Queereaders discussion

Okay so I recently finished The Tea Dragon Society (which is DEFINITELY below my reading level, but I like the art style) and now my soul is empty, WHICH IS SAYING SOMETHING, because my soul was shattered into pieces at the end of TSOA.

ANYWAY. If any of y'all have either cute, soft art style, queer graphic novels, or gut wrenching, soul crushing novels that will leave you crying, lmk!!

First, a book of the beginning of the XXth century then YA books, I promise.
Maurice by EM Forster was written in 1913-1914 but homosexuality was illegal in the UK so it was published only in 1971 one year after EM Forster's death and people discovered with this novel and surprise that this author was gay (I just searched in the Internet actually, lol)
William DiCanzio wrote a sequel called Alec and it's great and someone else wrote this sequel's sequel and it's called Maurice and Alec in America,

YA books
If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich,
What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera (there's also a sequel of this book; Here's To Us and it's really good too),
In Our Universe We Are Infinite by Sarah Sprinz,
Heartstopper by Alice Oseman and every Alice Oseman's book too,
They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera,
Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda (AKA Love, Simon because the book was adapted into a movie of this name so some of the versions of this books have its title),
Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey Mc Quiston,
Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli,

AlecMaurice and Alec in America Sarah Sprinz Alice Oseman

I also heard that the books
Forget Me Not by Alyson Derrick,
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller,
One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston,
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas,
The Charm Offensive (with a sequel!!!!!!!!!!!!) by Alison Cochrun,
If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo,
Aristote and Dante Discover the Secrets of The Universe,
C'est pas ma Faute by Anne-Fleur Multon and Samantha Bailley, Teach The Torches to Burn by Caleb Roehrig,
Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa,
Call Me by Your Name (which has a sequel!) by André Aciman,
Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales and all the Becky Albertalli's and Adam Silvera's books are really great too! Alyson Derrick Becky AlbertalliAdam Silvera

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao is a crazy book with a really good queer and polyamorous relationships. It's a dystopian sci-fi fantasy book with themes of gender inequality and fighting a corrupt and awful government. If you like books like the Hunger Games but with queer romance and gut wrenching fight scenes this is for you. Also the protagonist is probably my favorite book protagonist ever. The second book in the series comes out later this year and I have literally been counting down the days since I finished Iron Widow.

Iron Widow Heavenly Tyrant

There's a story in today's NYTimes about queer African authors—lots of writers to check out. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/17/bo...

I Heard Her Call My Name: A Memoir of TransitionI Heard Her Call My Name is a fascinating description of the process of transitioning at an "advanced" age. What's it like when a vague discomfort with yourself and a penchant toward distance suddenly are transformed into knowledge about your gender? How do you change the way you've presented yourself to the world after 60 years?

Lucy Sante is exactly the right person to be writing this book. She's thoughtful and articulate. She's brave enough to share moments of difficulty and confusion, as well as moments of clarity and empowerment. Regardless of the identity of the reader, I Heard Her Call My Name offers an opportunity to reflect on how we come to know ourselves and how assumptions about "normal" can make that self-knowledge more difficult.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley: the opinions are my own.

Sarah, Sounds like a fascinating read. I've put it on my list of next reads. Thanks for the recommend.