As I promised last update, I finished Boyfriends, Vol. 4 by Refrainbow, which is a graphic novel about a polycule. It’s very cute, and in this volume, one of the characters explores their gender.
One of the books I read on the patio this month was Spent: A Comic Novel by Alison Bechdel. I love Fun Home, but her recent books haven’t connected with me, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was skeptical of the tone at the beginning, but this satirical graphic novel turned out to also be heartfelt and even inspiring in its depiction of an activist friend group.
I also picked up a body more tolerable by jaye simpson, an Indigiqueer poetry collection that’s been on my TBR for ages. Unfortunately, I struggle reading poetry, and this one went a bit over my head. That’s not a fault of the author, though.
I had a great time reading the bisexual fantasy novel How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler, so I was excited when my hold came in for the second and final book, Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me. I thought it lived up to the first book—and I love a fantasy duology that skips the middle book syndrome. It’s funny and horny, with just a sprinkling of existential crises. I also liked that her relationship with her orc girlfriend was fleshed out a bit in this one.
I couldn’t resist the allure of a sapphic graphic novel about motorcycle jousting, so I picked up S.I.R. by Fell Hound and Eleonora Bruni. This one didn’t live up to the premise for me, though. The illustrations and writing both felt a bit clunky, like they could use a few more editing passes.
One I picked up for book club was Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H., which I’ve heard such great things about—and for good reason! I was completely pulled into this memoir, and it was really interesting to see how she used stories from the Quran to complement her life story.
After that, I wanted a graphic novel palette cleanser, so I pulled a graphic novel off my shelves that is perfect for summer: Camp Prodigy by Caroline Palmer. It’s a middle grade graphic novel about two nonbinary kids at a music camp. It was a very sweet story that’s mostly about anxiety, competition, and performing.
The romantasy book I read in one day was Blood on the Tide (Crimson Sails #2) by Katee Robert, which is an F/F romance between a selkie and vampire. I thought the first book was fun, if flawed, so when I was looking for a beach read, this seemed like the perfect choice. I think it could have been edited down some: the same sentiment is often expressed multiple times in the same few pages. But I still had a good time reading it.
For August 5th’s All the Books episode, I picked Extinction Capital of the World: Stories by Mariah Rigg, which is a collection of stories set across generations in Hawai’i. I thought this was really well done, and it has lots of casual queer women representation. I do wish I had spaced out the stories a bit, though: I think this benefits from being read slowly.
I took myself out to breakfast one weekend and read My Best Friend’s Honeymoon by Meryl Wilsner outside a local cafe with a view of the water. After that, I meandered home, stopping to read a few chapters every five or ten minutes as I walked by the river. It was a fantastic way to spend a summer morning—though some of the scenes I would rather have not been reading in public, because this nonbinary lesbian friends-to-lovers romance is very steamy!
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