It’s hard to believe that this year is nearly half-way through, and I have accomplished precisely zero of the things I set out to do.
But I’m making progress on them, and that’s what matters.
I have a whole honking list of things I want to read this month, and I’m torn between wanting to read all the things and write all the things and do all the things, while also knowing that I’m going to end up spending my non-working time doom-scrolling through Instagram.
Anywho, before I trot out my list of books I will attempt to read before my magpie brain latches on to something new, I want to wish everyone a safe and joyous Pride.
This year has felt particularly battering. Over 500 bills attacking LGBTQ+ people have been introduced across state legislatures, and nearly 50 have been adopted. The majority of these bills target trans and nonbinary children and adults, especially impacting queer people of color. In addition, conservative hate groups have been focusing on stripping away First Amendment rights from children (and adults) by increasing book bans and challenges in libraries across the country. These challenges focus primarily on books with queer and BIPOC characters.
Additionally, a bipartisan federal bill called the Kids Online Safety Act has been introduced, which would allow the government to monitor the online activity of all children under 16 (and coincidentally, monitor adults, too, because how the hell can you prove that a child is in front of a screen instead of an adult?) and make platforms responsible for the content children come into contact with, meaning that in order to avoid lawsuits, platforms will remove any content that may be considered “obscene” or “objectionable” which means…you guessed it…that it will disproportionately affect queer and BIPOC communities. AND increase surveillance on everyone.
I’m getting heavy shades of I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself in this KOSA bill.
I think one of the biggest concerns (after the targeting of trans/nonbinary/GNC folks and BIPOC communities—which, omg this is such a huge attack going on), is the threat to children. Particularly, a child’s First Amendment rights and their right to bodily autonomy. Yes, kids have rights, too! They are people, not just little appendages to their parents! I could go on and on here, but holy shit this is a moment and it is a bad one.
With these heavy thoughts, I truly do want to wish everyone a happy Pride.
Because Pride is a protest, and so is joy.
Here’s my overly ambitious reading plan:
As always, blurbs are from Goodreads.
Tortall Reread
My goal is to finish The Immortals quartet.
Will I do it? I think so. I have much misguided confidence in myself.
Will I write and publish all the reviews in June? Probably not, but I’m going to try to do a review every two weeks. I feel that’s more doable (and kinda what I have been doing) than one a month.
The ARCs
The Splinter in the Sky by Kemi Ashing-Giwa (July 11)
The dust may have just settled in the failed war of conquest between the Holy Vaalbaran Empire and the Ominirish Republic, but the last Emperor’s surrender means little to a lowly scribe like Enitan. All she wants is to quit her day job and expand her fledgling tea business. But when her lover is assassinated and her sibling is abducted by Imperial soldiers, Enitan abandons her idyllic plans and weaves her tea tray up through the heart of the Vaalbaran capital. There, she will learn just how far she is willing to go to exact vengeance, free her sibling, and perhaps even secure her homeland’s freedom.
The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem
The lost Heir of Jasad, Sylvia never wants to be found. She can’t think about how Nizahl’s armies laid waste to her kingdom and continue to hunt its people—not if she wants to stay alive. But when Arin, the Nizahl Heir, tracks a group of Jasadi rebels to her village, staying one step ahead of death gets trickier. In a moment of anger Sylvia’s magic is exposed, capturing Arin’s attention. Now, to save her life, Sylvia will have to make a deal with her greatest enemy. If she helps him lure the rebels, she’ll escape persecution.
The Sun and the Void by Gabriela Romero-Lacruz
Attacked by creatures that stalk the region, Reina is on the verge of death until her grandmother, a dark sorceress, intervenes. Now dependent on the Doña’s magic for her life, Reina will do anything to earn—and keep—her favor. Even the bidding of an ancient god who whispers to her at night.
Eva is her family’s shame. She tries her best to be perfect and to hide her oddities. But Eva is hiding a secret: magic calls to her. Magic is the sign of the dark god, and using it is punishable by death. Yet, it’s hard to deny power when it has always been denied to you. And, in the end, she’ll become something she never imagined.
Backlist Babies
Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
A fourteen-year-old boy’s discovery of the terms of his identity as the stepson of the minister of a storefront Pentecostal church in Harlem one Saturday in March of 1935. Baldwin’s rendering of his protagonist’s spiritual, sexual, and moral struggle of self-invention opened new possibilities in the American language and in the way Americans understand themselves.
Fledgling by Octavia Butler
The story of an apparently young, amnesiac girl whose alarmingly inhuman needs and abilities lead her to a startling conclusion: She is in fact a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire. Forced to discover what she can about her stolen former life, she must at the same time learn who wanted – and still wants – to destroy her and those she cares for and how she can save herself.
Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H
When fourteen-year-old Lamya H realizes she has a crush on her teacher–her female teacher–she covers up her attraction, an attraction she can’t yet name, by playing up her roles as overachiever and class clown. But one day in Quran class, she reads a passage about Maryam that changes everything: when Maryam learned that she was pregnant, she insisted no man had touched her. Could Maryam, uninterested in men, be . . . like Lamya? From that moment on, Lamya makes sense of her struggles and triumphs by comparing her experiences with some of the most famous stories in the Quran–ultimately finding that the answer to her lifelong quest for community and belonging lies in owning her identity as a queer, devout Muslim immigrant.
Love After the End edited by Joshua Whitehead
This exciting and groundbreaking fiction anthology showcases a number of new and emerging 2SQ (Two-Spirit and queer Indigenous) writers from across Turtle Island. Here, readers will discover bio-engineered AI rats, transplanted trees in space, the rise of a 2SQ resistance camp, a primer on how to survive Indigiqueerly, virtual reality applications, motherships at sea, and the very bending of space-time continuums queered through NDN time.
Additional backlist potentials:
- 📖 Becoming a Queen by Dan Clay
- 📖 This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham
- 📖 Queerly Beloved by Susia Dumond
- 📖 The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner
- 📖 Meet Me by the Fountain by Alexandra Lange
- 📖 The Soft Landings Collection by Jacquelynn Lyons
- 📖 Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (reread)
- 📖 Sister Maiden Monster by Lucy Snyder
Audiobook Hopefuls
A down and dirty list of what I hope to listen to this month:
- 🎧 The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest
- 🎧 Back in a Spell by Lana Harper
- 🎧 A Million to One by Adiba Jaigirdar
- 🎧 Bindle Punk Bruja by Desideria Mesa
- 🎧 I Swear by Katie Porter
- 🎧 You Should Smile More by Anastasia Ryan
- 🎧 Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Sutanto
- 🎧 Against White Feminism by Rafia Zakaria
The Suspected Bibliophile 