#queer bookstores

[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”

[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 ^^

[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.

[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)

[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

[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

[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.

[itsbansheebitch]

@xiranjayzhao

shout out to my local bookstore for celebrating pride with blind date book picks! this was the first pride event i had ever been to.

shout out to all the local businesses that had Palestine displays out in their stores, there were tons of buttons, pins, stickers, and flags to go around! we can't have pride without our Palestinian siblings! <3

check out my favorites from my haul!

(book was mystery wrapped, you should have seen my face when i saw one of my favorite youtuber's books in my stash lmao! my sister is so excited to read it, she's been meaning to watch your videos :D)

[newvision]

from E.M. Forster’s short story collection The Life To Come And Other Stories about queer love. Most stories were published posthumously, as they would have damaged his writing career significantly while homosexuality was still a crime