Link Round Up

I have got a lot of links that have been piling up (and by “a lot,” I mean in the hundreds), so here’s my chance to share them with you!

I’m going to be a judge in the Indie Lit Awards GLBTQ genre this year again, so keep track of the les/bi/etc books published this year and remember to nominate your favourites at the end of the year!

A professor at Ohio University is pushing for a LGBT minor.

Straight as default in YA fiction, discussed at The Book Lantern.

I just discovered this great list of queer books for teens and kids.

A discussion about whether Orlando by Virginia Woolf is trans lit.

About.com Lesbian Life posted about lesbian pulp.

AfterEllen posted

Bella Books posted

Bibrary Bookslut posted her favourites of the Lambda Literary Awards finalists.

Bonjour, Cass posted about being the Director of the GLBTQ Indie Lit Awards and On Tragic Figures and Queer Representation in Literature.

Elisa posted a list of the people with the most Lambda award nominations.

eurOut posted 8 lesbian and bisexual authors you should know.

The Femme’s Guide posted an unpleasant experience at a queer book fair.

GLBT Reading is looking for a co-host for the challenge.

I’m Here. I’m Queer. What the Hell Do I Read? posted

Just About Write posted their March issue.

Kissed By Venus posted about the Lambda Literary Awards.

KNOW Homo posted about queer education and scholarships in the US.

Queer YA list at Annie and Aunt.

Lambda Literary posted

Lesbilicious posted about the musical and literary links between being a monster and being queer.

The Rainbow Awards are looking for submissions for their 2011 awards and posted the awards guidelines.

Readings in Lesbian and Bisexual Women’s Fiction posted

Women and Words posted

xtra posted Whittall, Bergman lead Lambda list crowded with Canadians.

R. E. Bradshaw posted a book trailer.

Ivan Coyote is working on her upcoming book: The Tomboy Survival Guide.

Amber Dawn was interviewed at Queeries and xtra.

Malinda Lo posted

Andi Marquette has a new website.

Lacey Reah was interviewed at Bibrary Bookslut.

Jane Rule was posted about at About.com Lesbian Life.

Alice Walker was posted about at About.com Lesbian Life.

Book reviews are under the cut.

Continue Reading →

The Lesbrary is looking for more Lesbrarians!

You may have noticed that the Lesbrary hasn’t updated in a little while. At the moment, it’s just me (Danika) running the place, and to tell the truth, sometimes going to school and going to work get in the way. I’d the like the Lesbrary to be more active and have more contributors, though, so I’m looking for more Lesbrarians!

What’s a Lesbrarian?

A regular contributor to the Lesbrary (a lesbrarian, on the other hand, is a lesbian librarian and/or a bookish women-loving-woman). At the minimum, it means one scheduled post a month (the first Friday of every month, for instance), but you can have more scheduled posts (every second Tuesday or something), or have one scheduled post and more unscheduled posts when you have time. You can also just send in 12 posts in January and I can queue them for the rest of the year! It’s pretty flexible.

You can review any book with les/bi/etc content from any genre, nonfiction included. The posts don’t even have to be reviews: if you’d like to write a post about anything related to les/bi/etc books, that works too.

Posts can be posted elsewhere (such as your own blog) as well.

What are the perks?

Free les/bi/etc books! People send in electronic and physical versions of books to review, and at the moment, I have a stack that have piled up. That’s the main reason I’m looking for additional Lesbrarians. We may have to wrestle negotiate who gets to keep the physical books, but still.

What’s the difference between a Lesbrarian and a Guest Lesbrarian?

Lesbrarians post at least once a month, while guest lesbrarians send in reviews whenever they feel like it. Lesbrarians have posts on scheduled dates, while Guest Lesbrarians have their posts updated somewhat sporadically.  Lesbrarians have access to review copies of books.

What is “les/bi/etc” content?

I have yet to hit upon a succinct, accurate description of the demographic I’m aiming for with the Lesbrary. “Les/bi/etc content” is my shorthand for “content that includes or is about people who do not identify as men and are romantically and/or sexually attracted at least some of the time to other people who do not identify as men, including lesbians and bisexual/pansexual/omnisexual/some multisexual/etc women and genderqueer/agendered/bigendered/etc people, and also sexual and/or romantic content between two women regardless of their orientation, unless, of course, any of these people do not wish to be included under this umbrella,” and that’s still not including everyone who could be included under this umbrella unless they would not like to be included under this umbrella. So although “les/bi/etc” is problematic, until I can find something better, that’s the shorthand.

Anything else?

I’m looking for more than one other Lesbrarian, so there’s no competition. A romance reviewer would be especially great, because those are the ones that get sent in the most often. E-book readers would be great, too, because they’re usually digital copies.

If you’d like to be a Lesbrarian, email me at danikaellis@gmail.com!

Even if you’re not interested, consider passing on this link to other who might be interested (especially if they would appreciate having access to more les/bi/etc books).

Link Round Up

Push by Sapphire has been challenged in South Carolina, read about it at bookshelves of doom.

World Book Night was celebrated by giving away a million (?!) books, including Fingersmith by Sarah Waters.

About.com Lesbian Life posted

AfterEllen posted

Bella Books posted Beyond the Books: Author Blogs.

Bibrary Bookslut poseted about Month of LGBT Comics.

Edmonton Lesbian Book Club posted The Well of Loneliness and more.

Elisa – My reviews and Ramblings posted about Violet Trefusis née Keppel, an English writer who had an affair with Vita Sackville-West, which was immortalized in a fictionalized form in Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, and sent out a call for 2011 Rainbow Awards judges.

I’m Here. I’m Queer. What the Hell do I Read? posted The Rainbow Project’s 2011 Rainbow List Is OUT… How many have YOU read so far?! and an interview with Jodi Picoult about her new lesbian book.

Kissed By Venus posted Classic Lesbian Fiction.

Lambda Literary posted

Literally Lesbian Book Review posted a contest to win a copy of Another Life Altogether.

QLit posted 2011 Rainbow Project Book List Announced.

QueerType posted March Publishing Notes, which is sort of like the Lesbrary Round Ups, but all kinds of queer, monthly, and more comprehensive.

Readings in Lesbian and Bisexual Women’s Fiction posted Readings with Fran Heckrotte.

Three Dollar Bills posted Three Dollar Bill Reviews – year in review.

What Queer Folks Should Be Reading posted about Fannie Flagg, author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe.

Women and Words posted

A read-along of Affinity by Sarah Waters is happening at Estella’s Revenge, starting March 28th.

25 Books by GLBTQ authors of color was posted at MinnPost.

A lesbian erotic short story from The Girl Who Couldn’t Come by Joey Comeau was posted in two parts: part 1 and part 2. If you like epistolary stories about lesbian romances between a young woman and an eighty-year-old woman which also involves old, giant computers, this is the story for you.

Alison Bechdel posted about an “appropriation comic” of Dykes To Watch Out For.

R. E. Bradshaw posted Coming Out of the Authors’ Closet.

Gabriella Goliger was intereviewed at ShalomLife.

Malinda Lo posted a preview of Chapter 2 from Huntress and Announcing my next book, ADAPTATION!

Bett Norris posted some relevant links.

Amy Dawson Roberston posted a picture of a page of her work mid-editing.

Rachel Spangler posted GCLS News and about a Spanish translation of Trails Merge.

Lara Zielinsky posted about the publishing rights of PD Publishing being transferred to Bella Books.

Another Life Altogether by Elaine Beale was reviewed at Literally Lesbian Book Review.

Starting from Scratch by Georgia Beers was reviewed at Lambda Literary.

A Woman Like the Sea by Anne Brooke was reviewed at Gay/Lesbian Fiction Book Reviews and Queer Magazine Online.

Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey was reviewed at Queer Authors 50 Book Challenge.

Silver Kiss by Naomi Clark was reviewed at Queer Magazine Online.

Very LeFreak by Rachel Cohn was reviewed at Friend of Dorothy Wilde.

Loving Ellie by Dalia Craig was reviewed at Three Dollar Bills Reviews.

Parallel Lies by Stella Duffy was reviewed at Out in Print Queer Book Review.

Shadow of the Knife by Jane Fletcher was reviewed at Queer Magazine Online.

Making It Legal: A Guide to Same-Sex Marriage, Domestic Partnerships & Civil Unions by Frederick Hertz and Emily Doskow was reviewed at the feminist librarian.

Huntress by Malinda Lo was reviewed at QueerYA.

Fearless by Erin O’Reilly was reviewed at Queer Magazine Online.

Earthquake Came to Harlem: Poems by Jackie Sheeler was reviewed at Lambda Literary.

Like a Queen: Lesbian Fairy Tales edited by Cecilia Tan and Rachel Kincaid was reviewed at Kissed By Venus.

Travels Through Love and Time by Christine Hall Volkoff was reviewed at Bibrary Bookslut.

Best Lesbian Erotica 2011 edited by Kathleen Warnock was reviewed at Elevate Difference.

The House You Pass on the Way by Jacqueline Woodson was reviewed at lucy was robbed.

Guest Lesbrarian Shanna

This is a new author who has written a beautiful take on the Cinderella story, with a twist.

Ash’s mother is dead, and, following in the tradition of almost all Disney movies, epic poems, and fairy tales, her father dies soon after.  She’s left at the mercy of her stepmother, forced to clean and look after her stepsisters: all events that closely follow the original Cinderella.  Ash absorbs herself in a single book of fairy tales her mother bequeathed her, and spends all her time searching the woods for a fairy troupe that is rumored to connect people with their dead loved ones.

Wait, the good part’s coming: Ash soon becomes torn between the fairy Sidhean and his dark promises to reunite her with her mother, and Kaisa, the Queen’s Huntress.  When Kaisa and Ash meet in the woods one day, something within Ash changes.  Ash and and Kaisa fall in love in a natural and charming way.  However, Ash still must reckon with Sidhean and his claim on her.

Ash’s world:

Fans of fairy tales will enjoy the book.  I was not necessarily a fan of the unwieldy triangulated relationship between Ash, Kaisa and Sidhean, but I really loved the dark, slightly creepy, slightly sad feeling to the book.

If you’re looking for a light fantasy read, try it out.

Lo, Malinda. Ash. Little & Brown: New York, 2009. 272 pp. ISBN: 0316040096

 

Thank you to Shanna for this Guest Lesbrarian review! Check out her book blog, Fortitude and Patience.

Also see Emily’s Guest Lesbrarian review of Ash.

If you’d like to do a Guest Lesbrarian review, shoot me an email!