It may have good rep but is it actually good to read?
@isthequeerbookgood
Reading goblin with strong opinions. I read the books on lists of things with X representation and tell you whether I think they're any good. Focus is generally on adult indie fantasy novels. Taste is subjective, you may not agree.
I read books with queer representation and write short reviews with my honest opinions. I'm much more interested in whether a book is fun and enjoyable to read than whether it has deep artistic merit, but I got tired of coming across an exciting list of new queer books - only to find out that most of them are just. Not well written.
So I'm here to start my own list, according to the kinds of books I like to read. I focus on books that are:
Indie and self-published
Sci-fi and fantasy romance
Adult
Broadly speaking, I'm looking for books that are a bit off the beaten path: you don't need me to tell you that Gideon the Ninth is worth reading! You'll mostly see sci-fi and fantasy adult novels, because that's what I enjoy reading, but the occasional historical or YA might sneak on.
An explanation and library of my tags can be found underneath the cut.
Rating System:
Bad - a book that was bad. I probably didn’t finish it, and wouldn’t recommend anyone else even start.
Readable - I didn’t think this was amazing, but I did finish it. It’s readable, and probably worth it if you enjoy the tropes.
Good - I enjoyed this, and would recommend it!
Fantastic - I am kissing the author with tongue
Rep:
wlw - the main relationship is between two women
mlm - the main relationship is between two men
wlnb - the main relationship is between a woman and a nonbinary person
mlnb - the main relationship is between a man and a nonbinary person
nblnb - the main relationship is between two nonbinary people
mlw - the main relationship is between a man and a woman
polyamory - the main realtionship is polyamorous
trans rep - a major character is transgender, usually one who broadly identifies as a trans man or a trans woman
nonbinary rep - a major character is nonbinary
Length:
<50k
50-75k
75-100k
100k+
200k+
Smut?
smutty - contains explicit on-page sex
closed door - characters have sex, but it's fade to black or expressed in vague or metaphorical terms
nonsexual - contains no sex
they technically don't have sex but - something happens that feels like a sex scene even though it isn't. you know that scene in harrow the ninth with ianthe's arm? that.
Miscellaneous Tags
I tend to tag for a few major features of the setting, such as time period or if there's vampires involved. Some miscellaneous tags that have shown up so far:
October Book Reviews: The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes
Picked this up because Tor Books is generally solid, and both the cover and the premise were striking. In The Works of Vermin, Guy works as a lowly exterminator of biological monsters in the city of Tiliard's twisting root-sewers even as a new, unstoppable creature rises. High in the branches, perfumer Aster works her hallucinatory craft in service of the city's crumbling dictators. As the city slides inevitably into revolution, Guy and Aster's stories intertwine in unexpected ways.
The Works of Vermin is baroquely hallucinatory in the line of Chandrasekera's Saint of Bright Doors or Clarke's Metal from Heaven. Ennes unveils seemingly endless layers of worldbuilding, each more outre and extravagant than the last. A deadly river that flows upwards, a perfumier with a parasite growing in her lungs, a vicious tangle of at least three different artisto-political movements, and singers who duel to the death every night onstage for the amusement of the crowd. And while I said the worldbuilding was baroque, time-wise it felt more like interwar Europe, if strictly limited to the bounds of the city-state of Tiliard. People vividly remember the brutality of the last revolution, and are warily watching political tensions build up into another inevitable devastation.
While the background of The Works of Vermin was spectacular, I was much more lukewarm about the characters. The narration felt cold and distant, and it was difficult to connect with the protagonists. Guy is desperately fighting to keep his kid sister from being trapped in the same debt he's caged in, and Aster is slowly coughing her lungs out while nursing a catastrophic crush on her dazzlingly unreliable best friend. But all of it feels remote, like it's behind a pane of glass. Ah well. I'm a character-first reader, so the lack of intensity keeps this book from being top-tier for me. But I know many of you prefer a spectacular setting and good prose, and this book has that in spades.
A dazzlingly lush story about the brutality of revolution. Ennes doesn't bother for a moment to hold the reader's hand, trusting you to pick up on all the baroque flourishes and careful narrative half-truths they're hiding. A particularly intensely written cast of characters would have easily placed this novel on my best books of the year list, but even as it is, I highly recommend it.
a bedraggled flesh-necromancer cultist finds himself somewhat free of the eldritch chaos god he was under the thrall of, in the aftermath of a Final Battle
and is somehow in a trench with another man: the former right hand man of the Prophesied Hero, who turned traitor & lost his hand
despite their mistrust, they become allies relying on each other to survive as they make their way through underground tunnels trying to get as far away from the kingdom as possible
and as they face mutated creatures, angry mobs, and traumas from their pasts, they grow attached to each other…
demi-coded MC, has illustrations
(btw 10% of direct sales of this book will be donated to san diego food bank til the end of 2025)
too many reviewthoughts to fit in the tags 😔 i'll just post it all here
i really loved this…… I wasn’t sure at all of the vibe going in other than caves and grimy medieval fantasy vibes - but it is a delightfully sweet romance from some uncommon perspectives. it’s pretty straightforward and relatively fun and light tonally (aside from a bit of trauma and violence, etc)
The dynamic and developing relationship between the main characters is great. a weird sincere touch-starved stinky wet rat of a creature (who i want to put in a little jar) and a stubborn prickly yet extremely caring asshole of a man.
It’s very easy to read, I flew through it pretty quickly. The writing is fine…..a bit clunky in places and I did feel like sometimes things were stated outright that didn’t need to be, like: I could tell from subtext. you didn’t need to say that. Some telling not showing, and conveniences etc. But that wasn’t overly distracting, and worked fine for this kind of story (fun romance adventure that’s intentionally playing into/subverting tropes) (oh also the POV changes being labelled with their names was redundant. like you can tell as soon as you read the first sentence you don’t need that! or at least make it a chapter header thing)
Pretty small scale narrative focus, and the broader worldbuilding is a bit vague. It’s a very generic archetypal fantasy setting, which is only really expanded upon in relation to the MC’s backgrounds, and they’re mostly just trying to survive and get as far away from that as possible. Little extra bits are revealed eventually as the story goes on, but even then it’s just enough for the world and stakes to feel real. Most side characters are only briefly encountered and relevant for a small section.
But this works! The whole appeal is that it’s this kind of generic story but from the complete opposite perspective than usual (especially in a fantasy romance context): grimy prickly weird henchman/cultist type characters, as well as of course being queer/disabled/bipoc (it’s not explored massively in depth, but they both have vague fantasy-african heritage)
Most of the plot is basically just surviving + traveling through caves then forest/villages then caves again, while they learn more about each other and grow closer. They spend a lot of the story finding food and basic survival necessities and being stinky and grimy and trying to clean themselves and HONESTLY? i get so distracted in other Outdoor Traveling Survival books when the characters AREN’T spending time on that, so i really enjoyed that. truly appealing to my interests. they could have rationed their food a bit more, maybe. oh also #caveopinions, while there IS a lot of Convenient Walkable Tunnel Taking Us In The Correct Direction type of cave, it is at least very clear that those are wyrm tunnels. normal caves are not like that.
Anyway all that said: clearly the main appeal of this book is the relationship between them. It develops very tentatively, from disgust and distrust to companionship to a very sweet romance. (okay, knell is extremely touch-starved and lonely and pretty much immediately attached to percy, but that doesn’t necessarily mean trust) After….quite a lot of heavy romance sub/plots I’ve read recently it was very nice to have one that actually developed attraction over a few weeks and over half of the book, and then was mostly kissing (in fact mostly forehead kissing). they only really started to have horny thoughts near the end and even then, priorities.
And: surprise demisexual??? (also word-of-god grey-aro) It’s only like, stated directly one time, but the way the romance develops is Very aspec feeling. Like there’s no mention of attraction at the beginning, and they slowly develop trust and comfort with touching and a genuine emotional connection after the initial relying on each other to survive, the romantic thoughts and attraction almost catch them by surprise.
I enjoyed the way that they constantly were shoved into Romance Tropes but they don’t act on all of them. Like yeah we’re naked together washing in this pool and vaguely aware of this fact but actually too exhausted to think any more about that. Refreshing! Like honestly the setup in itself is good, i don’t need to be distracted by following through every time. It is very sweet and bantery and like, sincere obliviousness vs prickly stubbornness that somehow becomes a perfect balance.
god i love these idiots. genuinely teared up at the end they’re very sweet
If a fun sweet romance adventure about weird little guys appeals to you then pick this up please thank you
Friendly reminder that bookshop.org has free shipping this weekend and they give more than 80% of their profit margins to 1,900+ independent bookstores! Also, they have great curated rec lists.
I'm going to shamelessly self-promote. the first run of Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die, with gold foil and printed edges, is included in the Black Friday sale!
Broke: what is worldbuilding? Made in a lab to be as blandly inoffensive as possible. Time to randomly namedrope terms like 'nonbinary' and 'ace' while doing zero work actually incorporating them into the world or characters and have someone give a speech about how valid they are. Lines like 'I'm too ace for this' while never exploring the concept of asexuality or aromanticism and still having very central romance plotlines is common. I hate it here learn how to write realistic dialogue and fully realized characters I'm begging.
Woke: more ore less typical sci-fi and fantasy but It’s Queer Now. Might include in-universe queerphobia to be struggled against or may have queer identities be fully normalized. Can be done bad or well depending on the skill of the writer. A good way to explore our contemporary ideas of gender and sexuality or to have a bit of a power fantasy with lesbian princesses and trans knights. There will probably be a bisexual love triangle.
Bespoke: what is a gender. What is monogamy. What is polyamory. What is romance. What is platonic. Time to show you the most fucked up uncategorizable relationship you’ve ever seen. There may be weird ass metaphorical sex
AKA books that tackle gender, sexuality and relationships in ways that come off as deeply alien and non normative to our present day culture, frequently featuring actual aliens.
For details on the books, check under the readmore! My personal favorites are marked with an *
A note: as I'm generally more into sci-fi than fantasy, this list skews heavily toward the former. Feel free to make your own recommendations in the notes if you know of more titles!
If you want more book recs, check out my masterpost of rec lists!
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie*
Once, Breq was Justice of Toren, a starship whose artificial intelligence linked through the minds of a multitude of human ancillary bodies. Now, there is only Breq, a lone soldier seeking vengeance after a horrific act of betrayal cost her everything. As Breq gets closer to her goal, the conquering empire she once served begins to destabilize from the inside, and Breq herself has to question her priorities as new loyalties arise. Features female-as-neutral worldbuilding, as well as singular characters existing throughout many bodies.
Note: my favorite from this series is Translation State, which gets really weird about gender and sexuality and stands fairly well on its own, go read it!
The Black Tides of Heaven by Neon Yang
Novella series. In a world where children choose their gender when they're ready, twins Mokoya and Akeha once swore never to pick. But as they grow older, the two find themselves drawn in different directions, both in terms of gender and in what they want from their lives. Rebellion is brewing, and the twins' mother is looking to use them to her whims to retain power. Akeha, unwilling to be her pawn, resorts to leaving home and falling in with the rebels.
The Unraveling by Benjamin Rosenbaum*
On a distant planet in a distant future, everyone has multiple bodies that can be customized however they want, cybernetics have abolished nearly all privacy, and the gender binary is no longer about man or woman. Instead, there's vail and staid, for which biological sex is irrelevant. Fift should be focusing on the obligations of a staid, but is distracted by budding feelings for Shria, forbidden due to Shria being a vail. When their complicated relationship unexpectedly becomes the center of a growing revolution, they will both have to decide where their priorities lie.
Dawn by Octavia E. Butler*
After a devastating war leaves humanity on the brink of extinction, survivor Lilith finds herself waking up naked and alone in a strange room. She’s been rescued by the Oankali, who have arrived just in time to save the human race. But there’s a price to survival, and it might be humanity itself. Absolutely fucked up I love it I once had to drop the book mid read to stare at the ceiling and exclaim in horror at what was going on. Includes darker examinations of agency and consent, so enter with caution.
The Javelin Program by Derin Edala
Dr Aspen Greaves expected to be woken from decades of cryo sleep on humanity’s first deep space colony, but instead finds themself alone on a spaceship still years away from its goal. Surrounded by mysteries on a barely functioning ship, Aspen must make sure the still sleeping crew reach their new home, while also dealing with the many secrets hidden behind the Javelin Program. Nonbinary and aromantic lead, based on a society and norms very far removed from ours.
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir*
Gideon, raised as a swordswoman by unfriendly nuns, would rather run away and make her own life, but her services are needed. The Reverend Daughter, Gideon’s childhood nemesis, has been invited to a trial to win a place as an immortal by the Emperor’s side, and she’s in need of a bodyguard. Listen, if you’re on tumblr I probably don’t need to explain this book to you. Trust me when I say it’s exactly as good as people claim. Humorous and spooky but also absolutely gut wrenching and clever with a lot of political commentary. There are also, indeed, lesbian necromancers in space.
Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer
Centuries in the future, humanity has deliberately engineered society to be as utopian as possible, politically, socially, sexually, religiously. But things begin to crumble as the shadow of impending war looms. Written in an enlightenment style and featuring questions of human nature and whether it’s possible to change it, and what price we’re prepared to pay for peace, this book is simultaneously very heavy and very funny, and written in a very unique style. While still human, the society presented often feels starkly alien.
Walking Practice by Dolki Min
Having crashed their space ship, a shapeshifting alien finds themself trapped on Earth. Suffering from isolation and loneliness, they have settled into a routine to survive. Using online dating services, they take on the shape of human men and women to hunt humans for food. Strange, gross, and gender weird, Walking Practice is a unique take on gender from a wholly alien perspective.
The Stars are Legion by Kameron Hurley
Zan wakes without memory, a passenger aboard one of the living world-ships of Legion, a fleet of decaying generations ships. Told she’s the salvation meant to free them from the fleet, Zan is flung head first into a brutal and bloody conflict. This book fucked me up when I read it. It’s weird, it’s gross, there’s So Much Viscera, there are literally no men, it has living spaceships and biotech but in the most horrific way imaginable, where humans are nothing but part of an ecosystem that cares little for their well-being. It’s an experience but not necessarily a pleasant one.
All Systems Red by Martha Wells*
After having hacked its own governor module, SecUnit uses its small amount of new freedom to secretly download and watch as much media it can between doing its job guarding humans. But when the scientists it’s been charged with keeping safe come under attack, it must make a choice about whether to continue keeping its freedom secret or risk it all to save them. The series features both novellas and full length novels, and balances humor with scathing social critique. There's also an excellent tv adaptation!
Drinking Sapphire Wine by Tanith Lee
Four-BEE is a utopian city, in which humans have no responsibilities, are cared for by machines, and few acts cause true consequences as even death has been conquered. Able to change bodies and gender nearly at will, living lives of luxury and hedonism, everything should be perfect; yet the narrator finds him/herself dissatisfied with his/her life. After an impulsive decision leads him/her to break one of the only remaining taboos, he/she is exiled from Four-BEE into the wholly uninhabited desert wilderness outside.
The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells
Moon doesn't know what he is. Having lost his family young he lives on the move, shifting shape to hide his true form. The only ones similar to him he's ever encountered are the vicious, bloodthirsty Fell, but he knows he cannot be one of them. When chance leads to a meeting with someone like him, he hopes his days of loneliness are over. But his new people stand against a dangerous enemy, and not all of them welcome Moon's help. Featuring a world with not a single human in sight, The Cloud Roads makes for a unique perspective.
When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb*
The angel Uriel and the demon Little Ash have been friends for centuries, living and studying together in a small Jewish community in Europe. But times are changing, and many of the community have left for a new life across the sea. When one of these emigrants go missing, Uriel and Little Ash decide to leave their peaceful life to go find and, if needed, save her. While set in our own past rather than a fictional world/time like other titles on this list, the relationships and identities of the two main characters often break our ideas of gender as well as platonic/romantic.
The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson*
Young adult. Young artist June Costa lives in Palmares Tres, a beautiful, matriarchal city relying heavily on tradition, one of which is the Summer King. The most recent Summer King is Enki, a bold boy and fellow artist. With him at her side, June seeks to finally find fame and recognition through her art, breaking through the generational divide of her home. But growing close to Enki is dangerous, because he, like all Summer Kings, is destined to die. Set in a world in which bisexuality and polyamory are largely the norm.
Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre*
In a future ravaged by disaster, Snake is a traveling healer who uses the venom of her snakes to concoct medicines for all imaginable ills. The most valuable of them all is her dreamsnake, an alien creature whose bite can grant a painless death. When circumstances cause her to lose her dreamsnake, she must embark on a dangerous journey to obtain a new one so she can continue her work. Set in a world where polyamory and bisexuality are largely the norm.
Shadow Man by Melissa Scott
As an effect of an FTL drug, intersex births increased, resulting in five separate genders among humans: men, women, mems, fems, and herms. But on the planet Hara, people cling to the old two gender system, forcing intersex individuals to pick one of the two and generally refusing to recognize their existence and needs. As conflict on the planet broils, Warreven, a Haran advocate and herm, and Tatian, an off-worlder, find themselves dragged into a struggle for equality.
Leech by Hiron Ennes*
Unbeknownst to humanity, a sentient hive mind has taken over the entire medical profession to ensure the health of their host species. One of their doctors is sent to an isolated location where they’re cut off from the rest of the hive mind, only to realize they’re faced with a rivaling parasitic entity. Leech hands you only just enough information to get by, and whether its historical fantasy, an alternate timeline, or futuristic post apocalypse is hard to determine. It’s spooky and weird and wildly creative, and does some neat things with gender, because what does gender even mean when you're a hive mind bacteria inhabiting countless bodies?
Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis
It’s 2007, and a leak has just confirmed that the US has reached alien contact. Cora wants nothing to do with it, but as her absent father is the whistleblower who dropped the news the media won’t leave her alone. Even worse, she soon finds herself meeting and being stalked by the alien presence itself as it tries to remain in hiding - and discovering that there is a much larger threat on the horizon. Features aliens with very different ideas of gender and relationships than humans, and a central focus is how a relationship between one of them and a human would look like.
Ammonite by Nicola Griffith
Centuries ago, the first settlement on the planet Jeep was hit by tragedy: a virus killed off all men, leaving behind a society of only women. Now, the planet has been rediscovered, its inhabitants having long forgotten about the rest of humanity. Anthropologist Marghe Taishan is sent to test out a potential vaccine. If the vaccine succeeds, Jeep and its people would no longer be in forced quarantine, but it would also open them up to exploitation.
Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold
For Dr. Ethan Urquhart living on Athos, delivering babies looks a little different: they are "born" from uterine replicators, as Athos is a planet populated entirely by men. But now they're running out of the ovarian cultures that allow them to reproduce. To replace them, Ethan is one of the first of his people to be sent off planet into the wider universe - where there are women, rumored to be an evil and corruptive force.
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
Genly Ai is an emissary sent to the planet of Winter, meant to help facilitate Winter’s inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But he’s unprepared for Winter’s citizens, who spend much of their time genderless or switching between genders, making for a culture wildly different from what Genly is used to.
Meet Me in Another Life by Catriona Silvey*
Thora and Santi are strangers, brought together by a coincidence and torn apart just as abruptly when tragedy strikes. But this is neither the first nor the last time they meet - again and again they encounter each other, as friends, lovers, enemies, family, every time recognizing in each other a familiarity no one else carries. But with every new life, a mysterious danger grows ever closer, forcing them to find out the truth of their connection. This is a puzzle-box of a story that goes some entirely unexpected places in a very wild ride, featuring a bisexual co-lead and a very hard to define main relationship.
A Door Into Ocean by Joan Slonczewski
On the moon Shora live the Sharers, a nation of women who reproduce via parthenogenesis and have developed highly advanced biological sciences. Leading wholly pacifist lives, the Sharers are threatened when humans from another planet come across their world and decide to develop it, no matter what the Sharers themselves think. The Sharer society is openly sapphic, though the main romance is m/f.
Dust by Elizabeth Bear
In a dying spaceship, orbiting an equally dying sun, noblewoman Perceval awaits her own gruesome death. Having been captured by an opposing house, her wings severed and life forfeit, Perceval’s execution is imminent - until a young servant charged with her care proves to be Perceval’s long lost sister. To stop a war between houses likely to doom them all, the two flee together across a crumbling, dangerous spaceship. At its core waits Jacob Dust, god and angel, all that remains of what the ship once was. And he wants Perceval. Sapphic and asexual characters, however be prepared for kinda fucked up relationships.
Halfway Human by Carolyn Ives Gilman*
When Val, expert in alien cultures, gets called in to help handle the young Tedla after a suicide attempt, she is let in on a secret decades in the making. Tedla is neither male nor female, an asexual person from an isolated planet where a genderless class of 'blands' are exploited as a work force. As knowledge of Tedla's presence begins to spread, so does the attention of various parties wanting to use it for their own ends, including its old masters. As Val works to unravel the history of how Tedla came to leave its world, the pressure builds - what is to become of Tedla? Content warning for themes such as suicidal ideation, slavery, and child sexual abuse.
Moonstar Odyssey by David Gerrold
On the planet of Satlik, humanity have been changed: children are born genderless, and have the ability to choose between male and female during puberty. As a child coming of age, young Jobe finds herself having a hard time choosing what she wants to be, a decision coming into shadow as global disaster looms near. Novella length, focused as much on building up the history and lore of Satlik as it is on the coming of age story. Also an early example of female pronouns being used as default and neutral!
Venus Plus X by Theodore Sturgeon*
Charlie Johns is just your average guy, so when he suddenly finds himself pulled into the strange, utopian future of Ledom, he's shocked. In Ledom, gender is a thing of the past, as is hunger and war. Confused and wanting to return home, Charlie Johns is promised that he will be returned, but first the people of Ledom want him to tour their society. Charlie Johns agrees, but the more he learns and the better things seem, the more suspicion grows: why is he really here? Published in 1960, Venus Plus X is frankly astoundingly progressive about the topic of gender.
Trouble on Triton by Samuel R. Delany
On the moon Triton hundreds of years in the future, life looks a little different from our world. The only place yet to be drawn into a war spanning the entire rest of the solar system, society on Titan is in many ways a utopia, where everyone can live however they want, no matter how strange their ideals. Yet despite this, martian immigrant Bron Helstron isn't happy. Unable to build meaningful relationships or figure out what he actually wants out of life, Bron is prepared to all but turn himself inside out to figure things out. Strange, surreal, and a bit out there, I'd recommend this if you want a story with a fairly loose plot and prose that will scramble your brain. Not a personal favorite, but an impressive work.
Every Day by David Levithan
Young adult. A is neither boy nor girl - in fact, A doesn't have a body of their own. Every day they wake up inhabiting a stranger's body, and spend a single day living their life before waking up as someone else the next day. They try to be respectful of their hosts' lives, not making decisions they wouldn't themselves make, but after meeting and falling for Rhiannon, the girlfriend of one of their hosts, things begin to change as A begins pursuing their own wants.
Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy
After being forcefully committed to an asylum, Connie Ramos' life is looking bleak. She's being coerced into experimental treatments meant to "cure" her, and no matter what she does no one will believe she's fit to be released. Her only escape are the mysterious visits by a time traveling envoy, who introduces her to a utopian future of sexual and racial equality. But this isn't the only possible future, and Connie herself may be a driving force in what shape the future will take. A very interesting work featuring a mostly gender neutral future, though it does at times feel more like a thought experiment than a narrative.
My first 5 star book of the year. Reading it was a deeply emotional experience and I felt purged afterwards. A story that balances its tension, horror, and hope really perfectly.
Asunder by Kerstin Hall
My favourite book of the year! Eldritch horror fantasy in which the protagonist gains a new telepathic codependent connection for what quickly turns out to be the worst week of her life.
The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
I have not been a fan of Harrow in the past so I approached this book with SUCH low expectations. Unfortunately for me, it was so so good. Romantic time travel thriller with Arthuriana as seasoning.
Shadowheart by Laura Kinsale
The people say, "bring back yearning", but they dont realise there's a book already in the world where a pirate assassin man is downbad for his own wife 😔😔 and Catholicism is also there.
Saint Death's Daughter by S.E. Cooney
This was the first recommendation I tried in my attempt to "find" a 5 star book, and it delivered. The prose and pace of this book is unlike any other: its florid and overwritten and self indulgent, but I'm enjoying all the things the author seems to want to revel in, so I really don't mind.
The Launch Date by Annabelle Slator
This was my favourite contemporary romance of the year, and the book I devoured quickest! It was an addictive and chemistry filled romance between rival work colleagues at a dating company, with a dash of miscommunication and some excellently written sex.
Honourable Mentions
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
It takes a lot to make someone as vampire-pilled as me find vampires still genuinely scary, but the lore choices made in this revenge quest story reimagines the true horrors of vampire existence.
The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera
My final book of the year! A fantasy political thriller about a man raised to kill his prophet father. I loved elements of the magic and worldbuilding so much.
Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn
Wonderful coming-of-age story in a fantasy world bordering Faerie. I think if I'd found this earlier in my life, it would've made me worse.
Slightly longer answer: So obviously I read this because I watched (and really enjoyed!) the TV series. The plot is pretty similar - closeted hockey star meets cute service worker, they fall in love but are soon facing the pressures of the homophobic world of men's professional sports and the closet...
It's a fairly generic plot. I think the TV show manages to elevate it with the charisma of the two leads and making some interesting tweaks to the characters. But the book just... stays generic. The main characters aren't particularly compelling and I didn't feel the chemistry - the relationship felt very 'tell', rather than 'show', and it mostly just seemed to be the characters hotness keeping them together. The plot dragged and there were a lot of sex scenes which didn't feel like they were advancing the characters or their relationship and so got kind of boring after a while.
I am going to read Heated Rivalry, partly because I have heard the series gets better and partly because I did really enjoy the show and would like to give the book a chance. I'm cautiously optimistic though because frankly the bits where Ilya Rozanov shows up were some of the best bits in the book.
Conclusion: Probably not worth your time unless you're really deep in the HR trenches and want The Lore. I'm giving it a fine but like. just barely.
The Scales of Seduction by Rien Gray [historical fiction, retelling, erotica]: An erotic lesbian monster novella reinterpreting the Medusa myth. Romance between Medusa and a basilisk warrior. Transfem butch protagonist.
Reverse Tomboy by Auto Anon [literary fiction, autofiction, essays]: A novella about a trans woman who struggles with relationships, familial dynamics, and reclaiming her masculinity after transitioning. Comes with an essay on transfeminine butchness and masculinities. Transfem Jewish butch protagonist and author.
Hot Girls with Balls by Benedict Nguyen [litfic, satire]: A contemporary satire novel about two trans lesbian volleyball players, who have to grapple with the anxieties of stardom as well as their their own off-court relationship drama. Transfem Asian-American protagonist. Transfem author.
Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian) by Hazel Jane Plante [litfic]: A trans lesbian mourns her straight trans friend, and comes to terms with her death by writing a personalized encyclopedia/love letter about the latter's favorite obscure TV show. Transfem soft butch protagonist. Transfem author.
Herculine by Grace Byron [litfic, horror]: A disaffected and traumatized young woman arrives at an all-trans girls commune founded by her toxic ex-girlfriend, only to discover something sinister afoot. Transfem butch love interest and side characters. Transfem author.
Our Monsters by Jemma Topaz (mystery, erotica, satire): In a futuristic city inhabited by monsters, a human woman tries to solve a series of grisly murders, while romancing several monster girls. Transfem butch love interest (poly romance, not the only love interest). Transfem author.
Always open to recs. Transfem butches are loved and appreciated, and I don't tolerate invisibilization of transfeminine people when speaking of butchness and lesbian masculinity.
I feel like we're almost in an era of like, reverse queerbaiting. Used to be that you'd be tricked into watching a show because the story implied there'd be gay rep, but now they're using gay rep to trick you into thinking there'll be a story.
November Book Reviews: A Fae in Finance by Juliet Brooks
Picked this book up from the library new purchases. In A Fae in Finance, overworked Miri's job in investment banking means she works closely with the fae, who have been recently reintroduced to the human world. When a business meeting goes terribly wrong, Miri is trapped indefinitely in the faerie world, searching desperately for an escape--all while continuing to work remotely.
My impression on starting this book was that whether I liked it would depend heavily on the ratio of finance to overdone hot fae romance. Luckily, Brooks does not neglect the investment banking. Miri quit her underpaid government job in faerie integration in hopes she could make more of a difference on the front lines working directly with the fae. Until she runs headfirst into the vagarities of a job with a boss who deliberately undermines her and hours that typically run into the small hours of the morning, even on the weekend. The terrible boss bit is written with an intensity that I actually found stressful. Even if Miri doesn't see it, he's clearly singling her out with vastly more work than her (male) coworkers, changing his expectations at the last second to trap her, and constantly berating her in an attempt to drive her out--just as he's done to every other former female team member. It's an excellent setup for the ongoing bit of poor Miri being forced to log onto zoom for her 8 am meeting while she's literally trapped in Fairyland. (Which was, surprise, her evil boss' fault).
The romance plotline refreshingly involved at least two love interests, an intimidating butch lady knight and the coworker who manipulated Miri into the whole mess but becomes her confidante in Faerie. Neither relationship progresses beyond the very beginning of attraction, and it's clear Brooks intends to elaborate on them in a sequel. I also think I caught some hints that a poly ending might be in store, which would be fun. The romance is present, but the main focus is on the logistics of Miri's job, caring for her cat, and her quest to escape.
A fun, silly premise that takes its concept just seriously enough to work, lampooning both American office culture and fictional fae quirks in the process. I'm interested to see where Brooks takes the series next.
Back on my reread of Wendy Palmer's backlist, because I've enjoyed everything of hers I've read so far. In Fair Haven, Hazel's comfortable life as a Mancer guard in the stronghold of Fair Haven is upended when fugitive Mancer Ash asks for sanctuary. Ash has obviously been mistreated, and is hiding secrets that could destroy Hazel's home, from the Lady to resident Mancer Abermarle to the lowliest scullery maid.
Despite both my synopsis and the cover copy, this is actually a dual romance novel, one between Hazel and Ash and one focused on Hazel's best friend/ex Holly and the castle's uptight steward. Palmer's two flavors of relationship are on full display here, and I liked the contrast between sweet and oblivious Hazel compared to Holly's fiery, contentious romance. I also think it was a nice touch that Ash is deaf and Hazel initially connects with zhem because he's the most sign-fluent person in the castle due to his deaf sister. Hazel speaks a slightly different dialect of sign, not to mention decades of personal shorthand, which he sometimes has to explain to Ash. Kudos also for writing Hazel as acespec--I'm frequently unhappy about the depiction of demi people in romance novels, but I think this book did a good job.
Overall, the worldbuilding was engaging and more detailed than usual for a romance or even for a standalone. Mancers are effectively, to be crude, nonbinary autism wizards, and highly prized because very few of them are born and they can create powerful magic inventions. Mancers have a symbiotic relationship with strongholds, which provide the supplies they need and protect them from inter-castle poaching. Fair Haven is one of the kinder strongholds, but the system gives mancers very little power, and the setup is rife with abuse. It's a juicy scenario, particularly once you throw in a fugitive Mancer of mysterious origins. Sorta a cross between a lost nuke and a lost 300 carat diamond.
I consider Wendy Palmer one of the tragically overlooked indie authors, comparable with KJ Charles, AJ Demas, and Victoria Goddard. While the pacing here was (characteristically) a little wonky, Palmer's skill with characters and relationships is untouchable. I'm glad I've got like five more of her books lined up to read later.
you know, i generally prefer ebooks over physical books (for convenience sake), but there is exactly one exception: old gay scifi. because there is Something about holding an old, visibly used copy of a book like that. seeing the age of it, the wear and tear, and knowing there were gay people writing my most beloved genre, and there were characters like me in it and readers like me who got to see themselves as heroes in these stories years, even whole decades before i was even born. there's just Something about it
@xeylah !!! always!!! here's some of the best i've read so far:
The World Well Lost by Theodore Sturgeon (1953) - this one's actually a short story, but i cannot overstate how important it was in terms of breaking the taboo around depictions of homosexuality in scifi; it's often regarded as the first piece of SF to portray gay people in a sensitive, sympathetic manner. it's also online! it's too short to describe without spoiling, so, please just go read it
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany (1966) - fun, beautifully written space opera with casually bi&polyam charas :) (honestly tho, anything by Delany is so good, this is just my favourite from the stuff i've read so far)
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin (1969) - self explanatory i think
Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy (1976) - gut-wrenching novel abt a forcefully institutionalized woman who is able to time-travel to a hopeful, utopian (and queer-normative) but uncertain future
The Fortunate Fall by Cameron Reed (*published under the name Raphael Carter) (1996) - rly raw and devastating cyberpunk novel about a lesbian news reporter living under a dystopian regime (this one might be a little difficult to track down these days bc it's out of print, but it's getting a reprint next year - in the meantime DM me if you'd like an EPUB!)
also, beyond Samuel R. Delany, 2 gay SF authors I'd recommend checking out are David Gerrold and Melissa Scott! what I've read of Gerrold (The Man Who Folded Himself, Moonstar Odyssey) has generally been more flawed&messy than the books i've listed, but still decent and undeniably groundbreaking in terms of its depictions of LGBT charas in scifi at the time, and Melissa Scott is the queen of 90s lesbian scifi (though i'm just reading my first book by her rn, so i can't recommend specific titles)
Only books finished in 2026 count for the sheet. You can start planning in December of 2025 and even start reading if you want but you better wait until January to finish that book before you cross it off your sheet.
The bingo is designed to be played in such a way that every book you read will only be counted for one square. Even if you read a great science fiction manga with a bright pink cover that’s twice your age and comes highly recommended by your librarian, the idea is to pick just one square to cross off, not all five. The goal of this game isn't to fill the board with as few books as possible; it's to expand your reading habits with lots of unique books.
In general, there are two guiding principles behind these prompts: having fun and trying new things. Hopefully those can go together as much as possible!
If you're stressing about whether something does it doesn't qualify, or worrying about how fast you read, or sad that you might not clear the whole board or get a bingo, remember #1: this is for fun.
If you're finding yourself reluctant to look too much outside of your usual kind of reading and try something new, remember #2: this is a good opportunity to read some stuff you might not ever read otherwise. Even if you don't find a brand new fave, at least give it a chance.
Rereading books is fine, but I would personally recommend that rereads are not the majority of your squares in order to follow guiding principle #2.
Fanfic does not qualify, sorry.
Novellas are fine.
Audiobooks are fine.
Reading comics/graphic novels/manga for any of the prompts is fine. Please don't feel you can only count them for the square that's dedicated to them.
This applies to almost every square. There's no limit on how many translated books, banned books, pink-covered books, etc, that you can read. (Frankly I would love to see an all-pink board.)
The only exception is the TTRPG space. Feel free to try out more games, because there are a lot of great ones, but please don't use them for more than the designated space.
I don't use prompts like “queer author,” “disabled author,” “author of color,” etc, because I find it can quickly become rather tokenizing. However, I do strongly encourage participants to be mindful of whose perspectives they are reading, and be cognizant of who’s underrepresented in their literary life. With all the love in my heart, there were a lot of extremely white boards last year. When’s the last time you read a book by a Black woman? A nonbinary author? An author who lives and writes in the Global South? The point of these questions isn’t to make you feel shame over your current reading habits, but to encourage awareness of the way that prevalent societal prejudices may shape your reading without you consciously noticing.
Feel free to incorporate your own extra goals to help structure any efforts to read more diversely. For instance, BookTuber thisstoryaintover set up a 2026 reading challenge that includes reading at least one book by an author of color for every book by a white author. This may be a helpful idea for you to keep in mind if you're hoping to have a diverse book bingo, or you could go all out and try to fill the sheet with only books by authors of color (or queer authors, non-American authors, etc).
Also: you can stack any other reading bingos or challenges with this! I know that I couldn’t stop you anyway, but I just want to be clear that that’s fine with me! I'd love to see any other bingo sheets or challenges you take part in this year so I can steal ideas lmao.
If you have any questions about how to classify a book and the explanations below aren't helping, feel free to check in! My inbox is open for bingo questions all year!
And as always, please please please tag this blog with any progress you're making, pictures of your sheets, or miscellaneous thoughts about your reading. I'd love to see :)
prompt explainers:
1. Short Story Collection: A collection of stories, which are short! They can be any genre you can think of, and many authors will in fact play with a number of different genres in the course of a single collection. Or, if you’d rather sample work from many authors, you can pick up a short story anthology. Some collections I’d recommend are Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties, ZZ Packer’s Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, Kim Fu’s Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, and Julia Armfield’s salt slow.
2. Microhistory: As a literary term, “microhistory” is used to refer to a nonfiction book that zooms in on the history of a single thing. A good example would be Jamie Loftus’ book Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs, which traces the evolution of the hot dog as a staple of American culture. if you don’t like hot dogs then there are also microhistories of butter, hair removal, vibrators, candy, jewelry, cleanliness, colors, cannibalism, salt, and almost anything else that you can think of. if it exists, there’s a historian who’s obsessed with it! You can find lists of suggestions here, here, and here, but don’t overthink it too hard. as long as you’re looking at a surprisingly specific history, you’re on the right track.
3. Librarian/Bookseller Recommendation: Why not ask for a recommendation from the people who think about books for a living? One of my favorite ways to discover new books is by asking an employee what book they’ve enjoyed lately every time I visit a new indie bookstore while traveling. Personally I strongly recommend striking up a conversation in person, but if that’s a big nope for you, then many libraries and bookstores also list staff picks on their website. You can also try the Indie Next List, a list of recommendations from indie booksellers across the US.
4. Non-European Fantasy: Any fantasy book you like, so long as it’s explicitly pulling modelled on a non-European culture. That could be an alternate world fantasy, such as Tomi Adeyemi’s Yorbua-inspired Children of Blood and Bone, Tasha Suri’s Jasmine Throne, based on ancient India, or Fonda Lee’s Jade City, inspired by post-WW2 China. You could also look for a fantasy set in the modern world, like Darcie Little Badger’s A Snake Falls to Earth, which is steeped in Apache culture, or Zen Cho’s Black Water Sister, which is full of ghosts and spirits in modern Malaysia.
5. Main Character Isn’t Human: This book could be any genre, as long as it meets that one requirement. The MC could be a robot, a dog, an alien, or an elf, so long as they aren’t human. Maybe you’ll check out Martha Wells’ much-loved Murderbot Diaries, or take a walk through LA with the mountain lion star of Henry Hoke’s Open Throat. For the nonfiction enjoyers out there, you could check out Dr. Moiya McTier’s The Milky Way, which is narrated from the perspective of the galaxy itself.
6. 2025 Award Winner: You know, any book that won an award in 2025. It doesn’t matter what award; any prize will qualify! You can see recipients of some major awards here, or check out some others: the Lambda Literary Awards for LGBTQ+ works, the Ignyte Awards for speculative work by authors of color, the Romance Novelists’ Association’s awards for the best romance novels of the year, or the Transfeminine Review’s Reader’s Choice Awards for books by and about transfemmes. Hell, if you really need to scrape the bottom of the barrel, even Goodreads has awards. Go find yourself a winner!
7. Independently Published or Self Published: Did you guys know that just five publishing companies (Penguin Random House, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster, and Hachette Book Group) are responsible for 80% of books published in the US each year, and 25% of books globally? Check out their many, many publishing imprints here to see just how much of the market they have cornered. For 2026, I encourage everyone to break away from the Big Five and see what some small presses and independent authors are putting out! If you need some ideas about where to start, check out this list of over 250 independent publishers, complete with notes on what kind of books they put out!
8. College or University Setting: A book set (primarily) at a college or a university! That’s the only rule! Institutions of higher learning, dramatic as they are, span every genre, leaving you endless options: check out Ali Hazelwood’s collegiate athlete romance The Deep End, Tracy Deonn’s Arthurian urban fantasy Legendborn, Elaine Hsieh Chou’s grad school satire Disorientation, the magical 1830s Oxford of R.F. Kuang’s Babel, or the OG of dark academia herself, Donna Tartt’s The Secret History.
9. Literary Fiction: At Writer’s Digest, Michael Woodson describes literary fiction as “less of a genre than a category,” which “focuses on style, character, and theme over plot.” My recommendations include Raven Leilani’s Luster, The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi, and Melissa Broder’s Milk Fed, and Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar. You can catch some more recommendations in these linked videos from thisstoryaintover and What Rae Reads.
10. Blurb Buddies: This is one of my favorite additions to this year's book bingo, because it’s totally impossible to plan for. To find your blurb buddy, pick any other book you're reading for 2026 Book Bingo and find a blurb on the cover. (For those who may be unfamiliar, blurbs are those little quotes that hype the book up, often written by people whose books that are vaguely similar.) Find a blurb from an author you've never read, and go read one of their books. That's your blurb buddy!
11. A Book About Music: There are countless ways for a book to be about music. Maybe you want to read the biography of your favorite messy band, or the history of a particular genre. Or maybe you would prefer a magical, musical mystery set in New Orleans, like in Alex Jennings’ The Ballad of Perilous Graves, or country singers falling in love, as in Regina Black’s August Lane. Heck, maybe you actually want to read a giant coffee table book with the lyrics to every Beyoncé song cover to cover. What counts as “about” music is up to you; all I’m asking is that it plays some kind of central role in whatever you read. Find the song in your bookish heart!
12. Not Originally Published in English: I really hope it goes without saying that great books are published in every language. It’s totally fine to fulfill this prompt by reading a book that has since been translated into English–I know that’s what I’ll be doing, since that’s the only language I can read–as long as it was originally published in any other language on Earth. A couple of my favorite authors in translation are Mariana Enriquez (translated from Spanish by Megan McDowell) and Sayaka Murata (translated from Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori). You can get more ideas from the International Booker Prize, which is awarded annually to books translated into English.
13. Pink Cover: The cover has to be pink. Or at least mostly pink. That’s it!
14. Read + Play a TTRPG: You know what takes a hell of a lot of skill to write? Tabletop roleplaying games. You should read one–and, even better, you should play one. And don’t feel restrained to the most well-known games, either–Monster of the Week, Vampire: The Masquerade, and Call of Cthulhu are cool, but they’re hardly the only games out there. If you’re not in the mood to learn a lot of rules, why not check out a game like Lasers and Feelings or Time To Drop, or the many hacks of both games? You could play Dread, which uses a Jenga tower in place of dice or any other tools, or Let These Mermaids Touch Your Dick Maybe, which requires sticky hands and a dildo to play. No friends? No problem! Try a journaling game like Who Killed God?, Apothecaria, or Thousand Year Old Vampire. You could even give some fellow Tumblrinas a little love by playing games like @that-house’s Oh Fuck, The Killer! or @takataapui’s it is a beautiful day on the marae and you are a baby pūkeko. Hell, if you really want to be a suckup you could even buy Imagine Queer Worlds, the game I co-authored, which uses a deck of cards to help you brainstorm news norms for sexuality and gender in fictional settings.
15. Twice Your Age (At Least): This one will be a little bit personalized to every person who participates, since I’m making the very bold assumption that we’re not all the same age. I will personally need to find a book that’s (at least) 58 years old, which means that the MOST RECENTLY it can be published is 1968, but your cutoff date will likely be different. If you want to go way into the past and play it safe with something like Shakespeare or the Odyssey, that’s absolutely fine, or you could challenge yourself to find something from your exact cutoff year. Either is great, and that’s why the “at least” is there.
16. Historical Fantasy: For our purposes, this is going to be fantasy that takes place in the real world, during real historical events, with a dash of the fantastical mixed in. Think of Leslyle Penelope’s The Monsters We Defy, which brings spirits and curses to 1920s Washington, D.C.; Shannon Chakraborty’s Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, where 12th century pirates clash with monsters and magic; or Naomi Novik’s His Majesty’s Dragon, which adds (get this) dragons to the Napoleonic Wars. Once again: real history, fake magic. You got this!
17. 2026 Debut Author: You know, an author who’s publishing their first book ever in 2026. Show them some support! No idea how to go about finding debut authors? 2026debuts.com has you covered.
18. Challenged or Banned: If you care enough about books to participate in this bingo and you happen to live in the US, you probably know that we’re still mired by attempts to ban or restrict access to books from school and public libraries across the country. Some of the most frequently targeted books are those that deal heavily with trans and gay identities, racial inequality, and depictions of sexuality. In recent years, the three most challenged books in the United States were George M. Johnson’s All Boys Aren’t Blue, Mariam Kobabe’s Gender Queer, and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye. I recommend learning a little about what’s being challenged in your area, especially since book bans don’t only happen in America, but if you’re unable to find anything specific to where you live, this list of books banned in Texas schools will give you over 2000 options to pick from.
19. Cultural Nonfiction: This isn’t strictly an existing genre name, so I’ve kind of invented it for the sake of this bingo. Basically, here’s what I want you to do: find a work of nonfiction about a culture that you’re not part of–it could be folks of a different nationality, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, you name it. Any group that’s different from you in some way! If you, like me, are not a gay man, you might enjoy Jeremy Atherton Lin’s Gay Bar: Why We Went Out, following the history and significance of gay bars. Or, if you happen not to be Black and disabled, you may want to check out Sami Schalk’s Black Disability Politics, a history of ways that Black activists have incorporated rights for disabled people into the fight for racial justice. If you aren’t Filipino, I can recommend Anthony Christian Ocampo’s The Latinos of Asia: How Filipino Americans Break the Rules of Race. I’m trying not to predict my own bingo reading too much this year, but I think I’ll probably be checking out Gregory D. Smithers’ Reclaiming Two-Spirits: Sexuality, Spiritual Renewal & Sovereignty in Native America.
20: Gothic Fiction: This is self-indulgent, because I’m getting waaaay into Gothic fiction right now and I want to bring you with me. Gothic fiction is distinct from horror but has a lot in common with it–some of the earliest examples are Frankenstein, Dracula, and Carmilla, after all. This is a genre that doesn’t necessarily need real monsters, but is still obsessed with haunting, fear, and, often, the secret horrors hidden in very specific locations: think of Emily Brontë Wuthering Heights, Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, the beautiful Manderly from Rebecca du Maurier’s Daphne, or the grief-filled 124 Bluestone Road in Toni Morrison’s Beloved. Contemporary Gothic novels are also alive and well, including Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic, Isabel Cañas’ The Possession of Alba Díaz, and M.M. Olivas’ Sundown in San Ojuela.
21. Read It + Do It: Have you ever been so inspired by reading about someone else describing an activity they love that you decided to try it yourself? The goal of this space is exactly what it sounds like: read about something in someone else’s words, then do it. It could be as straightforward as following the instructions for a recipe or a crochet project; that’s totally allowed! Or you could, say, start walking more after reading Rebecca Solnit’s Wanderlust, get inspired by Jamaica Kincaid’s My Garden (Book) to grow your own plants, or let Christian Cooper’s Better Living Through Birding get you in the habit of identifying birds you see. You don’t need to be good at the thing or make it a lifelong habit, but at least try it once!
22. Science Fiction: For anyone brand new here, allow me to offer you a Wikipedia definition of science fiction: “Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is the genre of speculative fiction that imagines advanced and futuristic scientific or technological progress. The elements of science fiction have evolved over time: from space exploration, extraterrestrial life, time travel, and robotics; to parallel universes, dystopian societies, and biological manipulations; and, most lately, to information technology, transhumanism (and posthumanism), and environmental challenges. Science fiction often specifically explores human responses to the consequences of these types of projected or imagined scientific advances.” For your own reading, you could check out anything from the low-tech dystopia of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower to the high-tech near-utopia of Becky Chambers’ The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, from the political sci-fi/fantasy blending epic of Xiran Jay Zhao’s Iron Widow to the contemporary horrors of Jessamine Chan’s The School for Good Mothers.
23. Manga, Comic, or Graphic Novel: The world is your oyster here, kiddo. There’s a big, big world out there outside of superhero comics (although Cliff Chiang’s Catwoman: Lonely City is great), so if that doesn’t float your boat then let’s get looking elsewhere! There’s a manga, comic, or graphic novel out there to suit every possible taste. As always, I heartily recommend Ryoko Kui’s Dungeon Meshi–all fourteen volumes.
24. Romance: Per the Romance Writers of America, a book has two central requirements to qualify it as a romance novel: a main plot that involves characters falling in love and figuring out how to make their relationship work, and an ending that is “emotionally satisfying and optimistic”--that is, a happily ever after (HEA). A book that just happens to contain a romance subplot won’t do, and neither will one where the characters are torn apart at the last minute for a tragic ending. ROMANCE. Some widely-loved titles from the last few years are Akwaeke Emezi’s You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty, Tia Williams’ A Love Song for Ricki Wilde, and Emily Henry’s Funny Story. You might also have fun browsing the micro collections curated by the romance podcast Fated Mates, which includes collections of books basketball romances, books with heroes who have spectacular mustaches, and one simply titled “Asian Romances That Fuck.”
25. Writer Bio/Memoir: Listen, I know what you’re going to say: “Obviously if someone’s written a memoir, then they’re a writer.” So let me clarify that this is specifically about people who are (or were) known for writing, who then wrote a memoir or had a biography written about them. They don’t need to be famous, but they do need to be some kind of writer–an author, an essayist, a poet, a journalist, a playwright, a ghostwriter–by trade. Think of bios like Susana M. Morris’ Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler and Caroline Fraser’s Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, or memoirs like Jesmyn Ward’s The Men We Reaped and Arundhati Roy’s Mother Mary Comes to Me.
the main character is very much canonically bisexual, and a lot of side characters are mentioned as being queer, and yet...
I think there's something about the difference between a book having queer characters, vs being a Queer Book - which to me is honestly mostly vibes based.
