular examples of queer art have their edges sanded down, Alison Rumfitt’s Tell Me I’m Worthless is all edge.”

I Keep My Exoskeletons To Myself by Marisa Crane was reviewed at Them: This Dystopian Sci-Fi Novel Puts a Queer Twist on 1984 and The Scarlet Letter.

That’s it for me this week! Until next time, you can find me at my sapphic book blog, the Lesbrary. You can also hear me on All the Books or you can read my Book Riot posts.

Happy reading!
Danika

Our Queerest Shelves

It’s Never Too Late to Throw a Coming Out Party

Post author By Danika Ellis
Post date January 16, 2023

Sponsored by

Welcome to the first Tuesday Our Queerest Shelves newsletter! I’m so excited to get to write twice as many of these. Today I took a break from recommendations of queer books to complete the Read Harder challenge with in order to shout out a new release I forgot last week, but more of those recs will be coming along shortly!

Speaking of queer books, today let’s help some teachers and librarians get queer books on the shelves for students who need them. Here are a few Donors Choose projects that would appreciate you tossing them some money as well as social media shares:

LGBTQ books: Bancroft Elementary School in Washington, D.C.
Rainbow flags and pins: Global Learning Collaborative in New York, NY

LGBTQ books: Glassbrook Elementary School in Hayward, CA

Bookish Goods

a photo of someone wearing a shirt that says Gay for Books in a repeating pattern

Gay for Books shirt by heyunclekate

This design is printed on a thrifted shirt, making it an eco-friendly and stylish choice. There are a couple of other listings with this same design. $30

New Releases

Cover of I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane

I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane (Queer Speculative Fiction)

This is one of those books that I could have sworn came out earlier, because I’ve been hearing so much about it for so long. In this dystopian U.S., criminals are assigned a second (then third, fourth, etc) shadow, creating an underclass of Shadesters. Kris’s wife died in childbirth, and now she is struggling to raise a baby as a single, grieving mother — with a second shadow.

Is Love the Answer? by Uta Isaki (Asexual/Aromantic Manga)

Chika spent her high school years feeling like an outsider because she had no interest in dating. Then, in college, she discovers the labels “asexual” and “aromantic”, along with a community that show her that there’s nothing with her.

The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis (Queer Fiction)

The Words That Remain by Stênio Gardel, translated by Bruna Dantas Lobato (Gay Fiction)

What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall (Bisexual Thriller)

Home by Cailean Steed (Queer Thriller)

Glitterland by Alexis Hall (M/M Romance)

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner (Sapphic Fantasy)

Homecoming by Kaitlin Chan (Graphic Novel)

I Want to Be a Wall, Vol. 2 by Honami Shirono (Asexual Manga)

Barbarities, Vol. 1 by Tsuta Suzuki (BL Manga)

Bisexual Men Exist: A Handbook for Bisexual, Pansexual and M-Spec Men by Vaneet Mehta (Bisexual Nonfiction)

Are We Free Yet?: The Black Queer Guide to Divorcing America by Tina Strawn (Queer Nonfiction)

For more new releases, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

I realized that I somehow forgot to include one of my most-anticipated new releases last week: Friday I’m in Love by Camryn Garrett! I mean, just look at that cover. To make up for it, I’m also recommending a Camryn Garrett backlist title I loved — which is why I’m so excited to pick up her new one!

Friday I’m in Love by Camryn Garrett

Mahalia is jealous of some of her friends’ big Sweet 16 parties. She’s already turned 16, but she has another idea: she’s going to throw a giant coming out party, complete with a rainbow gown and an invite to her crush, Siobhan. And if it means taking on a part-time job, well, she’s sure she can juggle school, work, and planning an extravagant party…

Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett

This follows Simone, who has been HIV positive since birth. She manages it with medication, but stigma pushed her from her old school, and now she keeps it a secret. Just as she built a friendship group, took on a leadership position in the drama department, and started to believe her crush might like her back, she starts getting blackmail notes. Simone has two dads, her best friends are both queer, and she comes out as bisexual over the course of the book, initially feeling insecure because she has a preference for guys. This was a beautiful read, and I especially love the queer community that surrounds Simone.

All the Links Fit to Click

Quiz: What Queer Book in Translation Should You Read?

Meet the historian who is driving a bus full of banned queer books across the U.S.

That’s it for me this week! Until next time, you can find me at my sapphic book blog, the Lesbrary. You can also hear me on All the Books or you can read my Book Riot posts.

Happy reading!
Danika

Our Queerest Shelves

Let Your Favorite Queer Authors Recommend Your Next Read

Post author By Danika Ellis
Post date January 11, 2023

Sponsored by

Hello, friends! 2023 hasn’t been off to a good start for me, but queer books are always a balm. Snuggle up with your furry reading partner a little extra for me this week.

Don’t forget to check out Read Harder 2023! I’m going to be giving some queer recommendations for each task, but sign up for the newsletter at the link to get even more recs in your inbox.

This week, I wanted to highlight the charity Rainbow Railroad, which helps LGBTQI+ people escape state-sanctioned violence and oppression around the world. You can find out more about about them on their website, and you can help them continue this work on their donation page.

Bookish Goods

a photo of a Satan Was a Lesbian screenprint sweashirt

Satan Was A Lesbian! Sweatshirt

Fun fact: I have a canvas print of the lesbian pulp book Satan Was a Lesbian in my living room. You can get this one-of-a-kind sweatshirt for $40.

New Releases

The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai (Sapphic Fantasy)

Nehal just wants an education to hone her waterweaving and put her power to use on the battlefield. Instead, she’s married off to a wealthy man, Nico, who is in love with a bookseller named Giorgina. Giorgina is a waterweaver involved with the radical women’s activist group Daughters of Izdihar, and soon she and Nehal find they have a lot in common. This is the first in a duology with bisexual and lesbian representation.

A Tale of Two Princes by Eric Geron (Gay YA Romance)

Edward is prince of Canada (roll with it) and unsure how to come out of the closet with the spotlight on him. Things just get more complicated when he finds out he was separated at birth from his twin, Billy, who’s now an out-and-proud regular teenager in Montana. This is supposed to be The Princess Diaries meets Parent Trap!

Red Clay Suzie by Jeffrey Dale Lofton (Gay Fiction)

Love and Lattes by Karis Walsh (F/F Romance) (this is set at a cat café!!)

Brighter Than the Moon by David Valdes (Queer Guy YA Contemporary)

For more new releases, check out our New Books newsletter!

Riot Recommendations

Challenge #2 of Read Harder 2023 is “Read one of your favorite author’s favorite books.” You can use a few different options to get this information, including just googling authors’ favorite books — if they’ve been interviewed a lot, or they have their own blog, it’s a good bet you’ll bring them up. If not, you can look at the books they’ve blurbed! That’s what I did with these picks. If you can’t find any info, you can also try asking on social media, but first check that they haven’t already answered so we don’t flood people’s mentions!

For this Riot Recs, I picked a couple of queer books recommended by some of my favorite queer authors.

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror by Daniel M. Lavery, recommended by Carmen Maria Machado

I absolutely loved Her Body and Other Parties as well as In the Dream House, so I definitely want to check out these short stories — including queer stories — that Machado blurbed: “Dear Reader: It would, truthfully, be simplest to call the stories in The Merry Spinster ‘retellings,’ but that word does not adequately capture their dark alchemy. Daniel M. Lavery has created a Frankenstein’s monster of familiar narratives . . . [that swings] between Terry Pratchett’s satirical jocularity and Angela Carter’s sinister, shrewd storytelling, and the result is gorgeous, unsettling, splenic, cruel, and wickedly smart. I’ve never read anything quite like them, and I bet, Dear Reader, that you haven’t either.”

Cover of The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis

Good Luck Girls by by Charlotte Nicole Davis, recommended by Mark Oshiro

I love Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro, and this sapphic dystopia is one they recommend: “The Good Luck Girls plays in familiarity, but never feels familiar. I loved how frequently I was shocked, surprised, and delighted by this book, its incredible (and mega queer!) cast of characters, and the effortless way Davis unfolds a sprawling and at times frightening story. An ambitious, thoughtful debut that’ll leave you wanting more.”

All the Links Fit to Click

Netflix is adapting Adam Silvera’s They Both Die at the End

54 Queer and Feminist Books Coming Out Winter 2023

20 Sapphic Books To Read In 2023

TBRainbow Alert: 2023 MG and YA Starring QTBIPoC

Eight New Queer Indigenous Books

Everybody’s Gay! Favorite Queer Stories on Audio

You can vote in the Reads Rainbow Awards 2022 shortlists!

Friday I’m in Love is the Joyous Black Queer Rom-Com You Need Right Now

In a Year Full of Great Sapphic Holiday Romances, Kiss Her Once for Me Stood Out

Maia Kobabe was interviewed on NPR about eir book Gender Queer and book banning.

Crow Girl: Indigiqueer graphic novel focuses on “glimmering moments of joy and hope”

I put my lesbian pulp fiction collection on display in my office a few weeks ago. I especially like the The Sex Between / The Path Between / The Twisted Path section.

That’s it for me this week! Until next time, you can find me at my sapphic book blog, the Lesbrary. You can also hear me on All the Books or you can read my Book Riot posts.

Happy reading!
Danika