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Book cover of Plain Bad Heroines

Genevieve McCluer Author Of Cold Blood

From my list on sapphic speculative fiction.

Why am I passionate about this?

It’s hard not to be passionate about sapphic spec fic when that’s entirely what I write. These books may all differ from my book in their own ways, but these authors and I all wrote fantastical stories of women who love women. These are the kind of stories I want to put out there, and it’s a space that could always use more occupying it.

Genevieve's book list on sapphic speculative fiction

Genevieve McCluer Why Genevieve loves this book

This gothic novel tells two stories a century apart, both dealing with queerness, hauntings and the way women are treated by society. The characters are flawed and human, and it’s fascinating to see how a century has changed everything.

I’d been desperate for a good lesbian ghost story then, and this hit the spot far more than I’d expected. 

By Emily M. Danforth , Sara Lautman (illustrator) ,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Plain Bad Heroines as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Brimming from start to finish with sly humour and gothic mischief' SARAH WATERS

'Beguilingly clever, very sexy and seriously frightening' GUARDIAN

'Atmospheric, sexy, creepy...totally addictive' KATE DAVIES, author of In At The Deep End

'A gloriously over-the-top queer romp' I PAPER

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'It's a terrible story and one way to tell it is this: two girls in love and a fog of wasps cursed the place forever after...'

BROOKHANTS SCHOOL FOR GIRLS: Infamous site of a series of tragic deaths over a hundred years ago. Soon to be the subject of a controversial horror movie about the rumoured 'Brookhants curse':…


Book cover of Desert of the Heart

Mari SanGiovanni Author Of Greetings From Jamaica, Wish You Were Queer

From my list on LGBTQ+ books that are also movies (…or should be).

Why am I passionate about this?

When I was young and just figuring out the whole gay thing, I had to cross state lines to see the one gay movie and smuggle out the one library book I was too afraid to check out. In the 1970s and 80s I grew up knowing I was part of a group that was rarely talked about, aside from jokes. I've enjoyed so many stories that didn't represent me. If the struggle is real, I want to see, hear, and feel the whole messy bunch of it. I like the uncomfortable process of writing, and make promises that I later break: I can always tone this part down later…and then I never do.

Mari's book list on LGBTQ+ books that are also movies (…or should be)

Mari SanGiovanni Why Mari loves this book

I loved this book because it was the ultimate slow-burn romance coupled with an older woman coming out story, which was truly original at the time. As is almost always the case, the novel is better than the movie, but this one brilliantly made the transition to the film renamed Desert Hearts, which was helped by the amazing chemistry between the actresses and a director that did not shy away from sex scenes which were both graphic, yet beautiful. 

Set back in the 1950s, this sizzling & heartwarming matchup is the trifecta of opposites attract: class, age, and attitude towards coming out, this book was a romance with substance, sprinkled with a bit of comedy, my favorite recipe. 

By Jane Rule ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Desert of the Heart as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Set in the late 1950s, this is the story of Evelyn Hall, an English Professor, who goes to Reno to obtain a divorce and put an end to her disastrous 16-year marriage. While staying at a boarding house to establish her six-week residency requirement she meets Ann Childs, a casino worker and fifteen years her junior. Physically, they are remarkably alike and eventually have an affair and begin the struggle to figure out just how a relationship between two women can last.

Desert of the Heart examines the conflict between convention and freedom and the ways in which the characters…


Book cover of The Rosewood Penny

The Rosewood Penny by J.S. Fields,

2023 Queer Indie Award Nominee!

The dragons of Yuro have been hunted to extinction.

On a small, isolated island, in a reclusive forest, lives bandit leader Marani and her brother Jacks. With their outlaw band they rob from the rich to feed themselves, raiding carriages and dodging the occasional vindictive…

Book cover of Daughter of Mystery

Kathleen Jowitt Author Of Speak Its Name

From my list on showing it’s possible to be queer and Christian.

Why am I passionate about this?

Growing up in an eccentric, liberal family, as a member of the Church of England, under the shadow of the British Government’s homophobic Section 28, the messages I received were distinctly mixed. If I’d heard the word ‘bisexual’ before the age of twenty my life might have been very different. And to this day, the most common assumption is that one can’t be simultaneously queer and Christian. As I’ve discovered, and as these books show, that isn’t true – and moving beyond that assumption reveals new and fascinating horizons.

Kathleen's book list on showing it’s possible to be queer and Christian

Kathleen Jowitt Why Kathleen loves this book

If ever there was a book that felt like it had been written just for me, this is it. Set in a fictional European country in the early nineteenth century, it has swashbuckling, nights at the opera, complicated family history, politics, magic, and lesbians. The way that Christianity is integrated into the fantastic element won’t be for everybody, but I was won over by Margerit’s earnest insistence on claiming her identity as a queer woman of faith and power. I’d wholeheartedly recommend the rest of the series, too.

By Heather Rose Jones ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Daughter of Mystery as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Margerit Sovitre did not expect to inherit Baron Saveze’s fortunes—even less his bodyguard, a ruthlessly efficient swordswoman known only as Barbara. Wealth suddenly makes Margerit a highly eligible heiress and buys her the enmity of the new Baron. He had expected to inherit all, and now eyes her fortune with open envy.

Barbara proudly served as the old Baron’s duelist but she had expected his death to make her a free woman. Bitterness turns to determination when she finds herself the only force that stands between Margerit and the new Baron’s greed.

At first Margerit protests the need for Barbara’s…


Book cover of The Pull of the Stars

Dianne Scott Author Of Final Look

From my list on Canadian novels with intriguing female characters.

Why am I passionate about this?

All of my recommended books feature female protagonists with complex lives. They are layered with friends, families, work, and romantic challenges. They are not superheroes. Yet they are. They all find a way to do the hard thing in difficult circumstances and at great personal peril. And that’s what bravery is. It’s not Captain Marvel coming in to save the world. It’s a woman with responsibilities and problems who digs deep to act with integrity. And she may not get accolades. Her act may be unseen. But she does it. And I love reading about these everyday women with grit.

Dianne's book list on Canadian novels with intriguing female characters

Dianne Scott Why Dianne loves this book

This book sticks the reader in the middle of a maternity ward in poverty and flu-stricken Dublin circa 1918. I was totally rooting for nurse Julia Powers, an experienced maternity nurse who works long, thankless shifts trying to keep women and their babies alive.

The lack of medicine, staffing, and money is appalling as women enter the hospital to give birth. Yet through empathy, determinism, and quick thinking, Julia, her trainee, and her patients find ways to help each other. It’s a tour de force in female friendship, intelligence, and problem-solving and an indictment of the medical incompetency of male physicians.

It illuminates a cross-section of Dublin citizens struggling with poverty, the Great Flu, and the aftermath of a horrendous war. I found the story moving, gripping, and somehow hopeful.

By Emma Donoghue ,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked The Pull of the Stars as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In Dublin, 1918, a maternity ward at the height of the Great Flu is a small world of work, risk, death, and unlooked-for love, in "Donoghue's best novel since Room" (Kirkus Reviews).

In an Ireland doubly ravaged by war and disease, Nurse Julia Power works at an understaffed hospital in the city center, where expectant mothers who have come down with the terrible new Flu are quarantined together. Into Julia's regimented world step two outsiders—Doctor Kathleen Lynn, a rumoured Rebel on the run from the police, and a young volunteer helper, Bridie Sweeney.

In the darkness and intensity of this…


Book cover of Nine Nights on the Windy Tree

Aya Walksfar Author Of Beyond The Silence

From Aya's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Aya's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Aya Walksfar Why Aya loves this book

The best thing about this book was the main character: Bertha Brannon. A down-to-earth woman dealing with a complicated life. I love the strength built into this character as well as her humanity.

By Martha Miller ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Nine Nights on the Windy Tree as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Book by Martha Miller


Book cover of Night Brother

Carmilla Voiez Author Of Starblood

From my list on grittiest dark-fantasy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm an anarcho-feminist who has a special interest in magic; I consider it my guilty pleasure. I write dark and gritty stories that delve into gender, trauma, and mental illness, yet discover hope and freedom in the pit of darkness. I'm best known as a horror writer, but it’s more accurate to say that I create dark-fantasy and speculative fiction. My themes reflect the darkness which feels ubiquitous in the world, especially now in this age of extremes and pandemics, but I always search for the glimmer of light, the flame of hope that we can make a better future. I've always been fascinated by the Goth aesthetic and enchanted by post-punk threnodies.

Carmilla's book list on grittiest dark-fantasy

Carmilla Voiez Why Carmilla loves this book

It is set in the late 19th early 20th century in Manchester, England. A time of suffragists and a blossoming underground queer culture, both of which were violently opposed by state and police. Set in this time, place and atmosphere is the story of Edie and Gnome. The first chapter shows them in perfect, natural harmony with each other. As Edie grows up, her intersex nature (given a gloriously magical bent by Garland) is repressed and made a cause of shame via their mother’s abuse. Without full expression and acceptance, Edie/Gnome's relationship becomes destructive and toxic. The Night Brother is a journey of acceptance and balance woven into a wider narrative about feminine roles in society and the struggle to transcend them.

It is a delight to follow Garland’s beautiful prose both as it delves into the violent and gritty aspects of Victorian Manchester and when it soars into fantastical…

By Rosie Garland ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Night Brother as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Echoes of Angela Carter's more fantastical fiction reverberate through this exuberant tale of a hermaphrodite Jekyll and Hyde figure...enjoyably energetic' SUNDAY TIMES

Late nineteenth-century Manchester is a city of charms and dangers - the perfect playground for young siblings, Edie and Gnome. But as they grow up, they grow apart, and while Gnome revels in the night-time, Edie wakes each morning, exhausted and uneasy, with only a dim memory of the dark hours.

Convinced she deserves more than this half-life, she tries to break free from Gnome and forge her own future. But Gnome is always right behind, somehow seeming…


Book cover of The Child Riddler

The Child Riddler by Angela Greenman,

Zoe Lorel, an elite operative in an international spy agency, is sent to abduct a nine-year-old girl. The girl is the only one who knows the riddle that holds the code to unleash the most lethal weapon on earth—the first ever “invisibility” nano weapon, a cloaking spider bot. But when…

Book cover of Tell Me What You Like

Iza Moreau Author Of The News in Small Towns

From my list on mysteries featuring lesbian detectives.

Why am I passionate about this?

Halfway through my first novel, I realized that I was writing in a genre that had received little critical study and had almost no visibility. To find my way around the genre—and my place within it—I began reading heavily and before I knew it, I had read well over 200 lesbian mystery novels and devoured almost every serious review and critical study The dozen books I have written over the last decade reflect this study. In them, I hope I have succeeded in expanding the genre in some small way and adding to the menu of a hungry and discerning LGBTQ audience. 

Iza's book list on mysteries featuring lesbian detectives

Iza Moreau Why Iza loves this book

Like Nikki Baker’s novels, Tell Me What You Like is driven by its narration. Alison Kaine, the protagonist of the novel, works for the Denver Police Department. But unlike most protagonists of lesbian policiers—who tend to be sergeants or detectives—Alison is a lowly officer. Because she is an out lesbian, she is assigned to investigate the murder of a leather dyke outside a lesbian bar, and is slowly drawn into the stories of the bar’s other denizens. And, not quite against her will, she slides into the darker subculture of BDSM, with whips and collars and a dominatrix named Anastasia. 

By Kate Allen ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tell Me What You Like as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Alison Kaine, lesbian cop, enters the world of leather-dykes after a woman is brutally murdered at a Denver bar. In this fast-paced, yet slyly humorous novel, Allen confronts the sensitive issues of S/M, queer-bashers and women-identified sex workers.


Book cover of The Mimicking of Known Successes

Jeannette Bedard Author Of Day 115 on an Alien World

From Jeannette's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Scientist by day Reader World builder Daydreamer Maker

Jeannette's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Jeannette Bedard Why Jeannette loves this book

This is a murder mystery set on a series of moody habitats orbiting Jupiter—connected by trains (and I’m a huge fan of trains!).

The main character is an academic trying to figure out how to make Earth habitable again when an old girlfriend knocks on her door and asks for help solving a crime.

I enjoyed how the world-building played into how the characters found clues to the crime—and the twists that followed. Most of all, I loved the coziness with comfy apartments, warm fires, and baked goods.

By Malka Older ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Mimicking of Known Successes as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

On a remote, gas-wreathed outpost of a human colony on Jupiter, a man goes missing. The enigmatic Investigator Mossa follows his trail to Valdegeld, home to the colony's erudite university - and Mossa's former girlfriend, a scholar of Earth's pre-collapse ecosystems.

Pleiti has dedicated her research and her career to aiding the larger effort towards a possible return to Earth. When Mossa unexpectedly arrives and requests Pleiti's assistance in her latest investigation, the two of them embark on a twisting path in which the future of life on Earth is at stake - and, perhaps, their futures, together.


Book cover of Mrs. S

Lucy Ribchester Author Of Murder Ballad

From Lucy's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Reader Dance lover Dog fanatic Dreamer

Lucy's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Lucy Ribchester Why Lucy loves this book

This slow, smouldering erotic novel captured me in its dreamlike world. Patrick's writing is sensual and poetic but also takes you by surprise at moments with its bluntness and wit. I've underlined loads in this book and know I'll read it again.

By K. Patrick ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Mrs. S as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An Observer Best Debut of the Year

A Granta Best Young British Novelist

'I loved this book' JULIA ARMFIELD

'Exhilarating' MONICA HEISEY

'Astonishing' ANDREA LAWLOR

'Should be on everyone's summer reading list' iNEWS

'Scorching ... One of our favourite reads' TIME OUT

A Guardian Essential Summer Read

A sensual debut novel of the forbidden love between a young woman and a headmaster's wife, unfolding across a single a heatwave summer.

In an elite English boarding school where the girls kiss the marble statue of the famous dead author who used to walk the halls, a young Australian woman arrives to…


Book cover of Foxfire in the Snow

Foxfire in the Snow by J.S. Fields,

It's a time of change, between magic and alchemy.

Born the heir of a master woodcutter in a queendom defined by guilds and matrilineal inheritance, nonbinary Sorin can’t quite seem to find their place. At seventeen, an opportunity to attend an alchemical guild fair and secure an apprenticeship with the…

Book cover of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

Matthew Fox Author Of This Is It

From my list on queer love in families.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was an odd kid—a bookworm worried about why I was different from others. Luckily, my family continuously reminded me that I belonged. Once out of the closet, I was able to appreciate the importance of families, both chosen and unchosen. I became a writer because I was compelled to articulate that importance and maybe help others understand how knowledge, trauma, emotions, and love move between the generations. Queer and family histories have inspired a lot of my journalism and fiction, but especially my new novel, This Is It. I hope it fits alongside these recommendations that explore queer multi-generational stories with wit, intelligence, and wisdom.

Matthew's book list on queer love in families

Matthew Fox Why Matthew loves this book

The sardonic humor is what grabbed me first. But as I gleefully zipped through this story of a lesbian’s coming of age in a repressive Pentecostal church, the author was quietly raising the stakes. She delivers profound observations of how family expectations disproportionately damage queer people. Religion always complicates such stories.

As a gay man who grew up Catholic, I was entranced by how the book deals with faith. When the protagonist starts to understand her own sexual impulses, the power and depth of human emotion also dawn on her. Her religion and family don’t have satisfying answers, and so she creates her own kind of faith. Reading how she does it was incredibly moving for me. 

By Jeanette Winterson ,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Key Features:



Study methods
Introduction to the text
Summaries with critical notes
Themes and techniques
Textual analysis of key passages
Author biography
Historical and literary background
Modern and historical critical approaches
Chronology
Glossary of literary terms