#Pride month reads

[yuriskies]

Can't recommend the Otherside Picnic novels enough as a Pride Month read. I could write paragraphs about how good the romance is, the humor of its narrator accidentally casting sanity damage on the people around her, its handling of family trauma and the downstream effects on relationships, or its brilliant use of ghost stories and cognitive science fiction to really take apart and understand queerness, but honestly it's best just experienced for yourself. It all comes together in the most beautiful and ethereal way, and I don't think you will regret the effort at all.

[thesarahshay]

Guys will be like "I know a place" and then take you to Atlantis! the Atlantis of Plato, that continent denied by Origen and Humbolt, who placed its disappearance amongst the legendary tales. The region thus engulfed was beyond Europe, Asia, and Lybia, beyond the columns of Hercules, where those powerful people, the Atlantides, lived, against whom the first wars of ancient Greeks were waged.

[lilyreadslilywrites]

sapphic summer read recs - my ebooks

Royalties of which go to gaza, transgender youth charities & women's charties

Fictional account of what happned in the magdalene laundries in Ireland

Sapphic retelling of the little mermaid

Sapphic story of vampire finding her human lover everytime she reincarnates

[lakecountylibrary]

Pride Month Read & To-Read

Two great Pride Month reads Kate recommends:

Loveless by Alice Oseman (aro/ace rep)

Georgia has parents who are still in love, two sets of grandparents that are still together, and a brother who married his girlfriend. But at eighteen she has never even kissed someone (not even her lesbian best friend, Felipa) or particularly even wanted to. In college she comes to understand herself as asexual/aromantic, and tries to capture the part of her identity that has always eluded her.

Destination Unknown by Bill Konigsburg (gay rep)

1987, New York City. C.J. isn't just out-- he's completely out there, and Micah can't help but be both attracted to and afraid of someone who travels so loudly and proudly through the night. As their lives become more and more entangled in the AIDS epidemic that's laying waste to their community, whatever Micah and C.J. have between them will be a bond that will determine the course of their futures.

And two (probably) great Pride Month reads Kate is looking forward to:

Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli (lesbian rep)

Imogen Scott maybe be hopelessly heterosexual, but while visiting her newly out best friend Lili at college, any support Lili needs, Imogen's all in. Even if that means bending the truth, just a little, when Lili drops a tiny queer bombshell: she's told all her college friends, including her new bestie Tessa, that Imogen and Lili used to date. And the more time Imogen spends with Tessa, the more she starts to wonder if her truth was ever all that straight to begin with.

Always the Almost by Edward Underhill (trans, gay rep)

Trans boy Miles Jacobson has two New Year's resolutions: win back his ex-boyfriend Shane, and finally beat his arch-nemesis at the Midwest's biggest classical piano competition. Miles hatches a fake-dating scheme with the new boy in town, Eric, a proudly queer cartoonist from Seattle who asks his pronouns and cares about art as much as he does. But the ruse turns real with a kiss, which throws all of Miles' plans - and feelings - into disarray.

See more of Kate's recs

(Summaries provided by publishers)

[muchotravka]

The sun falls upon an empire stewing in its rot and corruption, upon a Protectorate where well-fed children play in manicured gardens while orphans starve in the gutter, upon mountains full of ugly secrets and cities determined to keep them buried.

- The Tensorate Series: The Descent of Monsters, Neon Yang

[in-dire-read]

Melt With You (Book Review)

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Information

Author: Jennifer Dugan

Genre: Young Adult Romance

Page Number: 305

Summary

In this compelling tale of friendship, romance, and the complexities of human relationships, two girls who once shared an inseparable bond find themselves estranged. Chloe and Fallon were the best of friends, their closeness unrivalled until a fateful encounter the summer before Chloe departed for college changed everything. Their impulsive decision to hook up created a rift fueled by a cascade of misunderstandings, ultimately leading to their silence.

A year later, Chloe returns home for a break from school, only to find that Fallon is determined to keep her distance. The story delves into the emotional turmoil and lingering feelings both girls experience as they navigate their way through the consequences of their actions and the pain of lost friendship.

Thoughts

Fallon starts off as witty and responsible, but as the story goes on, she becomes a bit of a "Monica Geller," getting overly controlling. Her best friends, Jami and Prisha, are always there for her, but Fallon seems to be constantly stuck on Chloe and her unhappiness.

The main problem in the book is that all the drama comes from a need for communication. Even though the girls are young, it feels unlikely they'd avoid talking about their issues for so long, especially when they're stuck together. And honestly, the idea that their moms would let them drive a big truck across state lines alone seems pretty far-fetched. Sure, Fallon is eighteen, but that's still a lot of responsibility to dump on her.

The mothers also don't respect boundaries, manipulating things to get what they want, which adds unnecessary drama and makes the ending feel rushed. When Chloe and Fallon finally talk, Chloe is mad at Fallon for lying about their night together being her first time, accusing her of using Chloe to lose her virginity. But it seems pretty clear that Fallon is actually in love with Chloe. Despite some unrealistic plot points, the book does a good job of exploring young love and how easily things can get messed up when people don't communicate.

[podddcasttt]

Friendly reminder that if you talk about how representation is important and how there's not enough diverse media, I implore you to seek out the media that already exists. And if you live in an area with a public library, go to see if they're available at your public library. And then go check them out.

As a librarian, it is demoralizing to see how low the circulation statistics are on lgbt+ books and books by BIPOC authors. I include them in displays and readers advisory, but people still don't check them out as much. Libraries only have a finite amount of resources, including space. We don't get a book then keep it forever. If not enough people check it out, we have to get rid of it to make room for more books. And when James Patterson Book #69 gets checked out 30 times in one year and cool, subversive Sci fi novel with a Black trans woman main character has never been checked out once, the librarian (me) has to make a hard decision.

If you're looking for something tangible and easy to do this pride month, look for lgbt+ books (there are millions of lists online that you can find. It's easier than it's ever been to find diverse books) and check them out from your library.

No time to read? Look for a short story or poetry anthology and just read as much as you have time for. Or just check out a book cus it looks interesting and read as much as you can. We have movies too.

As cool as it would be for me to just keep the books I want and get rid of the ones I don't, I have to listen to the community on matters of collection development. And the community tells me what books they want by checking them out and leaving the ones they don't want on the shelf.

If you think this doesn't apply to you because you live in a progressive area and obviously the books are being checked out, you're wrong. I once worked in a community with a large lgbt population. Those books were not getting checked out. If you want to tell me you live in a conservative area and your library doesn't have any diverse books, you are legally obligated to check the catalog before replying to this post. I currently work in a conservative community and we have lgbt+ and bipoc books. And if you still cannot find any, you are legally obligated to see if your library has a collection request form that patrons can fill out before replying to this post.

[sweatermuppet]

advice to straight men from lesbians in an article titled "heterosexual outreach" by nancy ford, published in "dimensions" may 1995

[helcef]

Happy pride from 141

You cant tell me gaz isn’t the most bisexual guy ever

[sirenetica]

May I request 3rd life desert duo? :3c

Sure

[gotchibam]

*offers you this doodle of happy trans pikachus for pride month* :) 💖💖💖

[taylorfennersbookishworld]

Book Review: You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron

You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron YA, Horror, LGBT, Standalone eBook, Hardcover, Audiobook, 240 Pages June 20, 2023 by Bloomsbury YA Blurb: At Camp Mirror Lake, terror is the name of the game . . . but can you survive the night?This heart-pounding slasher by New York Timesbestselling author Kalynn Bayron is perfect for fans of Fear Street.Charity has the summer job of her…

[birchbarkparkyr]

Book Review: A Place For Us

A Place For Us is a beautiful memoir written by Brandon Wolf, a survivor of the tragedy that was the shooting at Pulse NightClub in Orlando in 2016. While it was a shorter book (just over 200 pages), the intensity of the memories slowed down my reading. That is not to say, however, that I regret picking this book up–I laughed, I cried, I felt like giving Brandon a big bear hug and never letting…

[plutonicbees]

tamquam alter idem. like a second self. magician & dreamer.

[galacticturnip-art]

I showed my parents this and they said I was being extreme 😂😂😂

[just-your-average-supervillain]

DP x DC: The Rivalry

It's a little-known fact among the Watchtower residents that there is a fierce rivalry going on amongst its members. On one side, the Flash, a core member of the Justice League. On the other, Daniel "Danny" Fenton, Head of Engineering for the Watchtower.

Nobody knows when the rivalry started. Some rumors say that it began when, after hearing the Flash rant about how stupid it is to believe in ghosts, Danny took the effort to reroute all of his outgoing calls to the advice line of the JLD. Others say that after Danny doubled the max speed of one of the jets, Flash took it upon himself to have a joyride in it and then submit a complaint about it being too slow... twelve separate times, each one no more than 24 hours after Danny had finished the last speed improvements.

Ever since, the two have been taking potshots at each other with pranks large and small. Danny arranged a standard maintenance check to change room authorizations... resulting in the Flash being unable to access the kitchens for a week. In return, the Flash spent an entire week replacing every single cup of coffee Danny had with the cheapest, most watered-down decaf he could find - and he swapped out the mugs for Flash-branded ones as well. Danny's modification of the Flash's suit to change colors to randomized sets of the most eye-searingly-bright, clashing colors possible for exactly one second after being exposed to the Speed Force were met with "Kick Me!" signs taped to Danny's back.

But... surely this has gone too far, right? Flash... really can't think of what he can do to top this.

He stares as every single Watchtower engineer zips between tasks using the Speed Force as if it's nothing. It's not a permanent change, thank god, he can see the packs on them that apparently give them the Speed Force, but it's still ridiculous.

You know what, no. He's just... not gonna engage with that. He turns around and leaves the engineering department.

It becomes a lot harder to avoid engagement when, over the course of the day, he has to witness each and every member of the Justice League speed around with a Speed Force pack of their own. Shouldn't Batman and Wonder Woman be above this sort of thing? Why does Superman need to be faster?!