#queer bookstores

[thistle-nightshade]

I'm going to affectionately compare this to red white and royal blue, but just know it frustrates me when books are compared exclusively along similar plot points. This is two "rival" nations And two princes falling in love and a PR nightmare. But the tone is also similar to red white royal blue. The reverence with which love is spoken, the desire to do something more and better, to undo the mistakes of the past and build something more with the future. The sibling and friend relationships. So much of what I loved about rwrb is also in this.

The prince of Christmas is a fuck up who finds out he isn't as messed up as he thought, who grows into his good ideas and learns to stand on what he believes, which is anticapitalist, anti comidification of holiday and traditions. He fights to get back to when many traditions could all exist in their fullness, and I like that a lot. He learns hes worthy of love.

The king of Halloween married the Queen of Dia de los muertos, and I like the aspects of both that were brought in through their son, the prince of mischief and finding joy in hard times. The prince who loves ofrendas and reconnecting to those passed. The prince who can't swear without magically producing a jack-o'-lantern. Who isn't above using a little magic to tease a friend. Who is fiercely devoted to his duty, but learns to find love anyway.

These two are silly and mischievous and sickenly cute together. A great read, one I will want to revisit every year when the weather starts to turn towards fall and winter.

[sweetreadsict]

Been a bit since we last posted (2023 has been way too hectic) but we do have an exciting announcement in the form of Alex's latest book! If you like queer indie speculative fiction about witches and their familiars, look no further! The anthology has some 60+ compiled short stories and 7 gorgeous section illustrations, and pre-ordered copies are shipping out signed. Ordering & fulfillment are coming out of our shop, so head over that way to get a copy reserved ^^

[white-throated-packrat]

The loss of queer bookstore (which may have had attached coffeeshops, but not necessarily) continues to be a real loss in forming community for queer people.

“we need an alcohol free queer space for adults with no friends to meet each other”

[just-a-gal-with-a-boomerang]

My local queer bookstore is being threatened with eviction over their free narcan and fentanyl test strips, free store for the unhoused, and free narcan trainings.

Bluestockings is an incredible worker-owned community space that has been apart of the Lower East Side for 25 years. But in the last couple years, they've faced increasing harassment from the wealthier neighbors moving in and complaining about the presence of unhoused people around their store front. Despite all their community work being allowed by their lease, the landlord is pushing for an eviction.

Please help support Bluestockings! Visit them (if you're local), order books online, donate! We need more queer and community-oriented spaces, not another overpriced coffee shop or chain franchise.

[vampirescience]

hi! do you like supporting queer-owned/disabled-owned small businesses? do you like buying affordable stuff? awesome!

i have recently launched lavender lit, a used bookstore focused on uplifting the voices, stories, and experiences of marginalized folks of all kinds, with a specialty in queer books.

since so many of my formative experiences took place here on tumblr dot com, i decided to build in a special discount for tumblr users — you can enter the code tumblr10 at checkout for 10% off your first order on our online store! we’ve got a great selection of books, stickers, and zines to browse.

thank you so much for checking us out, spreading the word, and helping me get my dream business off the ground!

[queerliblib]

QUEER JOY SUNDAY 🌈

tell us what’s bringing you joy today <3333

[thistle-nightshade]

We're a newer queer owned bookstore in Nevada!!

LGBTQ-owned bookstores have been around for decades. Founded in 1973 in the City of Brotherly Love, Philly AIDS Thrift @ Giovanni’s Room—honoring James Baldwin’s queer classic—is perhaps the oldest surviving LGBTQ and feminist bookstore in America. Charis Books and More, in Decatur, Georgia, was launched a year later. A Room of One's Own has been a fixture in downtown Madison, Wisconsin since 1975, and Chicago’s Women and Children First was started in 1979 by two women who fell in love as students at the University of Illinois.

These stores are more than shops to browse for books; they are hubs for both entertainment and enlightenment, meeting grounds for hearts and minds. They are, above all, vital community spaces.

-Michelle Hart, "53 LGBTQ-Owned Bookstores You Can Be Proud to Support, published June 22, 2021

This awesome list includes 53 bookstores in 23 states across the USA. I don't know about Ya'll but I can't WAIT to check them out. The link has them sorted by state; here's a list of all of them, alphabetical.

1977 Books (Birmingham, Alabama)

All She Wrote (Somerville, Massachusetts)

Another Read Through (Portland, Oregon)

Antigone Books (Tuscon, Arizona)

Astoria Bookshop (Queens, New York)

Beausoliel Books (Lafayette, Louisiana)

Big Blue Marble Books (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

Black Garnet Books (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Bluestockings Bookstore (New York, New York)

Bookish (Atlanta, Georgia)

BookWoman (Austin, Texas)

Burdock Book Collective (Montgomery, Alabama)

Bureau of General Services - Queer Division (New York, New York)

Charis Books and More (Decatur, Georgia)

Dog Ear Books (Russellville, Arkansas)

Dog Eared Books (San Francisco, California)

East End Books (Provincetown, Massachusetts)

Firestorm Books and Coffee (Asheville, North Carolina)

Foggy Pines Books (Boone, North Carolina)

Hello Again (Cocoa Village, Florida)

Here's the Story (Union, New Jersey)

The Irreverent Bookworm (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Kismet Books (Verona, Wisconsin)

King's Books (Tacoma, Washington)

Kona Bay Books (Kailua, Hawaii)

Kramers (Washington DC)

Lavender Library (Sacramento, California)

Left Bank Books (St. Louis, Missouri)

Left Bank Books (Seattle, Washington)

Lit. on Fire Books (Peoria, Illinois)

Loyalty Bookstores (Silver Spring, Maryland and Washington DC)

Montana Book Company (Helena, Montana)

Omnivore Books on Food (San Francisco, California)

One Grand Books (Narrowsburg, New York)

Philly AIDs Thrift at Giovanni's Room (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

Outwords Books (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

Rakestraw Books (Danville, California)

Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse (Baltimore, Maryland)

The Ripped Bodice (Los Angeles, California)

Rofhiwa Book Cafe (Durham, North Carolina)

A Room of One's Own (Madison, Wisconsin)

Rust Belt Books (Buffalo, New York)

The Salt Eaters (Inglewood, California)

A Seat at the Table (Elk Grove, California)

Tombolo Books (St. Petersburg, California)

Tubby and Coo's Mid-City Book Shop (New Orleans, Louisiana)

Unabridged Books (Chicago, Illinois)

Under the Umbrella (Salt Lake City, Utah)

Village Books (Bellingham, Washington)

Violet Valley (Water Valley, Mississippi)

W. Whitman Books (Middleburgh, New York)

Women and Children First (Chicago, Illinois)

Womencrafts (Provincetown, Massachusetts)

[bri-cheeses]

personally I think that all queer books should have a “special edition” with a subtle cover (and a code name if it’s necessary) for all of the people in homophobic areas

[rainydaypaperback]

My mother recently passed away after a long period of fighting several chronic issues. She was 84. I lived with her as caregiver while also running my bookstore.

That took rather a toll on finances because I often needed to close unexpectedly on short notice to care for her. Plus her final expenses. Everything will be fine in six months once estate is settled but right now, OOF, that is a cash crunch on me. It's basically drained all my savings so if one more thing goes wrong, keeping store running becomes difficult.

I've run this store for 23 years, come February 1st. While I carry all types of books, my specialty is queer books. That Pride flag flies year round!

So I could use some support right now and as all The Everything is happening.

Come visit me in person! I'm at 81 Greenwood Ave. (route 302) in Bethel, CT. 11-6PM Tuesday through Friday. 10-5PM Saturdays (exvept Sat. feb. 8th 2025) I'm also within walking distance of the NYC Metro-North train station, Danbury line. There's two other bookstores within walking distance, so you can spend a whole day looking at books!

If you're not local, but have friends in the Southwestern Connecticut or New York/Connecticut border area, please let them know I exist!

If you want to recommend me to a friend or family member in area that doesn't use Tumblr I also have a Facebook account and an Instagram. I also send out a weekly email with some featured books, events going on in the Bethel & Danbury area, and a featured adoptable pet. See a sample email and signup.

If you're not local, I have my inventory online and you can get lots of weird, out of print queer books from small presses. Order some books!

If you need audiobooks, I also have a Libro.fm account. I get a small commission when you get your audiobook downloads or subscriptions through the link. If you're doing a new subscription, you get two additional books through the affiliate link.

I also am on Bookshop.org if you want to buy new books that I don't have. If you go through the link, OR set me as your "local" store, when you buy new books I get a little commission.

I run the book club for Pride here and you can see the upcoming picks on either the front page of the store or on the Bookshop.org page with the club picks. We alternate fiction and nonfiction each month and do a hybrid model where you can either come to in person on 3rd Saturday of month OR do a text only chat on that 3rd Friday & Saturday via Bethel Pride's discord. For text chat, just hop in and post in bookclub whenever your schedule allows! and respond to other folks.

I also host a monthly plant swap with Pride here on the second Saturday. EXCEPT THIS FEBRUARY 8th. I am away at a conference for running Pride events! I am off working on the gay agenda! So plant swap resumes in MARCH.

For plant swap, you can bring plants or take plants. You can drop off without taking more home and pickup without having brought any. It's indoor plants only til May, and then its time to get wild with outdoor pals.

And I really appreciate reblogs! you never know where your followers live and this may make them shriek like a pterodactyl because they never realized how close by a queer bookstore was to them! ROADTRIP TIME.

[wreckitremy]

So this year i started out in 3 book clubs.

I have dropped out of 2 book clubs since then.

I am now somehow in 4 book clubs.

[gaywebcorenostalgia]

afterwords bookstore & espresso bar, 1997

[jesncin]

✨⭐️YOU CAN NOW PREORDER LUNAR BOY!!🌟✨

It's Princess Kaguya meets the Little Prince with an entirely Indonesian cast of characters! A graphic novel drawn and written by yours truly!

[eli-zab3th]

"Being open about who you are can be a little scary, but I think that after you’ve explored your first dungeon, or been hounded through a forest by an unknown threat, you begin to worry less about the approval of others and more about whether you remembered to bring a torch."

- Once Upon a Tome, Oliver Darkshire

[itisiives]

Hey, y'all, I'm still raising money for this tuition that's gotten me in a chokehold, so I am still selling my books. But if money is too tight, would you mind requesting the title at your local library, instead? That may help!

📚 📖 📙

And to help convince you: I have a poem featured in Janus Literary.

[transbookoftheday]

The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill

A poignant and enchanting novel about a magical bookstore that transports a trans man through time and brings him face-to-face with his teenage self, offering him the chance of a lifetime to examine his life and identity to find a new beginning.

When Darby finds himself unemployed and in need of a fresh start, he moves back to the small Illinois town he left behind. But Oak Falls has changed almost as much as he has since he left.

One thing is familiar: In Between Books, Darby’s refuge growing up and eventual high school job. When he walks into the bookstore now, Darby feels an eerie sense of déjà vu—everything is exactly the same. Even the newspapers are dated 2009. And behind the register is a teen who looks a lot like Darby did at sixteen. . . who just might give Darby the opportunity to change his own present for the better—if he can figure out how before his connection to the past vanishes forever.

The In-Between Bookstore is a stunning novel of love, self-discovery, and the choices that come with both, for anyone who has ever wondered what their life might be like if they had the chance to go back and take a bigger, braver risk.