Most Anticipated Non-Fiction: January-June 2023

This post contains titles published by HarperCollins. Please note that the HarperCollins Union has been on strike since 11/10/22 to get a fair contract for their workers, and this site very much supports that effort. Visit the HarperCollins Union linktree to learn how you can support their fight for a fair contract: linktr.ee/hcpunion.

I Am Ace: Advice on Living Your Best Asexual Life by Cody Daingle-Orions (January 19th)

I Am AceHow do I know if I’m actually sexual?

How do I come out as asexual?

What kinds of relationship can I have as an ace person?
If you are looking for answers to these questions, Cody is here to help. Within these pages lie all the advice you need as a questioning ace teen.

Tackling everything from what asexuality is, the asexual spectrum and tips on coming out, to intimacy, relationships, acephobia and finding joy, this guide will help you better understand your asexual identity alongside deeply relatable anecdotes drawn from Cody’s personal experience.

Whether you are ace, demi, gray-ace or not sure yet, this book will give you the courage and confidence to embrace your authentic self and live your best ace life.

Buy it: Waterstones | Book Depository

Continue reading Most Anticipated Non-Fiction: January-June 2023

Most Anticipated Adult Fiction: January-June 2023

This post contains titles published by HarperCollins. Please note that the HarperCollins Union has been on strike since 11/10/22 to get a fair contract for their workers, and this site very much supports that effort. Visit the HarperCollins Union linktree to learn how you can support their fight for a fair contract: linktr.ee/hcpunion.

The New Life by Tom Crewe (January 3rd)

61273326In the summer of 1894, John Addington and Henry Ellis begin writing a book arguing that what they call “inversion,” or homosexuality, is a natural, harmless variation of human sexuality. Though they have never met, John and Henry both live in London with their wives, Catherine and Edith, and in each marriage there is a third party: John has a lover, a working class man named Frank, and Edith spends almost as much time with her friend Angelica as she does with Henry. John and Catherine have three grown daughters and a long, settled marriage, over the course of which Catherine has tried to accept her husband’s sexuality and her own role in life; Henry and Edith’s marriage is intended to be a revolution in itself, an intellectual partnership that dismantles the traditional understanding of what matrimony means.

Shortly before the book is to be published, Oscar Wilde is arrested. John and Henry must decide whether to go on, risking social ostracism and imprisonment, or to give up the project for their own safety and the safety of the people they love. Is this the right moment to advance their cause? Is publishing bravery or foolishness? And what price is too high to pay for a new way of living?

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | IndieBound

Continue reading Most Anticipated Adult Fiction: January-June 2023

Fave Five: Queer YA Set in the 1930s

An Impossible Distance to Fall by Miriam McNamara

I’ll Take Everything You Have by James Klise 

Nothing Sung and Nothing Spoken by Nita Tyndall

The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein

The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin by Wip Wilson

Bonus: Tehlor Kay Mejia’s “Healing Rosa” in All Out , ed. by Saundra Mitchell, is set in 1933

Most Anticipated Middle Grade Fiction: January-June 2023

This post contains titles published by HarperCollins. Please note that the HarperCollins Union has been on strike since 11/10/22 to get a fair contract for their workers, and this site very much supports that effort. Visit the HarperCollins Union linktree to learn how you can support their fight for a fair contract: linktr.ee/hcpunion.

Cameron Battle and the Escape Trials by Jamar J. Perry (January 31st)

This is the sequel to Cameron Battle and the Hidden Kingdoms

After his first adventure as the Descendant, Cameron can’t sit through seventh grade classes. Especially when his mother is still trapped in Chidani and his father is still missing. But he encounters a particularly nasty bully in his new school, and it doesn’t take long for Cameron and his trusty friends Zion and Aliyah to realize that the troubles of Chidani won’t stay away for long.

With the Book to guide them, Cameron and his crew end up transported to Chidani sooner than anticipated–and the gods and goddesses they encounter don’t intend to make Cameron’s journey easy. Can he finally outwit and outlast the villainous god set on destroying their worlds?

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | IndieBound

Continue reading Most Anticipated Middle Grade Fiction: January-June 2023

Fave Five: Indigenous Fiction Audiobooks

All links are Libro.fm affiliate.

Elatsoe and A Snake Falls to the Earth by Darcie Little Badger, narrated by Shaun Taylor-Corbett & Kinsale Hueston (YA)

The Summer of Bitter and Sweet by Jen Ferguson, narrated by Julie Lumsden (YA)

A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt, narrated by Jesse Nobess

This Town Sleeps by Dennis Staples, narrated by Kaipo Schwab

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse, narrated by Cara Gee, Nicole Lewis, Kaipo Schwab & Shaun Taylor-Corbett

Bonus: Nature Poem by Tommy Pico is a book-length poem narrated by the author

New Releases: December 2022

Felix Navidad by ‘Nathan Burgoine (1st)

Felix NavidadFelix doesn’t do impulsive anymore. But attending a friend’s wedding reminds Felix he’s the only one of his friends attending solo, and recent losses have him thinking he’s swung too far in the not-impulsive direction.

So, impulse decision number one? Cutting in on a dance with handsome farmer Kevin, the ex of one of the grooms, for a spin at the reception. Impulse decision number two? Planning his first holiday vacation off work. Christmas in Hawai’i will be a gift to himself.

When dancing doesn’t work out, Felix keeps high hopes for his vacation right up until the first flight cancellation. After bumping into a stranded Kevin, who lost his flight home, Felix gives impulse a third try: Why not drive to Toronto together? But after ice rain strands them halfway, it looks like Felix isn’t going to get to give himself his gift after all. Instead, this Christmas is a small cabin—and Kevin.

Buy it: Bold Strokes Books

Continue reading New Releases: December 2022

Fave Five: Middle Grade Adventure Series

B.E.S.T. World by Cory McCarthy

Cameron Battle by Jamar J. Perry

The Devouring Wolf by Natalie C. Parker

Battle Dragons by Alex London

Sir Callie by Esme Symes-Smith

Bonus: These are all series where at least one book has been published, but keep an eye on the upcoming fantasy duology Lulu Sinagtala and the Tagalog Gods by Gail D. Villanueva

Backlist Book of the Month: The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

With big gifting holidays upon us, I thought it only appropriate to focus attention on a book that would make a stunning present: The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen! Published in October 2020, this graphic novel, about a Vietnamese American boy who’s feeling the struggle to communicate with his parents particularly hard when he gets set on coming out to them, is gorgeous and magical inside and out, and particularly perfect for fairy tale lovers!

Real life isn’t a fairytale.

But Tiến still enjoys reading his favorite stories with his parents from the books he borrows from the local library. It’s hard enough trying to communicate with your parents as a kid, but for Tiến, he doesn’t even have the right words because his parents are struggling with their English. Is there a Vietnamese word for what he’s going through?

Is there a way to tell them he’s gay?

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N | IndieBound

Queering up your shelf, one rec at a time!