Well, it’s already March. I had another month of fantastic queer lit, and I hope all of you did, too! The February Queer Your Year prize packs went out in the mail yesterday. And congrats to Aubrey, who won the February raffle!
If you’re just joining us, welcome! All the details about the challenge are here.
Originally I was planning to do general rec threads every month—as you probably know, I could talk about queer lit all day. But I’d love to hear what you enjoy about these threads. So, on that note:
What great queer books have you read this month? What’s on your March TBR? What prompts are you still looking for recs for? Give a rec, get a rec, you know the deal!
What would you like to see in these threads? Do you like having a place to trade queer book recs? Would you enjoy more specific themed threads for different prompts? A more general discussion about queer lit? Something else? Please share your thoughts/ideas/dreams.
I'll start! Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments was a favorite of the month for me (Black history book). So inventive and expansive!
I also loved Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid—I continue to be delighted by the queerness in her work.
And if anyone is looking for graphic nonfiction, I also highly recommend A Pros and Cons List for Strong Feelings by Will Betke-Brunswick. Heartbreaking but really warm and funny, too.
I would love some recommendations for "protagonist over 50" if anyone has them!
In February I read FT Lukens' In Deeper Waters which is a YA fantasy about a prince with secret magic and a merman. It's very sweet.
I also read Belly of the Beast by Da'Shaun Harrison, and I highly recommend for nonfiction that lays out the intersections of anti-fatness, anti-blackness, and queerness.
I made a delightful discovery this month. Shipwrecked: Being a tale of true love, magic, and goats by Juniper Butterworth. It's like goblin-core meets cozy fantasy. Sapphic fantasy romance between two goblins (a pirate and a principle goatherd). The world building and character development is charming. Also deeply weird in the best possible way. And with more emotional depth than I was expecting from a low-stakes fantasy novella about goblins falling in love.
I've had a great reading month so far! I read How Far the Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler for the science/nature writing prompt and loved how it blended the scientific and the personal, so glad I picked it up after seeing it being recommended. I also just finished reading She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan, a genderqueer historical fantasy epic set in 14th-century China that absolutely blew me away. I'm currently reading the anthology Xenocultivars: Stories of Queer Growth for a book with under 100 ratings on Goodreads and I'm finding it to be a very excellent collection of SFF/fantasy short stories centered around plant life.
I ended up (re)reading Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All for the prompt, book published in the decade you were born (1980s). It's kind of a fascinating example of a book where the protagonist would never ever say, or even think, the word "queer" out loud, but if you know you know. There's a couple of instances of same-gender desire on the page but a whole lot more that's kinda quiet. Recommend or not? I'm not sure! I put some thoughts here on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5320676754
I also recently finished Michelle Gallen's Factory Girls and loved it - not a queer book (or is it??? I saw some space you could wedge a queer reading into, though I didn't get the impression that was the author's intent). But I loved its anger, it's a darkly funny fuck-you-and-fuck-the-world book. The main character is just burning up with it, and it goes from feeling despairing to feeling like righteous burn-it-all-down fury. Does anyone have a rec with that feeling? (Maybe Your Driver Is Waiting, which is in my holds list?)
I enjoyed Lori L. Lake's "Eight Dates" very much. She writes humor so well, and also children (there's a little girl character in the book). One thing I'd like to see in these threads is poetry. Queer poetry exist! (I know; I read and write it.) Mary Oliver is a favorite. My own poetry collections are published by Launch Point Press, which publishes lots of queer authors.
I could use recommendations for fluffy queer classics. I prefer genre fiction (mostly romance and fantasy but I read others too). I’m not in the mood to read bleak or depressing right now.
I loved Patience and Sarah by Isobel Miller. I’m not aware of m/any other classics with a happy / optimistic ending.
Queer Your Year Rec Thread: March
I'll start! Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments was a favorite of the month for me (Black history book). So inventive and expansive!
I also loved Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid—I continue to be delighted by the queerness in her work.
And if anyone is looking for graphic nonfiction, I also highly recommend A Pros and Cons List for Strong Feelings by Will Betke-Brunswick. Heartbreaking but really warm and funny, too.
I would love some recommendations for "protagonist over 50" if anyone has them!
In February I read FT Lukens' In Deeper Waters which is a YA fantasy about a prince with secret magic and a merman. It's very sweet.
I also read Belly of the Beast by Da'Shaun Harrison, and I highly recommend for nonfiction that lays out the intersections of anti-fatness, anti-blackness, and queerness.
I made a delightful discovery this month. Shipwrecked: Being a tale of true love, magic, and goats by Juniper Butterworth. It's like goblin-core meets cozy fantasy. Sapphic fantasy romance between two goblins (a pirate and a principle goatherd). The world building and character development is charming. Also deeply weird in the best possible way. And with more emotional depth than I was expecting from a low-stakes fantasy novella about goblins falling in love.
Three cheers for queer lit!✨
Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon! Recommended by a fellow reader of Books & Bakes. Normally don’t read sci-fi/fantasy but this consumed me!
I've had a great reading month so far! I read How Far the Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler for the science/nature writing prompt and loved how it blended the scientific and the personal, so glad I picked it up after seeing it being recommended. I also just finished reading She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan, a genderqueer historical fantasy epic set in 14th-century China that absolutely blew me away. I'm currently reading the anthology Xenocultivars: Stories of Queer Growth for a book with under 100 ratings on Goodreads and I'm finding it to be a very excellent collection of SFF/fantasy short stories centered around plant life.
I ended up (re)reading Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All for the prompt, book published in the decade you were born (1980s). It's kind of a fascinating example of a book where the protagonist would never ever say, or even think, the word "queer" out loud, but if you know you know. There's a couple of instances of same-gender desire on the page but a whole lot more that's kinda quiet. Recommend or not? I'm not sure! I put some thoughts here on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5320676754
I also recently finished Michelle Gallen's Factory Girls and loved it - not a queer book (or is it??? I saw some space you could wedge a queer reading into, though I didn't get the impression that was the author's intent). But I loved its anger, it's a darkly funny fuck-you-and-fuck-the-world book. The main character is just burning up with it, and it goes from feeling despairing to feeling like righteous burn-it-all-down fury. Does anyone have a rec with that feeling? (Maybe Your Driver Is Waiting, which is in my holds list?)
I enjoyed Lori L. Lake's "Eight Dates" very much. She writes humor so well, and also children (there's a little girl character in the book). One thing I'd like to see in these threads is poetry. Queer poetry exist! (I know; I read and write it.) Mary Oliver is a favorite. My own poetry collections are published by Launch Point Press, which publishes lots of queer authors.
I could use recommendations for fluffy queer classics. I prefer genre fiction (mostly romance and fantasy but I read others too). I’m not in the mood to read bleak or depressing right now.
I loved Patience and Sarah by Isobel Miller. I’m not aware of m/any other classics with a happy / optimistic ending.