It’s that time of the month again! It’s the start of a new month!
And you know what that means, it’s TBR time!
I’m going to start posting my monthly TBR’s, so hopefully that means I’m posting at least semi-consistently, and it’ll give me a goal for the month in terms of what I read, and what I can (finally!) knock off my TBR.
It’s June, (holy hell how did that happen?) which also means it’s Pride Month! Most of the books I’m going to read will have LGBTQIA characters. As a young, queer asexual identifying woman, I’m super excited to be able to have access too and showcase some wonderful LGBTQIA+ books, no matter whether they’re new releases or they’ve been out for a while.
It is so important to see people and identities represented in media, and while we still have a long way to go, there's been so many steps forward in the book community over the last few years. I’m talking about seeing so many young queer and LGBT+ identifying people on Twitter writing and interacting with each other on Book Twitter and Instagram, to watching a gay teen rom-com on the big screen for the first time, and it actually gives me goosebumps to think about what is happening and could happen in the future. I’m very excited to see what the future has to hold for LGBTQIA+ books and writers.
And without further ado, here is my June/Pride Month TBR.
(I’ll be splitting it into two parts, one for June as a whole, and one for the 48-hour Readathon I’m hosting over on my Bookstagram)
Main June TBR:
‘Let’s Talk About Love’ by Claire Kann
‘Let’s Talk About Love’ has been on my TBR since I heard it was being published. I’m not even joking, and it kind of breaks my heart that I haven’t read it yet, but I wanted the physical copy and I have one and it’s now the first on my list. It’s about Alice, who works in a library, has just broken up with her girlfriend, and is Biromantic Asexual and has a major squish on her new co-worker, Takumi.
‘The Raven King’ by Maggie Stiefvater
Now, I have to confess, I’ve already started ‘The Raven King’. I started it last year and only got halfway through. I didn’t want it to end, I didn’t want to find out if Gansey does die or not, and also I just didn’t have time and kind of forgot about it. But I do know that Ronan and Adam have a thing going and that it kind of develops? So I’m adding it to the list for my TBR so I can FINALLY say that I’ve read it.
‘Ida’ by Alison Evans
‘Ida’ is another one that I’ve started and haven’t finished, BUT NOT FOR LACK OF TRYING! I’ve read a few of Alison’s other books, and Ida is the one I’ve picked up and started a few times, but never really got around to finishing.
‘Ida’ is about a young woman who can ‘shift’ through time and change the outcome of an event, but she’s really skipping through different universes, until one time she skips too far. It features a bisexual, biracial main character (Ida) and her genderqueer partner, Daisy, and a cast of other genderfluid/trans people.
‘Changing Loyalties’ by Nicole Field
So this is a book that I’ve kind of watched from afar, through edits (re-edits?) into the book it is now. I’ve read two of Nicole’s more recent books, both of which I’ve enjoyed, so I’m looking forward to getting stuck into this one. It’s a paranormal queer+poly romance, set in Melbourne, with a murder mystery twist involving werewolves and vampires.
Also, the cover is just gorgeous, it’s very mysterious and magical.
‘Cloaked in Shadow’ by Benjamin Alderson
I actually preordered ‘Cloaked in Shadow’, and it was 98% a total cover buy. I mean, have you SEEN the cover? I was intrigued by the premise also, Magical Queer Elf gets drafted into the Kings army with his ex, and has to use his mysterious power to save the world? I’m in.
It sounds a bit tropey with the ‘MC doesn’t know their own power’ kind of thing, but it still sounds like a fun book.
‘Days of Blood and Starlight’ and ‘Dreams of Gods and Monsters’ by Laini Taylor
I’m reading ‘Daughter of Smoke and Bone’ right now and cursing myself for not reading this series earlier. I love Laini Taylor’s writing, and this series has been on my shelf for longer than I care to admit, and part of the reason why I’m including it on this list (apart from wanting to finish the series) is that one of the characters, Liraz, is asexual. That totally wasn’t the reason why I wanted to read the series in the first place, but it is a wonderful thing to see in a book.
‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ by Taylor Jenkins Reid
This book pops up on my Twitter feed every now and again, and every time I mean to pick it up and start reading it, but I never have. If you asked me what it was about, I would say “It’s about someone called Evelyn Hugo, who’s had seven husbands, and there’s a F/F romance in there somewhere.”
That’s all I know about it, I haven’t read too many reviews apart from just skimming the first few lines to work out if I wanted to read it or not (I do.)
‘The Miseducation of Cameron Post’ by Emily M Danforth
This is another book that keeps popping up on my Twitter feed, and I have a better idea of what it’s about than ‘Evelyn Hugo’ and I’m actually really interested to read it. I know it’s being made into a movie, and I’m pretty sure there’s some really heavy stuff in there, but I’ve heard some good things about it.
OTHER BOOKS I MAY OR MAY NOT GET TO
‘History Is All You Left Me’ by Adam Silvera.
‘The Abyss Surrounds Us’ by Emily Skrutskie
‘The Foxhole Court’ by Nora Sakavic
‘Villains Don’t Date Heroes’ by Mia Archer.
I think that’s all I’ll put down for the main TBR for the moment, but if I end up reading more I will definitely do a wrap-up post at the end of the month!
Now, for the ‘Holy Shit I Need To Read-a-Thon’ TBR.
Most of these books are books that I’ve started between August last year, and now, and desperately want to finish. I’m actually shocked with a few of them because I got so invested in them, got halfway through, put them down because I was working/had life stuff, and never got around to finishing them.
I either read books all at once, or read half, go get a drink of water, and come back a week or months later to finish them. Whoops.
‘The Hate U Give’ by Angie Thomas
I was so emotionally invested in ‘THUG’ when I started reading it, and I got halfway through and put it down for some reason and just… never picked it back up?
Thanks to my trusty Kindle app, I know exactly where I need to pick back up (57% if you want to know) and I’m really excited to dive back into it.
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ by Margaret Atwood
I started reading this about the same time the first season of the TV show came out, and it got super heavy, super quickly, and I just had to stop reading for a little bit. Actually, I think I got a little bit bored with it? Maybe? I don’t even remember, it’s been so long. But I’m determined to finish it just to say I’ve read it.
‘A Conjuring of Light’ by V.E Schwab
I love the ADSOM books. I really do, but I am so damn scared of the ending of this book that I’ve started it twice, and never got beyond the halfway mark. I love Victoria’s books, her characters, her worlds, and I have three copies of ADSOM (Collectors, UK paperback, and French Lumen Edition) but I haven’t finished ACOL.
‘Daughter of the Burning City’ by Amanda Foodie
This is a book that I got in a book box, and was shamed by my sister for not reading it, so I picked it up and started reading. And just, never finished it. I found the concept interesting, and the world was very fanciful, but I hit a wall at the end of August last year and didn’t read anything for months, and this was one of the victims.
‘A Court of Frost and Starlight’ by Sarah J Maas
I’m such a sucker for the SJM books, I have them all in paperback and hardcover, but I think after ‘Kingdom of Ash’ I’m going to be done with her books unless KOA blows my mind.
I got… bored, reading ACOFAS. I’m not even 100 pages in, and if it weren’t for the Cassian chapters, I would probably DNF it.
SJM is one of those authors that is REALLY divisive, her fans love her, there are so many people who can’t stand the books, and I’m part of the group in the middle. I enjoy her books, I enjoy the characters, but ACOWAR didn’t wow me, and I can see how problematic many things in her books are. But that is a conversation for another post.
‘Star War Battlefront II: Inferno Squad’ by Christie Golden
Now, a few months ago I got Battlefront II and got super invested in the story and bought the book and the first remastered Battlefront. I got four chapters in and got distracted by a game called Overwatch and never got around to finishing the book. But not for long! I’m actually super interested in the characters backstories, and I want to finish the book before going any further in the game.
I have another book on my Goodread’s ‘Currently Reading’ shelf, but it’s ‘Dragongly in Amber’ by Diana Gabaldon and definitely will not read through it quickly so it’s not on the Readathon list.
If you want to join in with the #HolyShitINeedToReadathon - comment below or comment on the instagram post and let me know what you’re reading! It’s the second 48 hour Readathon I’ve hosted, and there’ll more than likely be more in the future, so stay tuned even if you can’t get involved with this one.
