Tag Archives: A Line in the Dark

Fave Five: Queer Psychological Thrillers

A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo

The Wicker King by K. Ancrum

Temper by Layne Fargo

The Better Liar by Tanen Jones

After the Eclipse and The Final Child (September 8) by Fran Dorricott

2017 Good News Roundup of LGBTQ Reads

Continuing in the tradition that’s been happening on this blog since…last year, I’m documenting some of the many literary accolades that’ve been heaped on incredible LGBTQIAP+ works this year, partly to help you find great books but mostly just so we can bask in the joyous glory. Without further ado, check out what’s been deemed this year’s best of the best!

Middle Grade

The Pants Project by Cat Clarke: Kirkus’s Best Middle-Grade School and Friendship Stories of 2017

Felix Yz by Lisa Bunker: NPR’s Best Books of 2017

Young Adult

The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater: a New York Public Library Best Book of 2017, a B&N Best Book of 2017, School Library Journal‘s Best Nonfiction of 2017, a Kirkus Best Teen Nonfiction of 2017,

The Art of Starving by Sam J. Miller: NPR’s Best Books of 2017

At the Edge of the Universe by Shaun David Hutchinson: Best Teen Fiction of 2017 by Chicago Public Library

Dreadnought by April Daniels: a New York Public Library Best Book of 2017, a Kirkus Best Teen Fantasy of 2017

Sovereign by April Daniels, a Kirkus Best Teen Fantasy of 2017

Dress Codes for Small Towns by Courtney Stevens: a Kirkus Best Contemporary Teen Reads of 2017

Far From the Tree by Robin Benway: National Book Award winner, New York Times bestseller, Publishers Weekly Best YA of 2017, one of Bustle‘s 17 Best YA Novels of 2017, a Kirkus Best Contemporary Teen Reads of 2017, Best Teen Fiction of 2017 by Chicago Public Library, a B&N Best Book of 2017B&N Teen Blog’s Best YA of 2017, NPR’s Best Books of 2017

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee: New York Times bestseller, Publishers Weekly Best YA of 2017, Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth 2017, a Kirkus Best Teen Books of 2017 with a Touch of Humor, Best Teen Fiction of 2017 by Chicago Public Library, one of Bustle‘s 17 Best YA Novels of 2017, a New York Public Library Best Book of 2017, a B&N Best Book of 2017NPR’s Best Books of 2017, New York Magazine‘s 10 best YAs of 2017

Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard: Lambda Literary Award for YA Fiction

History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera: one of Time‘s best YAs of 2017

Ida by Alison Evans: shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2018

I Hate Everyone But You by Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin: Best Teen Fiction of 2017 by Chicago Public Library

If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo: Stonewall Award (YA)

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan: B&N Teen Blog’s Best YA of 2017

It’s Not Like it’s a Secret by Misa Sugiura: a Kirkus Best Teen Romances of 2017

Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore: Best Teen Fiction of 2017 by Chicago Public LibrarySchool Library Journal Best YA of 2017, B&N Teen Blog’s Best YA of 2017

Like Water by Rebecca Podos: B&N Teen Blog’s Best YA of 2017

A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo: Best Teen Fiction of 2017 by Chicago Public Library, a Kirkus Best Teen Mysteries and Thrillers of 2017, New York Magazine‘s 10 best YAs of 2017

Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert: a Kirkus Best Teen Romance of 2017, one of Bustle‘s 17 Best YA Novels of 2017, New York Magazine‘s 10 best YAs of 2017, Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth 2017

Noteworthy by Riley Redgate: a New York Public Library Best Book of 2017

Now I Rise by Kiersten White: B&N Teen Blog’s Best YA of 2017

Pride: Celebrating Diversity & Community by Robin Stevenson: Stonewall Honor (YA)

Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World by Sarah Prager: a New York Public Library Best Book of 2017

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman: Best Teen Fiction of 2017 by Chicago Public Library

Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy: Best Teen Fiction of 2017 by Chicago Public Library, a Kirkus Best Teen Romance of 2017

Release by Patrick Ness: Best Teen Fiction of 2017 by Chicago Public Library, a Kirkus Best Teen Romance of 2017

Spinning by Tillie Walden: Publishers Weekly Best YA of 2017, a New York Public Library Best Book of 2017, Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth 2017, a B&N Best Book of 2017Top 10 Queer and Feminist Books of 2017 via Autostraddle,

Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee: Best Teen Fiction of 2017 by Chicago Public Library

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera: New York Times bestseller, School Library Journal Best YA of 2017, Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth 2017, one of Bustle‘s 17 Best YA Novels of 2017, a Kirkus Best Teen Sci-Fi of 2017

This is Where it Ends by Marieke NijkampNew York Times bestseller

Unbecoming by Jenny Downham: Stonewall Honor (YA)

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour: Publishers Weekly Best YA of 2017, B&N Teen Blog’s Best YA of 2017, Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth 2017, one of Bustle‘s 17 Best YA Novels of 2017, a New York Public Library Best Book of 2017, a B&N Best Book of 2017: Teens

When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore: Stonewall Honor (YA)

Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemoreSchool Library Journal Best YA of 2017, a Kirkus Best Teen Romance of 2017,  Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth 2017Best Teen Fiction of 2017 by Chicago Public Library

Manga/Graphic Novel

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Nagata Kabi: a B&N Best Book of 2017NPR’s Best Books of 2017

Adult Fiction

Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly: B&N Sci-Fi’s Best SFF Books of 2017

The Angel of History by Rabih Alameddine: Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney: Elle‘s Best Books of 2017Slate‘s Best Books of 2017, one of Buzzfeed’s 24 Best Fiction Books of 2017

Cottonmouths by Kelly J. Ford: a Los Angeles Review‘s Best Book of the Year

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado: National Book Award finalist, a Los Angeles Review‘s Best Book of the Year, winner of the Bard Fiction Prize, Kirkus Prize finalist, #1 Indie Next Pick for October 2017, Top 10 Queer and Feminist Books of 2017 via Autostraddle, one of New York Times’ Critics’ Top Books of 2017, one of Washington Post‘s 50 Notable Works of Fiction in 2017, Los Angeles Times’ Best Books (Fiction) of 2017, Publishers Weekly Best Fiction of 2017, Chicago Tribune‘s Best Books of 2017, Kirkus’s Best Fiction of 2017, Boston Globe‘s Best Books of 2017, Elle‘s Best Books of 2017, NPR‘s Best Books of 2017, Slate‘s Best Books of 2017, Library Journal‘s Best Books (Short Stories) of 2017, Bustle‘s Best Fiction Books of 2017, Entropy Magazine‘s Best of 2017: Fiction Books, Huffington Post‘s The Best Fiction Books of 2017, one of Buzzfeed’s 24 Best Fiction Books of 2017, Commonweal‘s Top Books of 2017

Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn: Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction

Into the Blue by Pene Hanson: Lambda Literary Award for Gay Romance

Marrow Island by Alexis M. Smith: Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Fiction

Not One Day by Anne Garréta (trans. by Emma Ramadan): Entropy Magazine‘s Best of 2017: Fiction BooksAlbertine Prize 2018 nominee

Pages for You by Sylvia Brownrigg: Kirkus’s Best Fiction to Get Your Book Club Talking of 2017

Small Beauty by jia qing wilson-yang: Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Fiction

Soul to Keep by Rebekah Weatherspoon: Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Erotica

The Stars are Legion by Kameron Hurley: B&N Sci-Fi’s Best SFF Books of 2017, Kirkus’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2017

Wanted, a Gentleman by KJ Charles: a B&N Best Book of 2017

Poetry

Thief in the Interior by Philip B. Williams: Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry

play dead by francine j. harris: Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry (tie)

The Complete Works of Pat Parker edited by Julie R. Enszer: Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry (tie)

Reacquainted with LifeKOKUMO: Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Poetry

When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities by Chen Chen: Library Journal‘s Best Books of 2017 (Poetry)

Non-Fiction

How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS, David France: Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Nonfiction

Black Dove: Mama, Mi’jo, and Me by Ana Castillo: Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Nonfiction

Life Beyond My Body: A Transgender Journey to Manhood in China by Lei Ming and Lura Frazey: Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Nonfiction

Mean by Myriam Gurba: Top 10 Queer and Feminist Books of 2017 via Autostraddle, Library Journal‘s Best Books of 2017 (Memoir)

To My Trans Sisters, ed. by Charlie Cregg: Top 10 Queer and Feminist Books of 2017 via Autostraddle

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life: Essays by Samantha Irby: Autostraddle’s Top 10 Queer and Feminist Books of 2017, one of New York Times’ Critics’ Top Books of 2017, Chicago Tribune’s Best Books of 2017, Elle‘s Best Books of 2017, NPR’s Best Books of 2017,

Better Know an Author: Malinda Lo

Pretty sure this month’s author needs no introduction to anyone who’s been reading queer lit in the past decade! I’m delighted to welcome Malinda Lo to the site as this month’s featured author, and to discuss her work past and present! Of course, she’s also familiar to many as one of YA’s biggest diversity advocates, and just published a new installment in her famous examination of LGBTQ publishing statistics (looking at 2015-16) that I encourage you to view if you haven’t yet. Now, let’s get to the books! 

Let’s jump right to your new book, A Line in the Dark, which I think has probably pleasantly stunned a whole lot of your fans who might’ve thought they knew what to expect from a Malinda Lo book and now realize they have no clue. What about that story still really felt like You even though it’s outside of SFF?

Maybe the lesbians? 🙂 For me, crime fiction is my first love. I started devouring Nancy Drews when I was six years old and I’ve never looked back. This sounds evil, but murder mysteries are my go-to escape and relaxation reads. So even though I hadn’t written a mystery before A Line in the Dark, I knew how it was supposed to go from everything I’ve read over the years.

You’re definitely one of YA’s most prolific genre jumpers, debuting in fantasy and then moving on to sci-fi, then to a psychological thriller, and next up with historical! What genre(s) do you most see yourself continuing to write in, and why?

Lesbians. Is that a genre? Because I want to see queer women in every single genre there is.

It’s been a few years since your last YA novel, but some YA fans might not realize you’ve also been writing for Tremontaine. For those who aren’t familiar with the serial, what can you share about it and your role in it?

I actually only wrote for Season 1 of Tremontaine. It’s the prequel to Ellen Kushner’s Swordspoint novels, which are set in a very bisexual place that feels Dangerous Liaisons meets The Three Musketeers. I was a staff writer, working with a bunch of other wonderful writers, and we plotted out the whole season together and then wrote our episodes (we called them episodes but they’re basically novelettes) individually.

I think it’s pretty safe to say that you’re basically the godmother of queer YA SFF, which I imagine is wild considering you debuted less than a decade ago. What was it like to be The Only One for the stretch that you were? What did you recommend to readers who asked, “I read and loved all your books; now what?” 

Wow, yes that is wild. I did not enjoy being the only one! I kept (and still keep) a list of books I’ve read and loved that are about queer women, and that list includes plenty of stuff beyond SFF or YA. In fact, you can see it here: https://www.malindalo.com/recommended-reads/

What would you recommend for your fans now that there are some more options out there?

Audrey Coulthurst’s Of Fire and Stars! I’m biased, but she was in my Lambda Emerging Writers Workshop in 2013 and that’s the book we workshopped. I love it and can’t wait for the follow-up, Inkmistress. Also, C. B. Lee’s Not Your Sidekick and its follow-up, Not Your Villain, which I haven’t read yet but have heard such great things about. C. B. Lee was in my 2017 Lambda workshop and I know she’s a kickass writer so I have no doubt her books also kick ass.

In addition to your novels and the serial, you’ve also got contributions coming up in a bunch of anthologies. What can you share about your stories in All Out and Lift Off?

The short story in All Out was actually the basis for the novel I’m currently writing, which is a historical novel set in San Francisco’s Chinatown in the 1950s. The story is about the moment a girl sees a queer woman and recognizes her as queer — and begins to recognize her own queerness, too. The story for Lift Off is titled “Meet Cute” (and has no relation to the anthology of the same name) and is a light romance about two girls who meet at a comic con.

Of all the work you’ve had in other venues and volumes, what’s your favorite that you wish reached more of your fans?

Oh, good question! I have a very soft spot for my story “The Twelfth Girl,” which is a retelling of “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” in the anthology Grim (Harlequin Teen). I got an email from a reader recently who read it completely unsuspecting that the story was queer, and she was so excited to discover that I’ve written more things. So I think people are reading it, but maybe not my typical audience. I want my typical readers to know I wrote them another queer fairy tale. And it’s urban fantasy!

In additional to writing, you’ve also been a faculty member at the Lambda Literary Foundation. What’s the experience of working there like, and what should anyone aspiring to be a student there know about it?

It’s a really intense week because you’re spending it living in a dorm with dozens of queer writers. For many writers it might be the first time they’ve been in this kind of environment, so it can be overwhelming, but also very supportive. It’s so rewarding for me to give back to the queer community, and I love to work with queer writers. If you’re a queer writing thinking of applying, I suggest you polish up your best piece of writing and go for it. Don’t self-reject!

Your next book, Last Night at the Telegraph Club, is historical YA set in 1950s San Francisco, and releases in 2019. Anything you can tease us with about it until then? 

Everybody can get a sneak peek at it when All Out is published in 2018!

With all the accomplishments you have under your belt, what at this moment is your proudest? 

Surviving! So many writers from my debut year aren’t publishing anymore. This is a difficult industry, and I’m proud of myself for still being here and still writing. I hope people will enjoy my psychological thriller, and will stick around for all the genres I intend to write in.

***

Malinda Lo is the author of several young adult novels, including A Line in the Dark. Her novel Ash, a lesbian retelling of Cinderella, was a finalist for the William C. Morris YA Debut Award, the Andre Norton Award for YA Science Fiction and Fantasy, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and was a Kirkus Best Book for Children and Teens. She has been a three-time finalist for the Lambda Literary Award.
Malinda’s nonfiction has been published by The New York Times Book Review, NPR, The Huffington Post, The Toast, The Horn Book, and AfterEllen. She lives in Massachusetts with her partner and their dog. Her website is http://www.malindalo.com.
Twitter: @malindalo
Facebook: facebook.com/malindalo
Tumblr: malindalo.tumblr.com
Instagram: @malindalo

Fave Five: LGBTQ YA by East Asian Authors with East Asian MCs

(Yes, there’s already a Fave Five dedicated to queer YAs with East Asian female leads, but those are largely by non-Asian/Hapa authors, because it predated the announcements of a few of these books. There’s no overlap in titles, so make sure you check out both posts!)

A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo (Thriller)

Noteworthy by Riley Redgate (Contemp)

Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee (Sci-Fi)

Serpentine and Sacrifice by Cindy Pon (Fantasy)*
*Queer character is secondary in Serpentine, primary in Sacrifice

Seven Tears at High Tide by C.B. Lee (Fantasy)

Bonus: In NA, check out Hold Me by Courtney Milan (Contemp Romance)

Rainbow heart