#Queer Booklist

[cloistergardens]

hello hello hello everyone!!!! local weird archivist, lesbian, and mythology nerd here. did you know I also make stuff? now you do, and even better you can get some custom stuff!!

I make a lot of book recommendation lists for friends and work (check out some examples here), and I realized I have a lot of fun doing it, so I want to do it for other people!! if you would like custom recommendations on any topic you’re interested in, fill out the commission form here and I’ll make you one!!

I also have a literal degree in music, and one of my friends recently commissioned me to transcribe some of her favorite songs into (viola) sheet music; I hadn’t even thought of that as a commission idea before but now that I’ve done it I think it’s super cool, so if you want a song for you or a friend or sibling or parent put onto sheet music and you can’t find it online, commission me here!! I really want to do these, so please do commission me! I can translate vocal lines to instrument lines, straight up notate existing vocal/guitar/bass lines, and even do extra stuff if you have more time and money (email me, I would love to do complex projects!!)

also please feel free to share this around!!! I want to make cool stuff for cool people, and sharing is the best way to help me do that. I hope you guys like and share this, and I can’t wait to start making cool stuff soon!!!

[starrlikesbooks]

Every month I've been placing bets with myself about what books on my TBR are going to be 5 star reads. Here's my list for May!

1) More Happy Than Not

2) Stars, Hide Your Fires

3) Saint Juniper's Folly

4) Venom & Vow

5) It's Not Like It's a Secret

6) A Hundred Vicious Turns

[s-che]

more people should read GENDER TROUBLE

(yo, howdy, hello, im trying to write a little about each of the books i read this year if i liked them or had anything to say about them. this might be the only post like this i ever do or this might be a regular thing. go hogwild you perverts)

So, first on my list of "books I've read and am talking about in 2023" is: Judith Butler's Gender Trouble. I started reading it just a little before New Year's, and finished it last week, but I haven't gotten a chance to sit down and hammer something out about it until now.

As I finished what is, admittedly, a pretty difficult book in both its ideas and in the way Butler writes, I couldn't help but be struck by something — I think more people need to read Gender Trouble. There are a couple of reasons for that — I'm pro the public engaging with academic / theoretical texts generally — but, specifically, I think you, you, dear reader, should read Gender Trouble not just because it's a formative text in the development of queer and gender studies, not just because I get a kick out of talking about theoretical construction and want more people in my ecosystem to have read the book, and not just because you probably already think you know what's in Gender Trouble, and are wrong, because this book might be the most frequently mis-quoted (or when the quotes are done right, mis-applied) books of theory I can name. Please read this book for those reasons, too — there is so much more in this book than people think, and it is so much more radical in its thinking, and all that is lost when we only encounter big ideas two or three steps down the regurgitative grapevine.

I want you to read Gender Trouble because I think, difficult as the book might be, that this book is a fantastic jumping-off place to engage both with ongoing critical traditions in feminist and queer studies and the nightmare monster that is the partial application of those traditions that, brokenly, filters down to us as all-consuming "queer discourse." Dr. Butler is responding to a lot of things in this book, but at the core of it they are reacting to the feminist tendency to essentialize femininity — to essentialize it towards what are believed to be liberatory ends, but nonetheless to imagine femininity as a natural, immutable truth, and, in doing so, to sow the seeds of liberation's failure. This book was radical thirty years ago, and it remains radical now — radical, and only more applicable to the day-to-day lives and discourses of queer people. And, again, you just don’t get that aspect of it filtered through online misapplication of performance theory.

Anyway, there's more — of course there's more, it's a two-hundred page book, and I promised myself I was only going to write 250 words (currently: 493... 494... 495...). If y'all want more thoughts I'm reachable here or on twitter (come scream @ me baby) but for now, log off, go to the library, & read GENDER TROUBLE

[werewolfpdfs]

english prof my beloved

[burins]

Other Appalachias: A Booklist

As requested, the anti-Hillbilly Elegy booklist, plus annotations! When possible I tried to include books that were by Appalachians and got at lesser-known aspects of Appalachian life and identity, especially modern Appalachian life. When creating the original list I was also limited by books that were in the library network I work at, which is a) a public library and b) not actually located in Appalachia. Y’all get some bonus titles that weren’t in my library - hopefully they’ll be in yours.

A note: I have not read every single book on this list! This is the nature of creating booklists as a librarian. I trust the sources I used to find them, but if there’s something on here that you’re like “oh I read this and it sucks actually,” let me know. And if there’s a particular aspect you’d like more books on, also let me know!

General

Appalachian Reckoning: A Region Responds to Hillbilly Elegy (Anthony Harkins and Meredith McCarroll, eds)

What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia by Elizabeth Catte

If you read any two books on this list (especially if you aren’t from Appalachia!) make it these two. The first one is a collection of essays and photographs, the second by a single author, but both are fantastic for the basics of “hey was your entire idea of a huge stretch of the US defined by Deliverance and some NYT op-eds? perhaps it should not be” 

Appalachian Fall: Dispatches from Coal Country on What's Ailing America by Jeff Young

Leans a little more “plight of the white working class” than I absolutely love, but this talks a lot about contemporary workers’ rights and local activism in Appalachia and is a good counter to Vance’s narrative of “everybody sits on their ass all the time.”

Belonging: A Culture of Place by bell hooks

Hey did you know bell hooks was from Kentucky? bell hooks was from Kentucky! As always her writing is deeply insightful about who is allowed to claim a place and what it means to have roots. 

Rx Appalachia: Stories of Treatment and Survival in Rural Kentucky by Lesly-Marie Buer 

The opioid crisis has defined the region (much as alcoholism came to during Prohibition); unlike a lot of writing on the topic, this lets people tell their own stories. 

Race and Sexuality

Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place by Neema Avashia

Excellent counter to the narrative of Appalachia as unrelentingly white, and also painfully good writing on what happens when the folks you grew up counting on let you down. 

Loving Mountains, Loving Men: Memoirs of a Gay Appalachian by Jeff Mann

This 2005 memoir got a re-release in 2023, and thank god because it makes me cry. Really beautiful writing on what it means to come back to a place and carve out a space for yourself.

Y'all Means All: The Emerging Voices Queering Appalachia (Z. Zane McNeill, ed.) 

Another essay collection! There will be more; I like an essay collection for getting a sense of a subject beyond a single voice. Touches on everything from disability to race to Mothman. 

Deviant Hollers: Queering Appalachian Ecologies for a Sustainable Future, Zane McNeill and Rebecca Scott, eds. 

This wide-ranging collection of essays wasn’t on the original list because it’s pretty hard to come by (academic queer theory is not a bastion of your average public library collection.) Just based on the table of contents I am going to try and get my hands on a copy ASAP. 

Gone Home: Race and Roots through Appalachia by Karida L. Brown

Focuses specifically on Harlan County, Kentucky, drawing on a ton of oral history interviews of Black residents to talk about the Great Migration, Blackness in Appalachia, and identity formation in the region and beyond.

Beginning Again: Stories of Movement and Migration in Appalachia, Katrina M. Powell, ed. 

This just came out in June! In a place so often defined by how many generations of your family have lived there, it’s worth considering who gets removed from that story.  

Their Determination to Remain: A Cherokee Community's Resistance to the Trail of Tears in North Carolina by Lance Greene

The history of Appalachia is pretty obviously incomplete without talking about the policies of Indian Removal. Greene tackles a tangled story of assimilation and cultural survival. 

Even As We Breathe by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle

The only fiction book on this list, but the main goal of the list was to let Appalachia speak for itself. Clapsaddle is a member of the Eastern band of Cherokee; the novel, set in western NC during the 1940s, talks about (in)justice, assimilation, and belonging. 

History, Labor, and Environment

You can’t talk about the history of Appalachia without talking about coal, and you can’t talk about coal without talking about labor, and you also can’t talk about coal without talking about the environment. 

Ramp Hollow: The Ordeal of Appalachia by Steven Stoll 

An economic/environmental overview of Appalachia covering the shift from homesteading to resource extraction. To understand what’s happening economically in 2024 you need to understand what happened economically in 1750-1850, and this gives a general and fairly accessible throughline. 

The Battle of Blair Mountain: The Story of America's Largest Labor Uprising by Robert Shogan

An older book on the most famous event of the West Virginia Mine Wars, but is a very readable narrative that also touches on Blair Mountain’s wider context.  

Written in Blood: Courage and Corruption in the Appalachian War of Extraction, Wess Harris, ed. 

A much more in-depth look at specific aspects of the Mine Wars and labor history, rather than a general overview, but worth reading for its coverage of more recent events (it didn’t end with Blair!)

To Live Here, You Have to Fight: How Women Led Appalachian Movements for Social Justice by Jessica Wilkerson

Focusing on the 60s-70s and LBJ’s War on Poverty, a good discussion of historical grassroots organizing.

Digging Our Own Graves: Coal Miners & the Struggle Over Black Lung Disease by Barbara Allen Smith

Seminal text! First published in 1987, with an updated edition released in 2020. 

Soul Full of Coal Dust: A Fight for Breath and Justice in Appalachia by Chris Hamby

After being mad about black lung in the 80s, you can also be mad about black lung today, because it didn’t go anywhere. 

Desperate: An Epic Battle for Clean Water and Justice in Appalachia by Kris Maher

Very “legal thriller focused on one guy,” but extremely readable. A great book to get your liberal mom fired up.  

Mountains Piled upon Mountains: Appalachian Nature Writing in the Anthropocene, Jessica Cory, ed.

This list has been almost entirely nonfiction, so here is some lovely prose about what folks love about the region with both literary nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. It’s got a wide geographic focus to boot. 

Food and Culture

Appalachia on the Table: Representing Mountain Food and People by Erica Adams Locklear

Great deconstruction of how we talk about mountain food and culture (scandal! Sometimes great-grandmas used Bisquick.) Will make you hungry and also question what authenticity means and where your family recipes actually come from. 

Making Our Future: Visionary Folklore and Everyday Culture in Appalachia by Emily Hilliard

West Virginia state folklorist Emily Hilliard talks about pro wrestling, Fallout 76, songwriting, and coal camps. Appalachia in the 21st century. 

(Finally, a shoutout to the various bookstores whose lists I used as jumping-off points, especially Appalachian Mountain Books, City Lights Bookstore, Firestorm Books, and the Museum of the Cherokee People.)

[meerawrites]

Black Vampires!

Below the cut you’ll find a list of 10 pieces of vampire media centring black folks by black folks, happy black history month!

1. Fledgling by Octavia Butler (see more)

2.The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomèz

3.House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

4.Darknesses by Lachelle Seville

5.My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due

6.Slay: the stories of the vampire noire by multiple authors

7.Horror Noire (documentary on AMC+)

8.Vampires in Brooklyn (movie)

9.The Dark World Series by @writingvampires

10.The Black Vampyre (1819) by Uriah Derick D'Arcy, problematic themes and handling of blackness, however our black protagonist vampire, a black bisexual (implied) vampire protagonist is very AMC-Louis-like and it’s important for understanding the others as groundbreaking and reclaiming their stories as they are.

Happy Black History month! I rarely make booklists like this, however, it recently came to my attention that some people aren’t aware of the brilliant subgenre that is gothic/horror written by people of global majority (colour), given it is black history month this list focuses on black people vampire stories written by black people, most of which are also queer (cause vampires are queer af). Allyship is the bare minimum, if we as a society are to grow at all from our forefathers we must understand that our ancestors were flawed, unlearn internalized biases (racism etc), and make intersectional spaces for everyone. I’ve kept it to 10 for my own ability to count everything, I can say with most certainty there’s more out there. These are just the ones I’ve read/watched and have influenced me the most.

[arliedraws]

I just ordered a bunch of (queer) books for holiday a few days ago and added a separate peace only because of you. I've never heard of it before but it sounded so good. Anyway I still feel it won't be enough so I wanted to ask if you'd like to recommend some of those books you've read? 👀

The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden - Fantasy/historical/horror; takes place in WWI. Queer, age gap, trauma bonding. Also features the devil who is surprisingly gentle and cruel in a soft way 🥵

In Memoriam by Alice Winn - Another queer WWI book loaned to me by @impishtubist . Two boys going to fancy boarding school, don’t talk about the fact that they’re in love, one goes to war to avoid his feelings, and then the other one follows. Trauma, trauma, trauma :)

Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rivka Brunt - I just love Uncle Finn and Toby? The protagonist is a 14-year-old weirdo girl (reminds me of me at that age) who loses her beloved Uncle Finn to AIDS in 1987. She soon learns that Finn had a partner that she never knew about that she gets close to, but uhhh he also has AIDS. It’s devastating! I loved Toby and Finn and probably would have liked a prequel just about them, honestly.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles - Yeah, this isn’t technically queer but damn. It should be. This book broke me. I didn’t cry at any other book this summer, but this one snapped me in half. Boys at boarding school who are in love with each other is my kryptonite, apparently.

Learned by Heart by Emma Donoghue (in progress) - Haven’t finished this one yet, but I’m enjoying it. It’s a fictionalized account of Anne Lister and Eliza Rain. ANOTHER boarding school book!

Also, I am noting with a little alarm how white and mlm this booklist is 🙃

[renthony]

Someone left a comment on one of my Steven Universe posts bitching about how Steven Universe, The Owl House, and She-Ra are the only queer shows people ever want to talk about, and I'm just sitting here laughing, because, wow, honey, just because you don't see the conversations doesn't change the fact that you left that comment on a post made by someone working on a massive, massive project talking about censorship throughout American film and TV history.

Like, if you want to talk about other queer film besides modern queer cartoons, I gotchu. Let's talk. I have a booklist and several YouTube channels I can recommend if you're looking for sources, even. Let's talk about Queen Christina, and Brokeback Mountain, and The Celluloid Closet, and Some Like it Hot, and Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and The Birdcage, and Will and Grace, and The Ellen Show, and Glee, and Paris is Burning, and But I'm a Cheerleader, and The Watermelon Woman, and Bound, and The L Word, and Rocky Horror. I am there. Let's do it! Let's talk!

Though quite frankly, people don't seem to like it when I talk about things like Rocky Horror, either, so I think the problem is that, as always, people have no fucking comprehension of just how difficult it is to make queer media and actually get it seen, and want to evaluate it completely out of context, as if we've always been living in the United States in the year 2022, and queer art has never been subject to violent censorship.

So, like...do you actually want to talk about other queer media, or do you just want to complain because you've got a chip on your shoulder about the one specific piece of media I was focusing on in a single post?

[azeutreciathewicked]

Holy shit. This book was amazing! I just tore through this today and loved it.

Gay Asian men, reincarnation, historical fantasy, imperial court intrigue, multiple timelines, fox spirits. Avoid spoilers for this.

I keep being put off by "romance" books, and then I realize that books that contain love and romance themes that aren't done in typical ways can be entirely interesting, especially when they are raw and honest about the toxic cycles we get stuck in.

This is my new favorite book this year, and I'm so psyched to find more queer Asian authors writing amazing books that interrogate identity, power, relationships, and more in such terrific ways. While shorter and less brutal than She Who Became the Sun and He Who Drowned the World, this story does a lot of similar things that I love, including interrogating gender and sexuality in an Asian context through intersectional lenses.

I also really appreciated the spicy but tasteful descriptions of explicit sex in here -- a great balance of detail that is important for the story, spice to make it interesting, but also literary artistry.

[moniquill]

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/706010/to-shape-a-dragons-breath-by-moniquill-blackgoose/

“To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose is an early contender for the best fantasy novel of 2023. It’s one of those books that you have to thrust into the hands of everyone you know, just so you’ll have people to talk about it with. An Indigenous girl, Anequs, finds an egg, which hatches to produce a dragon that’s bonded to her — but according to the laws of the Anglish, who’ve colonized this alternate version of North America, Anequs must go to a special school to learn to control her baby dragon. If she fails her classes, her dragon, Kasaqua, will be slaughtered. What follows is reminiscent of R.F. Kuang’s “Babel”: Anequs is one of two Indigenous people at an elite school full of colonizers, who expect her to assimilate to their more “civilized” mores — but Anequs resists any suggestion that her own people’s knowledge or culture is inferior. Blackgoose’s worldbuilding is rich and fascinating, from the Norse-inspired Anglish culture, to the complex layers of Anequs’s society on Naquipaug island, to the alchemical properties of dragons’ exhalations. But what makes “Dragon’s Breath” such an absorbing read is Anequs herself: clever, resourceful, generous and uncompromising in the face of colonial condescension. This novel has garden parties and classroom scenes that are more suspenseful than most books’ epic battles.”

—The Washington Post

“[To Shape A Dragon’s Breath] has strong The Traitor Baru Cormorant vibes… it will reshape epic fantasy itself, in addition to the breath of a dragon.”

—LitHub

“To Shape a Dragon’s Breath is a remarkable novel that is bound to be a staple of fantasy shelves for years to come.”

—BuzzFeed

“Tender, thrilling and brimming with fire, this indigenous dragon story is one of the more exciting books I’ve had the pleasure of reading recently.”

—In Between Drafts

“Throughout the book, Blackgoose digs up the older roots of fantasy and plants new life with original ideas… a daring, entirely hot, take on dragonriders and worldbuilding… To Shape a Dragon’s Breath is one blazing epic gulp of a fantastic tale. Queer, anticolonialist, and full of dragons. Moniquill Blackgoose’s writing is easy to love: cutthroat, smooth, and reminds me of a story being told over an open fire.”

—Grimdark Magazine

“This is a classic fantasy at its finest, in which a young, underestimated outcast is introduced to a magical boarding school and all the friendships, drama, prejudice, and romance that immersion entails. The indigenous quest to maintain culture and identity within a paralyzingly restrictive imperialism determined to stamp out natives and their beliefs, and Anequs’ stubborn will to remain herself, create a fresh take on this setup and make this a must-read high-fantasy series. Blackgoose's focus on how storytelling and myth influence our culture and worldviews is also compelling. The relationships are exciting, the queer and polyamorous representation appealing, and it’s easy to fall hard for Anequs, her world, and her love for her dragon.”

—Booklist, STARRED review

“Dragons are never out of style, but To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose is set to explore them in a way that feels incredibly fresh and intriguing in this indigenous-inspired fantasy novel.”

—Fansided

“Moniquill Blackgoose combines dragon mythology with sharp commentary on colonization and the struggles of indigenous populations in "To Shape a Dragon's Breath."

—PopSugar

“The fantasy and wonder of To Shape a Dragon’s Breath started immediately. But it didn’t feel like I was thrown into the story; more like I was joining characters and a world that existed without me. To Shape a Dragon’s Breath didn’t feel like there was an on-ramp to the world or culture. It would have been difficult in many books, but Blackgoose crafted a deep culture, society, and world that felt engaging to follow.”

—Lightspeed Magazine

“Blackgoose blends Indigenous history with fantastical beasts, taking themes of inequality and social agency in new directions. An excellent crossover novel for adults and young adults alike.”

—Library Journal

“Between the social commentary (couched in the fantasy world setting), the action, and detailed world-building, there’s a lot to love. It’s an engrossing story/world, and having the Indigenous perspective makes it hit all the harder.”

—Cinelinx

“To Shape a Dragon’s Breath has so many things going for it. It centers on a queer, poly, Indigenous character, dragon-riding and a boarding school setting. With a focus on dismantling colonialism and taking back heritage, what more could you ask for in a young adult fantasy?”

—Geek Girl Authority

“Incredible.”

—BookRiot

“Brilliant.”

—The Nerd Daily

“A fantastic world with wonderful characters, dragons, and places to explore.”

—Girl Who Reads

NATIONAL PRINT

Washington Post—review—5/8

Locus—review—May 2023 issue

Booklist—STARRED review—4/15

Lightspeed Magazine—review—December 2022 issue

Library Journal—what to read in 2023—2/7

Library Journal—review—1/30

Publishers Weekly—forthcoming books by indigenous authors—1/20

Booklist—series starters spotlight—1/1

Library Journal—SFF preview 2023—11/1

ONLINE

Cinelinx—5 new books—5/9

Geek Girl Authority—new books roundup—5/9

BookRiot—new releases today—5/9

Girl Who Reads—8 new Fantasy Novels—5/9

BuzzFeed—most anticipated of spring—3/14

PopSugar—new fantasy to read in May—4/25

Fangirlish—10 LGBTQ books coming out in May—5/7

Grimdark Magazine—review—2/3

The Lesbrary—sapphic May books—5/6

Fansided—new SFF in May—5/6

Fantasy Book Café—most anticipated books of May—5/7

The Nerd daily—new May books—5/4

Ms Magazine—best new May books—5/3

io9—new May books—5/1

Tor.com—new fantasy in May—5/1

In Between Drafts—best of May—5/1

BookRiot—best of May—5/1

LitHub—Dragons, Decolonization, and More: May’s best SFF—5/1

Distractify—best of May—4/26

American Booksellers Association—Q&A—4/26

Yahoo—best of spring—3/14

Ms Magazine—most anticipated books of 2023—1/25

Reads Rainbow—most anticipated—1/25

Tor.com—most anticipated—1/18

PopSugar—most anticipated books of 2023—1/25

Geek Girl Authority—most anticipated—1/2

BookRiot—SFF debuts to watch for—12/29

Lightspeed Mag—review—12/8

LOCAL MEDIA

Arlington Magazine—best new books of May—5/1

Galesburg Public Library Blog—review—5/8

[revcleo]

I just saw a really stupid post, like:

you are 16??????? How many years of your life have you been looking in book stores for trans books also????

Personally the only book I can immediately think of which is about trans masc experience is stone butch blues, most of the ones I can think of are about trans fem experiences or written by trans women, i.e. whipping girl, the transgender issue, trans britain, boys weekend Like even googling "transgender book" most o them are written by trans women

and looking at one of the lists directly underneath this

most of these books are written by trans women, and saying that one small anthology which accidentally doesn't contain trans fem people, (and promises to do better in the future) as evidence that trans fem people are being purposefully excluded feels like a weird post made to pretend that there's not a majority of popular books written by trans women, the main place that I think there's more trans masculine people is in fandom.

Like even if this one anthology lacks trans fem individuals, there's a lot more queer writing out there than there used to be, and so many by trans women! It feels neglectful than no-one has promoted all the works by trans women out there to these kids that they feel there's nothing for them to see out there which is written by trans women.

Like there's so many booklists out there it's so easy to google also. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/the-read-down/books-by-trans-non-binary-and-gender-non-conforming-authors/

Googling for trans anthology the first one which comes up is edited by a trans woman, and the second is edited by a non-binary person (and is only for sale on an independent publishing site) and contains people with feminine names, like why are people going around making teenagers feel like there is a conspiracy keeping trans fem down under the boot of trans masc Big Anthology or whatever??

[starrlikesbooks]

do you recommendations of books that have trans women/transfemmes as main and possibly other queer girls even just as background characters?

kind of like, found family but female and queer, i have been searching for months for something like this.

My first impulse is The Seep by Chana Porter, which is domestic style scifi about a transwoman after a "soft invasion", but it's less found family and more eventual barn raising.

I'd also count Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki, which is a scifi fantasy story of deals with the devil. One of the main characters is a transwoman, and I'd absolutely count this as found family, conencted by queerness but even more so by diaspora.

Euphoria Kids by Alison Evans is a YA magical realism that I haven't had the pleasure of reading yet, but I believe all three of the MCs are trans and it's all about found family and coming of age.

[hummerous]

I'm tryna make a queer history booklist for myself to celebrate pride month

lmk if you have suggestions

[jezebelgoldstone]

Hey Jez how in FUCK did you find dozens and dozens of queer novels so easily? app dot TheStoryGraph dot com tumblr dot com queer release booklists on publishing house and bookseller websites

I am poor and I can't AFFORD - I feel ya babe me neither

DID YOU KNOW that most libraries have digital books and audiobooks as well as hard copies?

In the US, you can get a library card in the city you live in AS WELL AS THE CITY YOU'RE EMPLOYED IN. FOR FREE. No help for us who are disabled enough to not be able to work, but still. Get every library card you can holy fuck.

There are SEVERAL ENORMOUS online libraries that you can access if you have a US library card (I'm not sure about library cards from other countries, but if you know then please say in the reblogs). If you can't get a library card, ask to share a library card, ask to share a login for one of these websites with someone who does have one.

If none of the libraries you have access to have the book you're looking for, REQUEST IT. ESPECIALLY if that book is self-published. You'll end up being able to rent the book without buying it yourself, it'll stay in the library's collection so OTHER PEOPLE will have access to it too, AND you'll support the author (again this goes double for self-pub authors). It's a win-win-win!

Download a program to open and read .epub, .mobi, etc on your laptop or phone or whatever device you want to read on

There you go! Access to, at minimum, like every English-language book published in the last three hundred years!

[wildwildwestcon]

Hello to all our amazing friends and fans! We have a new announcement for you today, and it's a doozy!

Please help us welcome back our dear friend and yours, Gail Carriger!

Gail Carriger writes books that are hugs, mostly comedies of manners mixed with steampunk, urban fantasy, and sci-fi (plus cozy queer joy as G. L. Carriger). These include the Parasol Protectorate, Custard Protocol, Tinkered Stars, and San Andreas Shifter series for adults, and the Finishing School and Tinkered Starsong series for young adults. Also nonfiction: The Heroine’s Journey. She is published in many languages, has over a million books in print, over a dozen New York Times and USA Today bestsellers, and starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus, and Romantic Times.

Her first book, Soulless, made Audible’s Best list, was a Publishers Weekly Best Book, an IndieBound Notable, and a Locus Recommended Read. She has received the American Library Association’s Alex Award, the Prix Julia Verlanger, the Elbakin Award, the Steampunk Chronicle‘s Reader’s Choice Award, and a Starburner Award. She was once an archaeologist and is fond of shoes, cephalopods, and tea. Get early access, specials, and exclusives via her website gailcarriger.com

Make sure you've booked your hotel room before they're sold out! https://www.wildwestcon.com/wwwc12-hotel/

Also, jump on those early bird pass prices while they're still around! https://www.wildwestcon.com/convention-passes-wwwc12/

As always, stay tuned here and to all our social media for more announcements, news, and updates! See you soon for #WWWC12Heroes and #WWWC12Villains!

[booksinmythorax]

Thorax Does the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge 2024 - #13: Read a comic that has been banned

Flamer by Mike Curato

If you're reading this, you probably know that book challenges and bans in the United States of America are at a historic high in the 2020s. Many targets of these challenges are graphic novels and comics. It's tough to tell exactly why, but the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund proposes this explanation (emphasis mine):

The visual nature of comics and graphic novels, which can improve comprehension of complex ideas, makes it even easier to target by taking images out of context or misconstruing them. We have seen cases of graphic adaptations such as The Handmaiden’s Tale [sic], Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” and The Diary of Anne Frank become challenged or removed when the prose versions are not.

Flamer was the #5 most challenged book in school and public libraries in the USA in 2023, according to the American Library Association. The ALA received 67 reports of Flamer getting challenged at libraries around the country in 2023.

Most of the challengers cited the book's LGBTQIA+ content and claims of "sexual explicitness" as reasons they were requesting the book be moved or removed from the collection. (Because, you know, acknowledging that queer people exist and that sometimes people have sex is evil. /sarcasm)

Flamer is a semi-autobiographical work of fiction about a half-Filipino boy named Aiden going away to summer camp before he starts high school. The camp is not a church camp, but it is religious and it does have a chapel, echoing many Boy Scout camp experiences I've heard about.

I highly recommend checking this book out from your local library. It's received starred reviews from publications like The Horn Book, Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, and Booklist, for good reason.

I love graphic novels, and the art in this one is stirring. It is entirely black-and-white except for red, orange, and yellow colors in moments of emotional intensity, tying back into both the title and the protagonist's fear of being burned (emotionally or religiously) for being attracted to other boys.

The plot deals with friendship, first crushes, and the arbitrary lines that people draw between acceptable "heterosexual" behavior and unacceptable "homosexual" behavior. Aiden is teased for his sensitivity and for behavior his peers and camp counselors perceive as too feminine. His best friend, a girl pen pal, is of course unable to come to his boys-only camp with him, so he forms friendships with other boys for the first time - and gets a crush on a fellow camper.

A moment in the novel that many challengers have taken out of context is when the protagonist accidentally discovers several of his fellow campers masturbating together in a tent. The campers pressure Aiden to join in, but he's uncomfortable, as well as confused. He runs away, mind swirling with questions. Why are his fellow campers so against gay people as a concept, but willing to do something like this? Why do they insinuate that he's gay if he doesn't participate in this ritual? In the context of the rest of the novel, this moment is disconcerting and adds complexity to the book's theme of cognitive dissonance.

We cannot let sexual identity and sexuality disappear from books for teenagers, even if it makes adults uncomfortable. This is a powerful read.