As always, there will be spoilers for the books mentioned.
Parable of the Talents – Octavia E. Butler
If you know me, you know I LOVE Octavia E. Butler. I read Parable of the Sower forever ago, and now I finished Parable of the Talents! To beautiful, so heart-wrenching, so timely, so everything.
The Once and Future Witches – Alix E. Harrow
Queer suffragette witches! Super fun. I tried reading Harrow’s The Ten Thousand Doors of January, and I DNF’d it, sadly. I liked Future Witches for the most part, I really have no complaints about it. I liked how, in the audiobook, there was music for the stories and at the beginning of every chapter.
Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl – Carrie Brownstein
I’ve been getting really into learning about punk, especially women in punk, and I picked up Carrie Brownstein’s Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl. It was fun to learn about the Washington Punk scene, and Brownstein is an awesome narrator. I also loved the interview at the end of the audiobook!
For Her Consideration – Amy Spalding
I started this book in March and I finally finished it on the first day of June, which I think is fitting. I enjoyed this a lot more than Spalding’s No Boy Summer, especially the part when the main character’s friends said, “You and your love interest both did kinda shitty things! Get over it!” It also made me want to visit LA more.
Rosewater – Liv Little
Sooooooo good!! It read like an A24 slice of life movie. I also enjoyed the poetry in the novel—two novels I’ve read this year feature main characters as poets, but they don’t feature the actual poetry? This one did, and it was a pleasure to listen to.
The Queer Girl is Going to be Okay – Dale Walls
The queer girl was definitely okay in this novel. It was fun, it was sweet, there were times when I was sad. Made me want to get back into film!
Bruised – Tanya Boteju
I’ve been getting into roller derby while living in my new city, and when I saw this book was set in a roller derby team, I had to read it! I loved the main character’s arc throughout the novel.
It Goes Like This – Miel Moreland
More bands! I really REALLY wish books like this came with a playlist of actual songs the band plays, because it helps me hear the band and the type of music they play. I also love tie-in music.
Even Though I Knew the End – C. L. Polk
Look, even though the ending of the story makes sense, it would have been better if the main character DIDN’T have to die and could live with her girlfriend forever? I dunno, maybe it’s just me. Otherwise, I loved how easy it was to immerse myself in the story, and how everything made sense even when we’re just jumping into the story.
I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself – Marisa Crane
I listened to this audiobook throughout my LA road trip, and at the time I thought it was intense, very gruesome, and very VERY timely. After a lot of reflection, I realize that I actually LOVED this book. How the narrator refers to her late wife so much in the early part of the book, then how it tapers off when she meets someone new. Also there was the found family aspect, like they found each other and stayed together. How the narrator waits til the last part of the book to refer to her daughter by name. Definitely DEFINITELY give it a read.
Down Among the Sticks and Bones and Beneath the Sugar Sky – Seanan McGuire
I read Every Heart a Doorway a few years ago, and while I was waiting for my Libby holds to come through, I read the sequels, Down Among the Sticks and Bones and Beneath the Sugar Sky. It was great to see Jack and Jill’s backstory, and how differently they were raised to how they were in the first book. I actually liked Sticks and Bones more than Doorway, as well as Sugar Sky. It was great to see characters from the first book come back, as well as new ones. It was great to see Nancy again!
E. A. Young Writes 