Long Macchiatos and Monsters by Alison Evans (m/nb)
Sated by Rebekah Weatherspoon (m/f)
Just Business by Anna Zabo (m/m)
Gays of Our Lives by Kris Ripper (m/m)
All in the Family by Q. Kelly (f/f)
Bonus: Second Position by Katherine Locke is not demisexual on page, but is a great choice for those seeking a demi m/f romance, and features an amputee hero
First off, though, I somehow forgot to mention the Lesbrary in my last Around the Blogosqueer post?? Clearly I take for granted everyone knows them and their work, but if you don’t, FYI the site is run by Danika Leigh Ellis, who also writes lots of LGBTQ posts for BookRiot. As a bonus, they’re primarily not Romance focused, which makes them an especially nice counterpoint to this and most other LGBTQ sites.
And now, narrowing in from full-blown web sites to much more specific resources, today Around the Blogosphere is focused on some really excellent posts and databases dedicated to helping you find some of the most underrepresented, under-covered LGBTQA+ reads out there!
LGBTQIA+ Masterlist on Gay YA
Recommendations for Polyamory in Fiction by Shira Glassman for LGBTQReads
The Aromantic and Asexual Speculative Fiction Database by Claudie Arseneault
Aro & Ace Books by Laya
Butch Characters in Erotica and Romance by Xan West on Kink Praxis
The Bi-bliography on Library Thing
Books About Lesbians with Physical Disabilities on Good Lesbian Books
Bisexual YA Books by Ava for YA Interrobang
The Lesbrary Goodreads Project
Aromantic Representation in Webcomics by Laya Rose for Gay YA
Trans Lit Rec Threads – a Storified collection by Corey Alexander/@TGStoneButch
Masterlist of Literature About/Including LGBTQ+ Muslims on LGBTQIA+ Books
Already a fan of McCade’s Crow City series? Totally new-to-you author? Somewhere in between, because you’re a fan of McCade’s work under Xen Sanders? Doesn’t matter what you answered, because though McCade’s first foray into Contemporary m/m Romance is a companion to the Crow City books, this book about a dad with MS discovering his bisexuality later in life can be read as a total standalone.
There are worse things in life than loving a man who hates you.
Unfortunately, Walford Gallifrey can’t think of many.
Ever since a ghost from his past kidnapped his niece, Willow (THE FOUND, Crow City #2), Wally’s life has been nothing but grief, turmoil, and loss. With no idea if Willow is dead or alive, Wally’s only comfort is in caring for his grieving brother-in-law and Willow’s father, Joseph Armitage. For the past twenty years, Wally has never hoped to be anything but the backdrop to Joseph’s life; between marrying Wally’s sister and decades of mistakes building walls of enmity and resentment between them, Joseph has been firmly cemented in Wally’s mind as unattainable.
But the pain of Willow’s loss forces them to face the demons sleeping between them, find common ground—and more. Together, they explore mutual grief. Shared memories. Quiet respect. Warmth. Camaraderie. The joy of learning to live again.
And an unspoken attraction, buried beneath the scars of hurtful words and terrible missteps.
Yet even as they work through the thorns and tangles of old wounds, Joseph has his own struggles to face. The struggle to leave his ex-wife in the past. To let his daughter go. And to trust Wally to love him, to see him as more than just his multiple sclerosis, when so many have treated him as less than a man. The only way forward for them both is forgiveness. Trust.
And a second chance to discover what it means, to truly be in love.
Buy it: Amazon
Badass premise, a standalone fantasy (so no waiting for sequels!), a bi main character, disability rep, PoC rep, and a great intro to an author you definitely wanna watch. What more could you ask for?
Amara is never alone. Not when she’s protecting the cursed princess she unwillingly serves. Not when they’re fleeing across dunes and islands and seas to stay alive. Not when she’s punished, ordered around, or neglected.
She can’t be alone, because a boy from another world experiences all that alongside her, looking through her eyes.
Nolan longs for a life uninterrupted. Every time he blinks, he’s yanked from his Arizona town into Amara’s mind, a world away, which makes even simple things like hobbies and homework impossible. He’s spent years as a powerless observer of Amara’s life. Amara has no idea . . . until he learns to control her, and they communicate for the first time. Amara is terrified. Then, she’s furious.
All Amara and Nolan want is to be free of each other. But Nolan’s breakthrough has dangerous consequences. Now, they’ll have to work together to survive–and discover the truth about their connection.
Buy it:
ABRAMS
IndieBound • Barnes & Noble
ABC.nl • Waterstones
Amazon • Book Depository
Queer and Trans Artists of Color: Stories of Some of Our Lives ed. by Nia King
Balancing on the Mechitza: Transgender in the Jewish Community ed. by Noach Dzmura
Queer Brown Voices: Personal Narratives of Latina/o LGBT Activism ed. by Uriel Quesada, Letitia Gomez, and Salvador Vidal-Ortiz
Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time: an LGBT and Two Spirit Sci-Fi Anthology ed. by Hope Nicholson
Black Queer Studies: a Critical Anthology ed. by E. Patrick Johnson and Mae G. Henderson
Prime by L. Lamar Wilson, Ricky Laurentiis, Darrel Alejandro Holnes, Saeed Jones, and Phillip B. Williams
Living Out Islam: Voices of Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Muslims ed. by Scott Siraj al-Haqq Kugle
Lez Talk: A Collection of Black Lesbian Short Fiction ed. by S. Andrea Allen and Lauren Cherelle
Moving Truth(s): Queer and Transgender Desi Writings on Family by Aparajeeta Duttchoudhury and Rukie Hartman
QDA: Queer Disability Anthology ed. by Raymond Luczak
These are all dual-POV books in which at least one POV belongs to a queer character and the other belongs to a close friend, not a love interest.
Run by Kody Keplinger
You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan
Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler
Meg & Linus by Hanna Nowinski
Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde
Bonus: Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa is tri-POV, and two of those POVs belong to BFFs who are a gay guy and a straight girl;
Bonus #2: Radio Silence by Alice Oseman is single POV, but the BFFship is the core relationship of the story, and both BFFs are queer (bi and demi, respectively)
Since this month contains Bisexual Awareness Week, I had to choose one of my (and pretty much everyone’s) first and favorite bi books, Far From You by Tess Sharpe! Sharpe’s debut nails so much: addiction, recovery, chronic pain, grieving, and, of course, attraction not being limited to a single gender, no matter how unfriendly local circumstances are.
Sophie Winters nearly died. Twice.
The first time, she’s fourteen, and escapes a near-fatal car accident with scars, a bum leg, and an addiction to Oxy that’ll take years to kick.
The second time, she’s seventeen, and it’s no accident. Sophie and her best friend Mina are confronted by a masked man in the woods. Sophie survives, but Mina is not so lucky. When the cops deem Mina’s murder a drug deal gone wrong, casting partial blame on Sophie, no one will believe the truth: Sophie has been clean for months, and it was Mina who led her into the woods that night for a meeting shrouded in mystery.
After a forced stint in rehab, Sophie returns home to a chilly new reality. Mina’s brother won’t speak to her, her parents fear she’ll relapse, old friends have become enemies, and Sophie has to learn how to live without her other half. To make matters worse, no one is looking in the right places and Sophie must search for Mina’s murderer on her own. But with every step, Sophie comes closer to revealing all: about herself, about Mina and about the secret they shared.
Buy it: Amazon I IndieBound I Powell’s I Book Depository I Barnes & Noble (US)
Waterstones I WHSmith I Book Depository I Amazon (UK)
Amazon (Germany)
