In July, my fiancée and I had an opportunity to go to [words] Bookstore in Maplewood, New Jersey. I hadn’t been to [words] in several years, but we were in the area on a Saturday and stopped by on a whim. It was just as beautiful as I remembered. After wandering through the store for a while, I sharedRead More
A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby with Mary Louisa Plummer Review
A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder by Ma-Nee Chacaby with Mary Louisa Plummer was this year’s winner of Canada Reads, and if you’re not Canadian, I can tell you that’s a big deal. It’s a TV/radio program where five “personalities” (celebrities of some kind) debate which book the country should beRead More
Lush, Atmospheric Queer Historical Fiction: A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland
A lush, atmospheric queer historical fiction for fans of Portrait of a Lady on Fire and The Birth House, Rose Sutherland’s A Sweet Sting of Salt (Dell 2024) is the perfect read to cozy up with this fall. Sutherland’s queer retelling of the folktale The Selkie Wife follows Jean, a midwife in a Nova Scotia village who is as renowned for herRead More
A Fresh, Queer Take on Crime Fiction: Behind You by Catherine Hernandez
Amazon Affiliate Link In her new novel, Catherine Hernandez weaves gripping suspense and affecting emotion into a story of trauma, survival, and healing against the backdrop of one of Canada’s most terrifying historical events. Behind You (HarperAvenue 2024) follows Alma, a Filipina woman working as an editor for a true crime series called Infamous, which features sketchesRead More
A Celebration of Sapphic Love & Loss: Something, Not Nothing by Sarah Leavitt
Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! Something, Not Nothing (September 24, 2024) is a stunning graphic memoir by cartoonist and educator Sarah Leavitt (she/her). In April 2020, Leavitt’s partner of twenty-two years, Donimo, died with medical assistance after years battling chronic pain. After Donimo’s death, Leavitt turned her immense grief and lossRead More
A Cozy Queer Comic of Community: Matchmaker by Cam Marshall
Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! This was a surprise, last-minute entry in my list of favourite reads of 2023! I stumbled on this while researching new releases for Our Queerest Shelves, and I was pleasantly surprised to see it was by a local British Columbia author/artist! I requested itRead More
A Fabulously Smart Summer Read: The Fake by Zoe Whittall
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link A short novel with a lot of heart and an unputdownable plot, Zoe Whittall’s The Fake (2023 Ballantine Books) is a fabulously smart story. The Fake follows Shelia and Gibson, two unconnected characters who are drawn unwittingly into the same oppressive scheme. Shelia is still reeling from the sudden death ofRead More
Til reviews The Stone Child by David A. Robertson
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link The Stone Child is book 3 in the Misewa Saga, following foster siblings Eli and Morgan, who discover that they can travel to another dimension when they put Eli’s drawings on a wall in their foster-home’s attic. Here, in Misewa, they meet animals who wear clothes and live inRead More
Rachel reviews The Lost Time Accidents by Síle Englert
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link An incredibly complex and stunning poetic debut, Síle Englert’s collection The Lost Time Accidents (Icehouse Poetry 2021) is a must-read. This collection of poems, divided into three distinct parts, unpacks a number of central themes such as gender, sexuality, objectification, fantasy, reality, motherhood, childhood, and many more. Icehouse writes thatRead More
Danika reviews A Dream of a Woman: Stories by Casey Plett
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Casey Plett is the kind of author I love and dread reading, because she so skillfully can break your heart. Her stories are beautiful, bittersweet, and achingly honest about the little ways we support and fail each other. My first experience reading Plett’s work was in chapbook form:Read More