Losing Kate

Chain-Gang All-Stars | Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Fiction | Dystopian | Sapphic | Gripping

It’s hard to come up with words to recommend this book. It feels cheap to say it is The Hunger Games meets the American prison industrial system. But that’s the best plot description I can think of.

It is a really important read to understand the horrors of modern corporal punishment, and of what they could become. This book is able to educate without preaching by its tender portrayal of love amidst atrocities.

Sorrowland | Rivers Solomon

Horror | Fantasy | Sapphic | Chilling

I am not a big horror reader. I get freaked out really easily. But this book was worth the heebie-jeebies. Join the main character on her journey of discovering powers as she leaves her fundamentalist cult. Read this if you are into scary nature, taking down white supremacists, and sapphic trans romance.

Johny Appleseed | Joshua Whitehead

Fiction | Literary | Queer | Raw

This book is about the main character’s life as a Two-Spirit person living on and off a reservation. This book weaves through Johny’s life, revealing the quiet beauty of a life lived authentically.

The Safekeep | Yael van der Wouden

Fiction | Historical | Sapphic | Family Drama

I guess this was a year for pushing myself because I am not a big historical fiction girlie. But this book had me hooked. It has tense family drama. Messy sapphic romance. And dives into the rarely examined aftermath of the holocaust. Read this book if you want to immerse yourself in Dutch culture and uncover a family mystery.

Giovanni’s Room | James Baldwin

Fiction | Literary | Classic | Gay

I finally picked up the James Baldwin book that had been on my shelf for years. It did not disappoint. I don’t know how much more I need to say. Baldwin’s acclaim really speaks for itself. If this has been sitting on your shelf, do yourself a favor and read it.

Lucky Red | Claudia Cravens

Western | Sapphic | Adventurous | Dashing

Even more genres! I was stalling while reading a massive fantasy book serries, and I needed something fun to pick up. If you are in a slump, pick up this short romp through the often romanticized wild-west.

This book offers a different perspective than that of the hyper-masculine western by following the journey of an orphan finding independence by working in a brothel. Read this if you love headstrong women shooting guns.

The Vanished Bird | Simon Jimenez

Science Fiction | Literary | Space Opera | Dreamy

Simon Jimenez is my favorite author. His debut novel is an innovative take on the space opera. His prose are stunning without being incomprehensible. His characters are flawed yet empathetic. He is able to span lifetimes in a few chapters. I could gush about him forever, but I’ll spare you.

Read this book if you are looking for an interesting concept of space travel, unique prose, and character driven plot that isn’t just about some boring man getting divorced.

The Parable of the Sower | Octavia Butler

Fiction | Dystopian | Classic | Climate Crisis

Another classic that took me too long to read. If this has been on your reading list for a while, pick it up. This is another pertinent book to today’s dystopian feeling climate. Read this if you want a picture of what two years from now could be. (Hopefully not)