#Swan Huntley

[lgbtqreads]

Fave Five: Queer Fiction About Addiction, Recovery, and/or Sobriety

Getting Clean with Stevie Green by Swan Huntley A Shot in the Dark by Victoria Lee All-Night Pharmacy by Ruth Madievsky Shae by Mesha Maren Just By Looking at Him by Ryan O’Connell

[wttnblog]

"I Want You More" Plays Into Our Innate Desire To Be Desired

It’s been a long time since I’ve picked up a thriller, but the cover of Swan Huntley’s I Want You More drew me in immediately. This sapphic story is about a ghostwriter, Zara, who goes to the house of her client, Jane, to interview her for her memoir. This isn’t a thriller in the traditional sense of the word. Instead, it’s marked more by a persistent sense of uneasiness. This feeling is…

[dwellordream]

Best Reads of 2024

this year i read 300 books. which i think is impressive but not as impressive as it sounds bc many of these books were very short, easy reads meant to be like, stuff you read at the airport or sitting by the pool on vacation. so it's not like i was tackling the harvard classics. i also read extremely fast; it only takes me about an hour to do 300 pages unless it's a super dense complex text. that said, here is a list of all the books i read this year that i would rate 4 stars or higher, separated by genre: Fantasy/Magical Realism: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett Highfire by Eoin Colfer Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin Gifts by Ursula K. Le Guin The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi Chlorine by Jade Song The Passion by Jeanette Winterson The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter Realistic Fiction: We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride & Jo Piazza Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent Only Child by Rhiannon Navin Movie Star by Lizzie Pepper Prima Facie by Suzie Miller Acts of Desperation by Megan Nolan Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk The Subtweet by Vivek Shraya All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg Piglet by Lottie Hazell The List by Yomi Adegoke A Winter's Rime by Carol Dunbar The Resurrection of Joan Ashby by Cherise Wolas

Mystery/Thriller: Queenpin by Megan Abbott Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott Beware the Woman by Megan Abbott Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley The Guest by Emma Cline Advika and the Hollywood Wives by Kirthana Ramisetti Kala by Colin Walsh Descent by Tim Johnston Wahala by Nikki May When We Were Bright and Beautiful by Jillian Medoff We Could Be Beautiful by Swan Huntley Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll Nothing Can Hurt You by Nicola Maye Goldberg Fruit of the Dead by Rachel Lyon The Lagos Wife by Vanessa Walters Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage Cape Fear by John D. MacDonald Sea Wife by Amity Gaige Last Seen Wearing by Hilary Waugh The Black Cabinet by Patricia Wentworth Historical Fiction: Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch by Rivka Galchen Gilded Mountain by Kate Manning All You Have to Do is Call by Kerri Maher Cruel Beautiful World by Caroline Leavitt Payback by Mary Gordon A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley The Affairs of the Falcons by Melissa Rivero Longbourn by Jo Baker The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson Go to Hell Ole Miss by Jeff Barry The Divorcees by Rowan Beaird Consequences by Penelope Lively Iron Curtain: A Love Story by Vesna Goldsworthy Homestead by Melinda Moustakis Not Our Kind by Kitty Zeldis Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell Teddy by Emily Dunlay Science Fiction: Prophet Song by Paul Lynch Aesthetica by Allie Rowbottom Fever by Deon Meyer The Salt Line by Holly Goddard Jones Land of Milk and Honey by C. Pam Zhang Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet Briefly Very Beautiful by Roz Dineen

Romance: Everything’s Fine by Cecilia Rabess Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler Meant to Be Mine by Hannah Orenstein When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perri Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson American Royalty by Tracey Livesay The One by Julie Argy The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin Queen of Urban Prophecy by Aya de Léon That Dangerous Energy by Aya de Léon The Dove in the Belly by Jim Grimsley Fatima Tate Takes the Cake by Khadija VanBrakle Faro’s Daughter by Georgette Heyer Horror: Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian The Parliament by Aimee Pokwatka Cujo by Stephen King Night Watching by Tracy Sierra The Garden by Clare Beams The House of Ashes by Stuart Neville The Suicide Motor Club by Christopher Buehlman True Crime: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote Columbine by Dave Cullen Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio by Derf Backderf Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou While Idaho Slept: The Hunt for Answers in the Murders of Four College Students by J. Reuben Appelman The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age by Michael Wolraich Fatal Vision by Joe McGinniss Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World by Tom Wright and Bradley Hope

History: Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham Capote’s Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era by Laurence Leamer The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel The Burning Blue: The Untold Story of Christa McAuliffe and Nasa’s Challenger Disaster by Kevin Cook The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson Grace and Power: The Private World of the Kennedy White House by Sally Bedell Smith As Long as We Both Shall Love: The White Wedding in Postwar America by Karen M. Dunak Babysitter: An American History by Miriam Forman-Brunell Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin All She Lost: The Explosion in Lebanon, the Collapse of a Nation and the Women who Survive by Dalal Mawad Psychology: Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker The Anxious Generation: How The Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction by David Sheff Misdiagnosed: One Woman’s Tour of -And Escape From- Healthcareland by Jody Berger Stolen Child: A Mother’s Journey to Rescue Her Son from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder by Laurie Gough Zig-Zag Boy: A Memoir of Madness and Motherhood by Tanya Frank I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy Us, After: A Memoir of Love and Suicide by Rachel Zimmerman Everything Is Fine: A Memoir by Vince Granata Juliet the Maniac by Juliet Escoria

Memoir: Upstairs At The White House by J.B. West A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold Goodbye, Sweet Girl: A Story of Domestic Violence and Survival by Kelly Sundberg This Boy We Made: A Memoir of Motherhood, Genetics, and Facing the Unknown by Taylor Harris I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death by Maggie O’Farrell Fragile Beginnings: Discoveries and Triumphs in the Newborn ICU by Adam Wolfberg The Longest Race: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping, and Deception on Nike’s Elite Running Team by Kara Goucher and Mary Pilon Remedies for Sorrow: An Extraordinary Child, a Secret Kept from Pregnant Women, and a Mother’s Pursuit of the Truth by Megan Nix Brazen: My Unorthodox Journey from Long Sleeves to Lingerie by Julia Haart Minding the Manor: The Memoir of a 1930s English Kitchen Maid by Mollie Moran Love in the Blitz: The War Letters of Eileen Alexander to Gershon Ellenbogan by Eileen Alexander Any Given Tuesday: A Political Love Story by Lis Smith The Apology by Eve Ensler Wild Game: My Mother, Her Secret, and Me by Adrienne Brodeur One Way Back: A Memoir by Christine Blasey Ford Biography: The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty by Susan Page Untold Power: The Fascinating Rise and Complex Legacy of First Lady Edith Wilson by Rebecca Boggs Roberts King: A Life by Jonathan Eig Louisa: The Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams by Louisa Thomas American Girls: One Woman’s Journey into the Islamic State and Her Sister’s Fight to Bring Her Home by Jessica Roy Susan, Linda, Nina, and Cokie: The Extraordinary Story of the Founding Mothers of NPR by Lisa Napoli

Gender: Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family by Amy Ellis Nutt The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan We Were Feminists Once: From Riot Grrrl to CoverGirl®, the Buying and Selling of a Political Movement by Andi Zeisler All the Rage: Mothers, Fathers, and the Myth of Equal Partnership by Darcy Lockman Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism by bell hooks Enslaved Women in America: From Colonial Times to Emancipation by Emily West You’ll Do: A History of Marrying for Reasons Other Than Love by Marcia A. Zug The Red Menace: How Lipstick Changed the Face of American History by Ilise S. Carter Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America by Lillian Faderman

[glitterandviolence111]

I'm finally making an official account intro, since I'm getting an influx of new followers🎀

My names Amber, I'm 16, and I love music, reading, writing, and pop culture. My goal is to become mildly tumblr famous in the girlblogging space. My credentials are that I'm silly and slightly controversial💝

My favorite artists are:

•Olivia rodrigo

•Sabrina Carpenter

•Nessa barrett

•Lana del rey

●Ariana grande

•Harry Styles

•Hozier

•Stephen Sanchez

•Empire of the sun

•Magdalena Bay

(just to name a few)

My favorite books are:

•Where's Molly?- H.D Carlton

(This also includes the Cat & Mouse duet)

•Light out- Nevessa Allen

•Lexicon- Max Barry

•Gothikana- Runyx

•The way forward- Yung Pueblo

•I Want You More- Swan Huntley

•My CR is Spiral by Bal Khabra, and it's already shaping up to be a 5/5 stars💖

(Honorable mention is The Great Gasby by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

I write mid poetry that's sometimes really good, as well as short stories, and I've been getting into writing essays recently. I want to share more of my work on here if anyone would be interested. I write about philosophy, hope, and the importance and art. Like that one Dua Lipa album, I'm a radical optimist. That probably has an official definition, but I use it in my own way to add flare to my personality💖

Tumblr is my home, and it's helped me find community. I love the culture of girlblogging on here, it's really special and cool to be a part of. I stay away from all the ED culture stuff, and the parts that are a bit too chronically online for me, but overall this app is peak. To close this off, here are a few little vision boards that paint a good picture of my personality. If you're one of the girlies, consider following me!! I always follow back and I really wanna make some new friends💕

(creepy men, DNI PLS🙏🏻 I already have a man, back off)

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

💖 Sapphic Books Coming Out May 2024

🩷 There's something especially sweet about a sapphic romance. Here are only a few of the amazing sapphic books hitting shelves in May 2024. Which ones are you adding to your ever-growing TBR?

Contemporary 💖 Here For the Wrong Reasons - Annabel Paulsen & Lydia Wang 💖 Perfume & Pain - Anna Dorn 💖 Cheryl - Jillian Fleck 💖 A Little Kissing Between Friends - Chencia C. Higgins 💖 Lavash At First Sight - Taleen Voskuni 💖 The Game of Giants - Marion Douglas 💖 We Were the Universe - Kimberly King Parsons 💖 Oye - Melissa Mogollon 💖 The Summer Love Strategy - Ray Stoeve 💖 Noah Frye Gets Crushed - Maggie Horne 💖 Halfway to Harbor - Nicole Melleby 💖 Sunhead - Alex Assan

💖 The 7-10 Split - Karmen Lee 💖 Trust & Safety - Laura Blackett & Eve Gleichman 💖 Second Night Stand - Karelia Stetz-Waters & Fay Stetz-Waters 💖 How It Works Out - Myriam Lacroix 💖 April May June July - Alison B. Hart 💖 The Ride of Her Life - Jennifer Dugan 💖 One Night With the CEO - Emily Hayes 💖 Dulhaniyaa - Talia Bhatt 💖 A Girl Can Dream - Emily Barr 💖 I Want You More - Swan Huntley 💖 Exhibit - R. O. Kwon 💖 Only a Bridesmaid - Haley Donnell

💖 Thirsty - Jas Hammonds 💖 Housemates - Emma Copley Eisenberg 💖 Don’t Be a Drag - Skye Quinlan 💖 True Love and Other Impossible Odds - Christina Li 💖 Murray Out of Water - Taylor Tracy 💖 The Redemption of Daya Keane - Gia Gordon 💖 Blame My Virgo Moon - Freja Nicole Woolf 💖 From Where We Are - Nicole Zelniker 💖 Cabin Fever - Tagan Shepard 💖 Channel Surfing in the Sea of Happiness - Guy Babineau 💖 Meet Me in Berlin - Samantha L. Valentine 💖 Behind You - Catherine Hernandez

Paranormal/Horror 💖 Primal Hunt - L.L. Raand 💖 Blood on the Tide - Katee Robert 💖 We Mostly Come Out at Night - (ed) Rob Costello 💖 Flowers from the Void - Gianni Washington 💖 My Darling Dreadful Thing - Johanna van Veen 💖 When the Devil - Emma E. Murray 💖 Honeybites - I. S. Belle 💖 My Favorite Thing Is Monsters - Emil Ferris 💖 The Worst Perfect Moment -Shivaun Plozza

Fantasy 💖 The Honey Witch - Sydney J. Shields 💖 The Fireborne Blade - Charlotte Bond 💖 Chained Destinies - D. Jordan Redhawk 💖 Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea - Rebecca Thorne 💖 Grand Slam Romance: Major League Hotties - Ollie Hicks & Emma Oosterhous 💖 Snake Charming - Genevieve McCluer 💖 The Witches of Silverlake - Simon Curtis 💖 Death’s Country - R. M. Romero 💖 Snowblooded - Emma Sterner-Radleygh 💖 Bird Suit - Sydney Hegele 💖 Farzana's Spite - Felix Graves

Historical 💖 The Good Women of Fudi - Liu Hong 💖 Spitting Gold - Carmella Lowkis 💖 Adrift - Sam Ledel 💖 A Heart Divided - Angie Williams 💖 A Liaison with Her Leading Lady - Lotte R. James

Mystery/Thriller 💖 The Deadly Spark - Roxie Key 💖 The Advice Columnist - Cade Haddock Strong 💖 The Lilies - Quinn Diacon-Furtado 💖 Loyalty - E. J. Noyes 💖 Clean Kill - Anne Laughlin 💖 Have You Seen This Girl - Nita Tyndall 💖 The Last to Pie - Misha Popp

Sci-Fi 💖 The Sunforge - Sascha Stronach 💖 Road to Ruin - Hana Lee 💖 Exile in Guyville - Amy Lee Lillard 💖 The Lily of Enarah - Arden Brax 💖 The Z Word - Lindsay King-Miller

[nityarawal]

January 27, 2024

Morning Songs

Purse Strings 

I Knew It Was

Gonna Be Big

If You Ever Proposed

To Me

I Saw Teslas’

Lining The Roads

Whenever You Were

Into Me

I Didn't Understand

The “Big Blue” Codes

I Looked For The Signs

And I Would've

Been Your Wife 

7 Years Ago

You Got A Lab Mom

And Had Quite

A Few Babies

They Sell Them

Like Letterman

Jackets

Around The World

Don't You Worry

About The Karma

All The Babies

Crying Daddy

Where Are You Now

Don't You Worry

About The Karma

All These Babies

Crying Where

Are You

Mommy

Don't You Worry

About The Karma

Are You Going To Say

A Meme Became

More Beautiful Today

Than The Loves

Of My Life

Can't You Say You

Love Me

Why You Let Your

Friends Hate Me

They Want To Call 

Jihad

Just Because I

Don't Want Them

To Touch Me

Elon- June Can't You

Father The Little Moon

The Little Son

Who Was Squirming

Under The Big

Jewish Man

Can't You Protect Us

Ace

From This

Hauptman Waggoner

Silverman

Karma

Do We Need To Buy

Harvard

So They'll Stop Throwing

Hookers At My

Doppelganger

Natalie's Lost Her

Hubby

Prettiest Gal In

The World

Good Riddance

“Black Swan,” 

Made Us Ill 

Natalie's On The Market

To Stand With #4BillionMothersStrong

And Make A Difference

When We Get

The Purse Strings

Done

Peace,

Nitya Nella Davigo Azam Moezzi Huntley Rawal 

[virtualmemoriespodcast]

Episode 592 - Swan Huntley

Author & illustrator Swan Huntley joins the show to celebrate her two new books, I WANT YOU MORE (Zibby Books), and YOU'RE GROUNDED: An Anti-Self-Help Book to Calm You the F*ck Down (Tarcherperigee). We talk about how ghostwriting a memoir for a Real Housewife of New York led her to write I Want You More, a thriller novel about fame, identity, and murder, why she uses the first person in fiction and loves the challenge of lying to the reader, how we're seen by others and how we want to be seen, and the fun of writing thrillers and melding character with a big plot. We also talk about how You're Grounded took shape as a melding of words and drawings, how she settled on "anti-self-help", how her various addictions shaped her identity and what it meant to be herself as she overcame (some of) them, how taking up drawing in a writing lull helped bring out different voices, and the need to calm the f*ck down. We also discuss the creation of identity vs. the discovery of identity, why she biked the El Camino pilgrimage solo, the memoir she's working on, the nature of celebrity & our reactions around famous people (& her upcoming essay, "My Best Friend Is Famous"), how she found her place in Los Angeles, and more. Follow Swan on Instagram • More info at our site • Support The Virtual Memories Show via Patreon or Paypal and via our e-newsletter

Check out the new episode of The Virtual Memories Show

[onward--upward]

Get To Know Me

hiya i was tagged in two diff versions of this by my lovely pals @firenati0n and @bigassbowlingballhead thank you!! i am Lazy so i have compiled them both into one massive post. enjoy!?

Last song: Gimme a Minute by PVRIS

Last film: the dark knight!!! (excellent movie. i am not even a batman guy, im just a heath ledger guy)

Currently reading: i am reading an ARC of "I Want You More" by swan huntley (excellent so far!!) and also i'm slowly working my way through house of leaves

Currently watching: percy jackson!!!!! most beloved <3

Currently consuming: um!!! coke zero (perpetually)

Currently craving: it's like 1AM but i could probably go for some pasta rn

__

Were you named after anyone? no i was not!

When was the last time you cried? god i dunno. a couple months ago maybe?? (i probably should have cried more recently, there was cause for it lol but i am Bad at crying)

Do you have kids? lmfao. no!

What sports do you play/have you played? this may surprise nobody, but: hockey. i also played soccer growing up and i did horseback riding if that counts (this is how i have broken so many bones)

Do you use sarcasm? oh, frequently. constantly, one might say!

What’s the first thing you notice about people? i actually... don't know?? hair, i guess

What’s your eye color? green!!!!!!

Scary movies or happy endings? why not both <3

Any talents? oh i am so talented!!!! (lying) i mean... writing, i guess? that's the only thing i know how to do

Where were you born? canada, babyyy

What are your hobbies? read, write, scroll on tumblr <3 walk dogs <3 i like to drive, does that count as a hobby?? oh i also occasionally paint

Do you have any pets? yuh

How tall are you? like five foot eight

Favorite subject in school? guess. (its english)

Dream job? to echo roop, i dont dream of labour (lmao!) but i would love to be an editor!! publishing industry i am coming for u

__

i am not tagging any pals simply because i have created my own frankensteinian hybrid of this tag game and i don't want to inflict it on anybody else <3 but feel free to participate if it calls to you!

[readerindistress]

2024 Reading List

Yellowface by R.F Kuang- 5/5

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros- 5/5

I Want You More by Swan Huntley-3/5

The Only One Left by Riley Sager- 3/5

Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid -4/5

We Love the Nightlife by Rachel Koller Croft -5/5

Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller- 4/5

She Who Knows by Need Okorafor - 4/5

By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult- 5/5

The Road by Cormac McCarthy -5/5

The Vegetarian by Han Kang - 4/5

The Heaven and Earth's Grocery Store by James McBride- 4/5

~These books won't be published until 2025, but I was abled to get the Advanced Reader Copies~

Tilda is Visible by Jane Tara- 5/5

Wake Up and Open Your Eyes by Clay McLeod Chapman - 5/5

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix- 5/5

Looking at my list now, I realize it's not a lot, but it's better than before. Here's hoping that in 2025 I can double my reading list.

[jessicafurseth]

Reading List, Into the Summer double edition.

[Image: Poem by Morgan Harper Nichols, via 90sanxiety]

*

"Any time you are feeling shame over life choices, ask yourself who is benefitting from it (likely not you)." The 9 Essential Lessons My Summers Of Solo Travel Have Taught Me [Glynnis MacNicol, Vogue]

"Dirty, hedonistic, happy and bra-less - it beats journalling after a long day of pilates." Brat girl summer [Zoe Williams, The Guardian]

London's best outdoor spaces, according to National Park City founder Dan Raven-Ellison [Kate Lewis, BBC Travel]

Trekking Across Switzerland, Guided by Locals’ Hand-Drawn Maps [Ben Buckland, The New York Times]

“The completeness of this record is dizzy, stupefying: I’m using 43.87 gigabytes of data. The only way to navigate that vertiginous expanse is through the conduit of the Gmail search function. I type the names of my husband, my best friend, my girl gang out of college, my former roommate, my late uncle; some of these people long lost to me now, but eerily present in that window. Here we are planning road trips. Scheduling brunches. Sharing links." Gmail will break your heart [Links I would Gchat you if we were friends by Caitlin Dewey]

"I wanted to know how to be breezy. To meet someone for a drink but order food because I’d missed lunch. To free myself of this habit of rehearsing conversations in advance only to be disappointed when none of my prepared talking points naturally arose. ... No matter where I was, it seemed I was doomed to always feel as though I were in the window seat on a flight, prodding apologetically, mincing and smiling for the person in the aisle to get up." On getting diagnosed with autism as an adult [Mary HK Choi, The Cut]

"We need to go places and touch things." The people turning away from smartphones [Clea Skopeliti, The Guardian]

Before Smartphones, an Army of Real People Helped You Find Stuff on Google [Amelia Tait, Wired]

This Is What It Looks Like When AI Eats the World [Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic]

When did you last do one thing at a time? In defence of single use objects [Celia Mattison, Dirt]

I Have a Terrible Memory. Am I Better Off That Way? Wild scenes. [Katy Schneider, The Cut]

"But [parenthood] did not unearth new ethical or emotional resources. I am, it is true, far more patient with my daughter than I would be with anyone else exhibiting comparably high levels of incompetence, need, or obstinance. But this tolerance does not extend to anyone else. There is less of it to go around." What if parenthood isn't transformative at all? [Anastasia Berg, The Cut]

"The Lennon Patek captures a measure of time that no other watch ever will—the little they had left together." The Strange Journey of John Lennon’s Stolen Patek Philippe Watch [Jay Fielden, The New Yorker]

Inside the Old Bailey with Britain’s last court reporters | Crime [Sophie Elmhirst, The Guardian]

So long, Longform Podcast [Brady Brickner-Wood, The New York Times]

The Precarious Future of Big Sur’s Highway 1 [Emily Witt, The New Yorker]

“I think to an unusual degree Agnes sort of lives what she thinks and thinks what she lives.” Agnes Callard’s Marriage of the Minds [Rachel Aviv, The New Yorker]

"Change is slow in me. It’s a little like turning a tanker. I find I have to set it in motion and then wait patiently for it to happen, and try not to lose faith in the meantime. Since November, I’ve been intending to go and swim in the local outdoor pool, and on Tuesday I finally managed it. I’ve had my swimming bag packed all that time. I just needed to think through the steps before I could manage it. Even then, it took me all day to get in my car and drive down there, and I don’t think I’d have done it if H hadn’t gone with me. Until the moment I got in the water, swimming in a new place seemed like a multi-stage problem that I couldn’t solve." The Clearing by Katherine May

I’ve Spent a Lot of Time Pretending Not To Know What I Want [Swan Huntley, Autostraddle]

On being brave [Penny Wincer]

My life is boring Extra Honey by Jenny Clark

"I now could see the world in the uncanny, photonegative way that it wasn’t meant to be seen, but that was the truth — a truth I can’t shake even to this day. ... I truly never got over how apparently fragile I am, how unresilient I proved to be. That was one of the worst parts for me, that I knew something about myself now, which was that I was delicate. I had been rocked into a full nervous breakdown. ... All I knew was that, should something go wrong — a car accident, maybe, or a mugging — I would be prone to falling apart." How to live with it [Taffy Brodesser-Akner, The New York Times]

[sapphicbookoftheday]

Getting Clean With Stevie Green by Swan Huntley

Today's sapphic book of the day is Getting Clean With Stevie Green by Swan Huntley!

Summary: "At thirty-seven, Stevie Green has had it with binge drinking and sleeping with strange men. She’s confused about her sexuality and her purpose in life. When her mother asks her to return to her hometown of La Jolla to help her move into a new house, she’s desperate enough to say yes. The move goes so well that Stevie decides to start her own decluttering business. She stops drinking. She hires her formerly estranged sister, Bonnie, to be her business partner. She rekindles a romance with her high school sweetheart, Brad. Things are better than ever—except for the complicated past that Stevie can’t seem to outrun.

Who was responsible for the high school scandal that caused her life to take a nosedive twenty years earlier? Why is she so secretive about the circumstances of her father’s death? Why are her feelings for her ex-friend, Chris, so mystifying? If she’s done drinking, then why can’t she seem to declutter the mini wine bottles from her car?

A winsome, fast-paced read, Getting Clean With Stevie Green is about coming to terms with who you are, resolving the pain of your past, and accepting the truth of your life in all its messy glory."

[wttnblog]

10 Anticipated May Book Releases: Memoirs, Queer Fiction, Fantasy, and More

It’s May, and that means I’m back with another list of books coming out this month that I am desperate to get my hands on. Unlike usual, there’s a heavy emphasis on memoirs in this list. I’m not sure what it is about the month of May, but everyone’s publishing! Aside from that, we have queer romance, a thriller, fantasy, and so much more. If I missed out on your book coming out this month (or one…

[dwellordream]

Wahala by Nikki May. Drama/thriller. Ronke, Boo, and Simi have been best friends since university, united by their background as mixed race white/Nigerian women and their dysfunctional families. Ronke dreams of true love, though her friends disapprove of her immature, unreliable boyfriend. Boo seems to have the perfect husband and child, but longs for the independence and freedom she had before motherhood. Simi is an ambitious perfectionist who seems to have aced her 'long distance marriage' with her constantly traveling husband, yet can't admit to him that she has no desire for a baby. The tightknit trio is rocked when a mysterious woman from their past returns- cheerful, beautiful, gossipy Isabel, a cunning socialite who encourages them to go after what they want- no matter the cost to their reputations or friendship.

Aesthetica by Allie Rowbottom. Sci fi/drama. Once upon a time, she was a beloved social media influencer, with millions of adoring fans on Instagram and YouTube. Sixteen years later, cast out of the public eye and nursing the wounds of dozens of cosmetic surgeries, our heroine elects to go under the knife one final time- but before her last surgery, she wants to set the record straight. What drove her to pursue fame? What's the truth about her former manager, now accused of widespread sexual abuse and coercion? And what do you do when the spotlight switches off?

Fever by Deon Meyer. Sci fi. A pandemic has destroyed most of society and civilization. In South Africa, a teenage boy called Nico follows his idealistic father Willem on his journey to create a community of survivors dedicated to restoring what was lost. Even as Nico admires his father's pacifism and intelligence, he realizes Willem is no match for the new world's brutality, and falls under the sway of Domingo, a military veteran with palpable disdain for Willem's dreams of democracy. As Nico matures from a naive boy to an angry young man, he must choose where his loyalties lie, and what it means to be a leader.

When We Were Bright and Beautiful by Jillian Medoff. Drama/thriller. The ludicrously wealthy Quinns rule Manhattan's Upper East Side, and their political and social influence stretches far beyond New York City. Cassie, always insecure about her place in the family as their only adopted child, is horrified when her sweet, shy younger brother Billy is accused of rape by his ex-girlfriend. Determined to help her family defend their son, Cassie is willing to do whatever it takes to clear Billy's name- but along the way, discovers more than one dark family secret- including one that revolves around herself.

Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian. Horror/dark fantasy. In an alternate Wild West, where demons, ghosts, and sinister cults hold sway, a bounty is set on the infamous witch Sadie Grace. A motley crew assembles to bring the witch to justice, including two reckless Civil War veterans turned cowboys, a widow seeking a new home, an eccentric witch-finder, and a mysterious orphaned girl. As they head towards Burden County, Kansas, the group runs afoul of cannibals, outlaws, and hauntings, while Sadie Grace prepares to give her visitors a warm welcome steeped in hellfire.

We Could Be Beautiful by Swan Huntley. Thriller. Catherine West, wealthy socialite and unlucky in love, wants nothing more than to settle down and start a family. When she encounters William Stockton, a successful banker and old family friend, her misfortune in romance seems poised to change. Her increasingly senile mother's warnings about William matter little to Catherine; nor does his intense Catholicism or his unsettling bursts of violence and manipulation. Catherine is used to having what she wants, and with her trust fund running low, she is determined to secure a happy ending. But what exactly is William hiding? And how well does she really know him?

Movie Star by Lizzie Pepper by Hilary Liftin. Realistic fiction/drama. Lizzie Pepper, teen drama actor turned America's Sweetheart after her marriage to mega-action-star Rob Mars, is ready to tell-all about her infamous marriage and shocking divorce. Lizzie was living every woman's dream- married to Hollywood's most popular leading man, mother to two adorable little boys, and reaping the benefits of the mysterious religious organization known as One Cell. But the dream life might not have been worth it after all- not when Lizzie realizes the cost of committing to life with Rob, or the darker side of his fame.

The Parliament by Aimee Pokwatka. Horror/mystery. Estranged from her friends and family after surviving a horrific event, chemist Mady Purdy reluctantly returns home to West Virginia to teach a science class at the local library. Overwhelmed by her moody teenage charges, and doing her best to avoid her former best friends, Mady isn't prepared for the library to be besieged by a hundreds of thousands of owls, all of whom are intent upon tearing apart anyone who tries to exit or enter the building. As the town authorities launch increasingly dangerous and haphazard efforts to destroy the owls, Mady must face her own dark past to protect her students.

Books Recs of 2024

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. Mystery/fantasy centered around Din, a young assistant investigator assigned to help an eccentric and infamous detective, Ana Dolabra, solve a series of murders. Din is an engraver, his brain altered so he has a photographic memory. However, no one is quite sure how he got his current position, since he failed every single one of his final exams except the combat portion. Ana is an exceedingly odd woman who refuses to go to any crime scene in person and often performs mad science experiments in her spare time. As Din struggles to keep up with the case, which revolves around a bioweapon being unleashed on a series of the empire's best engineers, he also worries what will happen when Ana finally uncovers his secrets.

Highfire by Eoin Colfer. Urban fantasy (very comedic fantasy) about a dragon called Vern (short for Wyvern), who teams up with a juvenile delinquent named Squib (real name Everett Moreau) to take down a corrupt sheriff who is plaguing the Lousiana bayou. Vern is a very small (seven feet long) dragon who is the last of his kind (as far as he knows). When he is spotted by a local troubled teen, his first instinct is to hunt Squib down and kill him, but he quickly realizes the two of them have a common enemy- the murderous sheriff who is running drugs through their territory.

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi. Magical realism about a romantic-minded art historian who is swept off his feet by a mysterious and charming heiress. After a whirlwind courtship, the happy couple return to her childhood home; a Gothic manor on a lonely island. The more time our narrator spends around his wife's past, the more questions are raised- increasingly sinister ones about who she is and what exactly she is capable of. Once upon a time, she was best friends with an equally odd and dreamy little girl named Indigo. But no one has seen Indigo for many years now- and the Flower Bride may be behind her disappearance.

Chlorine by Jade Song. Horror/magical realism. Since childhood, Ren's entire identity has been wrapped up in swimming. If she can be strong enough, fast enough, special enough, success is sure to come her way. As the end of high school approaches, Ren's passion for swimming becomes less about her future, and more about past legends of mermaids and sirens dragging sailors into the deep. School, friends, and her parents' expectations all fall away- Ren will make her home in the water, no matter what she has to do.

We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride & Jo Piazza. Realistic fiction. Jen and Riley have been best friends for as long as they can remember, despite their vastly different childhoods. Riley is from a middle class Black family; Jen was raised by an impoverished white single mother. After twenty years of doing almost everything together, their lives are at a crossroads- Riley is a news anchor about to take Philadelphia by storm, while Jen is expecting her first child with her police officer husband. When Jen's husband is involved in the murder of a Black teenage boy by a fellow officer, Riley finds herself expected to cover the story- and Jen finds herself expected to answer for her husband's actions- and her own beliefs about what racism looks like.

Queenpin by Megan Abbott. Crime thriller/noir. Our nameless heroine lives a mousy existence working as a bookkeeper for a rundown local night club, but her life is turned upside down when the infamous Gloria Denton, a gun moll and smuggler, takes her under her wing. Gloria transforms her young protege from a timid girl to a sophisticated, cunning woman capable of handling gangsters, conmen, thieves, and bookies, but when she falls for the wrong man, her relationship with Gloria is strained, and they must decide just how far they can trust one another.

Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch by Rivka Galchen. Historical fiction. Based on the real life trial of Katharina Kepler, mother of the famed Johannes Kepler, Imperial Mathematician to the Holy Roman Empire. Katharina is a busybody, a domineering and devilishly clever woman with a particular talent for healing. She is also a fiercely loyal mother to her adult children, but when an old neighborhood grudge flares into accusations of poison and witchcraft, Katharina is determined not to meekly confess and beg pardon. The more she lashes out at her neighbors and the authorities, the more charges begin to pile up against her- despite her son's desperate attempts to save her from torture and execution.

Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott. Crime thriller/noir. Based on a real life murder case in 1931 Phoenix Arizona. Naive and sheltered Marion Seeley is deposited in Phoenix by her disgraced doctor husband, who is forced to take a job with a mining company in South America after his medical license is revoked. Marion befriends the vivacious Louise and Ginny, two fellow nurses, who introduce her to the underground party scene in Phoenix. Politicians and businessmen flock to the secret parties held by them, and it's a quick way to make money on the side. Drawn in by the luxury and thrills, Marion falls in love with Joe Lanigan, a powerful local politician, but as their affair intensifies, her friendship with the other women fractures, culminating in a gruesome crime.

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Getting Clean With Stevie Green

Getting Clean With Stevie Green

In Getting Clean With Stevie Green, by Swan Huntley, Stevie Green heads back home to help her mom pack and move. This goes so well that Stevie starts a decluttering business helping other rich people solve their non-problems of too many Vespas filling up their massive garages. It’s the same income bracket of We Could Be Beautiful, by the same author, only with a California style instead of a…

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💖 Sapphic Books Coming Out May 2024

🩷 There's something especially sweet about a sapphic romance. Here are only a few of the amazing sapphic books hitting shelves in May 2024. Which ones are you adding to your ever-growing TBR?

Contemporary 💖 Here For the Wrong Reasons - Annabel Paulsen & Lydia Wang 💖 Perfume & Pain - Anna Dorn 💖 Cheryl - Jillian Fleck 💖 A Little Kissing Between Friends - Chencia C. Higgins 💖 Lavash At First Sight - Taleen Voskuni 💖 The Game of Giants - Marion Douglas 💖 We Were the Universe - Kimberly King Parsons 💖 Oye - Melissa Mogollon 💖 The Summer Love Strategy - Ray Stoeve 💖 Noah Frye Gets Crushed - Maggie Horne 💖 Halfway to Harbor - Nicole Melleby 💖 Sunhead - Alex Assan

💖 The 7-10 Split - Karmen Lee 💖 Trust & Safety - Laura Blackett & Eve Gleichman 💖 Second Night Stand - Karelia Stetz-Waters & Fay Stetz-Waters 💖 How It Works Out - Myriam Lacroix 💖 April May June July - Alison B. Hart 💖 The Ride of Her Life - Jennifer Dugan 💖 One Night With the CEO - Emily Hayes 💖 Dulhaniyaa - Talia Bhatt 💖 A Girl Can Dream - Emily Barr 💖 I Want You More - Swan Huntley 💖 Exhibit - R. O. Kwon 💖 Only a Bridesmaid - Haley Donnell

💖 Thirsty - Jas Hammonds 💖 Housemates - Emma Copley Eisenberg 💖 Don’t Be a Drag - Skye Quinlan 💖 True Love and Other Impossible Odds - Christina Li 💖 Murray Out of Water - Taylor Tracy 💖 The Redemption of Daya Keane - Gia Gordon 💖 Blame My Virgo Moon - Freja Nicole Woolf 💖 From Where We Are - Nicole Zelniker 💖 Cabin Fever - Tagan Shepard 💖 Channel Surfing in the Sea of Happiness - Guy Babineau 💖 Meet Me in Berlin - Samantha L. Valentine 💖 Behind You - Catherine Hernandez

Paranormal/Horror 💖 Primal Hunt - L.L. Raand 💖 Blood on the Tide - Katee Robert 💖 We Mostly Come Out at Night - (ed) Rob Costello 💖 Flowers from the Void - Gianni Washington 💖 My Darling Dreadful Thing - Johanna van Veen 💖 When the Devil - Emma E. Murray 💖 Honeybites - I. S. Belle 💖 My Favorite Thing Is Monsters - Emil Ferris 💖 The Worst Perfect Moment -Shivaun Plozza

Fantasy 💖 The Honey Witch - Sydney J. Shields 💖 The Fireborne Blade - Charlotte Bond 💖 Chained Destinies - D. Jordan Redhawk 💖 Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea - Rebecca Thorne 💖 Grand Slam Romance: Major League Hotties - Ollie Hicks & Emma Oosterhous 💖 Snake Charming - Genevieve McCluer 💖 The Witches of Silverlake - Simon Curtis 💖 Death’s Country - R. M. Romero 💖 Snowblooded - Emma Sterner-Radleygh 💖 Bird Suit - Sydney Hegele 💖 Farzana's Spite - Felix Graves

Historical 💖 The Good Women of Fudi - Liu Hong 💖 Spitting Gold - Carmella Lowkis 💖 Adrift - Sam Ledel 💖 A Heart Divided - Angie Williams 💖 A Liaison with Her Leading Lady - Lotte R. James

Mystery/Thriller 💖 The Deadly Spark - Roxie Key 💖 The Advice Columnist - Cade Haddock Strong 💖 The Lilies - Quinn Diacon-Furtado 💖 Loyalty - E. J. Noyes 💖 Clean Kill - Anne Laughlin 💖 Have You Seen This Girl - Nita Tyndall 💖 The Last to Pie - Misha Popp

Sci-Fi 💖 The Sunforge - Sascha Stronach 💖 Road to Ruin - Hana Lee 💖 Exile in Guyville - Amy Lee Lillard 💖 The Lily of Enarah - Arden Brax 💖 The Z Word - Lindsay King-Miller