#lesbrary

[biandlesbianliterature]

500+ Sapphic Books That Came Out in 2024

500+ Sapphic Books That Came Out in 2024 (The Lesbrary)

[thatonelesbiansoilscientist]

I’d love some sapphic book recommendations if you have any

I absolutely do!

For fantasy:

Priory of the Orange Tree series by Samantha Shannon

A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft

Metal from Heaven

Grace of Sorcerers by Maria Ying

For romance:

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun

Her Name in the Sky by Kelly Quindlen

Plus One by MJ Duncan

Once in Berlin by Jo Havens

The Piano in the Tree by Jo Havens

Just as you are by Camille Kellog

D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding

In the Event of Love by Courtney Kae

For Scifi:

Last Night at the Telegraph Club

The Locked Tomb Series

This is How You Lose the Time War

A Scatter of Lights

If you want to look at a certifiable mountian of recs where you can find just about any kind of representation your heart desires I really reccomend taking a look at the Lesbrary!

[catilinas]

when i do my library studies masters i can become a lesbrarian but for now i am just a lesbrary assistant :(

[mermaidsirennikita]

Hi!! I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of wlw romance books? Do you know of similar blogs like yours who post about them or of any authors? You reviewed the one with the pilot and the nurse, and I was really excited to see that and have been itching for more ladies lol

Yes!! We really need more sapphic books in romance; wlw is probably the least-represented type of pairing (besides... any involving trans/nb charactes in general). That's why I try to request any that I think will potentially appeal to me (I have a FFM triad fantasy romance ARC to read and review this month that apparently puts a heavy emphasis on the women, and a f/f selkie ARC for next year!).

For more reviews, you can check out the Lesbrary, though that's not ONLY romance. But yeah, that's all ladies all the time!

I would also recommend checking out romance.io. It's a great romance-exclusive reading resource, and you can filter by trope and gender pairings.

For more sapphic books, I'd recommend checking out:

The Fae Queen's Captive by Sierra Simone. This archeologist girl gets kidnapped by faeries, and she basically has to become the mysterious and cool fae queen's temporary consort. It's VERY hot, and a great one to read around Halloween. Good bit of gore, as a heads up.

The Thornchapel series by Sierra Simone. Gothic erotic romance dark academia type book about six friends who accidentally wake a dark supernatural force when they start doing these ancient sex rituals together. WHO WOULDA THUNK IT. There are orgies where everyone fucks everyone and everyone is bi, but the two main relationships are an MMF triad and a FF romance. Everyone gets POVs, and the f/f relationship is sooooo beautiful. It is BDSM, one of them is a domme and the other is her sub; it's very grumpy/sunshine, stern/sweet. Great plus size rep from one of the women. Honestly just a gorgeous love story that's super complex and compelling. TW for past sexual assault (this involves one of the women in the f/f relationship; it's not super graphic, but it is something that she needs to seek therapy for, her arc does involve recovery, and she does suffer from PTSD) and possible incest (not the f/f relationship) and general kinda dark vibes. But everyone gets an HEA in the end, especially the Rebecca and Delphine (the ladies).

An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera. Sapphic historical, Manuela ends up in Paris (the lesbian hub of the 1800s) and she wants to live her life as a gay woman before settling into a marriage with a man. So she asks Cora, this icy seductive rich widow/businesswoman, to give her an intro to gay Paris, in exchange for Manuela giving her this business thing she wants. What Cora doesn't realize initially is that Manuela is actually super committed to getting deflowered by Cora as well. It's very uptight meets wild, very swoony, very sexy.

A Long Time Dead by Samara Breger. A gothic vampire romance, it's about a sex worker who wakes up having been turned into a vampire in 1800s England, with this very worried vampire lady hovering over her. Because oops, the lady's ex turned her into a vampire as a revenge thing? So it's like, decades of these two falling in love, and tension, and a coven of queer vampires, and the ex attempting to murder people. Very romantic and hot and great.

Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall. This one is like, a Midsummer Night's Dream meets Jane Austen. It takes place in a fantastical Regency era, and one of the heroines leaves this ball because a hex has been put on her and her dress is disintegrating? Only for her to be intercepted by this dark and dangerous woman who's rumored to have killed her father? Magical, whimsical, somehow still very poignant at points?

The Fiancee Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur. A contemporary romcom wherein this bookshop owner(? employee?) pretends a romance cover model is her girlfriend to get her family off her back... Only for the model to turn out to be the heiress to a publishing empire, and in order to gain her full inheritance, OF COURSE she must marry!!! Funny, sparkly, a good time.

Generally, for authors:

Olivia Waite writes tons of f/f historical romance, Katee Robert writes some f/f erotic romance and some FFM, Sierra Simone tends to dabble in f/f and FFM more than most, Alexandria Bellefleur often writes f/f, Meryl Wilsner writes f/f contemporary, (I liked their recent Cleat Cute) Adriana Herrera writes f/f and m/f and m/m (I think) and has an erotic f/f holiday novella with a lady Santa out (Her Night with Santa). Check out the Pride not Prejudice anthology for tons of queer novellas, including an f/f alien romance by Ruby Dixon and a f/f historical by Amalie Howard!

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

hi! a friend of mine has asked for lesbian romance novel recommendations. unfortunately I don't really read romance, but perhaps you have a few recommendations? or can point me towards someone else who does

so far I have read one (1) lesbian romance novel in my romance novel journey and it was Pretty Bad. there was also a bi4bi wlw romance novel that was bad in different and way more exciting ways but it was still Bad. has your friend tried checking out the Lesbrary?

[carabiner-axe]

today's bookmail for my vintage lesbrary book collection: book #166, Nothing But the Girl: Blatant Lesbian Image - A Portfolio and Exploration of Lesbian Erotic Photography (Women on Women)

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

Gonna throw these questions back at you; 10. What novel caused you the worst book hangover? 15. What were the last three books you read? Bonus: Would you recommend said last three books?

[ Ask me a bookish question and I’ll ask you one in return! ]

What novel caused you the worst book hangover?

I've already answered this one: There are a few, but the first that comes to mind is Harrow the Ninth. Like…ugh. Don’t get me started.

What were the last three books you read? Bonus: Would you recommend said last three books?

I'm reading mostly ARCs this year, along with sapphic books for Lesbrary (I write reviews there, check it out!). The last three were: Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner, Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other by Bethany Turner, and Love at First Set by Jennifer Dugan. Honestly, no; I wouldn't recommend any of them.

If you're interested in keeping up with my reading antics, you can find me on:

Goodreads | Instagram | Literal | Uncover | Storygraph

Thanks for asking!

[biandlesbianliterature]

Do you love reading sapphic books? Feel like talking about them at least once a month? Want to be buried in an insurmountable pile of free sapphic ebooks? Join the Lesbrary!

I am looking for more reviewers at the Lesbrary! You just have to commit to one review a month of any sapphic book and in return you get forwarded all of the sapphic ebooks sent to us for possible review. You also get access to the Lesbrary Edelweiss and Netgalley accounts, where you can request not-yet-released queer titles.

I’m looking particularly for more reviewers of color, disabled reviewers, and trans reviewers, but anyone who regularly reads sapphic books is welcome!

If you’re interested in joining the Lesbrary, send me an email at danikaellis at gmail with an example of a book review you’ve written. (It doesn’t have to have been published/posted anywhere before.) We’d love to have you on board.

(Reblogs are appreciated to reach more potential reviewers!)

[existentials0phism]

Book Review - Perfume and Pain [Anna Dorn]

Good evening lovely people!!

As always, I feel an itch to write, and cant seem to place that energy to anything productive (school included, work in progress) but I enjoyed writing the last one so much I want to throw this out here!

First and Foremost, I'd HIGHLY recommend reading the review by Danika Ellis on 'The Lesbrary' website. As a lesbian always searching for solid lesbian media, this website is an incredible find.

The book itself surrounds a theme reminiscent of Lesbian Pulp novels from the 1950's. That being advertised in the description was enough to make me incredibly interested, as these are (as referenced in the book) important and reclaimed pieces of representation for the sapphic community, but spark conversation as being written by mainly men, for the male gaze (think of lesbian porn, really). However, the author is a queer woman, and the main character is an older, jaded, and incredibly problematic lesbian author living in LA. There's something enticing about complex and messy characters, but I will admit there was something difficult to digest about a main character who was so unlikable. Another example of the author possibly putting too much of themselves into their character (Danika puts this more eloquently than me).

The character, Astrid Dahl, gives the reader a clear first impression: she's difficult and annoying. Her 'hot takes' and opinions that stirred up so much controversy were frankly not all that realistic, as I feel so strongly this 'woke queer-person' stereotype that permeates a relatively small and out of touch group of people is nothing compared to the rampant homophobia throughout the rest of the world. I struggle with modern jargon in books even where it's completely valid, but the word "cancelled" upon viewing it made me roll my eyes. Her fundamentally 'subversive' character seemed to fit into an easy mold; a white lesbian who called herself a 'female faggot', wealthy, and in love with herself and the vapid, bitchy characters you'd find in LA. She is who we are stuck with for the whole book, and while the author makes it clear that her behaviour is selfish and self-destructive, certain quotes and lines make you want to take a deep breath in and find a novel with a less insufferable protagonist.

But, to the author's credit, it was a fun read. Yes, Astrid is unlikable, but her life is like a trashy reality TV. She gets involved with horrible women; the entire plot following her spur of the moment romance with love interest Ivy was like eating popcorn in front of a screen; easily grabbing onto one moment after the other and taking it in wide eyed. It was great drama. I found that the toxic navigation of queer relationships was the best aspect of this book; it was easier seeing Astrid lean into her established character: rude, uncomprimising, and fucking crazy. Drug fueled weekends, arguing with everyone she knows, talking shit, spiraling downwards, driving while drinking. The plot made it easy to tear through; like an airport book, you want digestible trash and lesbians deserve their own version of that!

I don't regret reading it, it was fun and light (although that might not have been the author's intention), which is what you need sometimes. The ending is satisfying, Astrid's character development makes sense and the ending was ultimately satisfying, which included her reconnection with neighbor and love interest Penelope (which I will note was a great aspect of the book; she was likable to the reader and all other characters except the main one, funnily enough). For a book based around Lesbian pulp, I do personally feel like there could've been a bit of added spice. The sex scenes were solid, but brief, and you'd hope a book like this would have that caveat of erotica that would make it a fun, vacation read. But that factor by no means diminishes the book itself.

If you're a queer woman and can be amused by character that contradicts your opinions in a way which can be grating, by all means enjoy the mess and drama! If you feel a little more strongly about certain social dynamics and are active in discourse in the queer community, I might put this one down, no use getting riled up over a book when there are plenty of better queer novels out there!

ranking: 5.5/10

[readingpastdark]

hello readers!

this is a blog I made so I can talk about some of the books I read. I like to make memes about what I'm reading sometimes and I might post them if I feel like it.

main blog: you can visit and follow this blog on wordpress here for full length reviews and posts (please do! you can get notified when I write a new post, and also I think my blog is cute and pretty considering it's a free wordpress site)

about me: I'm a butch lesbian carpenter (hot, i know) and I'm a huge nerd. my free time is spent reading, watching sports, or both at the same time. she/they/he

you can read my reviews on the Lesbrary here, and follow me on the Storygraph here

main tumblr is @straight-as-my-spine

[gefdreamsofthesea]

So NaNoWriMo said some bullshit about how being against AI is classist and ableist so here is my novel that I wrote during NaNoWriMo as a disabled person with no money to hire an editor.

The Lesbrary gave it a five star review.

[meagankimberly]

7 Young Adult Sapphic Books With Latin Representation

Disclaimer: Some of the links in my list of young adult sapphic books are affiliate links. If you click them to make a purchase I will earn a commission. The decision of whether or not to buy something is completely up to you. A version of this book review first appeared in The Lesbrary. The sapphic spectrum runs far and wide, which is why it’s important to remember to add a little diversity to…

[rebeleden]

Lesbian Poetry: Because it Didn’t End with Sappho – The Lesbrary

[northern-passage]

my time to shine. tho i tend to read more horror/gothic romances that aren't really cozy like the others you listed, i'll try to give you ones that more fit your vibe. but if you liked dowry of blood i think you'll like these other vampire ones:

An Education in Malice - same author as Dowry, Carmilla retelling

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson - a new take on the Elizabeth of Bathory legend. this is a horror romance

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez - a black lesbian feminist classic that follows our mc across centuries. probably the most lighthearted take on vampires but still deals with some heavy subject matter

Night's Edge duology by Liz Kerin - mainly about the mc and her relationship with her mother but there is a sapphic romance subplot

A Long Time Dead by Samara Berger - i haven't read this one or really know much about it but i know it's a lesbian romance

more (no vampires):

The Gilded Crown by Marianne Gordan - dark fantasy with a sapphic romance-ish subplot

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling - a horror book with another sapphic romance-ish subplot.

(these first two aren't "happy" romances and aren't meant to be read as such and theyre not the main focus of the story; but i like them because they're exactly like you said, they just happen to be lesbians and it's not a huge deal)

everything Sarah Waters has ever written - she writes a variety of historical fiction and i think all of her books have lesbian romance or lesbian "themes" lol. not sure if it fits your vibe but she's a powerhouse in the genre (the handmaiden movie was based on her novel the fingersmith)

The Fall That Saved Us & A Wolf Steps in Blood by Tamara Jeree - Jeree writes really lovely sapphic romances i can't recommend them enough. the first one is an angel/demon romance and the second one is wolf shifter/blood witch romance.

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant - a mermaid horror book with a large diverse cast and a lesbian romance subplot with the main lead

The Fireborne Blade and The Bloodless Princes by Charlotte Bond - fantasy novellas with a slowburn sapphic romance. i've only read the first one so far so i cant really say how the romance progresses because it's very subtle in the first book 🤔

The Jasmine Throne series by Tasha Suri - on my TBR 😩

The Space Between Worlds series by Micaiah Johnson - also on my TBR..

hopefully there's something here that catches your eye! like i said i tend to read darker stories and i don't read contemporary romance at all 😅 but i'm always hunting for lesbian stories and characters in the books i read. also i always recommend checking tws on these too, some of them do explore heavier themes along with the romances.

otherwise here's a big rec list with a bit more variety from The Lesbrary!

Recommendations needed

Okay, I'm coming to you guys for this now because I am going out of my mind. I cannot, for the life of me, find good novels with a f/f romantic lead plot. Do they not exist? I've been reading what I can find but I am not enjoying them. It's to the point where I'm wondering if there is something wrong with me. So, I'm coming to all of you. I do not want YA. I get a little icked reading novels about girls my daughter's age. I prefer fantasy but will branch out into other genera's. I'm looking for something that is not a coming of age or a discovering the characters are gay. I just want two leads that are living their life and also happen to be lesbians. I cannot seem to find a story of women falling in love without it being politicized or demonized by either them or other characters in the book.

I've read The Priory of the Orange Tree (romance was decent but I felt most of the story dragged)

I've read You Can't Spell Tea Without Treason (the romance felt one dimensional)

I've read The Stars Too Fondly (the characters were all way too immature for being individuals with their doctorates)

Even Though I Knew The End (It felt like it was written as a hetero relationship that they just switched the pronouns to female in the editing phase)

Legends and Latte's and Bookshops and Bonedust ( I loved this one. Peek cozy fiction. Believable romance)

Noteworthy read is a Dowry of Blood but that was more poly than lesbian and there was a male involved.

[npdclaraoswald]

Where do you find all of these books?

Sorry I'm only just getting to this, you sent it while I was at work and then I forgot about it until now. But I'm assuming this is in reference to my answers to this book ask game yesterday, and the answer is mainly booktube. I do also follow people on bookstagram (though their stupid algorithm makes it so I barely see the people I follow), as well as regularly looking through @lgbtqreads over here, the lesbrary's website, and through books people have added to storygraph challenges. Storygraph, if you're unaware, is basically goodreads just not owned by Amazon. And they have a feature called challenges where you can have any larger prompt with a bunch of smaller subcategories, and people joined in the challenge can add whatever books they think fit the prompt. If you do just use goodreads though, if you have any particular book you enjoy, if you scroll to the bottom of its page there's a "readers also enjoyed" section and a section called lists, where people compile books that have things in common. So for example, This is How You Lose the Time War will have lists like queer sci fi, lesbian enemies to lovers, etc, so if you're looking for more books with those elements, it gives you a lot of options.

I'm gonna recommend some of my favorite booktubers under the cut. All of them read across genres, but I'm also gonna put what genres they tend to read the most of.

Jesse on YouTube reads a lot of mystery/horror/thriller

A Sunny Book Nook reads mostly literary fiction

Perpetual Pages reads a pretty even spread across genres, but reads like 90% queer books

Books are my Social Life reads mostly contemporary

Bookish Realm reads absolutely everything, she reads like thirty books a month, it's insane. She also has a second channel called Realm of Comics for comics, graphic novels, and manga

With Cindy reads a lot of literary fiction and nonfiction, but lately has also been developing a love of trashy romance

To Be Black and Loved reads a lot of literary fiction

This Story Ain't Over reads a lot of fantasy and fantasy romance

Mina Reads reads a lot of romance

Myonna Reads also reads a lot of romance

My Name Is Marines reads across genres because she reads through a lot of best book lists online and a lot of booktok darlings to see if they're worth the hype

And also here's a quick bonus listing of channels that don't really upload anymore but that I really loved and that still have their old videos up: Et Tu Brody?, Problems of a Book Nerd, Starlah Enjoys, and Pages of Hayley

[biandlesbianliterature]

We’ve reviewed thousands(!) of sapphic books at the Lesbrary, so it’s easy to get overwhelmed by choice. That’s why I keep a list of my personal recommendations sorted by genre and linked to my full reviews. These are just the books I really enjoyed and would recommend. I’ve been updated this regularly for years, so I now have hundreds of books on that list—which may also be overwhelming, but it’s less than thousands, at least!

Check out the Lesbrary Recommendations page for my updated list of favourite sapphic books.

I've included just the general fiction recommendations under the read more, but there are hundreds more titles at the link.

If you like what we do at the Lesbrary and want to see more of it, buy us a coffee on Ko-Fi, or support us on Patreon.

Nevada by Imogen Binnie (review)

The Very Nice Box by Laura Blackett and Eve Gleichman (review)

Milk Fed by Melissa Broder (review)

Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown

My Education by Susan Choi (review)

Missed Her by Ivan Coyote (review)

Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi (review)

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich (review)

The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan (review)

Drag King Dreams by Leslie Feinberg (review)

Just Girls by Rachel Gold (review)

Painting Their Portraits in Winter by Myriam Gurba (review)

The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall (review)

One’s Company by Ashley Hutson (review)

Stray City by Chelsey Johnson (review)

Sister Snake by Amanda Lee Koe (review)

When Fox is a Thousand by Larissa Lai (review)

The Collection edited by Tom Leger and Riley Macleod (review)

Lost Boi by Sassafras Lowrey (review)

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado (review)

All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews (review)

Skye Falling by Mia McKenzie (review)

The Summer We Got Free by Mia McKenzie (review)

Hero Worship by Rebekah Matthews (review)

Tauhou by Kōtuku Titihuia Nuttall (review)

A Dream of a Woman: Stories by Casey Plett (review)

A Safe Girl to Love by Casey Plett (review)

Lizzy & Annie by Casey Plett (review)

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera (review)

(You) Set Me On Fire by Mariko Tamaki (review)

The Color Purple by Alice Walker (review)

Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson

Fresh by Margot Wood (review) (New Adult)

If you like what we do at the Lesbrary and want to see more of it, buy us a coffee, or support us on Patreon.