Our Wives Under the Sea – The Bookish Mutant

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️The Bookish Mutant’s Books for Pride Month (2024 Edition) 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

Posted on June 12, 2024 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Wednesday, bibliophiles!

Here in the U.S., June is Pride Month! And every month, I find myself having a downer of an introduction, just because the world only gets kinder to queer people in the smallest increments, it seems. The vocal minority in this country are still bent on erasing all evidence that queer people exist in the first place, like an offending stain on a white tablecloth. (A note to homophobes: has it ever occurred to you that you don’t have to look at pride flags or queer couples? You can just look away and not make it anybody else’s problem…life is so short, man.) But our community is one characterized by resilience: no amount of book bans, culture wars, or bigotry will wipe us off the map. We are are here, we have always been here, and we will always be here. Nothing you do will make us disappear. Don’t let the vocal minority distract you from the beauty created and progress made by our community.

So once again, here’s a list of YA and Adult books with queer characters and themes, curated by your local bisexual. I also added the specific representation of each book.

Just a refresher on my key:

MC: Main character

LI: Love interest

SC: Side character(s)

For my previous lists, see below:

Enjoy these book recs!

🌈THE BOOKISH MUTANT’S BOOKS FOR PRIDE MONTH (2024 EDITION)🌈

FANTASY

Off With Their Heads – Zoe Hana Mikuta | YA | lesbian MCs | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75, rounded up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Everfair (Everfair, #1) – Nisi Shawl | Adult | sapphic MC, LI, and SCs | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Godkiller (Fallen Gods, #1) – Hannah Kaner | Adult | sapphic MC, sapphic SCs (queernormative world) | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The First Bright Thing – J.R. Dawson | Adult | bisexual MC, sapphic LI | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Our Wives Under the Sea – Julia Armfield | Adult | lesbian MC, sapphic LI | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
To Shape A Dragon’s Breath (Nampeshiweisit, #1) – Moniquill Blackgoose | YA | polyamorous, bisexual MC, sapphic LI | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Even Though I Knew the End – C.L. Polk | Adult | lesbian MC, sapphic LI | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Taproot: A Story About a Gardener and a Ghost – Keezy Young | YA | achillean MC and LI | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Unbroken (Magic of the Lost, #1) – C.L. Clark | Adult | lesbian MC, bisexual LI, nonbinary and sapphic SCs | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

SCIENCE FICTION

Activation Degradation – Marina J. Lostetter | Adult | intersex MC, intersex LI, queer SCs | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Junker Seven (Twin Suns duology, #1) – Olive J. Kelley | Adult | nonbinary lesbian MC, trans LI, trans, nonbinary, and queer SCs | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
These Burning Stars (The Kindom, #1) – Bethany Jacobs | Adult | nonbinary MC, lesbian MC, lesbian LI | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75, rounded up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Salvation Gambit – Emily Skrutskie | Adult | bisexual MC, sapphic LI, nonbinary and queer SCs | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75, rounded up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hunger Makes the Wolf (The Ghost Wolves, #1) – Alex Wells | Adult | queer MC | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan, #1) – Arkady Martine | Adult | sapphic MC and LI, achillean SC | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
Some Desperate Glory – Emily Tesh | Adult | lesbian MC, nonbinary and gay SCs | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
A Half-Built Garden – Ruthanna Emrys | Adult | lesbian MC and LI, queer SCs | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
This Is How You Lose the Time War – Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone | Adult | sapphic MCs | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Meru (The Alloy Era, #1) – S.B. Divya | Adult | queer MC, nonbinary (uses zie/zir pronouns) LI, queer SCs | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Road to Ruin (Magebike Courier, #1) – Hana Lee | Adult | bisexual MC, sapphic LI | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Cybernetic Tea Shop – Meredith Katz | Adult | asexual, sapphic MC and LI | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

REALISTIC FICTION:

And Other Mistakes – Erika Turner | YA | lesbian MC | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Luis Ortega Survival Club – Sonora Reyes | YA | unlabelled MC, bisexual LI, nonbinary SC | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Imogen, Obviously – Becky Albertalli | YA | bisexual MC, lesbian LI, pansexual, questioning, demisexual, bisexual, lesbian, and nonbinary SCs | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75, rounded up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Something Like Possible – Miel Moreland | YA | bisexual MC, queer SCs | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Forever Is Now – Mariama J. Lockington | YA | bisexual MC | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75, rounded up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Scatter of Light – Malinda Lo | YA | bisexual MC, genderqueer LI, queer and lesbian SCs | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Margo Zimmerman Gets the Girl – Brianna R. Shrum and Sara Waxelbaum | YA | lesbian MC, bisexual LI, pansexual, polyamorous, genderqueer, and lesbian SCs | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
So Lucky – Nicola Griffith | Adult | lesbian MC | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Only This Beautiful Moment – Abdi Nazemian | YA | gay MC, bisexual SC, gay SC | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! Have you read any of these books, and if so, did you enjoy them? What are some of your favorite queer books that you’ve read in the last year? Let me know in the comments!

Today’s song:

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

Books

The Bookish Mutant’s 5-star Reads of 2023

Posted on December 27, 2023 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Wednesday, bibliophiles!

I was going to publish this earlier in the day, but that was before my laptop charger broke. Luckily, I’ve got a spare, but I’m glad that it happened, because while I was rationing my laptop’s battery life, I finished a book that landed on this year’s honorable mentions! Happy accidents.

Growth happens every year, but 2023 has especially felt like a year of growth to me; I’ve gotten into the rhythm of college, and I’ve tread into more challenging territory with my English degree. I’ve had the honor of being a learning assistant, and the experience of helping teach a class has greatly enriched me—and given me a much-needed boost to my public speaking confidence. And I started the year with buzzing my hair off! Not something that past me thought I’d ever do. (For those of you who are uncertain: do it. It’s worth it. Growing out your hair takes a while, but it’s worth the experience.)

I still haven’t gotten into the reading rhythm that I used to have (and I doubt I ever will—Jeezus, how did I ever manage to read 300 books in a year? How?), but that doesn’t mean that I’ve found plenty of gems in the bunch. Like last year, I don’t have as many 5-star reads, but that’s fine with me—as I said last year, it’s probably a consequence of my tastes getting more selective, and finding them scattered few and far between makes me savor them that much more. It’s a strange bunch this year—fiction and nonfiction, time travel and pirates. But these are the books that made this year all the richer.

Let’s begin, shall we?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️THE BOOKISH MUTANT’S 5-STAR READS OF 2023⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ceremony – Leslie Marmon Silko | You thought I wouldn’t give a book with themes of mixed-race identity and storytelling 5 stars? Really?
The Isles of the Gods – Amie Kaufman | Banger after banger from Amie Kaufman
This Is How You Lose the Time War – Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone | Cosmically sprawling, achingly romantic. Just the right combination.
So Lucky – Nicola Griffith | Disabled female rage!! Disabled female rage!!
A Thousand Steps into Night – Traci Chee | There’s something to be said about 5-star reads that come out of nowhere. So much more emotional than I bargained for, but that’s not a complaint.
Story of Your Life – Ted Chiang | somebody hold me
The Stonewall Reader – edited by the New York Public Library | Nothing more liberating than learning your own history.
Fear Stalks the Land! A Commonplace Book – Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood | One word: Radiohead. Of course I gave it 5 stars.

HONORABLE MENTIONS (4.5 STARS):

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! Have you read any of these books, and if so, did you enjoy them as much as I did? What were your favorite reads of the year? Let me know in the comments!

Today’s song:

That’s it for my favorite books of the year! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Book Tags

Holiday Drinks Book Tag ☕️

Posted on December 18, 2023 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Monday, bibliophiles!

I’m finally done with the semester, so I figured I would celebrate with a festive book tag! I found this one over at The Corner of Laura (who always finds the best tags), and the tag was originally created by Browsing for Books (note: at the time I’m doing this tag, this blog is no longer active).

Let’s begin, shall we?

☕️THE HOLIDAY DRINKS BOOK TAG☕️

HOT CHOCOLATE | Marshmallows and chocolate and whipped cream, oh my!

Recommend a book that’s sweet through and through.

Rom-coms typically aren’t my go-to, but Tweet Cute was so wonderfully fluffy and sweet—and full of tasteful food puns.

PEPPERMINT MOCHA | The flavor of peppermint is strong and distinct.

Recommend a book with a lot of strong emotions.

Our Wives Under the Sea packs an impressive amount of emotion into just over 220 pages—and all of it pays off.

APPLE CIDER | It’s so good, it can’t be good for you…but it’s from apples, that means it’s healthy, right?

Recommend a book full of characters with questionable morals.

A Memory Called Empire is rife with all sorts of political backstabbing, and just as many characters willing to turn on each other…

EGGNOG | It’s creamy and smooth with a little spice, and some people even add alcohol to it.

Recommend a book that’s mostly fun with just a hint of danger.

Flowerheart has enough stakes (read: brief flower-related body horror) to give it a kick, but despite its flaws, what I can say is that this book was wholesome and warm all the way through. This one could’ve worked for the first prompt too…

GINGERBREAD LATTE | A drink with a veritable explosion of spices

Recommend a book with a lot of action.

Victories Greater Than Death is absolutely chock-full of action! There was never a dull moment in this book, although it did get too heavy-handed with the action at some points.

I TAG ANYONE WHO WANTS TO PARTICIPATE! Happy holidays, everybody!

Today’s song:

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

Monthly Wrap-Ups

November 2023 Wrap-Up 🍲

Posted on November 30, 2023 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Thursday, bibliophiles!

Here we are, and once again, the year is nearly over…at least we have season 5 of Fargo to distract us from the inevitable passage of time.

Let’s begin, shall we?

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

Break aside, November has been on the busier side, but it’s been a productive one for me. It’s been chaos as far as my workload has gone, but part of that chaos was the editing that led me to send off two of my short stories for consideration to be published in some school literary journals! I won’t hear back for several months, but I’m so excited!! The initial impostor syndrome has faded (it’ll probably come back in a few months, mark my words…I’ve got my NyQuil ready), but either way, I’m really proud for taking this first step. Now, the workload chaos is in the form of looming final projects, which is not nearly as fun, but at least I don’t have to take a stats final at the crack of dawn like last year.

My reading has been a bit slower this month (see above), but as far as enjoyment goes, I’ve had a much more successful month! I had another 5-star read in the form of Ceremony (me when mixed-race experience and themes of storytelling), and I only had one book in the 2-star range for this whole month! I ended up reading a ton of literary and literary-leaning fiction for no particular reason, but the ones I read this month were almost all hits. I’ve had some more time to blog, what with break and whatnot, so it’s been fun to write more frequently before finals hits me like a train.

Other than that, I’ve just been trying to draw and play guitar (when I can), watching Taskmaster and The Great British Bakeoff (hEY NOW NO SPOILERS US AMERICANS HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL FRIDAY FOR THE FINAL), trying to ignore how cold the weather is, and rejoicing the return of Fargo! FARGO! I FEEL ALIVE AGAIN!

…say, are we gonna talk about how utterly insane episode 3 was? Just me?

Also, for your casual amusement, here’s the mess that is my Apple Music Replay for this year:

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 15 books this month! Again, slower than normal, but it’s impressive to me, given how much editing and pre-finals chaos has consumed me this month.

2 – 2.75 stars: