A lot of the really great and memorable books I’ve read lately have just happened to have some aspect of queerness as a main plot or subplot. I primarily read Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Speculative Fiction so that’s what I've included here. I thought I would compile this list for you all in honor of Pride and just good reading in general. If you try any of these, find me at the library and tell me what you think, or comment below!
Magic for Liars
by Sarah Galley
Part school-for-magic-users trope, part detective noir trope, and completely genre bending. I read this in one day. I checked it out from the library on Tuesday and brought it back when I came back on Thursday. It is mesmerizing.
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The Priory of the Orange Tree
by Samantha Shannon
I did not read this one in a day. It’s a bit of a beast at 830 pages but it’s worth every second. I ended up switching to the audio version about 200 pages in so my life didn’t fall down in shambles around me. Thumbs up for narrator Liyah Summers!
Priory is a bit of a slow start and could probably be condensed but I loved the creativity of the world, the complexity of the characters, and the dragons. Did I mention that there are dragons?
The Sublime and Spirited Voyage of Original Sin
by Colette Moody
I’ve written about this one for previous blog posts. I just loved it so much. Sort of a speculative historical type story. Basically, lady pirates! It was super fun.
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Every Heart a Doorway
by Seanan McGuire
Seanan is probably in my top 5 authors writing right now. (Check out her latest, Middlegame, it doesn’t exactly fit on this list but soooooo gooood) Every Heart a Doorway is representation at its finest. It’s a lyrical and heart wrenching story, hovering right between novella and novel length. If you’re looking for some really condensed emotional reading, this is it.
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The Fifth Season
by NK Jemison
The first in a trilogy. I’m about partway through the second book and kind of trying to savor this one. I don’t really want to leave this world or these characters. This one kind of wobbles the line between Sci Fi and Fantasy and really encompasses my favorite aspects of those genres, creativity and exploration. It won the Hugo and the Sputnik and was nominated for the Nebula and World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. It lives up to the hype.
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What is Not Yours is Not Yours
by Helen Oyeyemi
*Not yet read by me but next on my To-Be-Read list and I wanted to share it with you all.
A collection of short stories with the type of reviews that are deeply intriguing.
Constance Grady reviewed if for Vox and the title of her review is “Helen Oyeyemi’s short stories are so good I am actively angry I did not read them before” If that doesn’t pique your interest…
About the Author
In free time Amanda enjoys reading, knitting, and cuddling her cats. She’s basically a walking stereotype.