Book Recs - Blog Posts

She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen

Orpheus Girl by Brynne Rebele-Henry

All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O'Donoghue (the main romance is nblw, but there is some wlw in the second and third books in the series)

anyways if you’re as upset about the first kill cancellation as i am, here’s a list of sapphic books and books featuring queer girls to check out! for those i haven’t read, i’ve heard they’re worth reading, so please check out any of the books on this list!!

the priory of the orange tree by samantha shannon

the jasmine throne by tasha suri

a lesson in vengeance by victoria lee

the falling in love montage by ciara smyth

not my problem by ciara smyth

i kissed shara wheeler by casey mcquiston

one last stop by casey mcquiston

she drives me crazy by kelly quindlen

some girls do by jennifer dugan

perfect on paper by sophie gonzales

the chosen and the beautiful by nghi vo

siren queen by nghi vo

city of dusk by tara sim

i’ll be the one by lyla lee

flip the script by lyla lee

watch over me by nina lacour

we are okay by nina lacour

the seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid

loveless by alice oseman

last night at the telegraph club by malinda lo

a memory called empire by arkady martine

gideon the ninth by tamsyn muir

ophelia after all by racquel marie

PLEASE REBLOG WITH YOUR OWN IF YOU HAVE RECS!! i’m looking to add more sapphic books to my tbr and i know i’m not the only one

Current read: Call of the Bone Ships by RJ Barker

Book 2 of the Tide Child trilogy

If you grew up reading Ranger’s Apprentice/Brotherband then I highly recommend this series— lots of nautical elements including ship lingo and long voyages. It’s a high fantasy series, so it has Pirates of the Caribbean-esque elements as well. The sea battles are incredibly well-written.

‼️‼️🗣️🗣️ SEA DRAGONS 🗣️🗣️‼️‼️

I’ve seen reviewers classify these books as grimdark, but I disagree with that mainly because of the main character Joron and his captain (shipwife), Lucky Meas. Though hardened by the circumstances of their lives and their tragic pasts, both of these characters, along with many of the side characters, have strong moral compasses and a conviction to do what’s right.

I’m enjoying this series a lot so far and I think it definitely deserves to more well-known. I would love to see the fandom grow too because I haven’t found anyone to talk about it with yet 🥲 (if you have read them pls interact bc I am desperate to scream about Joron with someone)

'You could be my entire world if you let me.'

When I say I loved love, theoretically...

I FREAKING LOVED IT!!! ❤❤❤

I read this in 2024 and still till this day it's one of my favorite reads ever. Probably because I related so much to Elsie that I even bought a sweater with the quote that is written in this post (the sweater is beautiful tho).

This art is from: @maherdraws

The sweater (if someone wants to buy it) @literaturestitches

Some extra favorite quotes:

'I like to see you. When you're not trying to be someone else.'

'I want you Elsie. All the time. I think of you. All. The. F**king. Time.'

'There is no universe in which I'm not going to let you go. I want to he with you, on you, every second of the day.'

I really wanna read the legacy of gods series but I'm not sure 😫

I heard the plot is beautiful and when I see fanart from nikobran, I'm almost just downloading their book on my kindle but I don't know if I can start random in the Rina Kent Universe.

anyone tips? 💗

my favorite genre is “kitchen sink” tbqh. yes i want your metaphysical space opera Gothic haunted house horror-comedy. yes i want your medieval road trip heist mystery. give me time traveling werewolves and noir detective robots teaming up to fight alien supervillains. i want this sundae with every topping in the shop

5 Books to Read to Write Better Stories

The newest post on my blog discusses five books that I think are essential to helping writers grow. They break the craft apart in easy-to-read ways. You'll treat yourself to funny lessons and entertaining perspectives while strengthening your ability to write captivating stories.

Check out the post here!

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS!

HELLO! I WOULD LIKE BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS!! any book really but im mainly looking for something revolving around nature/science/math!! something like that!! fiction for nature is okay but i would like nonfiction for the math and science books :3 (example for fic. nature is like "hatchet") THANKS!!! other genres/books i like are psychology, fantasy, sci-fi, mangas (just not romance), philosophy, and history!!! IF ANYONE COMMENTS I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT OK THANK YOU

Just finished reading Long Live Evil. Straight couple so tragic it reminds you of the gays and gay couple so awkward and I love them all. God help me. This is all I will be thinking of for the next month. Thank you and good night.

Fantasy LGBTQ books besides six of crows (these descriptions are bare minimal, go check out the actual summaries)

The Smoke Thieves

Demons exist and are killed for their highly-prized smoke. Political turmoil with plots for thrones and for war, all with demon smoke somewhere woven in.

Wicked as you Wish

An alternate reality where magic is an important part of life, with the tales of King Arthur at the center.

Timekeeper

When time is dependent on clock towers, it is up to mechanics to keep them up and running.

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street

Set in the 19th century, this story is about a supposedly ordinary man and a clairvoyant.

anyways if you’re as upset about the first kill cancellation as i am, here’s a list of sapphic books and books featuring queer girls to check out! for those i haven’t read, i’ve heard they’re worth reading, so please check out any of the books on this list!!

the priory of the orange tree by samantha shannon

the jasmine throne by tasha suri

a lesson in vengeance by victoria lee

the falling in love montage by ciara smyth

not my problem by ciara smyth

i kissed shara wheeler by casey mcquiston

one last stop by casey mcquiston

she drives me crazy by kelly quindlen

some girls do by jennifer dugan

perfect on paper by sophie gonzales

the chosen and the beautiful by nghi vo

siren queen by nghi vo

city of dusk by tara sim

i’ll be the one by lyla lee

flip the script by lyla lee

watch over me by nina lacour

we are okay by nina lacour

the seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid

loveless by alice oseman

last night at the telegraph club by malinda lo

a memory called empire by arkady martine

gideon the ninth by tamsyn muir

ophelia after all by racquel marie

PLEASE REBLOG WITH YOUR OWN IF YOU HAVE RECS!! i’m looking to add more sapphic books to my tbr and i know i’m not the only one

I cannot say how much i fucking love these books. I read them when I was still pretty clueless about queer things, still thinking i was “straight”, and i found many things fascinating about the worldbuilding and the characters. And now, years later, I’ll be laying in my bed trying to sleep and then suddenly I’m throwing my covers back like “YOU MEAN THAT WAS T4T????????” “Wait was that ASEXUAL REPRESENTATION OR AM I HALLUCINATING???????????”

I’d like to go back in time and hold little me’s head like “baby. You’re a faggot. There’s a reason you like this book and it ain’t just the dragons”

Oh and also! How could i forget! The third book in the series was literally the first book I ever read in English, bc it hadn’t been translated into my native language yet, and i was NOT GOING TO WAIT YEARS TO READ IT TF???? Literally i went

“Have I read a book in english before?”

“No.”

“How long is this one?”

“…640 pages.”

“……….Fuck it we ball.”

Man i gotta reread them it’s been too long.

Okay I said I'd make a more expansive post about this so here it is.

If you like high fantasy, check out A Chorus of Dragons by Jenn Lyons.

It's got

magic

dragons

demons

gods that aren't gods

a main character throuple

platonic marriage

distinct characters of various ages

just general diversity

the most incomprehensible family trees

sassy footnotes

and more!

There are five books and the worldbuilding is so neatly woven into the story so as not to overwhelm the reader. I was learning neat facts about the world even in the last book.

The overarching plot is a bit complicated to explain, but it's basically "Ancient mage with an ego has secret plans centuries in the making and must be stopped, but in the meantime there are demons wrecking havoc, terrible shitheads vying for political power, shapeshifters with dubious morals, revenge schemes, slavery, a god of annihilation that has slowly been consuming the sun, and so much family drama."

The five books are:

The Ruin of Kings (aka will someone please tell Kihrin what's going on)

The Name of All Things (aka the adventures of Janel and Qown, a horsegirl and her emotional support atheist priest)

The Memory of Souls (aka Oh My God)

The House of Always (aka Group Therapy tries to stop the apocolapyse)

The Discord of Gods (aka wtf is even going on--OH)

So in conclusion:

great characters, great pacing, great worldbuilding, great antagonists

I highly recommend this book to anyone it's so good!

One of the things I love about Catherine’s character in Heartless is that she doesn’t do a complete 180 bcuz her heart broke or something like in most “kind person turns to villain” books I read. Thing is: Catherine was never a kind person to begin with, she was a people-pleaser and had trouble standing up for herself, and that covered up so many of the small little hints that show her true nature and personality.

She threatened a flamingo to help her win a silly game, she stole a pumpkin she was specifically told not to take because she needed it to win a competition and when that went wrong she immediately blamed Hatta even though it was so blatantly an implication of her own actions. It’s funny to me how in one scene where she caught the husband of the jabberwocky (i forgot his name, I haven’t read the books in a while) being mean to his wife her thoughts immediately turned to wanting to see him suffer, that seemed normal to us at the time but after seeing how she could be by the end of the series, it really foreshadows how vindictive her nature is.

Despite all this, you have a hard time hating her because there are so many points in the series where you can’t help but feel sorry for her. The way she misjudged her relationship with Mary Ann, the way she thought she could trust her father to have her back but he turned out to be as spineless as she was, the way her mother abused her, the way her dreams of having a bakery were disregarded over and over, etc. etc.

forever floored by folks who refuse to read anything not tradpub when it comes to queer books cause let me tell you there is so much in indie or smaller publishers being written that would blow your socks off AND theyre not beholden to censorship of tradpub as they try to "keep things nice for their image" (which is ironic considering the kinds of cishet romances that get put out)

here are some queer indie books that ive been reading that yall should check out

The Iliad by Homer

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann

Dracula by  Bram Stoker

Middlemarch by George Eliot

The art of war by Sun Tzu

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

No name by Wilkie Collins

Epic Fantasies & Strong Female Leads

Child of Light by Terry Brooks

At nineteen, Auris Afton Grieg has led an … unusual life. Since the age of fifteen, she has been trapped in a sinister prison. Why? She does not know. She has no memories of her past beyond the vaguest of impressions. All she knows is that she is about to age out of the children’s prison, and rumors say that the adult version is far, far worse. So she and some friends stage a desperate escape into the surrounding wastelands. And it is here that Auris’s journey of discovery begins, for she is rescued by a handsome yet alien stranger. Harrow claims to be Fae—a member of a magical race that Auris had thought to be no more than legend. Odder still, he seems to think that she is one as well, although the two look nothing alike. But strangest of all, when he brings her to his wondrous homeland, she begins to suspect that he is right. Yet how could a woman who looks entirely human be a magical being herself? Told with a fresh, energetic voice, this fantasy puzzle box is perfect for fans of Terry Brooks and new readers alike, as one young woman slowly unlocks truths about herself and her world—and, in doing so, begins to heal both.

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh

Deadly storms have ravaged Mina’s homeland for generations. Floods sweep away entire villages, while bloody wars are waged over the few remaining resources. Her people believe the Sea God, once their protector, now curses them with death and despair. In an attempt to appease him, each year a beautiful maiden is thrown into the sea to serve as the Sea God’s bride, in the hopes that one day the “true bride” will be chosen and end the suffering. Many believe that Shim Cheong, the most beautiful girl in the village—and the beloved of Mina’s older brother Joon—may be the legendary true bride. But on the night Cheong is to be sacrificed, Joon follows Cheong out to sea, even knowing that to interfere is a death sentence. To save her brother, Mina throws herself into the water in Cheong’s stead. Swept away to the Spirit Realm, a magical city of lesser gods and mythical beasts, Mina seeks out the Sea God, only to find him caught in an enchanted sleep. With the help of a mysterious young man named Shin—as well as a motley crew of demons, gods and spirits—Mina sets out to wake the Sea God and bring an end to the killer storms once and for all. But she doesn’t have much time: A human cannot live long in the land of the spirits. And there are those who would do anything to keep the Sea God from waking…

Capture the Crown by Jennifer Estep

Gemma Ripley has a reputation for being a pampered princess who is more interested in pretty gowns, sparkling jewelry, and other frivolous things than learning how to rule the kingdom of Andvari. But her carefully crafted persona is just an act to hide the fact that Gemma is a powerful mind magier - and a spy. Gemma is undercover, trying to figure out who is stealing large amounts of tearstone from one of the Ripley royal mines when she encounters Prince Leonidas Morricone of Morta - her mortal enemy. Gemma tries to steer clear of the handsome prince, but when she finds herself behind enemy lines, she reluctantly joins forces with Leo. Also coming to Gemma’s aid is Grimley, her beloved gargoyle. Despite the fact that Andvari and Morta are old, bitter enemies, a dangerous attraction sparks between Gemma and Leo. Further complicating matters is Leo’s murderous family, especially Queen Maeven Morricone, the mastermind behind the infamous Seven Spire massacre. The closer Gemma gets to the stolen tearstone, the more deadly plots she uncovers. Everyone is trying to capture the crown, but only one queen can sit on the throne…

The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton

A kingdom at risk, a crown divided, a family drenched in blood. The erratic decisions of a prophecy-obsessed king have drained Innis Lear of its wild magic, leaving behind a trail of barren crops and despondent subjects. Enemy nations circle the once-bountiful isle, sensing its growing vulnerability, hungry to control the ideal port for all trade routes. The king’s three daughters—battle-hungry Gaela, master manipulator Reagan, and restrained, starblessed Elia—know the realm’s only chance of resurrection is to crown a new sovereign, proving a strong hand can resurrect magic and defend itself. But their father will not choose an heir until the longest night of the year, when prophecies align and a poison ritual can be enacted. Refusing to leave their future in the hands of blind faith, the daughters of Innis Lear prepare for war—but regardless of who wins the crown, the shores of Innis will weep the blood of a house divided.

🍉 Queer Palestinian Books 🍉

🇵🇸 The algorithm is going to keep silencing my posts, but they're not going to silence me. I grew up with little to no books that made me feel seen as a queer/bisexual Palestinian Arab American. Today, it's still not easy enough to find those books online, even though we have thousands of lists, posts, and directories to guide us. To make your search a little easier, here are a few queer Palestinian books to add to your TBR. Please help me spread this by reblogging. Consider adding these to your least for Read Palestine Week (click for resources)! 💜

🍉 The Skin and Its Girl by Sarah Cypher 🇵🇸 A Map of Home by Randa Jarrar 🍉 Hazardous Spirits by Anbara Salam 🇵🇸 To All the Yellow Flowers by Raya Tuffaha 🍉 You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat 🇵🇸 The Specimen's Apology by George Abraham 🍉 Birthright by George Abraham 🇵🇸 Nayra and the Djinn by Iasmin Omar Ata 🍉 Where Black Stars Rise by Nadia Shammas and Marie Enger 🇵🇸 The Twenty-Ninth Year by Hala Alyan 🍉 Guapa by Saleem Haddad 🇵🇸 From Whole Cloth: An Asexual Romance by Sonia Sulaiman

🍉 The Philistine by Leila Marshy 🇵🇸 Love Is an Ex-Country by Randa Jarrar 🍉 Shell Houses by Rasha Abdulhadi 🇵🇸 Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique by Sa'ed Atshan 🍉 Belladonna by Anbara Salam 🇵🇸 Confetti Realms by Nadia Shammas, Karnessa, Hackto Oshiro 🍉 Blood Orange by Yaffa As 🇵🇸 The ordeal of being known by Malia Rose 🍉 Decolonial Queering in Palestine by Walaa Alqaisiya 🇵🇸 Are You This? Or Are You This?: A Story of Identity and Worth by Madian Al Jazerah, Ellen Georgiou 🍉 This Arab Is Queer: An Anthology by LGBTQ+ Arab Writers 🇵🇸 My Mama's Magic by Amina Awad

Saving this for later but I'd like to add

Tarnished are the Stars - Rosiee Thor (wlw, implied aroace, sci fi, recommended if you like steampunk vibes)

Hell Followed With Us - Andrew Joseph White (main character is trans and mlm, lot of queen background characters, post apocalyptic but the apocalypse was brought on by cult like evangelists (lot of religious trauma themes), i think this would be a horror)

The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich - Deya Muniz (wlw, all the characters are named after cheeses, graphic novel with a really nice art style)

The Magnus Chase Series - Rick Riordan (pansexual, gender fluid, mlm background couple, set in the same world as Percy Jackson but it's the Norse pantheon, the best of Rick's series in my opinion)

List of queer books I read, loved & recommend!

(There isn't any particular order, I wrote these as I remembered them)

Master Of One - Jaida Jones & Dani Bennett (mlm, fantasy, very cool worldbuilding and magic system, funny, cool characters)

Legends & Lattes - Travis Baldree (wlw, fantasy, very soft & chill vibes)

The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon (wlw, high fantasy, cool worldbuilding, kinda reminds me of LOTR but with more dragons and feminism and lesbians)

Even Though I Knew The End - C.L. Polk (wlw, supernatural noir, cool 1930s detective story with angels & demons, I loved this one!)

The Love Interest - Cale Dietrich (mlm, science fiction, very cool concept)

The Darkest Part Of The Forest - Holly Black (side mlm, fantasy, cool fae lore)

The Weight Of The Stars - K. Ancrum (wlw, not quite science fiction but space stuff is involved, lovely and complex characters)

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz (mlm, fiction, very nice in general, there is also a sequel)

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue - Mackenzi Lee (mlm, historical and vaguely fantasy, nice story but I preferred the sequel honestly)

The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy - Mackenzi Lee (wlw, the sequel to the one before, more fantasy elements than the first, asexual main character!!)

Gallant - V.E. Schwab (no romance, but in the background one of the characters(?) uses they/them pronouns, very cool dark fantasy vibe)

Stranger Than Fanfiction - Chris Colfer (gay main character, trans main character, coming-of-age, nice book)

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (yes it's the Love, Simon book, mlm, fiction, pretty nice)

They Both Die At The End - Adam Silvera (mlm, sci-fi ish but mostly fiction, cool ideas, but the ending is sad! Very amazing book though, I haven't read the prequel yet)

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid (wlw, bi main character, historical fiction, cool story, just a neat book in general)

This Is How You Lose The Time War - Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone (wlw, sci-fi, very cool time travel stuff!! and very beautiful, it felt like reading poetry most of the time)

One Last Stop - Casey McQuinston (wlw, background trans & pan & queer characters, sci-fi or fantasy idk, but time travel, I loooved this book, great)

The House In The Cerulean Sea - TJ Klune (mlm, fantasy, THIS BOOK oh my gosh you should read it!!, just cute and lovely and good)

Under The Whispering Door - TJ Klune (mlm, fantasy, this book is also sooo amazing, great character development and awesome relationships and stuff, it's been a while since I read it but it was so good)

In the Lives of Puppets - TJ Klune (mlm, ace main character!!, sci-fi, now THIS is found family, oughh feelings. argh, tj klune you’ve done it again, a human and his family of funky robots… I love them)

And They Lived... - Steven Salvatore (nblm, fiction, about gender identity and learning to love yourself, read it a while ago but it was very nice)

I Wish You All The Best - Mason Deaver (nblm, fiction, about finding your identity and people who care about you, very cute and sweet)

The Song Of Achilles - Madeleine Miller (mlm, historical, very good in general)

Carry On - Rainbow Rowell (mlm, background wlw in the third book, fantasy, it's a trilogy, basically Harry Potter if it was gay and also better)

Silver In The Wood - Emily Tesh (mlm, fantasy, very pretty, lots of fae stuff and lovely descriptions, it has a really good sequel too)

Pretty much anything by Alice Oseman (all cute and lovely and great, though I've only read Radio Silence so far I hear only good things, Solitaire is on my to-read list)

I Kissed Shara Wheeler - Casey McQuinston (wlw, fiction, it's been a while but I liked this book)

The Falling In Love Montage - Ciara Smyth (wlw, fiction, this book was so cute and funny and deeply emotional it made me Feel way too many things, I'd definitely recommend it)

What Big Teeth - Rose Szabo (a bit of queerness all around, fantasy, werewolves and monsters, this one was pretty cool!, lots of original ideas for the world/character building)

His Quiet Agent - Ada Maria Soto (mlm, asexual, fiction, about like spies but this book was so gentle and sweet I wanted to cry in the best way possible)

Some By Virtue Fall - Alexandra Rowland (wlw, historical fiction(?), theatre drama!! rival romance!! duels!!, a very good read in general)

Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend - Emma R. Alban (wlw, historical fiction, I’m not usually one for regency romances, but I really liked this!!, very cute and lots of drama, and there’s a sequel coming out soon!)