More delightful books to share with you. We’re halfway through the month!
Pride Books Day 11 – Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Those of you who have had the (mis)fortune of spending even 30 minutes with me will probably know I am a diehard John Green stan. Like many teenagers, I discovered him through The Fault in Our Stars and then went on to read his other books. (I know TFiOS has its flaws, but it’s still one of my favorite books.) John Green is one of my top role models because he has severe OCD like me and still has a family and a career as an author. I know it’s a parasocial relationship, but he seems to me to be a kind, authentic, compassionate person and someone I look up to.
ANYWAY ENOUGH FANGIRLING AND ONTO THE BOOK. This is one of his lesser-known books and he cowrote it with David Levithan. It’s about two very different teenage boys who are both named Will Grayson who run into each other in an “unlikely place,” as the blurb puts it. I’ll tell you what the “unlikely place” is. It’s an adult film store, and neither of them intends to end up there.
One of the Will Graysons has clinical depression. He falls in love with the other Will’s best friend Tiny Cooper. Tiny Cooper is an extremely flamboyant musical theater nerd who is putting on a musical about his experience being gay. I haven’t read a lot of m/m romances because I prefer reading about female characters (call me a narcissist, but I just relate to them better being a girl myself). So it was a neat experience seeing these two very different boys fall for each other. And it’s an accurate portrayal of depression, in my opinion. (Clinical depression squad where you at?)
You should check this book out if you like musicals, mental illness rep, realistic romances, funny books, or John Green.
Also, look at my mini copies of John Green’s books – aren’t they the cutest things ever?
Pride Books Day 12 – The Other Side of the Sky duology
I’m surprised that more people haven’t heard of this truly excellent duology. I’m a big fan of Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner, a co-author team. As a teenager I was obsessed with These Broken Stars (and still love it) that was their first book together. Their most recent collaboration is The Other Side of the Sky, which is the first book in a duology.
One of the things I love best about this duo, and all of Amie Kaufman’s books, is that queerness is such a small part. That is to say, there are queer characters, but it isn’t the focus of the plot. The issues are trying not to get blown up or trying to prevent the end of the world, not that a girl is kissing another girl. It’s just not a problem. I think this is called a queernormative society and it’s something I would really like to see in real life. One day, I hope!
In this duology, North is bisexual and is in a poly-triad relationship with his two best friends (I can’t remember their names, but one boy and one girl). How cool and unique is that? I really liked their dynamic, even though the whole romance is actually North falling in love with Nimh and vice versa. But that’s cool too, because a bisexual person falling in love with the opposite gender is still queer (pointing both thumbs at myself).
This whole book’s worldbuilding is amazing. It’s like a mix of The 100 meets Studio Ghibli. There’s an island in the sky, a society of people on the ground who believe in magic, and one very snarky cat. (Can a cat be snarky? All cat owners will know the answer to this is obviously yes.)
I hope you’ll check it out!
Pride Books Day 13 – Heart of the Raven Prince
Today I get to share an absolutely exquisite book by @tessonja from her Entangled With Fae series! Just look at this cover art both on the jacket and underneath. Tessonja does her own book covers and character art. How talented can you get?
I love all of her books, but this one is my favorite. It’s a retelling of Cinderella set in a world of faeries. It’s dual POV from both Ember and Franco, and they are such fantastic characters. I loved every page. Franco is bisexual, but it’s not the focus of the book. The focus is the love story, which is both sweet and spicy.
I really appreciate books where the bisexual character ends up with the opposite gender, because these stories don’t always look queer from the outside, and therefore often end up invalidated. I read one book where the main bisexual female character ended up with the guy in the love triangle rather than the girl, and reviewers actually called it boring because of that. And not because the guy had a boring personality (which he didn’t) – it was apparently boring because he was a guy. I’m #stillbiwhenmarriedtoaguy even though I pass as straight in everyday situations. And Franco is still bi when he’s with Ember.
The whole Entangled With Fae series is a delight, and you can read the books in any order. Just pick your favorite fairy tale and go from there. My next favorite after Heart of the Raven Prince is A Dream So Wicked, which is releasing at the end of this month. (I’ve also had the honor of proofreading all of these books, but I was a fan of Tessonja even before we started working together. She’s just that talented!)
You should totally check these books out. What’s your favorite fairy tale? Mine is Rapunzel, and I have my fingers crossed for a Rapunzel entry in this series 🙂
Pride Books Day 14 – The Tea Dragon Society
If you don’t read a single other one of my posts this month, you absolutely have to read this one. I am begging you. I promise you will be better off for it.
The Tea Dragon Society is a graphic novel series by K. O’Neill, who I believe uses they/them pronouns. They write “gentle fantasy stories” for younger readers, but I, a grown woman, absolutely devour everything they write. I’m all about gentle fantasy. Sometimes you just don’t want conflict in your reading.
Tea dragons are these delightful little creatures that grow tea leaves on their horns/antlers. When you harvest the tea leaves and make tea out of them, it contains memories of your time with your tea dragon. The closer the bond you two have, the more potent the tea will be. Tea dragons are notoriously finicky and the art of keeping them has become less popular, but there are still a few tea dragon societies out there. And that’s where the book takes place.
Nobody uses labels on page, but I interpret the two main female characters as having a romantic relationship. There’s also a grown-up male couple. In this fantasy world, it’s okay for two different species to be together, because they’re all sentient magical creatures and can fully consent. So you get some super cool magical creatures. There’s so much casual diversity in a queernormative world, and it’s really beautiful to see.
I just love the art so much! Oni Press obviously realized how much people love the tea dragons because they made some plushies out of them, and I collected them all. Aren’t they the cutest things ever?
Pride Books Day 15 – Adrienne Tooley
I couldn’t pick just one of Adrienne Tooley’s books, so here, have both. Aren’t they so pretty?
Sweet & Bitter Magic was the first one of her books I read because it was delivered in my @owlcrate. They did such a pretty edition with purple sprayed edges.This is an enemies-to-lovers sapphic romance. I liked this book so much that I got her next book when it came out, and it’s just as good!
Sofi and the Bone Song is about a girl who loves playing music but is burdened by perfectionism. She thinks that you have to suffer for your art. Relatable or what? This book is about her journey, with the help of a very pretty girl named Lara, to realizing that you don’t have to torture yourself to be a good artist. It has some great songs in it, which makes sense when you realize that Adrienne Tooley is a gifted musician herself. You should check out her album The Bone Songs on Spotify. I really like it.
Adrienne’s next book comes out soon and I might even get to go to a book signing. Fingers crossed! If so, I’m sure to fangirl my head off. As usual.
Felt like this was the perfect opportunity to put my cute little ukulele in a picture. I can play guitar, but I only know three chords on the uke. I wish I had learned to play uke instead of guitar because it’s so much cuter and portable. When you whip out a guitar, it turns into a whole Production, whereas you can sling a uke over your shoulder much more easily. It sure is fun to sing along though!