Welcome to the first monthly Queer Your Year rec thread! What books are you planning to read for the challenge? Do you have any great recs? Are there any prompts you’re super excited about, or ones you’re struggling to come up with books for? Tell me what you’re looking for in a book and I’ll give you a recommendation! Bring me your questions, ideas, and suggestions! Let’s talk queer lit!
You can find all the details about the challenge here, including the prompt list and game card.
Hi Laura! I was intrigued by your review of Town of Babylon when you called the book "a contemporary queer novel about ordinary life". Any recommendations for more of these kinds of stories? I like gay, ordinary stories but always feel overwhelmed in sourcing them. There are so many queer stories!
I just bought The Town of Babylon this weekend—it was on sale, and I knew I couldn't pass it up because I could hear you screaming in my head to buy it! :D I can't wait to do a deep dive into the challenge and plan out my list!
Hi there! I'm super excited for this reading challenge and have had a lot of fun working on my reading list. The two books I'm probably most excited to read are The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri (a book over 500 pages/South Asian author) and Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson (a YA book without a central romance) because I've really enjoyed previous works by both authors. I'd love to hear if anyone has suggestions for the "Weird Queer" prompt–I'm considering Sarahland by Sam Cohen, but I'm trying to give myself a few options for each prompt.
I have only a couple in focus for now to prevent myself from being overwhelmed. :) The first prompts to get my attention will be 4. An Intersex author: The Trans Space Octopus Congregation: Stories by Bogi Takács and The Good Arabs by Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch which meets a few prompts including 13. Books with less than 100 ratings on Goodreads and 24. A book under 150 pages. After that I'll browse through prompts for books added that I own but haven't read yet.
Ooh, I did want to ask--does anyone have ideas for the Black history book one? So far I've got Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton and Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments by Saidiya Hartman as the main contenders. These are both good and I'd be happy to read them, I was just surprised that I couldn't find more. Like, is there a book on Gladys Bentley or other queer folks of the Harlem Renaissance that I'm missing out on? Suggestions appreciated and welcomed for anything for this category.
Hello all! This came at a perfect time for me. One of my reading plans for next year was to read more queer lit, so this is exactly what I needed.
My first couple planned reads are for the first prompt: (read a book in translation outside Europe) and no. 15 (read an essay collection). For the first one, I'm planning on reading The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories: A Collection of Chinese Science Fiction and Fantasy in Translation from a Visionary Team of Female and Nonbinary Creators (whew, that's a title). I've been eyeing this one for awhile, so I'm happy to get to it.
For the essay collection, I'm planning on reading It Came From the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror, edited by Joe Vallese. I am not a horror movie fan (too much a scaredy cat) but I enjoy horror novels, so I'm interested to see the way that other queer folks have responded to classic horror movies. Also Carmen Maria Machado is a contributor, so....that sealed it. :)
By the way, Laura, I really enjoyed your piece on Book Riot about horror as a genre--so much of it resonated with me, and I also took away some new additions to my tbr, so thanks!
I don't have much for suggestions, but I would suggest Darcie Little Badger for the SFF by an Indigenous author. I read Elatsoe and loved it, and I think I may pick up A Snake Falls to Earth for this challenge. Though Joshua Whitehead is one writer I haven't gotten to yet, so I may read him instead.
Also want to point out that if anyone is looking for recs, and is on The Storygraph, you can see what other people have added as well!
Hello Laura and other queer readers! I am hoping to use these prompts to, ahem, prompt myself to read some books I marked as ones I was especially excited to read, some of which I own, but I still haven't read yet. So these are maybe less recs than my own TBR, but I hope others will get some ideas!
2. A book of nonfiction by a trans author AND 15. An essay collection
I Hope We Choose Love by Kai Cheng Thom: I own this and I think I've been putting off reading it because then I'll have read all her books and won't have any more to look forward to. I love her writing, so fierce and compassionate.
5. A classic AND 38. A book published in the decade you were born
Macho Sluts by Pat Califia: a book I have owned forever and have never read!! Published in 1988, I was born in 1985.
6. A novel set in a rural place AND 9. A mystery AND 14. A book set on a continent you don’t live on
Dirt Creek by Hayley Scrivenor, a mystery set in a very small town in Australia, told from multiple POVs, including a lesbian detective
11. A nonfiction book about queer parenting AND 26. A book recommended to you by a queer friend or family member
The Natural Mother of the Child by Krys Malcom Belc, nonbinary parent and has been highly recommended to me by a fellow queer parent. TBH I am hoping to read multiple books in 2023 that fit this prompt since I am a newish queer mom.
13. A book with less than 100 ratings on Goodreads
Men I Trust by Tommi Parrish: graphic novel with surreal art, Drew Gregory at Autostraddle gave this a great review and I trust her taste! Plus I have a review copy
16. An SFF book by an Indigenous author AND 39. A Lambda Award finalist or winner
Love After the End edited by Joshua Whitehead, an anthology of queer Indigenous speculative stories that I own but have not read yet! It won the LGBTQ anthology Lambda in 2021.
18. Asexual author AND 19. A YA book without a central romance
A Snake Falls to Earth Darcie Little Badger, YA speculative by a Lipan Apache author, highly anticipated by me for a while! (This could also fit for prompt 16!)
20. A work of graphic nonfiction
Good Talk by Mira Jacobs, a queer parenting graphic memoir I've been meaning to read for ages. What do you all think about listening to the audiobook adaptation though??
22. A novel in verse
The Call-Out by Cat Fitzpatrick: about queer trans women in Brooklyn, own voices, and it's comprised of sonnets! It's supposed to be funny and playful.
23. South Asian author
Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion by Bushra Rehman, a Pakistani American author whose first book Corona I loved. This is set in 80s Queens and being muslim and queer
25. Fat author
Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli: this YA is inspired by her own experiences being surrounded by queer friends and identifying as an ally and finally realizing she was queer (you might remember some nasty speculation online that forced her to come out in bad circumstances)
31. Caribbean author AND 24. A book under 150 pages
Ossuaries OR Thirsty by Dionne Brand: two poetry collections I have owned forever and still have not read!
32. A book of nature or science writing
How Far the Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler, about queerness and sea creatures!!
33. Weird Queer!
Slug and Other Stories by Megan Milks: this is an exemplar author for this category imho and I've been meaning to read this updated edition of this short story collection. The titular story is about a woman who fucks a giant slug!!
35. A book set in space
The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Ann Older: "cozy Holmesian murder mystery and sapphic romance, set on Jupiter" !!
36. An M/F romance novel
Two Wrongs Make a Right by Chloe Liese: bi heroine, opposites attract, I loved this author's holiday romance The Mistletoe Motive and especially liked the autistic and demisexual rep, so I'm excited to read more of her stuff.
37. A work of genre fiction by a trans author
The Two Doctors Górski by Isaac Fellman: I LOVED his other 2022 book Dead Collections so I am dying to read this one, plus it's about a mind-reading grad student
40. African author
The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi: epic sapphic fantasy inspired by Ghanian and Arabian mythology (that's also her background!)
41. A work of historical fiction set before 1950
Infamous by Lex Croucher, an historical romance set in the Regency period. Supposed to be super queer, playfully anachronistic, and funny.
42. A debut poetry collection
As She Appears by Shelley Wong, "an invitation for queer women of color to arrive in love, exactly as they are" !!!
44. A book published by Arsenal Pulp Press
Hustling Verse edited by Amber Dawn and Justin DuCharme, an anthology of poetry by sex workers!!
45. A book over 500 pages
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon: sapphic fantasy, 827 pages!! I bought this book like 2 years ago and am still intimidated.
47. Nonbinary protagonist
In the Watchful City by S. Qiouyi Lu, "Asian-inspired mosaic novella that melds the futurism of Lavie Tidhar’s Central Station with the magical wonder of Catherynne M. Valente’s Palimpsest." !!
The one I’m most looking forward to is the one I’ve picked for category #11, Choosing Family: A Memoir of Queer Motherhood and Black Resistance by Francesca T. Royster..but it won’t be out until February. In the meantime, I need recs for pretty much all of the categories!
One I’ve read that I think fits under the “queer protagonist over 50” category is All Adults Here by Emma Straub. The protagonist is a mother and a widow, who falls in love with a woman when her kids are grown. She waits for years to tell them about her relationship...only to discover she’s not the only one in the family who has been keeping a secret.
Thanks for creating this challenge, I'm looking forward to it.
I have two sci-fi recs!
For a novel set in space, I recommend The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson. It's got time travel, doppelgängers, and a queer relationship that changes as characters jump through different worlds.
My other rec is Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki, which I will categorize under Weird Queer! Shizuka Satomi has to capture one more musical prodigy and convince them to sell their soul so she can meet a deal she made with the devil, and she finds the perfect candidate in a young trans runaway who is a talented violinist. Shizuka keeps getting distracted though, by a romantic entanglement with an alien running a donut shop. It's really fun, funny, and weird!
I'll start by saying that I'll respond to everyone's comments, though maybe not immediately! I'll also start with a request and a rec: one of the best books I read this year was We Both Laughed In Pleasure by Lou Sullivan. It's a collection of Sullivan's journals from the 1960s through the 1990s. I highly recommend it for the 'A collection of journals or letters' prompt. And because I loved it so much, I'd love to hear if anyone's got suggestions for other books of journals/diaries/letters!
Hi Laura! I was intrigued by your review of Town of Babylon when you called the book "a contemporary queer novel about ordinary life". Any recommendations for more of these kinds of stories? I like gay, ordinary stories but always feel overwhelmed in sourcing them. There are so many queer stories!
I just bought The Town of Babylon this weekend—it was on sale, and I knew I couldn't pass it up because I could hear you screaming in my head to buy it! :D I can't wait to do a deep dive into the challenge and plan out my list!
Hi there! I'm super excited for this reading challenge and have had a lot of fun working on my reading list. The two books I'm probably most excited to read are The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri (a book over 500 pages/South Asian author) and Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson (a YA book without a central romance) because I've really enjoyed previous works by both authors. I'd love to hear if anyone has suggestions for the "Weird Queer" prompt–I'm considering Sarahland by Sam Cohen, but I'm trying to give myself a few options for each prompt.
I have only a couple in focus for now to prevent myself from being overwhelmed. :) The first prompts to get my attention will be 4. An Intersex author: The Trans Space Octopus Congregation: Stories by Bogi Takács and The Good Arabs by Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch which meets a few prompts including 13. Books with less than 100 ratings on Goodreads and 24. A book under 150 pages. After that I'll browse through prompts for books added that I own but haven't read yet.
Ooh, I did want to ask--does anyone have ideas for the Black history book one? So far I've got Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton and Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments by Saidiya Hartman as the main contenders. These are both good and I'd be happy to read them, I was just surprised that I couldn't find more. Like, is there a book on Gladys Bentley or other queer folks of the Harlem Renaissance that I'm missing out on? Suggestions appreciated and welcomed for anything for this category.
Hello all! This came at a perfect time for me. One of my reading plans for next year was to read more queer lit, so this is exactly what I needed.
My first couple planned reads are for the first prompt: (read a book in translation outside Europe) and no. 15 (read an essay collection). For the first one, I'm planning on reading The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories: A Collection of Chinese Science Fiction and Fantasy in Translation from a Visionary Team of Female and Nonbinary Creators (whew, that's a title). I've been eyeing this one for awhile, so I'm happy to get to it.
For the essay collection, I'm planning on reading It Came From the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror, edited by Joe Vallese. I am not a horror movie fan (too much a scaredy cat) but I enjoy horror novels, so I'm interested to see the way that other queer folks have responded to classic horror movies. Also Carmen Maria Machado is a contributor, so....that sealed it. :)
By the way, Laura, I really enjoyed your piece on Book Riot about horror as a genre--so much of it resonated with me, and I also took away some new additions to my tbr, so thanks!
I don't have much for suggestions, but I would suggest Darcie Little Badger for the SFF by an Indigenous author. I read Elatsoe and loved it, and I think I may pick up A Snake Falls to Earth for this challenge. Though Joshua Whitehead is one writer I haven't gotten to yet, so I may read him instead.
Also want to point out that if anyone is looking for recs, and is on The Storygraph, you can see what other people have added as well!
Hello Laura and other queer readers! I am hoping to use these prompts to, ahem, prompt myself to read some books I marked as ones I was especially excited to read, some of which I own, but I still haven't read yet. So these are maybe less recs than my own TBR, but I hope others will get some ideas!
2. A book of nonfiction by a trans author AND 15. An essay collection
I Hope We Choose Love by Kai Cheng Thom: I own this and I think I've been putting off reading it because then I'll have read all her books and won't have any more to look forward to. I love her writing, so fierce and compassionate.
5. A classic AND 38. A book published in the decade you were born
Macho Sluts by Pat Califia: a book I have owned forever and have never read!! Published in 1988, I was born in 1985.
6. A novel set in a rural place AND 9. A mystery AND 14. A book set on a continent you don’t live on
Dirt Creek by Hayley Scrivenor, a mystery set in a very small town in Australia, told from multiple POVs, including a lesbian detective
11. A nonfiction book about queer parenting AND 26. A book recommended to you by a queer friend or family member
The Natural Mother of the Child by Krys Malcom Belc, nonbinary parent and has been highly recommended to me by a fellow queer parent. TBH I am hoping to read multiple books in 2023 that fit this prompt since I am a newish queer mom.
13. A book with less than 100 ratings on Goodreads
Men I Trust by Tommi Parrish: graphic novel with surreal art, Drew Gregory at Autostraddle gave this a great review and I trust her taste! Plus I have a review copy
16. An SFF book by an Indigenous author AND 39. A Lambda Award finalist or winner
Love After the End edited by Joshua Whitehead, an anthology of queer Indigenous speculative stories that I own but have not read yet! It won the LGBTQ anthology Lambda in 2021.
18. Asexual author AND 19. A YA book without a central romance
A Snake Falls to Earth Darcie Little Badger, YA speculative by a Lipan Apache author, highly anticipated by me for a while! (This could also fit for prompt 16!)
20. A work of graphic nonfiction
Good Talk by Mira Jacobs, a queer parenting graphic memoir I've been meaning to read for ages. What do you all think about listening to the audiobook adaptation though??
22. A novel in verse
The Call-Out by Cat Fitzpatrick: about queer trans women in Brooklyn, own voices, and it's comprised of sonnets! It's supposed to be funny and playful.
23. South Asian author
Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion by Bushra Rehman, a Pakistani American author whose first book Corona I loved. This is set in 80s Queens and being muslim and queer
25. Fat author
Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli: this YA is inspired by her own experiences being surrounded by queer friends and identifying as an ally and finally realizing she was queer (you might remember some nasty speculation online that forced her to come out in bad circumstances)
31. Caribbean author AND 24. A book under 150 pages
Ossuaries OR Thirsty by Dionne Brand: two poetry collections I have owned forever and still have not read!
32. A book of nature or science writing
How Far the Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler, about queerness and sea creatures!!
33. Weird Queer!
Slug and Other Stories by Megan Milks: this is an exemplar author for this category imho and I've been meaning to read this updated edition of this short story collection. The titular story is about a woman who fucks a giant slug!!
35. A book set in space
The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Ann Older: "cozy Holmesian murder mystery and sapphic romance, set on Jupiter" !!
36. An M/F romance novel
Two Wrongs Make a Right by Chloe Liese: bi heroine, opposites attract, I loved this author's holiday romance The Mistletoe Motive and especially liked the autistic and demisexual rep, so I'm excited to read more of her stuff.
37. A work of genre fiction by a trans author
The Two Doctors Górski by Isaac Fellman: I LOVED his other 2022 book Dead Collections so I am dying to read this one, plus it's about a mind-reading grad student
40. African author
The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi: epic sapphic fantasy inspired by Ghanian and Arabian mythology (that's also her background!)
41. A work of historical fiction set before 1950
Infamous by Lex Croucher, an historical romance set in the Regency period. Supposed to be super queer, playfully anachronistic, and funny.
42. A debut poetry collection
As She Appears by Shelley Wong, "an invitation for queer women of color to arrive in love, exactly as they are" !!!
44. A book published by Arsenal Pulp Press
Hustling Verse edited by Amber Dawn and Justin DuCharme, an anthology of poetry by sex workers!!
45. A book over 500 pages
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon: sapphic fantasy, 827 pages!! I bought this book like 2 years ago and am still intimidated.
47. Nonbinary protagonist
In the Watchful City by S. Qiouyi Lu, "Asian-inspired mosaic novella that melds the futurism of Lavie Tidhar’s Central Station with the magical wonder of Catherynne M. Valente’s Palimpsest." !!
The one I’m most looking forward to is the one I’ve picked for category #11, Choosing Family: A Memoir of Queer Motherhood and Black Resistance by Francesca T. Royster..but it won’t be out until February. In the meantime, I need recs for pretty much all of the categories!
One I’ve read that I think fits under the “queer protagonist over 50” category is All Adults Here by Emma Straub. The protagonist is a mother and a widow, who falls in love with a woman when her kids are grown. She waits for years to tell them about her relationship...only to discover she’s not the only one in the family who has been keeping a secret.
Thanks for creating this challenge, I'm looking forward to it.
I have two sci-fi recs!
For a novel set in space, I recommend The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson. It's got time travel, doppelgängers, and a queer relationship that changes as characters jump through different worlds.
My other rec is Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki, which I will categorize under Weird Queer! Shizuka Satomi has to capture one more musical prodigy and convince them to sell their soul so she can meet a deal she made with the devil, and she finds the perfect candidate in a young trans runaway who is a talented violinist. Shizuka keeps getting distracted though, by a romantic entanglement with an alien running a donut shop. It's really fun, funny, and weird!
I'll start by saying that I'll respond to everyone's comments, though maybe not immediately! I'll also start with a request and a rec: one of the best books I read this year was We Both Laughed In Pleasure by Lou Sullivan. It's a collection of Sullivan's journals from the 1960s through the 1990s. I highly recommend it for the 'A collection of journals or letters' prompt. And because I loved it so much, I'd love to hear if anyone's got suggestions for other books of journals/diaries/letters!