#pridebookrec fiction week

This is one of my all time top 10 favorite books.
Raw and emotional, this is a look at a group of gay men in 1985 Chicago, dealing with the AIDS epidemic and art and friendship, it's gorgeously written and the characters will live with you for long after you put the book down.

OMG this is so exciting!!
I love Phoebe Robinson's books. Listening to them on the train and getting looks because I was laughing so hard will always stick in my memory. I am excited to watch her obsession with Bono on the small screen!!
In Freeform (?) And Hulu starting mid July

#weeklyforecast
Got Ozeki's book on audio so hoping to get into this stack this week.

Mid-year reading check in
Like always I love my moody broody dark reads! I really am trying to work in more lighthearted things... really 😂
Favorite book so far tagged.

#pridebookrec #yaday
(otherwise known as Love, Simon)
I Love this book. When I read it I was a bit over coming out stories but this one was written so well you cannot help but root for him, I was fully enthralled by the story and my heart was full when it was over.

#pridebookrec #yaday

I adore this one. Thomas seamlessly weaves Latin culture inside this ghost story. It is gorgeously written and while a bit heartbreaking a fun romp and good mystery.

#pridebookrec #yaday
A fantastic and lovely multi award winning book.
This is a charming story mixed with the harsh reality of what trans youth go through in the US.
The book is filled with vivid descriptions of art, and complex and human relationships.

#pridebookrec #yapride
If it is good enough for Roxane Gay....😍
I liked how this book calls out white feminism in my hometown.
But mostly it is about a queer young woman trying to find herself and striking out on her own, only to realize the pedestal we place some on we shouldn't.

This is my surprise love of the year. I definitely judged the book by the reading group sticker and put this one off, I don't normally like Reese Witherspoon picks but this one I legit could not put down the characters stuck with me hard until I was able to read more.
Solid writing, character development, and storytelling.

It is a dark day in America today.
If you care about womens health and safety I recommend these 2 books
Post Roe is in it's second edition and now has a teal cover that looks very similar

Amazing. Mandel is an auto buy for me. The way she weaves a story is fantastic, excellent writing, time travel, plus characters from other Mandel books making appearances makes this book a gorgeous experience.

Soft pick. This is not my favorite Morrison, but I do like how she focused on a returning vet from the Korean war, we do not have enough books on this demographic. Her delivery was effective, and the story is short I just didn't feel the emotional pull and connection I normally do with her characters.

I have to admit this was a struggle for me. This is the third time I have picked the book up. This time I definitely understood it more (and finished it). The writing is complex and lyrical the story deep and surreal. Once I grasped the basis of the story it was an easier read, so unique, creative, and complexly written. I can see why people love it. Vivik Oji is still my favorite Emezi book.

#thinkpositivebepositive
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

"You don't have to have it all figured out to move forward."

#weeklyforecast
Started tagged and Freshwater already, I grabbed Firekeepers Daughter and Home on audio - I just bought a bike and the weather is going to be amazing this week so hopefully lots of riding and audio!

About as meh as my last dregs of watered down coffee....I want to say maybe it was the marketing because this book is not about these women's relationship with each other rather it is about 2 women going through relationships and they orbit around each other sometimes.
The way it is written I had a hard time knowing who's story we were following, or even how to tell the 2 apart though they had dramatically different story lines.

He steps forward -

-- into a flash of darkness, like sudden blindness or an eclipse. He has an impression of being in some vast interior, something like a train station or a cathedral, and there are notes of violin music, there are other people around him, and then an incomprehensible sound --

I checked this out from the library and it is so good I went to my bookstore and grabbed a copy when I was about half through. As someone who is atheist and about 10 years ago swore off WWII books, I felt I needed this, but it was so much more than I had thought. Particularly interesting (as an American) is the dismantling of the myth of renaming from Ellis Island. Each chapter is unique & special. Highly recommend.

Co creator of the Bechdel test!
This graphic novel is a childhood memoir filled with dark themes and trauma.
It is a coming of age and a coming out story and is well worth the time
#pridebookrec #graphicnovel week

When people find unpublished works by a famous person I always wonder how that person would feel about it, was this the final draft they were wanting to send into the world?
This is the story of Sylvie and Andree friend through their childhood into adulthood. Some things make little sense - Andree's mother goes from almost negligence in ignoring Andree to not letting her out of her site for seemingly no reason beyond her age maybe? 👇

3 day rainy weekend. I have started a bunch of different things lately so this weekend I want to focus on wrapping them up.
Tim Tams and wine to help push through.

This was a great complex story - two brothers newly freed, one couple who hires them to work the land and their son who has a romance with the neighbor boy. A family drama with trauma but a ribbon of heart running through. Well told story.

#pridebookrec #graphicnovel week
George Takei is a ground breaking, funny human. But his childhood was not idyllic.
Being Japanese in The US during the 40-50 (and even now) was horrifying. This graphic novel tells of him and his family's experience in US concentration camps and the pain that still resonates from that time.
An important read.

This is a nice sapphic graphic novel. About 2 women who grow together, move apart, and then find each other in later life.
A great series with heart.

#pridebookrec #graphicnovel week
An amazing, heartwarming historical fiction graphic novel about a prince and his dressmaker. Fantastic art work and wonderful story.

Thoughts on this? I just saw a tweet saying "Now that we have moved past using #ownvoices..." And I was so confused because I missed this whole conversation which apparently happened in 2021?
I can completely see the issue here and will no longer use the term.

#pridebookrec #graphicnovel week
So I know I already recommend this but honestly it is the only series I have read this year, the only book I have read where I needed more.
Also if you Google Heartstopper there are lovely graphics that float around, like in the book that were coded by a friend's brother!

That is not what racism is.
I tagged Exile because I think we should do that to him.

Oh no. No, no, no. Another day happy that I have never supported this white man who doesn't even write his own book but hires a team of ghost writers he gives zero credit to.

#weeklyforecast with a Calamity photo bomb.

#pridebookrec #nonfiction week
A book of essays about growing up queer and disabled in a rural logging community.
The disabled community is so often ignored this is an essential book to start thinking about accessibility and how interwoven with the Queer community things for a person can be so much harder than an able bodied person might want to admit.

TFW
Got to my favorite coffee shop, ordered a latte for here, sat down excited to dig into the tagged book, and my e-reader goes "Not today Bitch" (for due to tagged book I should be reading)
E-reader will not reboot, the screen is frozen. A physical copy would never.

This was the perfect medium to tell this story. I really like nonfiction graphic novels, they can express so much, and the use of color (or lack of) throughout this story is highly impactful.

Enjoyed this. It was a bit difficult to keep track of who was who but the story was engaging and the pacing good.
The afterward about the history of different races in the Caribbean and UK and how they were treated - mainly Asian Caribbean people was informative and important.

I so much wanted to love this. Unfortunately it almost sent me into a reading slump. It was a drag to get through. It might be expectations on my part but for me this book should have been 150 pages shorter cutting out much of Jades ramblings. I know it is supposed to be a love letter to horror but I needed more action & well horror. When I read horror I anticipate at least elevated heartbeats but everything was bogged down I never got there.

"I read Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, all the authors of the era"
I always find it fun when you are reading 2 books and one of them (or the author) is mentioned in the other ?

#pridebookrec #nonfiction
If you have gender questions, or just want to be the best ally you can be, you must read up with, and follow Alok. They are full of love, always ready to question the binary, and beautifully passionately themselves.
This is a small but mighty book about gender.

#pridebookrec #nonfiction week
Who doesn't need a gorgeous middle American Black boy coming of age story?
Jones is spectacular.

#pridebookrec #nonfiction week
Janet Mock. Janet Mock!! ❤️
What an amazing woman and such a great writer. I this one about her 20s, it is a memoir about finding your way and being comfortable in your skin and, what does that look like.
Recommend all of her books.

#pridebookrec #nonfiction week

Not just one book but any book by Roxane Gay. Amazing writing with common sense criticism and powerful stories. Here are some of her nonfiction reads

Late in the day #pridebookrec #nonfiction week
Today's pick is a fascinating memoir from one of the most famous Gays out there. The man behind my absolute favorite song Tiny Dancer. Me takes you through John's childhood and all the way through him becoming a parent himself. He talks about the music and the destruction fame can bring about. This is very well done.

#lgbtqNonfiction #pridebookrec
This week of pride I want to highlight some nonfiction reads that are awesome. Starting with this little known history of many famous artists who all lived together in a falling down house in Brooklyn. I didn't realize Carson McCullers was queer before this and overall this house felt like a wildly good time.

#weeklyforecast
Still getting through tagged from last week. I am finding it a bit of a drag and think it could be 100 pages shorter.
Hoping the rest of this pile is a breeze even if The Magician is heavy.

Classic & timeless
The characters are infuriating - selfish and broken but also so determined. I loved the details of the characters - women with jobs like entomologist and stage designer it wasn't really part of the story but made each character more interesting.
This is mostly a character study be prepared for the plot to be slow, but to be able to pick apart the characters and their motives.
Adding this to my #pridebookrec list

#pridebookrec
Q is for Queer
Queer author Akwaeke Emezi is a powerhouse of a writer. The books they published are all incredibly different, and always impeccably written.
Vivek Oji is my favorite of their novels so far.

Fire Island is out on Hulu!
This is a gay Pride and Prejudice retelling!!
I watched it last night and really loved it.
Margaret Cho plays the Mrs Bennet character 💕
I loved that I could tell who each sister was in the first 5 minutes 😂. It made watching it (and waiting for Whickem) so much fun.

#pridebookrec
T is for Trans
This is such a raw and heartfelt story. I don't read many books about motherhood but this one was excellent.
It is also the first book by a Trans author to be part of the Women's Prize for Fiction award.

#thinkpositivebepositive
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
"When you focus on the good;
The good gets better"

#pridebookrec
B is for Bi
I absolutely love everything about this graphic novel series.
The way she writes about figuring out your sexuality is so well done, and if is great bi representation. The story is sweet and lovely but doesn't sugar coat or ignore bullying and grappling with big feelings.

#pridebookrec
G for Gay
Gorgeous is the word for this one. Ocean Vuong's writing is outstandingly beautiful. A letter from a son to his illiterate mother, this is loosely based on the author 's life and is worth every word of reading.