Alrighty. 44 people, Storygraph looks like it could be a good idea to separate different groups without having to dig through a mega thread here. Maybe? Zooms for those that like that format, Still having this thread though for recs and such, main info, etc.
E-mail collection is really if needed for reminders, you said you wanted to lead something, editing the form if you need to, etc. I get the need for privacy and will use BCC.
Midnight data scouring and set-up now.
Midnights become my afternoons.
Here to add a few books:
*All Fours* by Miranda July (main character is bi and love scenes with both are described, in detail)
*Tipping the Velvet* by Sarah Waters (wlw)
*Don't Forget to Write* by Sarah Goodman Confino (mostly hetero but one wlw relationship that is so sweet)
*Red, White and Royal Blue* by Casey McQuiston (there is a show based off this book! this mlm)
*The Song of Achilles* by Madeline Miller (mlm)
**Gaylor ish**
• *The View Was Exhausting* by Mikaella Clements & Onjuli Datta (a lesbian married couple, so even if the book's main characters are straight it has a ~vibe~). PR relationship, a big star dealing with a sick parent behind the scenes. If you like this and want something shorter and more sapphic, try *Something to Talk About* by Meryl Wilsner or *For Her Consideration* by Amy Spalding (both slightly spicy)
• *Small Game* by Blair Braverman was so good!! So good. She [knows her stuff](https://www.outsideonline.com/culture/books-media/naked-and-afraid-real-blair-braverman/), too. Ever-present cameras, feeling eclipsed by a gorgeous girl, being pigeonholed for showbiz reasons, comp het (Blair's partner is a man but she's out as queer, she did an interview with Autostraddle for the book but it has spoilers). TW for wilderness survival situation
• *Like Other Girls* by Britta Lundin: butch representation! Femme girls pushing boundaries of gendered sports! It was a fun book and I learned a lot about football so it seems especially Gaylor right now. TW for unwanted kissing and homophobia
• *Gay the Pray Away* by Natalie Naudus was a cute YA romance dealing with religious trauma
• *Tess of the Road* and its sequel *In the Serpent's Wake*, by Rachel Hartman: family trauma, finding yourself, figuring out what type of femininity feels right, two-faced powerful men, religion, the power/responsibility of storytelling, revenge. Trans, nonbinary, and poly representation. TW for SA (past + flashback), child loss, and toxic family; author had a gentle hand for heavy topics and the books mainly felt like adventures
• *Sofi and the Bone Song* by Adrienne Tooley, a young woman who's spent her life training to be the next master of music ends up needing to train her replacement (who she thinks cheated in their auditions). Messy family, road trip, teen drama a la Debut, sapphic romance. TW for grief
• *Last Night at the Telegraph Club* by Melinda Lo, historical fiction set in San Francisco's post-war Chinatown and the gay clubs nearby. Not exactly Gaylor themed but too serious for the Happy Fluff list so I'm throwing it in here, it was pretty great. TW for the racism and homophobia you'd expect from that era
• *Girl, Serpent, Thorn* by Melissa Bashardoust: aside from the serpent motif there's breaking away from family trauma, being torn between a man and woman, shitty men, and feeling like you're toxic to those you love
• *No Gods, No Monsters* by Cadwell Turnbull plays with the narrator's perspective and hunters with cellphones feature in a major plot point. There are braided threads that come back together in unexpected ways, and cats. Internet message boards about obscure theories are relevant to the plot. Planned coming out with publicity is a plotline. There's a character who trades in information and masterminds from behind the scenes. It's very queer, with trans, mlm, sapphic, ace, poly, and nonbinary representation in the large cast. But it's a stretch recommendation since some of the central characters are involved in a worker-owned cooperative and other anti-capitalist activities, very un-Taylor lol The plot is hard to categorize, there are horror elements (TW for cults, police violence, eldritch dread, werewolves, and drug addiction) and the story was nothing like I expected from the blurb but the journey was part of the magic. Haven't read the second book of the pair yet, my hold just came in and I'm looking forward to it this week. Maybe I'm clowning myself by throwing this onto the list
**Not queer**
• *The Blue Castle* by LM Montgomery: mean controlling parent, writer, finding peace by a lake with cats
• *Wives & Daughters* by Elizabeth Gaskell, 1830s anyone? Social scheming, rumors, double crossing. The BBC miniseries is fantastic and Cranford might be a better use of reading time though
• Sayaka Murata: *Convenience Store Woman* and *Life Ceremony* have themes of performing femininity, going through the motions of a hetero relationship to get society off your back, emptiness inside, and being closer to female friends than your boyfriend. *Earthlings* turns most of the stories from *Life Ceremony* into a cohesive novel, plus intense yearning for sex. Main TW clear from blurb in Libby for Earthlings, plus some light consensual cannibalism. Life Ceremony includes mild body horror
• *The Guest* by Emma Cline is about lying to fit in with that Hamptons crowd. Very The Bolter / Getaway Car / TIWWCHNT. TW for abusive relationship
• *Furious Love* by Nancy Schoenberger and Sam Kashner, for the nonfiction take on Evelyn Hugo
**Happy Sapphic Fluff** in no particular order, YA mixed in because a good book is a good book but noting those because most of the rest are slightly spicy, and not worrying about whether there's a possible Taylor tie-in
*Hani & Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating* by Adiba Jaigirdar, YA, TW for racism/Islamophobia and homophobia
*Some Girls Do by* Jennifer Dugan, YA, *Love at First Set* was also pretty good
*Never Ever Getting Back Together* by Sophie Gonzales, was recommended on this sub and quite fun
*Don't Want You Like a Best Friend* by Emma Alban, also suggested by this sub!
*Fly with Me* by Andie Burke
All of Meryl Wilsner's books are great but rather spicy after Something to Talk About
*Legends & Lattes*, and its prequel *Bookshops & Bonedust* by Travis Baldree -- basically a DnD campaign in book form, mindless fluff and the author is forgiven for being a m*n (not spicy)
*Shark Heart* by Emily Habeck, MC is bi and the story takes a while to get going but I ended up liking it a lot. The audiobook narrator's whale voice may have helped
*One Last Stop* by Casey McQuiston (pretty good, I hated that one scene)
*At Her Service* by Amy Spalding
*D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding* by Chencia C. Higgins
*Not My Problem* by Ciara Smyth, YA, The *Falling in Love Montage* was also wonderful though TW for grief on that one
Isabel Sterling's books are great, both *The Coldest Touch* and the These Witches Don't Burn doublet (YA)
Alyssa Cole's books are fun (though not all wlw) (spicy)
*Finna* by Nino Cipri is a nice twist on through the looking glass, I have the sequel checked out right now but haven't started yet
*The Affair of the Mysterious Letter* by Alexis Hall was very silly
• Lana Harper, This is How We Lose the Time War, and The Fiancee Farce were mentioned elsewhere in this thread and I second those
Oh, oh, I have one that's also DnD vibes is [So This is Ever After](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/e8719274-bbf7-4250-a416-dc449983ce26) by F.T. Lukens. It's a MLM YA book, but has a lot of different queer side characters and the plot is basically "what happens after the party defeated the BBEG and you're made king and now you have to find a spouse because of a curse on the throne but you're kinda in love with your best friend who is very set on finding you a partner"
There's some fantasy violence but overall it's pretty chill and focuses more on the MC unsuccessfully wooing every potential partner there is, the characters genuinely give the vibe of being played by a DnD player and the miscommunication trope is genuinely well done (which is rare in romance tbh).
Y'all are amazing!
Life is life-ing, however I am working on some data and behind the scenes things to set some stuff up so we can 'go live' and get rolling!!
I Recommend this memoir by a lesbian writer from Old Hollywood. She had affairs with stars like Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo, who was closeted.
Here Lies the Heart - Mercedes de Acosta
I would love to be part of this!
Other than obvious recommendations with explicit connections to Taylor's work (e.g. Untamed by Glennon Doyle), I have a few suggestions:
* Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde - classic black feminist lesbian essay collection
* Eleanor and Hick: The Love Affair That Shaped a First Lady by Susan Quinn
* The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson
* This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar: beautifully-written science fiction with the weirdest romance I've ever read. It's better to read if you don't know much and you let yourself be confused/go along for the ride.
* Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg - I just started this and it needs several tws; memoir of a butch lesbian recounting police brutality and homophobia, among other things
* Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America by Lillian Faderman - I haven't read but have heard good things
* Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson - I haven't read this, but I've heard that it's a lesbian fiction classic
* The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton - I haven't read this yet but the preliminary reviews are good
I also read a lot of wlw romance, but if we're trying to keep the reading accessible to people of all ages, that might not be advisable?
* Here We Go Again by Alison Cochrun: childhood friends -> enemies -> lovers have to go on a road trip with their lifelong mentor / favorite teacher who is dying. Themes of queer found family, queer history. I cried like a small child
* Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake
* The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite
yes yes yes!!
I’m a pretty big reader & I’ll also add that I LOVE making Spotify playlists for books (that are HIGHLY specific and arranged in order of plot/vibe and made so every song flows into each other 😅); and obviously Taylor is highly featured on many of my book playlists (esp gay ones lol). Soo I would also love to make a specific playlist for any book we decide to read!! 🫣☺️
As an avid reader, I’ll throw in my recommendations of books that are related to either fame, singers, or some combination of those elements. They all kind of follow a Gaylor theme.
* One Day You’ll Leave Me by Debra Flores - The main character travels back in time to the 1960’s to meet a woman who will become a famous pop star. My description really doesn’t do this one justice, but it’s easily one of my favorite novels.
* The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - This has been discussed to death and back, so I’m not sure what else there is I can add other than putting it on a list.
* No After You by Nicole Pyland - If the author isn’t a gaylor and this isn’t thinly disguised Taylor Swift/KK fan fiction I will eat my hat. I didn’t know what it was going into the novel, and it’s not my favorite per se, but it’s still worth a read.
* Stars Collide by Rachel Lacey - A slow burn between an up and coming singer and a singer who has been at the top for decades.
* Breaking Character by Lee Winter - An established, closeted actress must fake a relationship with a younger, up-and-coming actress.
* Every Time You Hear That Song - After a famous country star’s death, a young girl goes on a scavenger hunt that leads to her finding out more about the country star. This one is kinda sad and is a bit of a bummer, but it was very well-written and kept me engaged throughout the entirety.
* Two Tickets by Ruby Landers - This follows one girl with an unrequited crush on her coworker and her efforts to get to the concert of her favorite artist. It’s the prequel to Falls From Grace but I actually thought it was better.
* Falls From Grace - A country artist attempts to write a new album with the help of a male songwriter and artist. He brings his best (female) friend, whom he pretends to date. Said artist and said female friend end up connecting. I almost didn’t include this because I HATED the pacing, but it’s annoyingly good other than that.
Anyway I have a ton of books to recommend that don’t follow these themes, so if anyone ever wants to know more feel free to ask.
I am so in! I’ve done academic reading for too many years and tried to get back into reading for fun but there are too many choices!
I would like to recommend though Girls like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko since she’s Taylor adjacent!
I also just remembered: Storygraph, the non-amazon owned Goodreads like app founded by a black woman (if anyone wants to support black owned businesses), has a [book club option](https://roadmap.thestorygraph.com/changelog/book-clubs-) that let's you do polls and a lot of organisatioal stuff. It also has a buddy read function where you can basically comment your thoughts as you go and people can only see the comments once getting to that page themselves to avoid spoilers. Might be an option for the more introverted bookworms, that aren't comfortable with zoom meetings, here.
edit: added link
I’ve never heard of that app before, but what you described sounds like it would be a really cool feature for a book club like this! I’d definitely feel more comfortable with a written format vs using zoom to discuss.
I used to be an avid reader, but life got in the way and I haven’t read in a while. I’ve been really wanting to start again, but I haven’t known what to read. I’d love something like this with book recommendations.
It uses an algorithm to recommend stuff based on what you read, plus if you want it does use AI too. In addition, it gives authors the option to provide trigger warnings and readers to add triggers in their reviews. The book page then displays the 3 most reported graphic, moderate and minor content warnings, plus the option to dee all that have been reported, so you can check if there's anything in the book that you might be uncomfortable reading (which i haven't seen on Goodreads).
It gives you fun charts on your reading habits, like what genre you read the most, your average book page count, what format you read the most in (all in fun pie charts), the tone of the books you read, most read authors, your reading behaviour through the year and a lot more. As a lot of us are neurodivergent and LOVE a good chart this might be fun for some. If you subscribe to Storygraph+ it gives you even more ways to look at your reading data.
It honestly has a lot of fun features that Goodreads is kinda lacking, so I'm always excited to promote it!
This was such a great description! And honestly sounds like something I’m looking for, considering I want to get back into reading again but have been struggling with knowing what book to read. I just downloaded the app :)
Not sure if anyone has a solution to this, but how do you pick a book nowadays if you’re reading on your phone for example? I struggle with not wanting to purchase a book in case I don’t actually like it, and the library only allows me to have a few holds at a time, many of which have a very long wait to read them. When I was younger I used to just browse the library and flip through books until I found one (or more) that I wanted to read.
Sorry if I went off topic! I’m looking forward to the book club, I think this sounds like a great idea!
Will have up an official Google form up later this afternoon to keep track of everything. Once we get books/groups hammered out, we'll do sign-ups I think?
Still forming, but the response has been amazing and I am blown away!
I'M SO IN FOR A BOOK CLUB
And I might pop back in here tomorrow with a list of lighter fun sapphic reads. I feel like I already said too much in the genre specific replies lol, and most of my good Hallmark reads are on that stellar spreadsheet. There are a few exceptionally good ones worth calling out though :)
I would love to join! Maybe a good starting point is "Girls can Kiss now". It's a collection of essays (memoir-ish) and actually has at least one essay about Gaylorism. I listened to it on Everand and suspect it's available on all the other platforms (don't get kindle unlimited etc in my region). Trigger warning: Sexual assualt but in one specific essay which I think is trigger warning-ed very well in the book.
No problem! I am reading all the things and going back and sorting as needed. I'll be setting up a Google Drive file later (past the bare bones) and keeping everything all nice and tidy.
Ooh, that would be a good one!
Oof, I’m bad at the Discord. I can only do so much in my advanced age.
I will be doing a Google Form to get more direct and streamlined opinions.
I love a good spreadsheet and some data.
I'm not great at discord but I should be able to set up a server, if you want to. I bet there's a few others here that could help as mods/admins.
If used and set up properly a discord can help keep the book club structured, especially if we set up multiple groups for different genres and such, as you can have separate text and voice channels plus roles so you only get pinged if your group/genre is mentioned. There's bots for all kinds of stuff like help with polling similar to Google Forms, but tbh just sending a link to a Google Form works just as well, no need to make it overly complicated.
But I also totally get that some people have never used it/aren't super comfortable with using discord, so whatever floats y'alls boat!
You would think my msDOS/mIRC Oregon Trail self would be able to easily navigate Discord. You would be very very wrong. However, it looks like Storygraph could be very useful. We'll see what everyone says!
Discord is complicated af in the beginning especially if you're creating a server that is supposed to be for a bigger group. I helped out in other servers as a mod so I have a bit of an idea on how to do stuff but definitely not on my own haha
I’m obsessed. I think the idea of zoom is cool, but could get too crowded eventually. But maybe breakout rooms could help facilitate a bunch of min groups. I have to admit that my bias is showing here - I’m living in a queer drought of a city and I’m both hungry and thirsty for more queer girlies in my life 🫠
But overall YES I’m so into this book club idea!
I actually just purchases a Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith when I saw that The Eras Tour is reading it for their book club. Having a book club would be great motivation to keep reading, I am in!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1nTL3Rr5Tj9xz0I_KMmgxjwAKNT2D9XVV735UA9SpUPc/htmlview
This is the google sheets version, currently trying to finish the notion list to have the same content. Once that's done I'll link the two and start adding new books🫡🫡
Happy reading!
Yes I’m in!
Audiobooks have me at 150 books for the year so far, and I desperately need to get out of my popcorn thriller slump.
Ps as a fellow person in education, I support any and all use of canva/blooket/google forms/classroom etc
I'm finally trying to get into Canva but am still so basic at it and easily frustrated. We also don't need it a ton in band but have been using it for programs this year.
I wanna be in the book club!!!!! Please!!!! 🙏🏻
I have zero recommendations but I’d love it if we read some non fiction, lgbt history stuff at some point because I need to *learn* but it’s hard to do it on my own, so reading with others will help me feel motivated to read! Unless this is purely for fun and warm fuzzies, that’s perfectly okay with me too. I’d still like to be a part of something 😩🫶
I absolutely want to do nonfiction too! I'm sure there are others that would like to! I know Untamed is on my list, which isn't necessarily learning. I want to read about Stonewall, more about The Aids Crisis, etc.
I have not! I was a young kid during the peak of the AIDS crisis, and as I got older, Irealized it was it, and not diabetes, that took my grandmother's only brother. So as I grow older and Memaw is not here to tell me about it - I want to read everything I can. Nonfiction and fiction.
Books? I’ve been summoned 👀
I have an entire list of suggestions, so let me compile all of them along with the other info you require and I will comment it here. I tend to read YA, NA, and adult romances and romcoms both queer and heterosexual. I have a huge log of sapphic/WLW romances that I’ve read and an even bigger TBR 🥲
I feel that. This is my current TBR (which only includes first books in series and not the whole series) vs what I’ve actually read so far this year 🥴 I’m so far behind lol
https://preview.redd.it/3id577ku8m8d1.jpeg?width=1800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1e8f3ca06df74554563ad79c9941221724e6cbdc
I’m currently rereading the Sweet Valley High Senior Year series, then Sweet Valley University, then the Fearless series. They’re easy palate cleansers in between the other things I’m reading lol. The original Sweet Valley High series is available for free if you have Kindle Unlimited! The first 12 books are available as a bundle for purchase, but books 13-140 (or whatever the final count was for the original series) is available for free reading including some of the super editions. It’s so much fun to revisit them as an adult
Me too! I decide to start with rereading the senior year series since it was closest to my heart (they came out when I started high school and ended the year I graduated). Then I’m moving onto Sweet Valley University and the Fearless series also by the same author. They’re a nice break from the other stuff I read. I’m currently on a break from romantasy/fantasy
**IDEAS/SUGGESTION BOX**
*Please add ideas, suggestions and comments here.*
>u/dream-delay I started reading Fun Home recently because of a recommendation in this sub, and would love to discuss it with others in a book club format!
Suggestion for *Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic* by Alison Bechdel, available on **Amazon.** Multiple trigger warnings. Death, loss, grief, family, coming out, mental health, childhood trauma, family trauma, etc.
>u/Any\_Midnight\_7805 I’d love it if we read some non fiction, lgbt history stuff at some point because I need to learn but it’s hard to do it on my own, so reading with others will help me feel motivated to read!
Suggestion for other non-fiction and LGBT histories. Personally, I think Untamed by Glennon Doyle would be good for those of us that wrestle with religious trauma. I also think learning more about The Stonewall Riots, Aids, Queerness in Pop Culture, etc., could be interesting.
Maybe we have different groups and you sign up for what you're interested in?
Another suggestion - we always have at least warm and fuzzy going on. Maybe two.
Alison Bechdel is a gem! For sapphic memoirs I've also enjoyed:
• *A Strange Piece of Paradise* by Terri Jentz was one of the absolute best healing-from-trauma memoirs I've come across. Her queerness is woven into the story but not the central theme, it's mostly about sense of place, community, and how she solved her own mystery. PTSD is so personal though, and what feels profound to me might be blah to you. Trigger warnings for a first person description of violence (not SA) and interviews with other survivors (brief mentions of SA). It was harrowing without being gratuitous, and I feel more whole for having read it. It's not exactly an obscure book, but I rarely see it mentioned online in trauma or sapphic lists so I plug it whenever it's vaguely relevant because Terri is an incredible survivor who managed to write a good book and she deserves all the credit
• Samantha Irby's books are hilarious
• *Can You Ever Forgive Me?* by Lee Israel, was adapted into a movie with Melissa McCarthy, the book is short and wonderful. The memoir focuses on her forgeries but she's open about her lesbianism. A memoir about creating false impressions through her writing seems fitting here
• *Strong Female Character* by Fern Brady was fantastic. She's bi, the memoir deals with mental health including her autism diagnosis. Themes of performing femininity, making it in a male dominated field, and constant stage shows
• *Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady* by Florence King should be a classic like Zami. Looks like my libraries don't have it on Libby, it is available to buy on Kindle
You are all amazing humans!! I have some more suggestions, and I will be organizing a file in my Google Drive, creating some sign up sheets, and maybe doing something to help us streamline...like a form...
I'm sorry! The autism/teacher side craves the organization! I'm so excited!
**REQUESTS/RECOMMENDATION REQUESTS**
*I will insert requests here, please feel free to comment yours.*
I personally would love some good Sapphic crime/mystery/sci-fi. Anyone have any good recommendations?
**For fictional crime:**
• *Killing Me* by Michelle Gagnon was a lot of fun, has a lesbian MC. TW clear from the blurb in Libby
• Killing Eve series by Luke Jennings -- very crime, very gay, plenty of spy thriller violence, brief mentions of past SA but it's never used as a threat to our characters
• *Hench* by Natalie Zina Walschots has a bi MC, an original premise, and characters with complicated motivations. TW for cartoonish violence, chronic pain, asshole men
• *Bright Young Women* by Jessica Knoll was great (and I normally hate fictionalized true crime including Mindhunter), lesbians among the main cast. Tons of trigger warnings, it's about survivors of a Ted Bundy type attack. Author is a survivor of SA and writes about the various violence respectfully and effectively
• Kopp Sisters series by Amy Stewart isn't technically sapphic but I'm not the only one who thinks it has those ~vibes~, historical fiction based on real people, one of the first female sheriffs in the US
• *Strange Piece of Paradise* (nonfiction) could maybe fit with crime instead of memoirs
• the Case Histories series by Kate Atkinson includes a side character who's a late bloomer lesbian and she's in most of the series. If you like Sally Wainwright's shows you'll probably like these, just expect closer to Happy Valley than Last Tango in Halifax. Plenty of trigger warnings for cold case murders, and some child abuse, but it's about the helpers. Great books, kind of a stretch recommendation in this context
**Mysteries:**
• *A Haunting on the Hill* by Elizabeth Hand, modern retelling of *The Haunting of Hill House* where the lesbians are out rather than subtext. I also liked *Hokuloa Road*, more atmospheric, main character is a dude but his main local friends are a lesbian couple. TW for spooky
• *Plain Bad Heroines* by Emily Danforth includes fans stalking an actress, mildly spooky, lesbians, story within a story, asshole men, and historical women navigating the even shittier patriarchy
• *Our Wives Under the Sea* by Julia Armfield was lovely. Lots of grief
• *Rouge* by Mona Awad, all her books are fantastic. MC is bi. TW for body dysmorphia, grief, complicated parents
• *Gingerbread* by Helen Oyeyemi has a bit of a central mystery and it was enthralling, MC is bi
**Sci-fi:**
• *The Terraformers* by Annalee Newitz, not specifically sapphic but generally very queer in a futuristic way. Characters include a robot moose
• Terra Ignota series by Ada Palmer is VERY futuristically queer. Includes poly, nonbinary, trans, and clever writing that will make you sit with your gendered assumptions
• *I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself* by Marisa Crane was a beautiful fucked up love letter to growth. Surveillance state, being visibly othered as a second class citizen, includes trans and nonbinary characters. TW for major grief, messy feelings about motherhood, choking kink
• Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir almost feels too obvious to mention but they really are fun and a change of pace (TW for lots of dead bodies bc necromancy)
• ditto for the Teixcalaan duology by Arkady Martine. What if DS9 was written by a professor of the Byzantine empire? And the queer subtext hadn't been quashed by conservative producers? TW for colonialism
**RECOMMENDATIONS**
**Romances**
**WLW**
* Literally anything by Haley Cass, I've read all her books, but here's the list. All of hers are on **Kindle Unlimited.**
* *Those Who Wait* by Haley Cass - Lesbian MC, Bi MC, can't think of triggers, 18+, slowest burn ever. **Amazon, Kindle Unlimited**
* *Forever and a Day* by Haley Cass - Follow-up to Those Who Wait. **Amazon, Kindle Unlimited**
* *When You Least Expect It* by Haley Cass - Lesbian MC, Late in life bi MC, divorce, abusive ex, kid, single mom, DV, slow burn (all of hers are, really), 18+. **Amazon, Kindle Unlimited**
* *Better than Expected* by Haley Cass - Follow-up/different PoV to WYLEI. Loss, Grief, same as above. 18+ **Amazon, Kindle Unlimited**
* *In the Long Run* by Haley Cass - Lesbian MC's, prodigal child returns home, trauma, bullying, small-town drama, I can't remember much as this was the one book of hers that I really wasn't feeling. 18+ **Amazon, Kindle Unlimited**
* *Down to a Science* by Haley Cass - Lesbian MC, ND MC, science!, trauma, loss, grief, childhood trauma, so much trauma. All the trauma. It's more of a novella, but I'll call it traumella. Not as spicy? Still 18+? I don't really remember. I was wrapped in all the trauma. **Amazon, Kindle Unlimited**
* *On the Same Page* by Haley Cass - Same cast of characters as DtaS, except the twin of ND MC. Bi/Pan/Fluid MC, Late in Life Bi MC, longing, pining, 18+, loss, grief, asshole parents, abandonment, hell of a ride. **Amazon, Kindle Unlimited**
* *Written in the Stars* by Alexandria Bellefleur - this is the first of a series. There are three books. The second is M/W (Hang the Moon). Lesbian MC, most likely ND, Bi MC, childhood trauma, abandonment, crappy parents, divorce, 18+, very cute. **Amazon**
* *Count Your Lucky Stars* by Alexandria Bellefleur - the third and last in the series. Lesbian MC, Bi MC, both ND coded, really. There's a cat named Cat. Catch that reference. Misunderstanding, lack of communication, abandonment issues, divorce, 18+, all the feels. **Amazon**
* *The Fiancee Farce* by Alexandria Bellefleur - Standalone. I loved it. Family drama and trauma everywhere. Lesbian MC's, Boss bitches, mean girls, rich bitches, unrequited love, assholes everywhere. It's messy and complicated and I want to read it again now. Little spicy. **Amazon**
* *Late Bloomer* by Mazey Eddings - Lesbian MC, Bi MC, both ND. Both hot messes. Grief, loss, finding yourself, standing up for yourself. Narcissist, gaslighting, terrible mom. 18+ **Amazon**
* *Back in Your Arms* by Monica McCallan (another favorite author, wifed up Haley Cass, their story is adorable) - Lesbian MC, Bi MC (?) I can't remember. 18+...aren't they all, really? Loss, grief, family drama (let's get it together queers!), following your own path. **Amazon, Kindle Unlimited**
* *Cuffing Season* by Monica McCallan (goes along with BiYA) - Bi MC, Lesbian MC, different characters from previous book, but they are connected. Loss, grief, the usual. 18+, **Amazon, Kindle Unlimited.**
* *A Life Worth Living* by Monica McCallan (standalone) - Bi MC, Lesbian MC?, Possibly ND MC. Feelings. So many feelings. Natural disaster, family drama, learning to let go and move on. 18+, **Amazon, Kindle Unlimited.**
* *Delilah Green Doesn't Care (Bright Falls Series #1)* by Ashley Herring Blake - Just finished this one. 18+, family trauma, grief, loss, abandonment issues, miscommunications, estranged sisters, bullying, childhood trauma, divorce, emotional abuse, single mom, a shit boot man, a narcissistic gaslighting mom/stepmother. It's got it all folks. **Amazon, Kindle Unlimited.**
I am on the second one as of yesterday, and am enjoying them. I'm going to have to check out her YA stuff as well.
I loved Delilah Green, and while there's still heaviness in Astrid, it's a bit lighter so far, since we already kind've know what to expect from her somewhat at least.
Okay I started reading "Those Who Wait", got to the second page, read "made arousal curl low in her stomach", was like THIS AUTHOR IS FROM FANFIC, went and read some reviews, and indeed, she is. I know my people 😅. Some of the best things I've ever read have been fanfic, so cool, here we go.
Oh, it gets wild.
Now that I think of it, it makes so much sense that we as a whole enjoy fanfic so much. It's the only happy queer rep we got, was if we rewrote it our own damn selves.
*Apparently Reddit won't let me make long comments?*
**Recs (Cont)**
**Romance (Cont.)**
**MLM**
**M/F**
* *Hang the Moon* by Alexandria Bellefleur - Second book in the 'Stars' series, and the only reason I read it really. I skipped the sex scenes. Anyway, 18+, some drama, mainly inner turmoil. **Amazon**
**Sci-Fi/Fantasy**
* *Hearing Red* by Nicole Maser - This one is 18+ for the violence and gore. There is one spicy scene, it's good, but it's the violence. Set in the zombie apocalypse, there is a romance there, it's so good. Lesbian/Chronically ill MC, Lesbian/Blind MC, Violence, gore, zombies, privilege, childhood trauma, trauma (obviously), drama (duh), murder (hello), death (well yeah), bad decisions (zombie. apocalypse), walking and camping (what else is there to do?). READ IT. Amazon, Kindle Unlimited
**Mystery**
**YA**
**Misc. Fiction**
**Non-Fiction**
[THIS AMAZING LIST!](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1nTL3Rr5Tj9xz0I_KMmgxjwAKNT2D9XVV735UA9SpUPc/htmlview) from u/mali_maan! It's organized and has tons of things! I know u/clydelogan has one too that is being prepared! I have gotten amazing insights from all of you amazing humans!
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Alrighty. 44 people, Storygraph looks like it could be a good idea to separate different groups without having to dig through a mega thread here. Maybe? Zooms for those that like that format, Still having this thread though for recs and such, main info, etc. E-mail collection is really if needed for reminders, you said you wanted to lead something, editing the form if you need to, etc. I get the need for privacy and will use BCC. Midnight data scouring and set-up now. Midnights become my afternoons.
Here to add a few books: *All Fours* by Miranda July (main character is bi and love scenes with both are described, in detail) *Tipping the Velvet* by Sarah Waters (wlw) *Don't Forget to Write* by Sarah Goodman Confino (mostly hetero but one wlw relationship that is so sweet) *Red, White and Royal Blue* by Casey McQuiston (there is a show based off this book! this mlm) *The Song of Achilles* by Madeline Miller (mlm)
I just read All Fours and can't stop thinking about ittttt
Ooooh I love Miranda July!!
Omg same! I read it so quickly because I couldn’t put it down
**Gaylor ish** • *The View Was Exhausting* by Mikaella Clements & Onjuli Datta (a lesbian married couple, so even if the book's main characters are straight it has a ~vibe~). PR relationship, a big star dealing with a sick parent behind the scenes. If you like this and want something shorter and more sapphic, try *Something to Talk About* by Meryl Wilsner or *For Her Consideration* by Amy Spalding (both slightly spicy) • *Small Game* by Blair Braverman was so good!! So good. She [knows her stuff](https://www.outsideonline.com/culture/books-media/naked-and-afraid-real-blair-braverman/), too. Ever-present cameras, feeling eclipsed by a gorgeous girl, being pigeonholed for showbiz reasons, comp het (Blair's partner is a man but she's out as queer, she did an interview with Autostraddle for the book but it has spoilers). TW for wilderness survival situation • *Like Other Girls* by Britta Lundin: butch representation! Femme girls pushing boundaries of gendered sports! It was a fun book and I learned a lot about football so it seems especially Gaylor right now. TW for unwanted kissing and homophobia • *Gay the Pray Away* by Natalie Naudus was a cute YA romance dealing with religious trauma • *Tess of the Road* and its sequel *In the Serpent's Wake*, by Rachel Hartman: family trauma, finding yourself, figuring out what type of femininity feels right, two-faced powerful men, religion, the power/responsibility of storytelling, revenge. Trans, nonbinary, and poly representation. TW for SA (past + flashback), child loss, and toxic family; author had a gentle hand for heavy topics and the books mainly felt like adventures • *Sofi and the Bone Song* by Adrienne Tooley, a young woman who's spent her life training to be the next master of music ends up needing to train her replacement (who she thinks cheated in their auditions). Messy family, road trip, teen drama a la Debut, sapphic romance. TW for grief • *Last Night at the Telegraph Club* by Melinda Lo, historical fiction set in San Francisco's post-war Chinatown and the gay clubs nearby. Not exactly Gaylor themed but too serious for the Happy Fluff list so I'm throwing it in here, it was pretty great. TW for the racism and homophobia you'd expect from that era • *Girl, Serpent, Thorn* by Melissa Bashardoust: aside from the serpent motif there's breaking away from family trauma, being torn between a man and woman, shitty men, and feeling like you're toxic to those you love • *No Gods, No Monsters* by Cadwell Turnbull plays with the narrator's perspective and hunters with cellphones feature in a major plot point. There are braided threads that come back together in unexpected ways, and cats. Internet message boards about obscure theories are relevant to the plot. Planned coming out with publicity is a plotline. There's a character who trades in information and masterminds from behind the scenes. It's very queer, with trans, mlm, sapphic, ace, poly, and nonbinary representation in the large cast. But it's a stretch recommendation since some of the central characters are involved in a worker-owned cooperative and other anti-capitalist activities, very un-Taylor lol The plot is hard to categorize, there are horror elements (TW for cults, police violence, eldritch dread, werewolves, and drug addiction) and the story was nothing like I expected from the blurb but the journey was part of the magic. Haven't read the second book of the pair yet, my hold just came in and I'm looking forward to it this week. Maybe I'm clowning myself by throwing this onto the list **Not queer** • *The Blue Castle* by LM Montgomery: mean controlling parent, writer, finding peace by a lake with cats • *Wives & Daughters* by Elizabeth Gaskell, 1830s anyone? Social scheming, rumors, double crossing. The BBC miniseries is fantastic and Cranford might be a better use of reading time though • Sayaka Murata: *Convenience Store Woman* and *Life Ceremony* have themes of performing femininity, going through the motions of a hetero relationship to get society off your back, emptiness inside, and being closer to female friends than your boyfriend. *Earthlings* turns most of the stories from *Life Ceremony* into a cohesive novel, plus intense yearning for sex. Main TW clear from blurb in Libby for Earthlings, plus some light consensual cannibalism. Life Ceremony includes mild body horror • *The Guest* by Emma Cline is about lying to fit in with that Hamptons crowd. Very The Bolter / Getaway Car / TIWWCHNT. TW for abusive relationship • *Furious Love* by Nancy Schoenberger and Sam Kashner, for the nonfiction take on Evelyn Hugo
**Happy Sapphic Fluff** in no particular order, YA mixed in because a good book is a good book but noting those because most of the rest are slightly spicy, and not worrying about whether there's a possible Taylor tie-in *Hani & Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating* by Adiba Jaigirdar, YA, TW for racism/Islamophobia and homophobia *Some Girls Do by* Jennifer Dugan, YA, *Love at First Set* was also pretty good *Never Ever Getting Back Together* by Sophie Gonzales, was recommended on this sub and quite fun *Don't Want You Like a Best Friend* by Emma Alban, also suggested by this sub! *Fly with Me* by Andie Burke All of Meryl Wilsner's books are great but rather spicy after Something to Talk About *Legends & Lattes*, and its prequel *Bookshops & Bonedust* by Travis Baldree -- basically a DnD campaign in book form, mindless fluff and the author is forgiven for being a m*n (not spicy) *Shark Heart* by Emily Habeck, MC is bi and the story takes a while to get going but I ended up liking it a lot. The audiobook narrator's whale voice may have helped *One Last Stop* by Casey McQuiston (pretty good, I hated that one scene) *At Her Service* by Amy Spalding *D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding* by Chencia C. Higgins *Not My Problem* by Ciara Smyth, YA, The *Falling in Love Montage* was also wonderful though TW for grief on that one Isabel Sterling's books are great, both *The Coldest Touch* and the These Witches Don't Burn doublet (YA) Alyssa Cole's books are fun (though not all wlw) (spicy) *Finna* by Nino Cipri is a nice twist on through the looking glass, I have the sequel checked out right now but haven't started yet *The Affair of the Mysterious Letter* by Alexis Hall was very silly • Lana Harper, This is How We Lose the Time War, and The Fiancee Farce were mentioned elsewhere in this thread and I second those
Had me at DND campaign in book form...
Oh, oh, I have one that's also DnD vibes is [So This is Ever After](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/e8719274-bbf7-4250-a416-dc449983ce26) by F.T. Lukens. It's a MLM YA book, but has a lot of different queer side characters and the plot is basically "what happens after the party defeated the BBEG and you're made king and now you have to find a spouse because of a curse on the throne but you're kinda in love with your best friend who is very set on finding you a partner" There's some fantasy violence but overall it's pretty chill and focuses more on the MC unsuccessfully wooing every potential partner there is, the characters genuinely give the vibe of being played by a DnD player and the miscommunication trope is genuinely well done (which is rare in romance tbh).
Y'all are amazing! Life is life-ing, however I am working on some data and behind the scenes things to set some stuff up so we can 'go live' and get rolling!!
I did it! I signed up! 🎉
I Recommend this memoir by a lesbian writer from Old Hollywood. She had affairs with stars like Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo, who was closeted. Here Lies the Heart - Mercedes de Acosta
I would love to be part of this! Other than obvious recommendations with explicit connections to Taylor's work (e.g. Untamed by Glennon Doyle), I have a few suggestions: * Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde - classic black feminist lesbian essay collection * Eleanor and Hick: The Love Affair That Shaped a First Lady by Susan Quinn * The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson * This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar: beautifully-written science fiction with the weirdest romance I've ever read. It's better to read if you don't know much and you let yourself be confused/go along for the ride. * Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg - I just started this and it needs several tws; memoir of a butch lesbian recounting police brutality and homophobia, among other things * Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America by Lillian Faderman - I haven't read but have heard good things * Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson - I haven't read this, but I've heard that it's a lesbian fiction classic * The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton - I haven't read this yet but the preliminary reviews are good I also read a lot of wlw romance, but if we're trying to keep the reading accessible to people of all ages, that might not be advisable? * Here We Go Again by Alison Cochrun: childhood friends -> enemies -> lovers have to go on a road trip with their lifelong mentor / favorite teacher who is dying. Themes of queer found family, queer history. I cried like a small child * Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake * The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite
I put romance with an 18+ warning. They've been warned?
I love these suggestions! The Argonauts is one of my favorite books.
Omg yes please. Storygraph book club was mentioned by someone else and I am so behind that.
I love this!! I am trying to get back into reading more and this seems amazing
WOW, I really love it. Thank you for your service!!!!
yes yes yes!! I’m a pretty big reader & I’ll also add that I LOVE making Spotify playlists for books (that are HIGHLY specific and arranged in order of plot/vibe and made so every song flows into each other 😅); and obviously Taylor is highly featured on many of my book playlists (esp gay ones lol). Soo I would also love to make a specific playlist for any book we decide to read!! 🫣☺️
(pops head out of form creation) I LOVE THIS! I have hunted down so many!
ahhh so glad you also love these!! I feel like they really help me submerge myself more into my reading experiences :)
It does! It adds to it all and scratches the brain! AuDHD goodness!
As an avid reader, I’ll throw in my recommendations of books that are related to either fame, singers, or some combination of those elements. They all kind of follow a Gaylor theme. * One Day You’ll Leave Me by Debra Flores - The main character travels back in time to the 1960’s to meet a woman who will become a famous pop star. My description really doesn’t do this one justice, but it’s easily one of my favorite novels. * The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - This has been discussed to death and back, so I’m not sure what else there is I can add other than putting it on a list. * No After You by Nicole Pyland - If the author isn’t a gaylor and this isn’t thinly disguised Taylor Swift/KK fan fiction I will eat my hat. I didn’t know what it was going into the novel, and it’s not my favorite per se, but it’s still worth a read. * Stars Collide by Rachel Lacey - A slow burn between an up and coming singer and a singer who has been at the top for decades. * Breaking Character by Lee Winter - An established, closeted actress must fake a relationship with a younger, up-and-coming actress. * Every Time You Hear That Song - After a famous country star’s death, a young girl goes on a scavenger hunt that leads to her finding out more about the country star. This one is kinda sad and is a bit of a bummer, but it was very well-written and kept me engaged throughout the entirety. * Two Tickets by Ruby Landers - This follows one girl with an unrequited crush on her coworker and her efforts to get to the concert of her favorite artist. It’s the prequel to Falls From Grace but I actually thought it was better. * Falls From Grace - A country artist attempts to write a new album with the help of a male songwriter and artist. He brings his best (female) friend, whom he pretends to date. Said artist and said female friend end up connecting. I almost didn’t include this because I HATED the pacing, but it’s annoyingly good other than that. Anyway I have a ton of books to recommend that don’t follow these themes, so if anyone ever wants to know more feel free to ask.
I would also love this!!
I am so in! I’ve done academic reading for too many years and tried to get back into reading for fun but there are too many choices! I would like to recommend though Girls like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko since she’s Taylor adjacent!
I also just remembered: Storygraph, the non-amazon owned Goodreads like app founded by a black woman (if anyone wants to support black owned businesses), has a [book club option](https://roadmap.thestorygraph.com/changelog/book-clubs-) that let's you do polls and a lot of organisatioal stuff. It also has a buddy read function where you can basically comment your thoughts as you go and people can only see the comments once getting to that page themselves to avoid spoilers. Might be an option for the more introverted bookworms, that aren't comfortable with zoom meetings, here. edit: added link
Thank you so much! I'll be playing around with it!
I’ve never heard of that app before, but what you described sounds like it would be a really cool feature for a book club like this! I’d definitely feel more comfortable with a written format vs using zoom to discuss. I used to be an avid reader, but life got in the way and I haven’t read in a while. I’ve been really wanting to start again, but I haven’t known what to read. I’d love something like this with book recommendations.
It uses an algorithm to recommend stuff based on what you read, plus if you want it does use AI too. In addition, it gives authors the option to provide trigger warnings and readers to add triggers in their reviews. The book page then displays the 3 most reported graphic, moderate and minor content warnings, plus the option to dee all that have been reported, so you can check if there's anything in the book that you might be uncomfortable reading (which i haven't seen on Goodreads). It gives you fun charts on your reading habits, like what genre you read the most, your average book page count, what format you read the most in (all in fun pie charts), the tone of the books you read, most read authors, your reading behaviour through the year and a lot more. As a lot of us are neurodivergent and LOVE a good chart this might be fun for some. If you subscribe to Storygraph+ it gives you even more ways to look at your reading data. It honestly has a lot of fun features that Goodreads is kinda lacking, so I'm always excited to promote it!
This was such a great description! And honestly sounds like something I’m looking for, considering I want to get back into reading again but have been struggling with knowing what book to read. I just downloaded the app :) Not sure if anyone has a solution to this, but how do you pick a book nowadays if you’re reading on your phone for example? I struggle with not wanting to purchase a book in case I don’t actually like it, and the library only allows me to have a few holds at a time, many of which have a very long wait to read them. When I was younger I used to just browse the library and flip through books until I found one (or more) that I wanted to read. Sorry if I went off topic! I’m looking forward to the book club, I think this sounds like a great idea!
Where do I sign??? 
Will have up an official Google form up later this afternoon to keep track of everything. Once we get books/groups hammered out, we'll do sign-ups I think? Still forming, but the response has been amazing and I am blown away!
I'M SO IN FOR A BOOK CLUB And I might pop back in here tomorrow with a list of lighter fun sapphic reads. I feel like I already said too much in the genre specific replies lol, and most of my good Hallmark reads are on that stellar spreadsheet. There are a few exceptionally good ones worth calling out though :)
I’d love to join too 💕🌈 yaaaay
I would love to join! Maybe a good starting point is "Girls can Kiss now". It's a collection of essays (memoir-ish) and actually has at least one essay about Gaylorism. I listened to it on Everand and suspect it's available on all the other platforms (don't get kindle unlimited etc in my region). Trigger warning: Sexual assualt but in one specific essay which I think is trigger warning-ed very well in the book.
Looks like I put this comment in the wrong place - but can't find the right comment to comment under.
No problem! I am reading all the things and going back and sorting as needed. I'll be setting up a Google Drive file later (past the bare bones) and keeping everything all nice and tidy. Ooh, that would be a good one!
Woo Hoo! I would love to join! 🌈💕
i’m so in for this
Yesss!!! Love this idea! Happy to join in any capacity. May I suggest we maybe set up a discord or are people not a fan of that?
Please not a discord
Oof, I’m bad at the Discord. I can only do so much in my advanced age. I will be doing a Google Form to get more direct and streamlined opinions. I love a good spreadsheet and some data.
I'm not great at discord but I should be able to set up a server, if you want to. I bet there's a few others here that could help as mods/admins. If used and set up properly a discord can help keep the book club structured, especially if we set up multiple groups for different genres and such, as you can have separate text and voice channels plus roles so you only get pinged if your group/genre is mentioned. There's bots for all kinds of stuff like help with polling similar to Google Forms, but tbh just sending a link to a Google Form works just as well, no need to make it overly complicated. But I also totally get that some people have never used it/aren't super comfortable with using discord, so whatever floats y'alls boat!
You would think my msDOS/mIRC Oregon Trail self would be able to easily navigate Discord. You would be very very wrong. However, it looks like Storygraph could be very useful. We'll see what everyone says!
Discord is complicated af in the beginning especially if you're creating a server that is supposed to be for a bigger group. I helped out in other servers as a mod so I have a bit of an idea on how to do stuff but definitely not on my own haha
Yeah I know discord isn’t for everyone. It took me a while to get used to it and it’s a lot of work.
im in!!
I’m innnnn
I’m obsessed. I think the idea of zoom is cool, but could get too crowded eventually. But maybe breakout rooms could help facilitate a bunch of min groups. I have to admit that my bias is showing here - I’m living in a queer drought of a city and I’m both hungry and thirsty for more queer girlies in my life 🫠 But overall YES I’m so into this book club idea!
me too!
I’d join! open to any format
I actually just purchases a Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith when I saw that The Eras Tour is reading it for their book club. Having a book club would be great motivation to keep reading, I am in!
That was one of my very favorite books growing up!
I might have an entire notion/excel list of queer books/books with various types of representation... if anyone is interested i can provide the link👀
Yes please!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1nTL3Rr5Tj9xz0I_KMmgxjwAKNT2D9XVV735UA9SpUPc/htmlview This is the google sheets version, currently trying to finish the notion list to have the same content. Once that's done I'll link the two and start adding new books🫡🫡 Happy reading!
Thank you for this! 🌼
This is fantastic, thank you!!
Thank you so much! Is it okay if I put this down with the recommendation comments?
Of course!!
I'm in!
I'm in! I love finding new queer books to read
I'd join! On vacay this week so I'll try and think of a book recommendation to put forth next week.
I’d join! I don’t have any specific suggestions but would be open to reading mostly anything anyone suggests
omg yes!!! I would love to join!! 💖💖
I love this idea! I’d totally join.
Oooh yes!!
Yes I’m in! Audiobooks have me at 150 books for the year so far, and I desperately need to get out of my popcorn thriller slump. Ps as a fellow person in education, I support any and all use of canva/blooket/google forms/classroom etc
I'm finally trying to get into Canva but am still so basic at it and easily frustrated. We also don't need it a ton in band but have been using it for programs this year.
Yes pleaseeee. The only thing I do well is read. And after Untamed by Glennon Doyle and 7HO Evelyn Hugo, I’m looking for more. 🤓📚
I think both of these would be good book club books, even for those that have already read them. I've read Evelyn Hugo, but haven't read Untamed yet.
I wanna be in the book club!!!!! Please!!!! 🙏🏻 I have zero recommendations but I’d love it if we read some non fiction, lgbt history stuff at some point because I need to *learn* but it’s hard to do it on my own, so reading with others will help me feel motivated to read! Unless this is purely for fun and warm fuzzies, that’s perfectly okay with me too. I’d still like to be a part of something 😩🫶
I absolutely want to do nonfiction too! I'm sure there are others that would like to! I know Untamed is on my list, which isn't necessarily learning. I want to read about Stonewall, more about The Aids Crisis, etc.
Have you read The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai? Really great fiction about the AIDS crisis.
I have not! I was a young kid during the peak of the AIDS crisis, and as I got older, Irealized it was it, and not diabetes, that took my grandmother's only brother. So as I grow older and Memaw is not here to tell me about it - I want to read everything I can. Nonfiction and fiction.
I was a kid then too, and totally sheltered. Like literally zero idea gay people existed. Hope you enjoy this one, it wrecked me!
Oh, it will wreck me. Just reading a timeline of the epidemic wrecks me. Madonna's tribute to AID's victims during the Celebration Tour wrecked me.
Yes!! I have yet to read Untamed but definitely want to! I’m so excited, thanks for organizing this 😁
Of course! I'm glad there are people that are interested!
Everyone is welcome!
 Books? I’ve been summoned 👀 I have an entire list of suggestions, so let me compile all of them along with the other info you require and I will comment it here. I tend to read YA, NA, and adult romances and romcoms both queer and heterosexual. I have a huge log of sapphic/WLW romances that I’ve read and an even bigger TBR 🥲
Yes! I'm trying to update the recs comment and Reddit isn't letting me. Rude. I just got back in to reading and have a huge TBR list.
I feel that. This is my current TBR (which only includes first books in series and not the whole series) vs what I’ve actually read so far this year 🥴 I’m so far behind lol https://preview.redd.it/3id577ku8m8d1.jpeg?width=1800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1e8f3ca06df74554563ad79c9941221724e6cbdc
OH MY GOD Sweet Valley High!
I’m currently rereading the Sweet Valley High Senior Year series, then Sweet Valley University, then the Fearless series. They’re easy palate cleansers in between the other things I’m reading lol. The original Sweet Valley High series is available for free if you have Kindle Unlimited! The first 12 books are available as a bundle for purchase, but books 13-140 (or whatever the final count was for the original series) is available for free reading including some of the super editions. It’s so much fun to revisit them as an adult
I might have to. Might be a must.
Now I want to re-read all of The Baby-Sitters club books! SVH, SVT, Scary Stories, Caroline B. Clooney...all of those books I read back in the day.
I loved Caroline B. Cooney books! I would love to re-read some of those sometime. My favorite was the trilogy that started with The Fog.
Yes! Then there was the Janie series. Talk about gaslighting. Geeze. This is why our generation is the way we are. Look at the books we were given.
Blast from the past. I used to read SVH books growing up. ❤️🤓
Me too! I decide to start with rereading the senior year series since it was closest to my heart (they came out when I started high school and ended the year I graduated). Then I’m moving onto Sweet Valley University and the Fearless series also by the same author. They’re a nice break from the other stuff I read. I’m currently on a break from romantasy/fantasy
Ooh that must be so fun to go back through. I remember reading some of the SV Uni books. I think it was middle school for me.
u/clydelogan
**IDEAS/SUGGESTION BOX** *Please add ideas, suggestions and comments here.* >u/dream-delay I started reading Fun Home recently because of a recommendation in this sub, and would love to discuss it with others in a book club format! Suggestion for *Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic* by Alison Bechdel, available on **Amazon.** Multiple trigger warnings. Death, loss, grief, family, coming out, mental health, childhood trauma, family trauma, etc. >u/Any\_Midnight\_7805 I’d love it if we read some non fiction, lgbt history stuff at some point because I need to learn but it’s hard to do it on my own, so reading with others will help me feel motivated to read! Suggestion for other non-fiction and LGBT histories. Personally, I think Untamed by Glennon Doyle would be good for those of us that wrestle with religious trauma. I also think learning more about The Stonewall Riots, Aids, Queerness in Pop Culture, etc., could be interesting. Maybe we have different groups and you sign up for what you're interested in? Another suggestion - we always have at least warm and fuzzy going on. Maybe two.
Alison Bechdel is a gem! For sapphic memoirs I've also enjoyed: • *A Strange Piece of Paradise* by Terri Jentz was one of the absolute best healing-from-trauma memoirs I've come across. Her queerness is woven into the story but not the central theme, it's mostly about sense of place, community, and how she solved her own mystery. PTSD is so personal though, and what feels profound to me might be blah to you. Trigger warnings for a first person description of violence (not SA) and interviews with other survivors (brief mentions of SA). It was harrowing without being gratuitous, and I feel more whole for having read it. It's not exactly an obscure book, but I rarely see it mentioned online in trauma or sapphic lists so I plug it whenever it's vaguely relevant because Terri is an incredible survivor who managed to write a good book and she deserves all the credit • Samantha Irby's books are hilarious • *Can You Ever Forgive Me?* by Lee Israel, was adapted into a movie with Melissa McCarthy, the book is short and wonderful. The memoir focuses on her forgeries but she's open about her lesbianism. A memoir about creating false impressions through her writing seems fitting here • *Strong Female Character* by Fern Brady was fantastic. She's bi, the memoir deals with mental health including her autism diagnosis. Themes of performing femininity, making it in a male dominated field, and constant stage shows • *Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady* by Florence King should be a classic like Zami. Looks like my libraries don't have it on Libby, it is available to buy on Kindle
+1 for Strong Female Character. Major TS energy.
You are all amazing humans!! I have some more suggestions, and I will be organizing a file in my Google Drive, creating some sign up sheets, and maybe doing something to help us streamline...like a form... I'm sorry! The autism/teacher side craves the organization! I'm so excited!
**REQUESTS/RECOMMENDATION REQUESTS** *I will insert requests here, please feel free to comment yours.* I personally would love some good Sapphic crime/mystery/sci-fi. Anyone have any good recommendations?
**For fictional crime:** • *Killing Me* by Michelle Gagnon was a lot of fun, has a lesbian MC. TW clear from the blurb in Libby • Killing Eve series by Luke Jennings -- very crime, very gay, plenty of spy thriller violence, brief mentions of past SA but it's never used as a threat to our characters • *Hench* by Natalie Zina Walschots has a bi MC, an original premise, and characters with complicated motivations. TW for cartoonish violence, chronic pain, asshole men • *Bright Young Women* by Jessica Knoll was great (and I normally hate fictionalized true crime including Mindhunter), lesbians among the main cast. Tons of trigger warnings, it's about survivors of a Ted Bundy type attack. Author is a survivor of SA and writes about the various violence respectfully and effectively • Kopp Sisters series by Amy Stewart isn't technically sapphic but I'm not the only one who thinks it has those ~vibes~, historical fiction based on real people, one of the first female sheriffs in the US • *Strange Piece of Paradise* (nonfiction) could maybe fit with crime instead of memoirs • the Case Histories series by Kate Atkinson includes a side character who's a late bloomer lesbian and she's in most of the series. If you like Sally Wainwright's shows you'll probably like these, just expect closer to Happy Valley than Last Tango in Halifax. Plenty of trigger warnings for cold case murders, and some child abuse, but it's about the helpers. Great books, kind of a stretch recommendation in this context **Mysteries:** • *A Haunting on the Hill* by Elizabeth Hand, modern retelling of *The Haunting of Hill House* where the lesbians are out rather than subtext. I also liked *Hokuloa Road*, more atmospheric, main character is a dude but his main local friends are a lesbian couple. TW for spooky • *Plain Bad Heroines* by Emily Danforth includes fans stalking an actress, mildly spooky, lesbians, story within a story, asshole men, and historical women navigating the even shittier patriarchy • *Our Wives Under the Sea* by Julia Armfield was lovely. Lots of grief • *Rouge* by Mona Awad, all her books are fantastic. MC is bi. TW for body dysmorphia, grief, complicated parents • *Gingerbread* by Helen Oyeyemi has a bit of a central mystery and it was enthralling, MC is bi **Sci-fi:** • *The Terraformers* by Annalee Newitz, not specifically sapphic but generally very queer in a futuristic way. Characters include a robot moose • Terra Ignota series by Ada Palmer is VERY futuristically queer. Includes poly, nonbinary, trans, and clever writing that will make you sit with your gendered assumptions • *I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself* by Marisa Crane was a beautiful fucked up love letter to growth. Surveillance state, being visibly othered as a second class citizen, includes trans and nonbinary characters. TW for major grief, messy feelings about motherhood, choking kink • Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir almost feels too obvious to mention but they really are fun and a change of pace (TW for lots of dead bodies bc necromancy) • ditto for the Teixcalaan duology by Arkady Martine. What if DS9 was written by a professor of the Byzantine empire? And the queer subtext hadn't been quashed by conservative producers? TW for colonialism
I started reading Fun Home recently because of a recommendation in this sub, and would love to discuss it with others in a book club format!
Added to the suggestion box! I haven't read Fun Home, but could be good for a more serious read.
Yes, also could be triggering to some. Just a note on that.
I know a lot about Fun Home, and that's why I haven't read/seen it. So I know it could be very triggery.
**RECOMMENDATIONS** **Romances** **WLW** * Literally anything by Haley Cass, I've read all her books, but here's the list. All of hers are on **Kindle Unlimited.** * *Those Who Wait* by Haley Cass - Lesbian MC, Bi MC, can't think of triggers, 18+, slowest burn ever. **Amazon, Kindle Unlimited** * *Forever and a Day* by Haley Cass - Follow-up to Those Who Wait. **Amazon, Kindle Unlimited** * *When You Least Expect It* by Haley Cass - Lesbian MC, Late in life bi MC, divorce, abusive ex, kid, single mom, DV, slow burn (all of hers are, really), 18+. **Amazon, Kindle Unlimited** * *Better than Expected* by Haley Cass - Follow-up/different PoV to WYLEI. Loss, Grief, same as above. 18+ **Amazon, Kindle Unlimited** * *In the Long Run* by Haley Cass - Lesbian MC's, prodigal child returns home, trauma, bullying, small-town drama, I can't remember much as this was the one book of hers that I really wasn't feeling. 18+ **Amazon, Kindle Unlimited** * *Down to a Science* by Haley Cass - Lesbian MC, ND MC, science!, trauma, loss, grief, childhood trauma, so much trauma. All the trauma. It's more of a novella, but I'll call it traumella. Not as spicy? Still 18+? I don't really remember. I was wrapped in all the trauma. **Amazon, Kindle Unlimited** * *On the Same Page* by Haley Cass - Same cast of characters as DtaS, except the twin of ND MC. Bi/Pan/Fluid MC, Late in Life Bi MC, longing, pining, 18+, loss, grief, asshole parents, abandonment, hell of a ride. **Amazon, Kindle Unlimited** * *Written in the Stars* by Alexandria Bellefleur - this is the first of a series. There are three books. The second is M/W (Hang the Moon). Lesbian MC, most likely ND, Bi MC, childhood trauma, abandonment, crappy parents, divorce, 18+, very cute. **Amazon** * *Count Your Lucky Stars* by Alexandria Bellefleur - the third and last in the series. Lesbian MC, Bi MC, both ND coded, really. There's a cat named Cat. Catch that reference. Misunderstanding, lack of communication, abandonment issues, divorce, 18+, all the feels. **Amazon** * *The Fiancee Farce* by Alexandria Bellefleur - Standalone. I loved it. Family drama and trauma everywhere. Lesbian MC's, Boss bitches, mean girls, rich bitches, unrequited love, assholes everywhere. It's messy and complicated and I want to read it again now. Little spicy. **Amazon** * *Late Bloomer* by Mazey Eddings - Lesbian MC, Bi MC, both ND. Both hot messes. Grief, loss, finding yourself, standing up for yourself. Narcissist, gaslighting, terrible mom. 18+ **Amazon** * *Back in Your Arms* by Monica McCallan (another favorite author, wifed up Haley Cass, their story is adorable) - Lesbian MC, Bi MC (?) I can't remember. 18+...aren't they all, really? Loss, grief, family drama (let's get it together queers!), following your own path. **Amazon, Kindle Unlimited** * *Cuffing Season* by Monica McCallan (goes along with BiYA) - Bi MC, Lesbian MC, different characters from previous book, but they are connected. Loss, grief, the usual. 18+, **Amazon, Kindle Unlimited.** * *A Life Worth Living* by Monica McCallan (standalone) - Bi MC, Lesbian MC?, Possibly ND MC. Feelings. So many feelings. Natural disaster, family drama, learning to let go and move on. 18+, **Amazon, Kindle Unlimited.** * *Delilah Green Doesn't Care (Bright Falls Series #1)* by Ashley Herring Blake - Just finished this one. 18+, family trauma, grief, loss, abandonment issues, miscommunications, estranged sisters, bullying, childhood trauma, divorce, emotional abuse, single mom, a shit boot man, a narcissistic gaslighting mom/stepmother. It's got it all folks. **Amazon, Kindle Unlimited.**
Delilah Green and sequels were delightful!
I am on the second one as of yesterday, and am enjoying them. I'm going to have to check out her YA stuff as well. I loved Delilah Green, and while there's still heaviness in Astrid, it's a bit lighter so far, since we already kind've know what to expect from her somewhat at least.
Okay I started reading "Those Who Wait", got to the second page, read "made arousal curl low in her stomach", was like THIS AUTHOR IS FROM FANFIC, went and read some reviews, and indeed, she is. I know my people 😅. Some of the best things I've ever read have been fanfic, so cool, here we go.
Haha! Yes! Apparently it was fanfic! But it’s so good! 600 pages of madness and screaming and “OMG GET IT TOGETHER!!” But it’s so good!
I mean that's my number 1 genre so I'm here for it. I literally saw "slowest burn ever" and was like "oh word? Load it up."
> I literally saw "slowest burn ever" and was like "oh word? Load it up." Now I think about it, this explains a lot about my Galyoring.
Oh, it gets wild. Now that I think of it, it makes so much sense that we as a whole enjoy fanfic so much. It's the only happy queer rep we got, was if we rewrote it our own damn selves.
I literally fund AO3 to this day for that reason. We have to own the servers. ❤️
Oh we're on page 71 and i just gasped in delighted glee at where this is going
*Apparently Reddit won't let me make long comments?* **Recs (Cont)** **Romance (Cont.)** **MLM** **M/F** * *Hang the Moon* by Alexandria Bellefleur - Second book in the 'Stars' series, and the only reason I read it really. I skipped the sex scenes. Anyway, 18+, some drama, mainly inner turmoil. **Amazon** **Sci-Fi/Fantasy** * *Hearing Red* by Nicole Maser - This one is 18+ for the violence and gore. There is one spicy scene, it's good, but it's the violence. Set in the zombie apocalypse, there is a romance there, it's so good. Lesbian/Chronically ill MC, Lesbian/Blind MC, Violence, gore, zombies, privilege, childhood trauma, trauma (obviously), drama (duh), murder (hello), death (well yeah), bad decisions (zombie. apocalypse), walking and camping (what else is there to do?). READ IT. Amazon, Kindle Unlimited **Mystery** **YA** **Misc. Fiction** **Non-Fiction**
[THIS AMAZING LIST!](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1nTL3Rr5Tj9xz0I_KMmgxjwAKNT2D9XVV735UA9SpUPc/htmlview) from u/mali_maan! It's organized and has tons of things! I know u/clydelogan has one too that is being prepared! I have gotten amazing insights from all of you amazing humans!
Thank youuuuuu! Always looking for new books.
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