ok so this is another long shot but a few years ago there was a twitter post (in japanese i think?) that had measurememts for how to make this book stand thing out of cardboard that you could use to double up books and use up more space on shelves
back then i made a bunch of these but by now i lost the pic and dont know how to find the original post anymore
if it comes down to it i can just take one apart and get the measurements from there but i would be very grateful if anyone happens to have the original post or something similar??
don't mind how long it's been since i made this post, anyway i realized that i don't even need to take one apart to get the measurements when i can literally just unfold it and refold it /FACEPALM
so anyway here is the diagram for anyone else who is interested!!
this requires pretty big carboard pieces, if you have a really big box or something you can make it from one piece, but if you don't, you can also just make each of the pieces individually and then tape them together
and then in the end you put it together like this!!
and then when you make a bunch you can put them all next to each other and stack your books like crazy
EVERYONE START GETTING MORE USE OUT OF YOUR SPACE NOW!!!!
How to Make Your Own Binder that Fits Well and Looks Good
A while back I was in need of some new binders and thought hey, I bet I can make one way cheaper than buying it from somewhere (especially cus some of the ones I’ve bought in the past didn’t really fit right). Except when I started looking for a binder patterns online, I was very surprised that I really… couldn’t find many that looked very nice lol. Most of them had really wrinkled necklines, or didn't bind well, or just overall looked weird. A lot of the patterns also required a serger, which I don't have.
So I just said fuck it and made my own pattern! And it ended up being relatively easy! And the binders fit REALLY WELL and are comfortable to wear, even for long periods. The neckline doesn't show under shirts with loose collars, and the bottom hem doesn't gap or stick out. Here's me wearing one:
(plus I was able to make myself 5 of them for a total of like ~$50.)
So I figured I could throw together a guide to help out anyone else who wanted to make their own binder but was dissatisfied with the patterns available!
Disclaimer: This tutorial is going to assume a baseline level of sewing experience, and also will require access to a sewing machine. It is not a complicated pattern, but it will most likely require some tweaking and adjustments after you make the first one. Don’t be afraid to make alterations to make it fit better!
This tutorial is for a gc2b-style half-tank binder. It could be altered to be a full-tank binder, but all instructions will be for the half-tank design.
Materials needed:
Stretchy fabric, probably listed as 'athletic fabric' (I use this kind from Joann’s. Most athletic stretch fabrics should work, look for around 80% nylon/20% spandex blends)
Stiff fabric (I use this shirting cotton because I like how lightweight it is. If you want something a little stiffer with more structure, you can use a cotton or cotton/poly blend twill like this. gc2b binders use twill for theirs.)
Lightweight fusible interfacing (I use this kind) (get FUSIBLE not sew-in)
Fusible webbing like Pellon Wonder-Web (this is technically optional but it WILL make your life easier when you’re sewing - just make sure to get the kind with the paper backing!!!)
“But kiwisoap thats 4 whole kinds of materials, surely I don’t need that many!” Ok sure, you can probably get by without the fusible web and interfacing, but consider: they are both dirt cheap (im talking like $1-2/yard), they will make it much easier to sew the final product, and will give you an overall better-looking result. This tutorial is written with the assumption that you’ll use them.
"How much fabric will I need?" Measure the circumference of your chest below your armpits. Add 6 inches just to be safe. This is the yardage of stretch fabric you’ll need, and should give you enough material to make at least 3 binders without much excess left over. You will need around half as much stiff fabric.
Other supplies:
Big Paper (for drawing the pattern)
Flexible measuring tape
Sewing machine
Iron
Pins
Step 1: Measuring
You will need 4 main measurements for this pattern.
A) Measure the circumference of your chest just below your armpits, then divide the number in half. This will be the widest part of the pattern.
B) Measure from the top of your shoulder down to where you want the binder to end. For most folks, this will usually be around the natural waist (narrowest part of the torso), about 3-6 inches above the belly button. This will be the overall height of the pattern.
C) Measure the distance from below your armpit to where you want the binder to end. This will determine where the arm hole starts.
D) Measure the circumference of your waist where you want the binder to end, then divide the number in half.
So for example, after dividing A and D in half, my measurements are 17", 15", 7", and 14.5".
Next:
Subtract one inch from measurement A - This will help provide some compression. You might need to take it in even further depending on how it fits, but one inch is a safe starting point. I take mine in around 1.5 inches.
Subtract half an inch from measurement D. This will help prevent the bottom edge of the binder from gapping. Again, you may need to take it in more or less, depending on your own body.
Add 1.5 inches to measurement B and one inch to measurement C. This is to account for the hems and armhole placement.
This makes my final measurements
A = 16"
B = 16.5"
C = 8"
D = 13.5"
From here on out, we are only going to be working with the measurements that we have added/subtracted to, NOT the ones we initially took.
Step 2: Drawing the Pattern
You will need a piece of paper large enough to accommodate the entire pattern. This may involve taping multiple pieces together, or using a piece of newsprint, etc.
I recommend folding the paper in half to ensure that you get a symmetrical pattern. However, this means you will need to divide measurements A and D in half again, or else you’ll end up with a pattern that’s twice as wide as it should be!
Also note: the pattern is drawn with the seam allowance built in! You don’t need to add any seam allowance.
To draw the pattern:
Begin with your folded paper. Measure and mark B and C on the paper, and draw a line extending across the paper. These will be your guidelines.
Measure and mark A and D along the middle and bottom guidelines, respectively. Remember, the paper is folded, so you only use half of the measurement for A and D.
Draw a loose curve connecting the endpoints of A and D. If needed, you can also just draw a straight line between the two.
Mark the opening for the neck hole. Depending on your size, it will measure around 6-8 inches across at the top (remember to divide this in half for the folded paper) and about 5-6.5 inches deep. (mine is 6.5" across and 5.5" deep) Draw a curve to connect the two points. This part will take some tweaking and adjusting to get it to look right lol.
Measure the width of the strap - this should be somewhere between 2.5 - 4 inches wide. They will end up about 1/2” to 3/4” narrower once you sew them. Draw the line at a slight angle, as shown.
Connect the endpoint of the strap to the endpoint of line A with a curve like in the diagram.
This will be the pattern for the front piece.
To make the back piece, trace the front pattern, but make a very shallow curve for the neckline instead of a steep one, as shown:
The last piece is the stiff front panel. This is what provides the flattening effect of the binder. To make the pattern, trace the front pattern again. Trim 3/8” in on the sleeves and neckline, and 3/4” to 1” along the bottom. This gives a flatter hem. Then trim the straps shorter by a few inches. This helps the binder lay flatter along the shoulders.
When you're done, you should have 3 pattern pieces that look approximately like this (stiff panel shown overlaid on the stretch fabric to show how it fits together).
NOTE: If you want more compression or just want to make it a bit sturdier, you can add a second panel of stretch fabric to the back piece. Just use the bottom half of the back pattern (from the widest part down to the bottom hem) to cut out another piece of stretch fabric. Attach it to the back piece with a strip of fusible webbing and a zig-zag stitch along the top.
Step 3: Putting It All Together
Once you’ve made the patterns and cut out the pieces of fabric, you should have something that looks like this:
The next step is adding interfacing and fusible webbing. Use your pattern to cut out 3/8" strips to fit on the top of the straps for both pieces, and to the neckline, sleeves, and bottom hem of the back piece, as shown:
If you want to add it to the bottom hem of the front piece, it will help keep that hem flat when sewing it down later, but it's not essential.
If you choose to also use fusible webbing (WHICH I RECOMMEND), you will apply it to the stiff front panel similarly to how the interfacing was applied, ~3/8” strips along the neckline, sleeves, and top of the straps. Cut out two strips for the neckline and sleeves, because we'll use those later too.
Iron the strips onto the front panel as shown:
Once it's on, just peel off the paper, position it webbing-side down on the stretch fabric, and iron it to fuse the two pieces together so everything stays in place while you sew. THIS MAKES IT WAY EASIER TO SEW.
After the stiff front panel is fused to the stretch fabric, you’ll sew the straps of the front and back pieces together, then join the pieces along the sides. Pin the hell out of it to keep everything in place -this type of material is VERY prone to puckering.
When sewing, USE A ZIGZAG STITCH. A straight stitch will NOT WORK for stretch fabric. I adjust mine to 1.3mm long and 3.5mm wide which has worked well. If your machine doesn’t let you adjust stitch length or width, well. That sucks, I don’t really have any advice.
After you sew the front and back pieces together, you can add more fusible webbing to the front panel to help hold the hem down flat and prevent it from puckering while you sew it. Just add the strip, peel the paper off, then fold the hem over and iron it down. This part isn’t really necessary, but it does make the hems look nicer. If nothing else, I would recommend adding it to the neckline.
After that, you just fold & pin all the hems and sew them up with a zigzag stitch, then go over the raw edge at the top of the stiff panel (where we cut the straps shorter).
And that’s it! You’re done! And now you can make your own binders whenever you want!
And hey! If you used this tutorial and wanna throw me a dollar or two on ko-fi, I wouldn't complain.
if the muppet show was still airing chappell roan would guest star and thered be a running bit of miss piggy thinking shes trying to steal kermit but shes actually trying to flirt with miss piggy the whole time
It's true that like once you start having ambiguous gender feelings it's a little bit of a free for all like yes I'm a woman but I'm also male and I like being called a boy but I'm not a man like sorry I'm on Advanced Gender nuance now but also my gender is that stuffed fox on a chair.
and with a VCR you could do all of this AND have the visuals as well… but an audio cassette recorder is a good place to start, since they’re small and simple. I would not recommend a boombox, because those are large and nowadays all very, very bad quality.
Now you may be saying “how is any of this helpful, I want a digital file…” here’s the fucking magic. You go into Audacity (free program), and lie to it that the tape recorder is really a microphone. Then you hit record on Audacity, and hit play on the tape, and let it play at regular speed. Trim and export the digital file, and you’re doing gangbusters. You’re cooking with gas. You’re thinking with portals. You’ve won the internet.
Congratulations, you can “pirate”* anything you want, and literally no one can catch you, because you’re not downloading in the traditional sense. You’re streaming to an external device, and that device is recording what it receives. It’s exactly like taping a live tv show to a VHS. This is a very low-key and non-strenuous task for the computer, since your tape recorder does all the work.
*Is this piracy? No. Well- it’s time shifting. Sort of. Tell it to my Steely Dan albums. Tell it to my The Sims: Hot Date VG Soundtrack album.
Author’s note: It’s been a long time since I tried my hand at a true New Fairy Tale, so here’s one I wrote especially to post on my birthday. It has its roots in a book of Chinese stories I read as a child, with some threads from Russian and Korean fairy tales woven in, and a little bit of Kubo And The Two Strings found its way in as well. No appropriation is intended, as always, only an attempt to create stories that extend outside the Very European Fairy Tale Mold.
Comments, reblogs, tags and other appreciation make great birthday gifts. I just mention it. ;) @deepwaterwritingprompts, thanks as always.
#
The Three Lanterns
There was no darkness like the darkness of that forest. The huge trees spread out their branches and broad leaves so that no hint of light could reach the ground. During the day, it was gloomy and dim. During the night, it was darker than the deepest cave.
But the road was smooth and level, and there were no bandits. Some said that that was because even bandits feared the place. Others that the forest did not permit them to enter.
But it was safe enough, if you followed the rules. Kept to the path. Harmed nothing. Took nothing. Showed respect. And, above all, so long as you did not stop. To make a camp within the forest was dangerous.
Ju had travelled through the forest several times. He was a travelling peddler, carrying pretty trifles and useful items to small villages off the beaten track, so poor that he was not worth the bother of robbing except for the most desperate of bandits, but surviving well enough. He was familiar with this road, and when night fell he had lit his lantern and continued to walk, leading his two laden ponies. It was a long day’s travel, at walking pace, but there would be a campsite on the other side that he would reach by moonrise.
He was perhaps an hour from the edge of the forest when he saw a light between the trees, in the distance.
He had never seen a light in this forest before, save on the path. “Some fool has tried to make a camp here,” he told the ponies. He often talked to them, having no other company. “Or perhaps wandered off the road and become lost.”
He hesitated, but he was a young man with a kind heart. He carefully tied the ponies to the branch of a dead tree fallen by the road, then faced the forest and bowed. “Please excuse my intrusion,” he said as politely as he knew how, “but I think the person whose light I see must be in trouble. I will go and see, and then come back to the road. Please forgive me if I offend.”
He paused, waiting to see if the forest would indicate approval or disapproval. It didn’t make any especially alarming noises, or throw down a fallen branch in his path, so he decided that he was not to be immediately smote for his insolence. He picked up his lantern again, and began to walk towards the other light.
As he approached the light, he called out. “Hello? Are you a traveller? You should not leave the road, it is not safe.”
But there was no answer, and when he reached the light – not so far from the road, he could still see the glimmer of the second lantern set on one of the ponies’ packs – there was no-one there at all. Only a lantern, a hand-lantern like his own, set on a stone in the middle of a small clearing.
It was a small, ordinary thing, but something about it chilled him. It was… wrong, in all ways wrong. He hadn’t seen another traveller on the road all the time he was in the forest, nor any sign that anyone had passed that way for days past. Even if he had, why would someone leave a lantern burning in this place? In the middle of the forest, like a strange offering? Surely it must be a trap, and he remembered the warnings that one must never take anything from the forest. He stepped back. “My apologies,” he said, trying not to sound nervous. “I will go back – “
I think I left the teller at the bank genuinely disturbed when I told him that “If I can’t afford it, I just don’t buy it.”
“What about a car? Do you drive a car?” he inquired, his voice toning on the edge of fear.
I told him, “Yeah, I have a vehicle. I bought it used for under $3,000.”
He looked physically pained. “What about if you want to buy some kind of new appliance? Or furniture?” he persisted.
I stared at him blankly. “My couch was $5.00 at Goodwill. Like…I just buy shit cheap or I don’t buy it at all. The only thing in my life that I make payments on is my house, my bills, and my insurance, and that’s split five ways because I have housemates.”
The young man looked horrified? Appalled? And somehow also awed?
This guy couldn’t have been much older than me. But it seemed that he’d never even considered the option before of saving up for something to purchase it outright instead of using a credit card.
Am I the only person in my general age group (just turned 26) who’s never owned a credit card, and who has forgone basic comforts in order to save up for items so you don’t owe money to anyone, like, ever?
If you’re living in the US without a credit card at 26, you’re playing with danger.
No credit is viewed as the same as bad credit. Which means you could be denied if you ever do need to rent an apartment or a car. Hospitals and clinics are also less likely to allow payment plan programs for people without good credit.
The best thing you could do at this point is apply for a credit card you’re eligible for and pay a few things (I do gas and groceries myself) with it each month. As long as you keep it to zero balance each month there is no interest and there will be proof of you not having debt (instead of just the absence of debt).
This is legit how it works. The system requires records on you, or else. So you need a credit card and worse, you need to have a record of using it, even if you pay it off every single month. Unfortunately, the formulas used to determine credit score are secret, so we also have people suggesting that your credit rating is helped if every so often you do pay a bit of interest. The whole thing is a complete mess. If you don’t have a credit rating/history, then any loans you manage to get will be at extremely high interest and will require much more effort than they really should.
If you pay it off in full every month there is no interest. Do what OP is doing but put some of that on your credit card and pay it off every month, and soon you will have a very good credit rating.
And I’m saying to literally not put anything on it if you can’t buy it in cash. And I’m aware that they fuck over poor people, but yeah, that’s the system that’s in place. This is advice for navigating it, which is how to obtain good credit which helps a lot.
Right like don’t make minimum payments, put your gas on your credit card then that same day pay the credit card company online then don’t worry about it for another month. It’s an absolutely shit system, but in the event of an emergency it’s good to have.
I have had to explain this to a lot of people in my life, but it’s true- no credit is the same as bad credit. What having (and using) the card actually shows is that you are capable of (and actually follow through on) making regular payments: ie, it is proof of having a steady income (even if you do not actually have a steady income). It is showing you reliably can pay for things you purchase, which is what your credit score is all about.
Think of it this way. You have a credit card, which is your credit tracking device. You use the card to tell someone “I will pay for this thing with borrowed money.” They agree to allow you to pay with borrowed money. You then turn around to your credit card company and say “Thank you for allowing me to borrow your money, I will now pay you back with my own money.” (which, if you repay them promptly enough, you can repay them the exact same amount you borrowed, rather than paying them more than you borrowed [which is what interest is])
The credit card company then recognizes that you successfully borrowed their money AND returned it safely, and they pass that information along to credit tracking companies. Each time you do this, you gain credibility. If you do this enough times, you are considered a credible borrower of money, so that if you ever are in a situation where you need to borrow a large sum of money (for example, a mortgage or a car or a hospital bill or whatever), companies with money will look at how well you have returned money in the past, and say Ah yes, this person repays their debts well, so we can lend them our money this time.
So like, do what the above folks are recommending. Get a credit card and use to to reasonably purchase things you already have to buy- put a batch of groceries on the card. Go home (or wherever you can use the interne), pay it off as if you had paid cash in the store for it. There is no extra fee or interest for doing this, and you are leveling up your credibility in case of emergency later on in life.
Ok, here’s a guide for the easiest way to do this.
1. get your first baby credit card with the bank that you already bank with. If it has cashback rewards, even better (that’ll be free money later).
2. set that shit up so it pays the full amount, automatically, every month. you don’t have to remember to go home and pay it off, or worry about it at all. You won’t pay interest.
Your first card, especially if you have no credit, is going to have a small limit. Like $500. This is important: credit companies want you to use a certain percentage of the card every month. This is 1-9%. I usually just go straight 5%. If you use too much, you look like a wild card (even if you pay it off every month) and if you use nothing than you’re not proving to them you can be trusted.
So your first card has a $500 limit. 5% of 500 is $25.
Your goal is to use $25/month.
This is about a tank of gas for me. So once a month, I would fill up with this card, and then put it in the back of my wallet until next month. The payment was made automatically by my bank from one account (debit) to the other (credit). Rinse and repeat. I did this for a year.
Then after a year, my credit had skyrocketed (because I had nothing before, and added this good habit for a year). So I called up my bank and asked for them to increase my limit based on my new credit. I had shown them I was good at borrowing a good amount of money and paying it back on time every time.
The bank increased my limit to $5,500. Like holy shit, at the time I was definitely not expecting that.
So new math. 5% of 5500 is $225. So now instead of gas, I put my cell phone bill ($50), my car insurance ($130), and my dog food automatic order ($40) on it.
The best part is everything is automatic. I keep this card in the back of my wallet permanently; all these bills and the automatic payments are, well, automatic. My credit goes up, I rack up cash back rewards, there’s nothing to it.
And, if I ever get in an emergency, like a vet bill for one of my dogs, I can use that card to pay the $3,000 emergency bill without worrying about whether the place will take my dog if I have no money. I can then go home, change the settings from “pay in full every month” to “pay $X every month” (more than the minimum!) until it’s paid off, and then go back to just my bills. My credit might take a little dip during that time, but will bounce back pretty quickly.
There’s several other factors to credit (hit me up if you want more info) but this was literally the only measure I took for my first year, and my credit went from 525 to 700 in a year. Another year later, I’m now at 753, have a mortgage with a great rate, and can get a monster ass loan if I really need it in case an emergency or hard times fall.
It’s a shitty system of hoops to jump through, but knowing you can use these measures if it comes to it is a good feeling.
anyway since pride month is coming up and my local barnes and nobey has once again decided to only put young adult books in their corporate mandated rainbow display, y'all want some queer reading recs that aren't YA?
alright gang here we go, one queer-ass book for every day of pride month, plus a lot of bonus recs by extension because most of these authors have written more than one book. remember to buy from bookshop dot org or directly support a local indie by ordering through them 🖤
Queer: A Graphic History (Meg-John Barker) - want a primer on queer theory but don't have the time and money to, you know, take a semester long class on queer theory? might I introduce you to this graphic novel written by nonbinary psychologist Meg-John Barker, who's written several other nonfiction books on gender and sexuality that I can't recommend enough.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Becky Chambers) - warm and fuzzy slice of life sci-fi, with lots of cool aliens and travelling between planets. a very queer-friendly universe with lots of exploration of gender and sexuality, plus a cute side romance between a human lady and a kickass lizard woman. all three sequels are hugely recommended, as are Chambers' novellas.
How to Find a Princess (Alyssa Cole) - a Black f/f retelling of Anastasia, featuring a reluctant long-lost princess falling for the investigator tasked with tracking her down and bringing her back to the royal life. I'm told it includes such beloved tropes as fake marriage and only one bed!
In the Vanishers' Palace (Aliette de Bodard) - gorgeous f/f Beauty and the Beast novella, told as a post-apocalyptic story that seamlessly blends science fiction with Vietnamese mythology. a dragon takes a young woman away from her village, intending to have the young woman serve as a tutor for her two young children, and - wait for it - romance ensues.
Black Water Sister (Zen Cho) - a closeted Malaysian lesbian is haunted by her deceased grandmother, a medium who served a mysterious entity called Black Water Sister. grandma has unfinished business with a Shady Corporation, and her granddaughter is going to help her get retribution whether she likes it or not.
This Is How You Lose the Time War (Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone) - a novel that will make you YEARN. following the letters exchanged between assassins Red and Blue, agents on opposite sides of a conflict that stretches across multiple timelines. the two women start as rivals, but become something more to each other very quickly, with absolutely zero chill.
The Death of Vivek Oji (Akwaeke Emezi) - warning up front: as the title suggests, this will not have a happy ending. but the novel offers a touching account of a Nigerian family struggling to make sense of an adult child whose gender and sexual expression baffle them, and the impact of that child's death on the entire community.
Alice Isn't Dead (Joseph Fink) - adapted from the podcast of the same name, this novel follows a Black lesbian trucker with bigtime anxiety as she hits the highways of America to search for Alice, her missing wife. along the way she's going to discover a lot of creepiness, and some skin-crawling conspiracies.
River of Teeth (Sarah Gailey) - absolutely buckwild romp of a novella following an alternate history heist crew of hippopotamus riders, including their bisexual leader and his nonbinary Black demolitions expert love interest.
A Dowry of Blood (S.T. Gibson) - admittedly I haven't read this book yet and don't know a TON about it, but what I DO know is that it's a spin on Dracula that makes the infamous brides a polycule, which is simply fantastic if you ask me.
The Case of the Mysterious Letter (Alexis Hall) - a Sherlock Holmes pastiche following the adventures of one Dr. John Wyndham, a gay trans doctor, and Shaharazad Haas, a freewheeling pansexual sorceress. takes place in a universe full of magic, eldritch horror, and luridly entertaining oddities.
Hunger (Roxane Gay) - not a lighthearted rec, but a truly stirring one. Gay recounts her life as the queer daughter of Haitian immigrants, and how her relationship with food and bodyweight was forever changed by a childhood sexual assault. highly recommended reading for anyone looking to increase their understanding of the violence of fatphobia.
Wow, No Thank You (Samantha Irby) - full disclosure, Irby is one of my personal favorite essayists of all time, but it's well deserved - the bitch is funny. in her third and most recent collection, Irby mines the humor in moving from Chicago to live in a small city (the same city as me, incidentally) with her new wife and two step-children, plus the highs and lows of working on a show like Shrill.
Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel (Julian K. Jarboe) - a collection of extremely queer, cyberpunky short stories, heavy on the critique of capitalism. you might know them from this tweet; now support their fiction!
How We Fight For Our Lives (Saeed Jones) - poetic memoir, focused on being a gay Black boy growing up in the south, growing up and moving away from home, complicated maternal relationships, grappling with masculinity.
The House in the Cerulean Sea (T.J. Klune) - the softest m/m romance you ever will see! a nebbish social worker for magical creatures is sent to inspect an unusual orphanage whose occupants include a slime monster and the literal baby antichrist, and inevitable ends up falling for their passionate caregiver. you will cry, reader.
Phoenix Extravagant (Yoon Ha Lee) - a nonbinary artist just trying to mind their own business gets hired to paint magic symbols on enormous dragon mechas, which seems like a pretty sick gig - until they realize they're now complicit in supporting an imperialist war machine. uh oh...
In The Dream House (Carmen Maria Machado) - difficult but absolutely riveting memoir recounting the author's harrowing relationship with an abusive girlfriend. also check out her collection of creepy short stories, Her Body and Other Parties.
Winter's Orbit (Everina Maxwell) - m/m space opera romance, including: political intrigue! murder! arranged marriage! begrudgingly working together with your new spouse to solve a murder so that you don't take the blame for it! and... MORE!
One Last Stop (Casey McQuiston) - new release alert! a young woman moves to New York, develops a crush on a hot lesbian on the subway, and then finds out that lesbian is actually a displaced time traveler from the 70s. hot damn!
She Who Became the Sun (Shelley Parker-Chan) - a historical fantasy retelling the founding of the Ming Dynasty, following an ambitious child who enrolls in a monastery to pass as a male monk. sounds like your typical Mulan-style "cis girl pretending to be a boy," but Parker-Chan says the protagonist doesn't strictly identity as female and that they consider her to be genderqueer.
Feed (Tommy Pico) - epic poetry (the whole book is one long poem bro it never ends) by a Kumeyaay writer, with a focus on reconnecting with lost culture through shared meals and food so evocative that it made me learn to cook.
Witchmark (C.L. Polk) - you guys, this one has everything! a gay man on the run from his influential family, a hot love interest who needs him to help solve a dramatic murder, exploration of magic-based social inequality, critiques of imperialist war, and chase scenes that take place on bikes. the sequels, Stormsong and Starsoul, are equally queer and lean even more heavily into themes of radical social reform.
Sorrowland (Rivers Solomon) - a young queer Black woman escapes from an isolated cult and tries to live a peaceful life in the woods with her twin children - only to discover she's developing some pretty fucked up superpowers.
The Jasmine Throne (Tasha Suri) - you might have seen me mention this one as part of my Hot Book Summer, since it's an upcoming June release! do you like epic fantasy, f/f romance, and princesses working together with secret priestesses to topple empires? oh BOY, then do I have a book for you!
Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir (Kai Cheng Thom) - modern fairy tale about a teenage martial arts prodigy who runs away from home, joins a vigilante street gang to protect trans sex workers (!!!), and finds herself™ along the way.
Space Opera (Catherynne M. Valente) - okay, so you know Eurovision? great, now take Eurovision and put it in space and if Earth loses our whole planet is going to get blown up, and our only hope is a washed up queer singer from a punk band that hasn't been cool for years. good luck!
Dear America: Notes From an Undocumented Citizen (Jose Antonio Vargas) - an excellent memoir from gay journalist and immigration rights activist! Vargas recounts coming to America from the Philippines as a young child, growing up unaware that he had entered the United States without documentation, and the community that helped him in the uphill struggle to live a visible public life as a writer.
The Chosen and the Beautiful (Nghi Vo) - remember Jordan Baker from The Great Gatsby, and how she was definitely a lesbian? Vo says not only is Jordan queer, she's also an Asian-American adopted into a wealthy white family and she has magic powers.
The Collected Schizophrenias (Esmé Weijun Wang) - a truly stirring memoir, written by the first-generation bisexual daughter of Taiwanese immigrants. Wang writes with gut-wrenching beauty about her diagnosis, the way her family endeavored to keep their history with mental health problems under wraps, and her struggles through higher education and institutionalizations.
Common Bonds (edited by Claudie Arsenault, C.T. Callahan, B.R. Sanders, and RoAnna Sylver) - an upcoming anthology of stories centering aromantics.
The Natural Mother of the Child: A Memoir of Nonbinary Parenthood (Krys Malcolm Belc) - it's exactly what it sounds like, babey! a recent memoir by a nonbinary individual about the experience of carrying out a pregnancy and giving birth to a child.
¡Hola Papi! How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons (John Paul Brammer) - if you aren't already reading John Paul Brammer's hilarious, heartfelt, and self-proclaimed "deranged" advice column, checking out this freshly published collection is a great place to start.
Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex (Angela Chen) - one of my favorite pieces of recent queer nonfiction, following the writer's acceptance of her own asexuality as she navigates the stereotypes and stigma that plague the ace community.
Finna (Nino Cipri) - a buckwild novella about a pair of coworkers who a.) just broke up and b.) have to go on an adventure to find a lost customer in an interdimensional furniture store.
The Unbroken (C.L. Clark) - if the first list didn't include enough anti-empire queer fiction for you, here's another one in which a princess and female soldier forge a fragile alliance while working opposite sides of society to end a war.
Gender Euphoria: Stories of Joy from Trans, Nonbinary and Intersex Writers (edited Laura Kate Dale) - compiled by trans lesbian and video game journalist Laura Kate Dale, enjoy this collection of euphoric stories from folks all over the gender spectrum.
Hunger Pangs (Joy Demorra) - more queer vampires, folks! in this one, a dashing captain is assigned to an island full of vampires and finds himself with some Feelings about, and I quote, "the local vampire dandy lord." a nice touch is that you can choose to purchase the book with or without sex scenes included!
The Traitor Baru Cormorant (Seth Dickinson) - more anti-empire fic, following a queer girl with a prodigious gift for numbers seeking to destroy the empire that colonized her homeland and killed one of her fathers from the inside out, by burying herself among its highest-ranking officials.
Bingo Love (Tee Franklin) - SUPER cute comic series about an elderly interracial lesbian couple, tracking their relationship through decades :)
Star Eater (Kerstin Hall) - okay so we have (checks notes) a lesbian taking out an order of cannibal nuns? cool!
Burning Roses (S.L. Huang) - a fairytale reimagining that throws Little Red Riding Hood and Hou Yi, a legendary Chinese archer, together as a pair of crotchety, aging queer women who have to come together to slay the monsters ravaging their country.
The Thirty Names of Night (Zeyn Joukhadar) - a contemporary novel about a closeted young trans man from a Syrian American family trying to solve the mystery of his mother's death, and what is has to do with the journal of a mysterious woman who painted rare birds.
No Man of Woman Born (Rewoven Tales) (Ana Mardoll) - I'm just gonna quote the blurb directly from the author's website, because it slaps ass: "a collection of seven fantasy stories in which transgender and nonbinary characters subvert and fulfill gendered prophecies."
Luisa: Now and Then (Carole Maurel and Mariko Tamaki) - a graphic novel in which 32 year old struggling photographer Luisa encounters her 15 year old self and struggles to deal with her past, while also grappling with her attraction to a female neighbor.
Skye Falling (Mia McKenzie) - a middle aged queer woman who's spent her life going it alone is contacted by the 12 year old child who was born from an egg she donated in her 20s, kicking off a complicated contemporary story about family.
Little Fish (Casey Plett) - a trans woman discovers that her grandfather - a dead and deeply conservative Mennonite - may have also been transgender, and goes looking for the pieces of his life while she and her own friends grapple with addiction, sex work, and mental illness.
Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World that Wouldn't Die (edited by Dave Ring) - an anthology from Neon Hemlock, focused on tales of queer folk surviving various ends of the world against all odds. features C.L. Clark, who's also included on this very list, and countless other incredible talents.
Jonny Appleseed (Joshua Whitehead) - a two-spirit sex worker and self-described "glitter princess" is called back home for his stepfather's funeral, and spends a whirlwind week navigating how to walk the line between his life in the big city and the reservation.
The Black Tides of Heaven (Neon Yang) - okay let's have one more regime-toppling story: the queer man with a dictatorial mother and a highly praised twin sister begins to pull away from his family's rule, and finds himself torn between them and a growing rebelling.
oh look, here are a load more recommendations from Fantasy Hive with hardly any overlap with titles already on this list:
Happy Pride Month! To celebrate, we recommend 5-Star Books in 5 Words that have LGBTQA+ authors and/or characters!
fantasy isn't really your thing? no worries, here's an even longer list from the Rumpus with everything from contemporary fiction to poetry to memoirs.
Rumpus editors share a list of new and forthcoming books to celebrate Pride Month!
hold up, did you want romance? BookPage has your new queer romance recs right here.
These queer romances have the perfect balance between sweet love stories and substantial issues like grief and class.
I haven't read How to Find a Princess but I have read other Alyssa Cole books and she's an incredible writer! I have read Winter's Orbit and it's AMAZING!
Am I adding all of these books to my TBR? possibly... (Hunger Pangs is already on it I love Joy)
