At the close of 2024, I offer up my favorite read of the year: C.L. Polk’s Even Though I Knew the End. This novella catapulted me through five acts in the span of 133 pages, and it hurt in the best possible way. Settle in for a gritty noir detective story: January 1941, Chicago. The coldRead More
A Brutal Colonial Horror Story: To the Bone by Alena Bruzas
To the Bone is the story of Ellis, an indentured girl in the Jamestown settlement of the Virginia colony. Ellis aspires toward little more than goodness; born poor in the late 1500s, she can neither read nor count, but understands the world as preachers sketch its edges. She works hard as a servant to the semi-prominentRead More
All of the Sapphic Vampires, None of the Victorian Homophobic Overtones: An Education in Malice by S. T. Gibson
Like many queer women, I’m sure, I have a strange relationship with the original Carmilla. On the one hand, sapphic vampires are objectively sexy. On the other hand, the way the danger she poses is framed as inextricably linked to her queerness (and her foreignness) is, well, unpleasant, to say the least. I always say thatRead More
A Chilling Summer Mystery: Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson
This wasn’t a book I planned to read in just two sittings. However, after continuing to tell myself “I’ll take a break after this chapter” and then not taking a break after the chapter, I finished it in a blur of twists and reveals that left me gasping. Death at Morning House follows Marlowe Wexler,Read More
A Slow Burning Sapphic Historical Romance: Lighthouse Keeper by Eliza Lentzski
Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! Historical sapphic romance—who knew that would be my “type”? Though it shouldn’t have been a huge shock, given that I love a good Western or a trek through the Alaskan Wilderness any day. I’ve noticed lately that some of my favorite historical fiction authorsRead More
How Much Would You Sacrifice for Fame?: Every Time You Hear That Song by Jenna Voris
Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! I won’t be able to get through this review without mentioning The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, so let me get the comparison out of the way now. Like Evelyn Hugo, this cover likely doesn’t scream “queer story,” but it is—twice over, actually. LikeRead More
The Magic of Community: Brooms by Jasmine Walls and Teo DuVall
Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! Brooms is a YA graphic novel created by Jasmine Walls (writer) and Teo DuVall (illustrator) and published in 2023 by Levine Querido. It is set in an alternate 1930s Mississippi where magic flows all around, but is heavily restricted. Only certain people are allowed toRead More
Understanding the Japanese Internment Camps: Displacement by Kiku Hughes
Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! “And keep drawing, too. Draw what you see, what happens here. It’s important. They can scare us, but they can’t make us forget.” In this simply illustrated yet poignant graphic novel, Kiku Hughes reimagines herself as a teenager who is pulled back in timeRead More
A Sapphic Regency Romp: Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh by Rachael Lippincott
Bookshop.org Affiliate Link As a current Pittsburgh resident, as soon as I saw that the Lesbrary had received a review copy of Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh by Rachael Lippincott, I knew that I needed to read it. A fun sapphic romance mixing regency and the steel city with added time travel? Sign me up. And itRead More
Queer Adventure, Romance and Revenge in the Wild West: Lucky Red by Claudia Cravens
Bookshop.org Affiliate Link This queer Western did not disappoint. I tore through this tale that is equal parts cowgirl adventure, gritty coming of age, steamy F/F romance, and revenge heist. This was a ride that only ramped up as I kept reading. If you’re looking for a getaway in these last weeks of summer, thisRead More
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