Saints of Storm and Sorrow – The Bookish Mutant

Happy Tuesday, bibliophiles!

This past week, September 16-23, has been Bisexual Visibility Week, and today, September 23rd, is Bisexual Visibility Day! See me. I’m right here. Well, in your screen. Along with my Latine Heritage Month post, this is another one that I’ve neglected to do some years since it comes at a slightly dicey time in the school year, but I probably shouldn’t be neglecting, since it, y’know, directly correlates to my identity. Oops. A little embarrassing, but once again, no time like the present.

Every year. Every year, I swear to god. I’m much less online than I used to be, but from what I see snatches of, every other year, some discourse comes back about whether or not bisexuals are actually “queer enough” or if straight-passing bisexuals are allowed at pride, or something equally meaningless. (Also, I feel like everyone debating the latter should remember that Brenda Howard, a bisexual woman, was a key figure in creating Pride events and rallies as we know them here in the States.) Just seeing flashes of whatever’s going down on TikTok makes me lose a year off my life. But it brings up a point that I’ve often thought about when it comes to the queer community: the infighting needs to stop. Please. There’s no sense in playing the oppression olympics amongst ourselves, especially when the threats against the LGBTQ+ community at large are so much more pressing. Also, please stop being weird about bisexual people. This is coming from somebody who’s had the privilege of not experiencing any direct biphobia, thankfully, but has heard it in real life directed at friends and loved ones, as well as seeing it run rampant on the internet. All of this petty fighting is a distraction from what’s really happening: not long after they removed the word transgender from the Stonewall National Monument website, they removed the word bisexual from the “history and culture” section. As of now, they’ve since reinstated it (though the absence of trans people remains glaring…love to all my trans siblings, in light of, well, everything), but it sends a clear message: they’re bent on cutting our community up until they can conveniently erase it from American history. And we will not be erased.

To all of my fellow bisexuals: you are bisexual enough. No matter your relationship status, attraction, or partner, you will always be bisexual. Nobody can dictate your identity but you. Not the internet, not the people in your life—nobody. There is no one central bisexual experience, but every individual experience under the sun is valid, so long as you want to claim it. You’re the captain of this ship, and you are bisexual enough. And you are loved. I don’t know about you, but I’ve loved being bisexual in the nearly seven years (Jesus, has it been that long?)

For my lists from previous years, click below:

Let’s begin, shall we?

🩷💜💙THE BOOKISH MUTANT’S BOOKS FOR BISEXUAL VISIBILITY WEEK (2025 EDITION)🩷💜💙

FANTASY & MAGICAL REALISM:

Gwen & Art are Not in Love – Lex Croucher | YA | high fantasy, romance | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Patricia Wants to Cuddle – Samantha Allen | Adult | paranormal, urban fantasy | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Lost Story – Meg Shaffer | Adult | magical realism, romance | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The First Bright Thing – J.R. Dawson | Adult | historical fiction, magical realism, paranormal, romance | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Girl, the Ring, & The Baseball Bat – Camille Gomera-Tavarez | YA | magical realism, romance | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Saints of Storm and Sorrow – Gabriella Buba | Adult | high fantasy, romance | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

SCIENCE FICTION:

Redsight – Meredith Mooring | Adult | space opera, space fantasy, disability | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Stars Too Fondly – Emily Hamilton | Adult | space opera, romance | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Road to Ruin – Hana Lee | Adult | dystopia, romance | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Salvation Gambit – Emily Skrutskie | Adult | thriller, romance | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Under Fortunate Stars – Ren Hutchings | Adult | space opera, romance | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Catherine House – Elisabeth Thomas | Adult | thriller, historical fiction, dark academia | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
To Be Taught, If Fortunate – Becky Chambers | Adult | novella, speculative fiction | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

REALISTIC AND HISTORICAL FICTION:

or “dear god, how do almost all of these books have pink/purple pastel covrers?”

A Bánh Mì for Two – Trinity Nguyen | YA | romance | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Roll for Love – M.K. England | YA | romance | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
If You Still Recognize Me – Cynthia So | YA | contemporary, romance | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Some Girls Do – Jennifer Dugan | YA | coming of age, romance | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Loudest Silence – Sydney Langford | YA | coming of age, disability | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Stars in Their Eyes – Jessica Walton and Aśka | YA | graphic novels, romance, disability | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Margo Zimmerman Gets the Girl – Brianna R. Shrum and Sara Waxelbaum | YA | romance | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Scatter of Light – Malinda Lo | YA | historical fiction, coming of age | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye – Briony Cameron | Adult | historical fiction, romance, disability | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Navigating With You – Jeremy Whitley and Cassio Ribeiro | YA | graphic novels, romance, disability | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Amelia, If Only – Becky Albertalli | YA | contemporary, romance | ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! Have you read any of these books, and if so, what did you think of them? What are some of your favorite books by bisexual authors? Let me know in the comments!

Today’s song:

MICHELANGELO DYING IS UPON US, LET’S GOOOOO

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

Happy Monday, bibliophiles!

Insert panicking about how 2025 is already halfway gone, yada yada yada. It’s always jarring to get to that point after you’ve spent the first half of it relatively unaware, but honestly? Given the truly magnificent shitshow 2025 has been…good riddance.

Let’s begin, shall we?

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

My school got out jarringly early, which was nice, but part of me is still reckoning with the fact that “summer” has now expanded to fit all but the first week of May in it. I shouldn’t complain. It’s given me a lot of extra time to read and do all of the things that I lamented not being able to do while I was in school. I picked back up with guitar lessons, started improving my knitting, listened to several amazing albums (while knitting), and honed down my drawing. It’s all I can do to keep the anxiety/boredom-depression that starts threatening to consume everything once I get too into a routine, but I’ve got a part-time job, so I’m throwing as much as I can at my brain to keep it occupied.

And Jesus, it’s hard to keep it occupied. Nothing’s changed since my last wrap-up, and my constant state of teetering over the edge of snapping thanks to the news is ever-present, especially this month (FUCK TRUMP AND GET ICE OFF OUR STREETS). There’s nothing like being on vacation and appreciating the splendor that Colorado’s public lands provide us with and then seeing that a bunch of senators wanted to sell off millions of acres of that “undeveloped land”. At least they’re not quite as on that anymore, though I urge everyone to keep the pressure on them, because there are far too many issues that they’re either exacerbating or ignoring. But especially during Pride Month, I have to remind myself that taking care of myself and giving back to my community is an act of resistance, especially as a queer, neurodivergent person, because a) the government doesn’t want us to exist (because why else would THEY SHUT DOWN THE LGBTQ+ SUICIDE HOTLINE? Inexcusable, comically mustache-twirling, depraved evil right there), and b) they want us to be over-individualistic so that we ignore what connects all of us.

But it hasn’t been all freaking out, I promise. I went on a lovely road trip to Crested Butte with my family, and I spent a week up in the mountains looking at so many wonderful wildflowers. Getting back to both my family and my hobbies has made me more centered—the foundation is still wobbly (because of…everything), but I can always count on them to keep me grounded and keep me in the present. I found solace in my community during Pride Month, though I didn’t end up going to any of the local parades because of either plans or the heat. (Denver, I love you, but I’m not standing out in 90+ degree heat. I’m here and I’m queer, but I’m also really pale and don’t want to get excessively sweaty or sunburned.) My existence is an act of resistance, and as much as I can, I will use it for good.

If anything, it’s at least good to have a summer where I actually have movies to look forward to (definitely Superman, and I’m on the fence about Fantastic Four, but I’ll see it, if only for Cousin Thing). Y’all…The Phoenician Scheme. It’s so beautiful, dude. Wes Anderson is physically incapable of making a bad movie. Go see it. GO SEE IT.

Also, I managed to knit my first functional thing in mid-June…here’s this bag I finished up before my vacation!

My magnum opus. Obviously. I’m now keeping a paused knitting project in it, so I hope it’s not one of those “gingerbread man living in a gingerbread house completely oblivious to the fact that he lives in a house of his own flesh” situation. I try not to think about it.

MAY READING WRAP-UP:

I read 13 books this month! In an absolute whiplash of ratings, I had two DNFs and two 5-star reads this month, but between them, there were some great reads. Surprisingly, the nonfiction books (both of which had red covers, coincidentally) were the stars this month!

1 – 1.75 stars:

What You Are Looking For Is in the Library – Michiko Aoyama (DNF – ⭐️)
Ninefox Gambit (Machineries of Empire, #1) – Yoon Ha Lee (DNF – ⭐️)

2 – 2.75 stars:

The Knockout – Sajni Patel (⭐️⭐️)
The Death I Gave Him – Em X. Liu (⭐️⭐️)

3 – 3.75 stars:

Saints of Storm and Sorrow (Stormbringer Saga, #1) – Gabriella Buba (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
A Bánh Mì for Two – Trinity Nguyen (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Light Years from Home – Mike Chen (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
The Resisters – Gish Jen (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

Dragonfruit – Makiia Lucier (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Rebel Skies (Rebel Skies, #1) – Ann Sei Lin (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Ashfire King (The Sandsea Trilogy, #2) – Chelsea Abdullah (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

5 stars:

Crying in H Mart – Michelle Zauner (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times – Azar Nafisi (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times – 5 stars

REVIEWS:

SUNDAY SONGS:

BONUS:

The Bookish Mutant’s Books for AAPI Heritage Month (2025 Edition)

JUNE READING WRAP-UP:

I read 16 books this month! Even with my part-time job, summer has given me more time to read, which is always welcome. Although there were some misses in the mix, I had a great bunch of (mostly) queer reads for pride month, both from familiar and new authors!

1 – 1.75 stars: