Last month I completely fell in love with non-fiction and this month I just didn’t read any. That’s partly because I didn’t know what to read since it was Pride Month and I wanted to read only queer books and partly because I just didn’t know what to read in general. Anyway, I’ve not gotten some recommendations and browsed around a little and gotten a gist of books I might want to read next, so I’m getting on that this month!

Since it was Pride Month, I wanted to try to only read only books with LGBT+ POCs and I succeeded quite well, I think. Except, A Closed and Common Orbit which I started and have not yet finished, but does not have a queer protagonist (yet?) (which is odd because the first book in the series had so many queer protagonists… but I’m only 40 pages in or so)

• A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena – 3.5 stars – I started this book before June began, and it’s therefore the only book that isn’t queer on this list (I mean, I should have probably thought of finishing it before or reading something else but yeah… too late now). I thought this book was really interesting and I loved that they talked a lot about rumors and how they affect someone. It’s set in Saudi Arabia and I thought that was really cool as well. However, it wasn’t as impactful as I would have liked, the message wasn’t as strong as I imagine it was intended.
• Baker Thief by Claudie Arseneault – 4.5 stars – I loved this book so much! It’s about a bigender aromantic thief/baker who tries to save witches and the biromantic demisexual police officer set on catching her. I have an extensive review here.
• Style by Chelsea M. Cameron – 3 stars – Though I thought this story was really fun and cute, it really lacked conflict and plot. It was more of a (f/f) romance book than I would have liked and rarely anything about it was not related to romance or the characters’ sexual orientation. Review here.
• It’s Not Like It’s A Secret by Misu Sugiora – 3 stars – I really liked the story, the main character is awkward and relatable and the intersection between LGBT+ and culture was really nice to read about, BUT there were a lot of aspects that really annoyed me and made me feel very conflicted. Review here.
• Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy – 4.5 stars – I suprisingly really loved this book! After reading Dumplin’ and not loving it, I didn’t expect to love this one so much! I thought it addressed some really good topics (fluid sexuality, poverty, racism, etc) and the story and characters were just so good!! Review here.
• The Art of Escaping by Erin Callahan – 3/3.5 stars – to be quite frank with you, I barely remember even what this book was about and I really struggled to even remember the main character’s name after only a week or so. I loved the concept and I liked the story but it fell a bit short for me. I should review this because it’s an eARC but I seriously don’t know how to do that.
• The Five Stages of Andrew Bradley by Shaun David Hutchinson – 4 stars – This book didn’t blow me away as much as other of Shaun David Hutchinson’s books have done but I loved it nonetheless! It’s about a boy who lives in a hospital, who then meets another boy who comes in with burn wounds. It’s a bit about them getting to know each other but it’s also about moving on and grief and tragedy. And like any of Hutchinson’s books, please check the trigger warnings, because his books are quite heavy.
• Dare Mighty Things by Heather Kaczynski – 4 stars – I feel like this book was made for me?? The concept was just exactly like something I would write or love to read! It’s about an asexual (and I argue is also aro-spec) Indian-American teen who competes to go to space. Partly, I loved it, partly I didn’t. I’m just a bit conflicted but I did really enjoy it?? But also not that much happened and the ending was.. I don’t even know how to describe it, but I was actually in shock when that plot twist happened. I’ll write a review for this soon, I hope.

Some books I didn’t finish:

• Tell Me Again What A Crush Should Feel Like by Sara Farizan– I didn’t finish this and won’t finish this because I heard it was very biphobic and I don’t want to waste my time on a book I didn’t love that also is problematic
• Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera – Again a book I didn’t finish and probably never will. This book just made me very uncomfortable. It’s about a lesbian Latina girl who learns about feminism and I don’t really know what the rest of the plot is about. Anyway, the book starts off with transphobic very white feminist language. I was told it would get better but I didn’t even get to that point because there was a coming out scene that was so incredibly painful I just didn’t want to continue anymore. It wasn’t bad, but when I read a book I kind of want to escape bad things and not be faced with them. It just didn’t work for me at all.

How was your month? Did you read any of the books I read? Have you got recommendations for me? Especially if it’s non-fiction (I now read mostly light memoirs by famous people and that’s kind of it, so I’m open to new things!)