A great accessible introduction to the concepts of nonbinary gender identities and the gender binary. The inclusions of Vaid-Menon's lived experiencesA great accessible introduction to the concepts of nonbinary gender identities and the gender binary. The inclusions of Vaid-Menon's lived experiences are a nice balance with the analysis and theory. As a pocket guide, this is necessarily simplified and cursory, but I think it does an admirable job addressing a lot. The structure of answering common misconceptions and criticisms -- from the author's social media comments -- worked really well!...more
Well this was a delightful old-fashioned pirate adventure story, set in the 12th century Indian Ocean Islamic world and starring a badass woman NakhudWell this was a delightful old-fashioned pirate adventure story, set in the 12th century Indian Ocean Islamic world and starring a badass woman Nakhuda (ship captain) and mom. I loved the supporting characters (two are queer), the "let's get the gang back together for one last hooray" vibe, the villain(s) (is Raksh a villain??), how thirsty for pretty men Amina is, and the rich world-building -- historical and fantasy. Excellent as an audiobook!...more
BASEBALL, QUEER HISTORY, AND GAY LOVE!! What more could you want? This was a lovely historical romance set in 1960s NYC. Cat Sebastian somehow managesBASEBALL, QUEER HISTORY, AND GAY LOVE!! What more could you want? This was a lovely historical romance set in 1960s NYC. Cat Sebastian somehow manages to address and include the time period's intense institutional homophobia but keep the book soothing and sweet. I loved the two surprising older straight men characters in here who become unlikely lovable allies. Eddie and Mark are wonderfully drawn, complex people.
I am BEGGING Cat Sebastian to give this kind of care and attention to some mid-century queer women. Cat, the professional women's baseball league (1943-1954) is right there!
Beautifully performed by Joel Leslie in audiobook...more
I can see how this was originally intended to be the final murderbot book, but I'm so glad there are still three more! I loved seeing Murderbot and MeI can see how this was originally intended to be the final murderbot book, but I'm so glad there are still three more! I loved seeing Murderbot and Mensah's friendship develop. That scene when it let her hug it!...more
"When we love people, they seem different from all the people that we don't love, but everyone is the same. Everyone is made of the same stu4.5 stars
"When we love people, they seem different from all the people that we don't love, but everyone is the same. Everyone is made of the same stuff and everyone reaches the same conclusion [ie, death]."
Wow, what a fascinating masterpiece beautifully performed in audiobook by Cassandra Campbell. A fictional biography that is just as much about its author (the subject's widow) as it is about X, the magnanimous subject. An incredibly real and thoroughly built alternative US history as setting, a charismatic and volatile artist, a laisse faire bisexual normative world, and queering of format and archives. Intellectually mesmerizing and thought-provoking. Although not as emotionally resonant as I usually like my novels, I can't really fault this book for not being something it's not trying to be. I'll be thinking about this one for a while.
If you like this book, I'd recommend The Life and Death of Sophie Stark by Anna North. Also about a complicated bisexual woman artist!...more
I loved Jen Silverman's debut novel, so I was excited to check out their second, but this was sadly underwhelming. Objectively it's a very well done pI loved Jen Silverman's debut novel, so I was excited to check out their second, but this was sadly underwhelming. Objectively it's a very well done piece of fiction, dual father/daughter timelines in 1968 and 2018, both of them apolitical people who fall for revolutionaries. The dialogue is sharp, the themes interesting, but I found the characters bland and didn't care what happened to them or understand why their more charismatic partners liked them. Also, this is way less queer content-wise than We Play Ourselves.
One more note: unless you have passable French like I do, I would not recommend the audiobook because there is a fair amount of French dialogue that is not explained by context. In a print or ebook, at least you could look it up!...more
Wow wow wow what a journey. I loved July's short story collection and was underwhelmed by her first n"Motherfucker... I was referring to life itself."
Wow wow wow what a journey. I loved July's short story collection and was underwhelmed by her first novel, so I wasn't sure what to expect from this one, but it really resonated with me, especially as a feminist bisexual mom. There were a lot of insights that blew me away. I loved the protagonist’s relationship with her best friend, the subversion of the road trip story, the look at complicated birth trauma, and the sheer weirdness of it all.
Some favourite pasaages:
"But thoughts don't work like that. You don't pick them like pears from a tree, they just fall on your head."
"No reason was turning out to be a major theme in life. Generally speaking, when real pain was involved, there was no reason, no one to hold accountable, no apology. Pain just was. It radiated with no narrative and no end."
"We only felt right when we were saving a life together, fixing a flat tire by the side of the highway. We only became us against insurmountable odds. The rest of the time we respectfully forgave each other for utterly failing to be what we felt we deserved. And then some of the time we were fucking furious about this and it seemed impossible to continue."
"Without a child I could dance across the sexism of my era, whereas becoming a mother shoved my face right down into it, a latent bias internalized by both of us suddenly lept forth in parenthood. It was now obvious that Harris was openly rewarded for each thing he did while I was quietly shamed for the same things. There was no way to fight back against this, no one to point a finger at, because it came from everywhere. Even walking around my own house I felt haunted, fluish with guilt about every single thing I did or didn't do. Harris couldn't see the haunting and this was the worst part." ...more
Although in theory this book sounded great, the execution didn't grab me as much as I'd hoped. This is a YA with a BFFs to enemies to girlfriends subpAlthough in theory this book sounded great, the execution didn't grab me as much as I'd hoped. This is a YA with a BFFs to enemies to girlfriends subplot, with the main plot focusing on how the protagonist Ivy suddenly wakes up to find her fanfic version of Weston, the hero of her fav fantasy TV show, has come to life, with funny and then more serious consequences. I liked the material about the friend breakup and almost wished Ivy and Mac didn't get together, as there are so few stories that focus just on (queer!) friendship!...more
"For a delightfully queer historical romcom with equal parts humor and pathos and a delicate blend of romance and character growth, you really can’t do any better than Lex Croucher’s Trouble."
"I laugh at the idea of a heterosexual person reading this book and trying to brainstorm non-gay reasons for all the unexplained things Emily is trying to figure out."...more
CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian
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audiobooks
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