Last newsletter, I shared some books with trans and autistic main characters, and a reader let me know about an upcoming YA book that fits the bill: The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White. If you like horror, put this on your list for its September release!
Today, I want to spotlight The Okra Project, a mutual aid collective that provides support for Black Trans people. You can help out at their donate page.
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Bookish Goods
Nature is Queer print by ForagingGardener
Today’s Riot Recs is about queer cookbooks, and I just think this print would be a perfect choice to hang up in your queer kitchen. $21
New Releases
The First Bright Thing by J.R. Dawson (Sapphic Fantasy)
I know there are so many people looking for something to scratch that Night Circus itch, and this looks like the perfect thing. Ringmaster (or Rin) is a time traveller who runs a circus for misfits with her wife, Odette, a trapeze artist. But soon another, dark circus appears, and the powerful ringmaster wants something from Rin, and will stop at nothing until he gets it.
Better Living Through Birding by Christian Cooper (Gay Memoir)
Going beyond the viral video, Christian Cooper tells his own story of being a gay Black man in America, as well as the life lessons he’s learned through birdwatching and being in nature. He also talks about being at Marvel and helping to introduce gay characters there!
Run Baby Run by Melissa Lenhardt (Sapphic Fiction)
Big Girl by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan (Queer Fiction) (Paperback Rerelease)
Wild With All Regrets by E.L. Deards (Queer Historical Fiction)
The Gulf by Rachel Cochran (Sapphic Thriller)
Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding (Queer Thriller)
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi (Bisexual Romance) (Paperback Rerelease)
Finders Keepers by Radclyffe (F/F Romance)
Just One Dance by Jenny Frame (F/F Historical Romance)
Prokaryote Season by Leo Fox (Queer Graphic Novel)
Parallel by Matthias Lehmann (Gay Historical Graphic Novel)
Lsbn by by Emma Jayne and Sloane Leong (Lesbian Sci-Fi Graphic Novel)
Cosmoknights, Vol. 2 by Hannah Templer (Sapphic Fantasy Graphic Novel)
If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die, Vol. 1 by Auri Hirao (Yuri Manga)
Even Though We’re Adults, Vol. 6 by Takako Shimura (F/F Manga)
Qualia the Purple: The Complete Manga Collection by Hisamitsu Ueo and Sirou Tsunasima (Yuri Manga)
At 30, I Realized I Had No Gender by Shou Arai (Intersex and Agender Manga Memoir)
X-Gender, Vol. 2 by Asuka Miyazaki (Nonbinary Manga Memoir)
Leg: The Story of a Limb and the Boy Who Grew from It by Greg Marshall (Gay Memoir)
Asylum: A Memoir & Manifesto by Edafe Okporo (Gay Memoir) (Paperback Rerelease)
We Set the Night on Fire: Igniting the Gay Revolution by Martha Shelley (Lesbian Memoir)
To Name the Bigger Lie: A Memoir in Two Stories by Sarah Viren (Lesbian Memoir)
For more new releases, check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
Today, I’m returning to the Read Harder challenge well with task #11: Read a cookbook cover to cover. There are actually lots of queer cookbooks, from Big Gay Ice Cream to several by Queer Eye‘s Antoni Porowski, but I picked out a couple by queer authors that should make for good reads, not just good food.
Feed the Resistance: Recipes + Ideas for Getting Involved by Julia Turshen
This is a combination cookbook and collection of essays from activists. It suggests that we all have a role to play in the resistance, and that may be feeding and supporting other people in the fight. There are resources and ideas of how to get involved alongside recipes to try, whether you’re providing food at a protest or feeding the activist at home.
Masala Farm: Stories and Recipes from an Uncommon Life in the Country by Suvir Saran
Suvir is an acclaimed chef who decided to leave the city and buy a farm with his partner, Charlie. In this book, he shares the joys and challenges of their experience, as well as recipes!
All the Links Fit to Click
Celebrating the Books That Queered Us
Quiz: What Sapphic Romance Novel Trope Is Your Destiny?
Elliot Page’s new memoir Pageboy is a vital story of queer trans acceptance
Geena Rocero’s Memoir Horse Barbie Is a Moving Chronicle of Trans Resilience and Joy
And a few from my very own sapphic book blog:
Reading Black Joy: 27 F/F Romances by Black Authors
That’s it for me this week! Until next time, you can find me at my sapphic book blog the Lesbrary and (sigh) Twitter. You can also hear me on All the Books or you can read my Book Riot posts.
Happy reading!
Danika