#queer lit

[sapphicides]

in honor of black history month 2025, i’ve put together a list of books written by black sapphic authors for you to read in the month of february

non-fiction essays/memoirs:

all about love: new visions by bell hooks

black lesbian in white america by anita cornwell

sister outsider: essays and speeches by audre lorde

mouths of rain: an anthology of black lesbian thought by briona simone jones

blues legacies and black feminism by angela davis

does your mama know?: an anthology of black lesbian coming out stories by lisa c. moore

fiction:

the color purple by alice walker

loving her by ann allen shockley

the gilda stories by jewelle gomez

in another place, not here by dionne brand

pomegranate by helen elaine lee

the summer we got free by mia mckenzie

these letters end in tears by musih tedji xaviere

dead in long beach, california by venita blackburn

girl, woman, other by bernadine evaristo

young adult:

escaping mr. rochester by l.l. mckinney

this ravenous fate by hayley dennings

faebound by saraa el-arifa

so let them burn by kamilah cole

where sleeping girls lie by faridah àbíké-íyímídé

adult:

honey girl by morgan rogers

the deep by rivers solomon

sweet vengeance by viano oniomoh

come back (love concealed) by terri ronald

house of hunger by alexis henderson

short stories:

the secret lives of church ladies by deesha philyaw

additional info:

-> “why wasn’t this book listed?” probably because it wasn’t black sapphic-centric, the author isn’t a black sapphic themself, or i just simply haven’t heard of it! so feel free to add on if it meets those two criteria

many of these books require trigger warnings, especially some of the older ones that are more likely to feature racial struggles of the time. please do your due diligence and search for tws if you want to read them!

please feel free to add onto this list in the rbs or comments! happy black history month

[makingqueerhistory]

There's a lot of queers out there that find it hard to plan for a future wherein society doesn't want them in it. Can you offer a queer reading list of queer folx who have resisted authoritarian regimes? Any particular figures that stand out? Quotes? Are there other Claude Cahuns in history to offer inspiration in these times? Any stories of support networks that persisted throughout the AIDs genocide like the San Diego Blood Sisters? I'm sorry for so many questions; this topic has been weighing heavily on me.

I absolutely understand this, and I have some stories for you.

For articles:

George Everett Klippert tells the story of a man who changed the shape of a country because he was loved.

Jackie Shane tells the story of a trans woman of colour in the fifties who had a happier story than you'd expect.

Simon Tseko Nkoli tells the story of a man who fought back.

Elvira de la Fuente Chaudoir, A.K.A Agent Bronx tells the story of a woman who survived.

For books (affiliate links below) :

The Women's House of Detention

A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison

Hugh Ryan

The Freaks Came Out to Write

The Definitive History of the Village Voice, the Radical Paper That Changed American Culture

Tricia Romano

Liberated

The Radical Art and Life of Claude Cahun

Kaz Rowe 

Nothing Ever Just Disappears

Seven Hidden Queer Histories

Diarmuid Hester 

The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions

Larry Mitchell (Author), Ned Asta (Illustrator)

Double Cross

The True Story of the D-Day Spies

Ben MacIntyre

The New Queer Conscience

Adam Eli 

If you need hope, take it from here.

[teafromthemicrowave]

wake up babe, new tsbit fanart

[taliabhattwrites]

Estro Junkies is getting a paperback release!

By popular demand, Estro Junkies will be available as a paperback on release through Amazon and will be stockable by bookstores shortly after!

[newvision]

— James Baldwin, from If Beale Street Could Talk

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Adult SFF Books Bracket: Round 1

Choose a book:

The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir

The Javelin Program by Derin Edala (Time to Orbit: Unknown series)

Voting ended onNov 30, 2024

Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:

The Locked Tomb series (Gideon the Ninth, Harrow the Ninth, Nona the Ninth, and others) by Tamsyn Muir

Endorsement from submitter #1: "An extremely fun, humorous romp! A heart-breaking, soul crushing catharsis inducing tragedy! A thoughtful piece on imperial structures and trauma. On queerness, Muir flawlessly and without announcement, cracks gender open like an egg and spills its disproven guts across the page. The Locked Tomb does it all also bones, bitch."

Endorsement from submitter #2: "Lesbian necromancers in space. So many fascinating, sort of fucked up sapphic relationships going on."

The Emperor needs necromancers.

The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.

Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.

Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won't set her free without a service.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier.

Without Gideon's sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die. Of course, some things are better left dead.

Fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, humor, series, adult

The Javelin Program by Derin Edala (Time to Orbit: Unknown series)

When Dr Aspen Greaves signed up for the Javelin Program, humanity's first foray into colonising deep space, they expected to wake up to life in a thriving colony on a distant planet. Instead, they find themself five years away from their destination on a broken spaceship full of complex mysteries, dead astronauts, and a very unhelpful AI.

Aspen wasn't trained for any of this. But if they can't keep themselves alive, get the ship in working order, and find out what went wrong by unravelling a chain of mysteries leading all the way back to distant Earth, then neither Aspen nor the five thousand sleeping passengers in their care will ever see a planet again.

Science fiction, mystery, series, adult

[itgetsbetter]

This group of Maryland high school students said f book bans, we'll write our own

Despite Maryland’s Freedom to Read act, schools still banned 64 books in the 2023-2024 school year—many by queer authors and centering LGBTQ+ identities. So this group of high school students said f that.

With one of our It Gets Better: Changemakers grants, they launched Navigating the Margins—a writing program that paired young authors with published mentors. What came out of the partnerships was a groundbreaking anthology filled with stories ranging from fantasy and dystopian fiction to school dramas and murder mysteries.

One of the students said, "I see the book at school and I’m filled with such immense pride for all of us who were brave enough and proud enough to show who we really are." <3

If you want to do this or something similar for LGBTQ+ youth in your own community, we can help! Apply for a $10,000 Changemakers grant by May 5th at itgetsbetter.org/changemakers.

[silliestbutch]

Fat Butch Romance Recs:

Nightingale by Frances M. Thompson [historical fiction, romance]: In 1990s London, a nurse develops feelings for a patient's friend/caregiver during the AIDS crisis. Butch-femme romance. Fat, Jewish butch lesbian protagonist.

My Best Friend's Honeymoon by Meryl Wilsner [erotica, romance]: A spicy f/nb romance, where a young woman dumps her boyfriend days before their wedding, but chooses to go on her non-refundable honeymoon anyway–with her lifelong best friend instead. Butch-femme romance. Fat, non-binary butch lesbian protagonist.

A Little Kissing Between Friends by Chencia C. Higgins [romance]: Two best friends–a popular music producer and a strip club dancer–try in vain to deal with their complicated feelings for each other, without somehow ruining their existing bond. Black sapphic romance. Fat stud lesbian protagonist.

As The Sun Comes Up by Olive J. Kelley [slice of life, romance]: An agoraphobic young woman's life is thrown into turmoil when her crush–a gorgeous bed-and-breakfast owner–shows up to crash on her couch for a few days. Cozy, butch-femme lesbian romance with disability rep. Fat, Jewish butch lesbian love interest.

Higher by Roz Alexander [holiday romance]: An uptight, high-strung woman ends up in an awkward situation, when she realises she accidentally had a one-night stand with the artist commissioned by her temple for the Rosh Hashanah celebrations. Butch4butch holiday romance. Fat, Jewish butch lesbian lead with chronic migraines.

Mixing Up Mayhem by Heather Nix [paranormal, monster romance]: A pastry chef dealing with the aftermath of a terrible breakup has her life turned upside down, when a bizarre mishap unwittingly summons a hellish demon princess to her kitchen. Silly, steamy monster romance. Fat butch lesbian protagonist. (Sort of misleading cover; protagonist is explicitly described as fat)

Wrong Number, Right Woman by Jae [romance]: A random, out-of-the-blue text message about dating advice sets off an unexpected relationship between two women. Low angst romance. Fat butch lesbian protagonist.

Season of Love by Helena Greer [holiday romance]: A Jewish Christmas romance, about an artist who must put aside her rivalry with the worker at her family's tree farm, so that they can save the business together. Hallmark-y butch-femme holiday romance, mixed with heavier themes of trauma and healing (look up tws). Fat butch lesbian protagonist.

Eight Kinky Nights by Xan West [erotica, holiday romance]: An erotic, festive romance revolving around a newly divorced woman who moves in with her friend, and grows closer to her over–you guessed it–eight nights of kink lessons. Poly butch-femme romance, with middle-aged leads, disability and Jewish representation. Fat, Jewish, pansexual, stone butch protagonist, with chronic pain.