This summer, I really fell in love with reading by the water. I did some beach reading, but mostly, I just packed a bottle of water and a snack, walked myself down to the waterway, found a bench, and cracked open a book. It’s so peaceful. And between the cover and setting of My BestRead More
Monsters Above and Below the Waves: They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran Review
After a banger debut with She is a Haunting, I was eager to get my hands on Trang Tranh Tran’s sophomore novel They Bloom at Night. Tran delivers another gripping story, with atmospheric tension intertwined with the struggle to fit in to your own body and community. This book dragged me in as relentless the tides, and thenRead More
Be Gay Do Heists: Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto Review
There are few things more satisfying than watching a plan unfold with no hiccups—or with a few hiccups that get resolved in the most epic of ways. Heist plots are perfect for creating that irresistible balance of intrigue, action, and suspense that makes me keep on turning the page. Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto is aRead More
Jane Austen Meets Queer History: I Shall Never Fall in Love by Hari Conner Review
This Pride Month, I wanted to highlight I Shall Never Fall in Love by Hari Conner, a YA historical romance graphic novel that is one of my favorite comics I’ve read this year. I feel that it’s important to recognize that we have always been here, and not without opportunities for love and personal expression. George, theirRead More
Heart & Heist in Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto
The cover of Makana Yamamoto’s (they/she/he) Hammajang Luck boldly proclaims its niche as “Sci-fi Heist.” Yamamoto further delineates their novel as a “cyberpunk lesbian space heist,” so it’s safe to say that I was all the way intrigued. The first page yanked me in with the phrase, “Mother just grounded me for war crimes.” One unexpected snort-laughRead More
Large Format Photograph as Novel: Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg
Some of my favourite books can be accurately described as “slow.” In fact, I so enjoy a character-based story that when I hear “nothing happens in this book,” it bumps it up my TBR. So, it was a surprise to me to find myself slogging through Housemates feeling like nothing was happening. If it wasn’tRead More
A Cyberpunk Heist: Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto Review
I picked up Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto during the Trans Rights Readathon, as the dramatic setup for this cyberpunk heist novel compelled me. It ended up being one of the most memorable stories I read for the event. Edie’s last heist ended with them being sold out by their childhood friend, Angel, and spending eight yearsRead More
A TBR Shame Spiral in Six Titles
As a librarian, my TBR (to-be-read) shelf is never ending. Every time I think I am going to crack down on my whole bookshelf of unread books, something amazing comes through the returns chute, or my VERY well-meaning coworkers share something that they think I will love (most times they are right on the money)Read More
This Queer Horror Book Will Haunt You: Model Home by Rivers Solomon
This was my first Rivers Solomon book, and from the first page, I understood why I’d heard such good things about them. Here are the opening lines: “Maybe my mother is God, and that’s why nothing I do pleases her. Maybe my mother is God, and that’s why even though she’s never once saved me,Read 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