Mooncakes – The Bookish Mutant

YA Books for Nonbinary Awareness Week

Posted on July 14, 2022 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Thursday, bibliophiles!

This week, July 11-17, is Nonbinary Awareness Week, and today, July 14, is International Nonbinary People’s Day! I’ve done a few specific lists for books with different identities within the LGBTQ+ community, but I don’t think I’ve done a specific nonbinary one. Given that it’s the perfect time to do it, I figured I would shine a light on books with protagonists (and sometimes authors!) with nonbinary and gender non-conforming identities. Representation always, always matters, especially for a community who face scrutiny even from within the LGBTQ+ community. 💛🤍💜🖤

Let’s begin, shall we?

THE BOOKISH MUTANT’S YA BOOKS FOR NONBINARY AWARENESS WEEK

I Wish You All the Best, Mason Deaver

GENRES: Contemporary/realistic fiction, romance

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

All at once heartbreaking and tender, I Wish You All the Best is an incredibly powerful story of a nonbinary teen’s journey of acceptance and self-love.

Lakelore, Anna-Marie McLemore

GENRES: Magical realism, fiction, romance

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75, rounded up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Anna-Marie McLemore never misses, and this beautiful story of two nonbinary, Latinx, and neurodivergent teens and a secret world beneath a lake is proof.

Mooncakes, Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu

GENRES: Fantasy, paranormal, urban fantasy, romance

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

An absolutely ADORABLE graphic novel about a nonbinary werewolf and a hard-of-hearing witch!

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea, Maggie Tokuda-Hall

GENRES: Fantasy, romance

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea features a powerful genderfluid pirate as one of the main characters! There’s another prominent side character who is nonbinary as well.

The Ghosts We Keep, Mason Deaver

GENRES: Contemporary/realistic fiction

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Though I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I Wish You All the Best, The Ghost We Keep is still an incredibly powerful exploration of grief. It’s also one of the only books I’ve seen that features a protagonist that uses multiple pronouns—Liam uses he/they pronouns!

Under Shifting Stars, Alexandra Latos

GENRES: Contemporary/realistic fiction, romance

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Clare, one of the twins featured at the forefront of Under Shifting Stars, is genderfluid!

Mask of Shadows, Linsey Miller

GENRES: Fantasy, romance

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mask of Shadows is a super fun fantasy novel featuring a genderfluid assassin!

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! Have you read any of these books, and if so, what did you think of them? What are your favorite books with nonbinary and gender non-conforming rep? Tell me in the comments!

Today’s song:

this is so creepy I love it

That’s it for this post! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Books

YA Books for Disability Pride Month

Posted on July 15, 2021July 15, 2021 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Thursday, bibliophiles!

For those of you who didn’t know, here in the US, July is Disability Pride Month! I myself didn’t know about it until this year, which is a little embarrassing, but better late than never, I suppose. I hardly see anyone in the bookish community talking about disability rep in books – especially where YA is concerned – so I wanted to make a post of my own with some YA reads with disability rep of all kinds. Unfortunately, not all of them are from disabled authors, but it seems like there’s such a dearth of disability rep in YA as a whole, so for now, I’ll share these ones, and I’ll always be on the hunt for more books by disabled authors in the future. But as with all of my posts like this, AMPLIFY DISABLED VOICES 24/7/365!

And if you’re looking for book bloggers who talk about disability, disability rep, and breaking down ableist tropes, I’d highly recommend checking out Luminosity Library and The Inside Cover. (They’re both amazing!! Show them some support!!)

So let’s begin, shall we?

Pride Wheelchair Sticker for iOS & Android | GIPHY — the fact that I can barely find any disability pride gifs…that’s depressing…

YA READS FOR DISABILITY PRIDE MONTH

Six of Crows – Leigh Bardugo

Amazon.com: Six of Crows eBook: Bardugo, Leigh: Kindle Store

GENRES: Fantasy, romance, LGBTQ+, adventure

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Kaz Brekker (otherwise known as the “morally gray” teen idol of the YA book fandom) uses a cane for mobility (and it’s a really snazzy cane, too), and his experiences are based off of Leigh Bardugo’s own experience with osteonecrosis.

Sick Kids in Love – Hannah Moskowitz

Amazon.com: Sick Kids In Love (9781640637320): Moskowitz, Hannah: Books

GENRES: Contemporary, romance, LGBTQ+, realistic fiction

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I just finished this one up a few days ago, and it was INCREDIBLE! I don’t usually jump for rom-com, but this was one of the most tender books I’ve read in a while. Gave me all the warm fuzzies…

The protagonist has rheumatoid arthritis, and the love interest has Gaucher’s disease. And lemme tell you, I GOT SO EXCITED THAT WE HAVE A DISABLED, BISEXUAL LOVE INTEREST. BI DISABLED CHARACTERS?? NO KIDDING, MY BRAIN DID THE “WOOOOOHOO” FROM SONG 2 WHEN I REALIZED IT…

Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens – Marieke Nijkamp et. al. (anthology)

Amazon.com: Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens (9780374306502): Nijkamp, Marieke: Books

GENRES: Anthologies (short stories), realistic fiction, LGBTQ+, fantasy, science fiction

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

It’s been a while since I’ve read this one, so I can’t recall the stories that stood out to me, but this one has a whole load of perspectives from disabled authors, and there’s stories of all genres!

Mooncakes – Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu

Amazon.com: Mooncakes (9781549303043): Walker, Suzanne, Xu, Wendy: Books

GENRES: Graphic novel, urban fantasy, paranormal, LGBTQ+, romance

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

THIS GRAPHIC NOVEL IS THE CUTEST. What’s not to love about a love story about a queer, hard-of-hearing witch and a nonbinary werewolf? The art is so lovely, I highly recommend this one for everybody.

Otherbound – Corinne Duyvis

Amazon.com: Otherbound eBook: Duyvis, Corinne: Kindle Store

GENRES: Fantasy, science fiction, LGBTQ+,

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Again, it’s been a while since I’ve read this one, but I LOVE how diverse this one is; we have the dual POVs of an epileptic Latino character with a missing leg and a mute bisexual girl who uses sign language to communicate. It’s an interesting blend of fantasy and sci-fi as well!

Love from A to Z – S.K. Ali

Amazon.com: Love from A to Z (9781534442726): Ali, S. K.: Books

GENRES: Contemporary, romance, realistic fiction

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Adam, the love interest of this novel, has multiple sclerosis, and both of the protagonists are Muslim; there’s a lot of great conversations about Islamaphobia and other pertinent issues in this one, but it’s also a really sweet romance!

The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily – Laura Creedle

The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily: Creedle, Laura: 9781328603661: Amazon.com: Books

GENRES: Contemporary, romance, realistic fiction

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This one’s a romance between a girl with ADHD (the author has ADHD as well!) and an autistic boy, and like Love from A to Z, tackles a lot of discussions surrounding mental health and disability while still being a sweet romance!

Aurora Rising (Aurora Cycle, #1) – Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Aurora Rising: Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff: 9781786075338: Amazon.com: Books

GENRES: Science fiction, space opera, LGBTQ+, romance

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(There is no escape from the Aurora Cycle-posting on this blog…)

Even though Finian’s disability is fictional (bc, y’know, he’s an alien), he uses mobility aids, and we get to see a lot of his inner thoughts surrounding his disability. Disability in realistic fiction is all cool and good, but it’s even better to see casual disability rep in fantasy and sci-fi too!

Queens of Geek – Jen Wilde

Amazon.com: Queens of Geek (9781250111395): Wilde, Jen: Books

GENRES: Contemporary, realistic fiction, LGBTQ+, romance

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Queens of Geek features a protagonist with Asperger’s and an anxiety disorder, and there’s lots of queer and POC representation in this one as well! If you love stories set at Comic Cons with lots of pop culture references, then this one’s for you!

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! What are your favorite books with disability rep? Favorite disabled authors? Any recommendations for me?

Girl Reading GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

Today’s song:

Sophie Allison becoming a Mii wasn’t on my 2021 bingo card but I’m here for it

That’s it for this post! Have a wonderful rest of your day, take care of yourselves, and happy disability pride month!

Monthly Wrap-Ups

February 2021 Wrap-Up 🧤

Posted on February 28, 2021February 28, 2021 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

(the mittens emoji looks so dismal here…the apple version looks so much cuter…)

Hi again, bibliophiles!

Here’s another monthly wrap-up of an interesting reading month…

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

me drinking way too much hot chocolate over the long weekend

February was just…freezing here in Colorado. I suppose I should say “more freezing than usual” because it’s usually pretty chilly, but it rarely gets into the negatives in February, which it happened to do over the long President’s Day weekend. So, yes, lots of hot chocolate was consumed, a few episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender were watched (yes I finally started it), and many pairs of fuzzy socks were worn.

My workload’s been manageable and I’ve managed to keep my grades in a place where I like them, for the most part. I’ve been steadily working away at the outline for my sci-fi WIP, and I probably would have finished were it not for the writing contest that my mom found. So now I’m working away at my short story, and I’m so excited to be really writing again!

I haven’t listened to a whole lot of new stuff, but I’ve been dabbling a bit of instrumental scores, some new Danny Elfman, a bit of Spacemen 3, and of course more Julien Baker as of this Friday. I rewatched half of Fargo and I’m now caught up on WandaVision, and I can’t wait to see how the latter ends!

Also, I somehow managed to get a lot of new followers this month? I’m almost at 400 now, so thanks to all of you lovely people for sticking around 🥺

READING AND BLOGGING:

I managed to read 22 books this February! That’s two more than January, and certainly a better batch too. (A lot less reads in the 2 star range and none in the 1 star range, I’m glad to say.) So here’s everything…

2 – 2.75 stars:

The Kinder Poison

The Brighter the Stars – Bryan K. Prosek (eARC) (⭐️⭐️)
Escaping Exodus – Nicky Drayden (⭐️⭐️)
The Kinder Poison – Natalie Mae (⭐️⭐️.5)

3 – 3.75 stars:

Hellboy: Odder Jobs

If It Makes You Happy – Claire Kann (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Song of Achilles – Madeline Miller (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Happily Ever Afters – Elise Bryant (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Felix Ever After – Kacen Callender (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Abandon – Blake Crouch (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Conference of the Birds (Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children, #5) – Ransom Riggs (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Game Changer – Neal Shusterman (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Hellboy: Odd Jobs – Christopher Golden, Mike Mignola et. al. (anthology) (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Hellboy: Odder Jobs – Christopher Golden, Mike Mignola et. al. (anthology) (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

The City We Became

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin – Roseanne A. Brown (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1) – Becky Chambers (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Dawn (Xenogenesis, #1) – Octavia E. Butler (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Dark Matter of Mona Starr – Laura Lee Gulledge (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Color Outside the Lines – Sangu Mandanna et. al. (anthology) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The City We Became (Great Cities, #1) – N.K. Jemisin (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Mooncakes – Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
A Dark and Starless Forest – Sarah Hollowell (eARC) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)

5 stars:

The Punch

The Punch – Noah Hawley (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Before the Fall – Noah Hawley (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: Before the Fall – 5 stars

SOME POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

My reviews for I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Before the Fall, A Song of Wraiths and Ruin, and Game Changer!
I made a list of my favorite YA books from #OwnVoices Black authors for Black History Month!
The Umbrella Academy Book Tag was a lot of fun to do 🙂

POSTS I ENJOYED FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE:

Bertie’s discussion about women writing about gay men
Laurel’s review of The Conductors (which I haven’t read yet, but sounds AMAZING!)
J’s tips on how to get ARCs
Joy’s take on the How I Choose My Books Tag (which I definitely need to do at some point!)
Allison’s list of books to read for Black History Month

DID I ACTUALLY FOLLOW THROUGH ON MY FEBRUARY GOALS?

Let’s see…

Read more books by Black authors for Black History Month, and make a post about it: did that! I made an effort to read a lot of books from #OwnVoices Black authors, and I found so many great reads and new-to-me authors that I want to continue reading from. Of course, it’s crucial to read books from marginalized voices 24/7/365, but I figured that it was especially important for Black History Month.
Listen to & review Little Oblivions (Julien Baker) when it comes out: uh…

Listen to it? I’ve done that a lot. Reviewed it? Well, it came out two days ago, so…maybe next week. We’ll see.

Read at least 20 books: did that! 22 books in February 🙂
Finish my initial outline for my sci-fi WIP: nope. I might’ve been able to pull it off, but like I said, short story.

GOALS FOR MARCH:

Finish my short story for the writing contest (since the deadline is early April…)!
ACTUALLY review Little Oblivions
Read at least 20 books
Review all of the eARCs sitting on my Kindle

So that’s it for February, I guess. Here’s to a March that was…[ahem] less eventful than last March. You know what I mean.

Since I’ve already posted today, check out this week’s weekly update for today’s song.

That’s it for my February in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Weekly Updates

Weekly Update: February 22-28, 2021

Posted on February 28, 2021February 28, 2021 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles!

The last week of February’s been a decent one, I’d say. The rest of my library haul was mostly 3-star reads, but there was still some good stuff in there. I had a lot more time to blog this week, and I had a lot of fun writing reviews and doing tags 🙂

Writing-wise, I finished up the outline for my short story, and I just started writing it last night! I’m at almost 800 words, and man, does it feel good to be actually writing again. Outline’s necessary and all, but nothing beats the real thing, does it?

Other than that, I’ve just been drawing a bit, messing around on Minecraft, watching more WandaVision (AAAAAH), starting to rewatch season 3 of Fargo, and obsessively listening to Julien Baker’s Little Oblivions since Friday morning. (I thought it came out sooner, and I usually like to sit with an album about a week before I review it, so expect…*something* next week…)