This novel has been a hard one to write a review for. Mostly because of the upheavals happening, and my subsequent desire to try and locate the text as best as I can in the current moment. Because, reader, it truly is a novel for the times, of the times. So here is the earliestRead More
Edge of the World: An Anthology of Queer Travel Writing edited by Alden Jones Review
I cried a bunch while reading Edge of the World (out May 6, 2025). A profoundly topical collection, Alden Jones’s latest anthology collects sixteen* autobiographical pieces about travel from writers loosely connected by their complicated American-ness and LGBTQ+ identities. I appreciated Jones’s intentions in titling the anthology—in hoping that “the contents undermine the idea ofRead More
The Dark Secrets of the Beauty Industry: You Belong To Me by Hayley Kirscher
Hayley Kirscher’s You Belong To Me (out April 15, 2025) is a compendium of hot topics seemingly tailored for the algorithm. It’s got cults, skincare, girls kissing, goths, spot-on references to gothic literature. It’s almost tailor-made for the TikTok savvy teen. It’s also an empathetic exploration of power, belonging, and identity. Refreshingly, that last one doesn’t haveRead More
Sapphic Gothic Fantasy…for Kids! The Pale Queen by Ethan M. Aldridge Review
The Pale Queen by Ethan M. Aldridge is a poetic middle grade graphic novel that draws inspiration from fae myths and folklore to tell a story about the support it takes to pursue your biggest dreams—and the sacrifices we are and aren’t willing to make along the way. In particular, it will appeal to young readers lookingRead More
Folk Horror and the Troubled Teen Industry: What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould Review
In European folk and fairytales, a journey through the woods represents the characters’ coming of age—their passage from the pastoral, relative security of familial and familiar hearths into a fraught, shadowy place where metaphors for social anxieties lurk around every corner. Only with wit and friendship can one come out the other side, though theyRead More
Queer Graphic Novels and Illustrated Books for Preteens and Teens
These four books are listed in order of suitability for middle-to-high schoolers and deal with the timeless experiences of feeling like an outsider, finding the fortitude to be yourself, and the need for proper communication with partners. They’re great books to start conversations about these things, and have lovely art that are sure to make themRead More
Must-Read Poetry Collections by Queer Women
It can be easy to feel overwhelmed during trying times, and to feel like you have less time/energy to sit down with a book and really immerse yourself in plot or nonfiction. I’ve personally always turned to poetry during periods like this, and in light of everything going on everywhere, these books have been particularlyRead More
A Lush and Sensual Greek Myth Retelling: The Palace of Eros by Caro de Robertis
Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! It’s no secret that Anne Carson has inspired many a sapphic love affair with ancient Greek myths, or that stories like Malinda Lo’s Ash, Sarah Diemer’s The Dark Wife, and a vast world of AU fanfiction showed that the threads from which most modern myths areRead More
The Beauty and Bitterness of Unrequited Love: The Italy Letters by Vi Khi Nao
Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! The Italy Letters by Vi Khi Nao (August 13, 2024) reads like bitter chocolate with rich undertones that will pique the acquired tastes of readers looking for poetic experimental fiction and stories about the mid-life crises of disillusioned literary fiction writers who are not cishet whiteRead More
We Have Always Been Here: 3 Essential Historical Sapphic Reads
As Pride Month draws to a close here in the states, here are three historical fiction books that blend insightful writing with action/adventure, twisty thriller tension, and bon-mot brilliance, respectively. So much of history is about teaching us what has been possible, about what sorts of lives have survived, been mythologized, codified, recognized as worthyRead More