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We've Always Been Queer

The podcast is Books That Burn because the original idea was "books that burn you", discussing fictional depictions of trauma. It's also an intentional reminder of the pile of burning books, you know the photo I mean, the one from WWII. It's a pile of books about queerness, gender, and sexuality. Just in case you don't know, the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft (Institute for Sexual Science) was headed by Magnus Hirschfeld.  It was a resource for gay, intersex, and transgender people, both of knowledge and medical help. It also helped the community with addiction treatment and contraception. It wasn't perfect and some of the ideas they had seem out of date now, the ones we know about anyway. But they were trying to make queer people's lives better, and they were a community resource at a time when people really needed it. Which is all the time, we always need these accesses. And the Nazis burned the whole library. It took days, they had to drag the books ou
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Late February Reviews (2024)

Greetings

Welcome to the Books That Burn Fortnightly Roundup! Releasing every two weeks (one week early for Patrons).

News and Events

I made a new Bookshop page! This is Magical Guys, Living Trauma-Filled Magical Lives, and features works by C.L. Polk, Freydís Moon, Foz Meadows, Freya Marske, Kara Jorgensen, A.K. Faulkner, and K.J. Charles, plus many more. If you're looking for gay books (nonbinary-inclusive) where at least one person has magic and bad stuff keeps happening, this list is for you!

I track upcoming book releases by authors we've previously covered on a shareable google calendar.

Notable March Releases:

  • Aftermarket Afterlife by Seanan McGuire

  • Saint, Sorrow, Sinner by Freydís Moon

  • The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste

  • These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart by Izzy Wasserstein

  • Those Beyond the Wall by Micaiah Johnson

  • The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo

  • Icarus by K. Ancrum

Signal Boost

If there's no ceasefire in Gaza by the time you read this, please use resources like Ceasefire Now to contact your representatives and ask them to support a ceasefire in the crisis in Gaza. The link includes information on planned protests and demonstrations, and has information for people internationally on what they can do to get involved.

I recently learned about Indie Story Geek, a site which has reviews of books from indie and small-press authors. It's helped enormously in my goal of reading more independently-published books going forward.

Recent Reviews

THE REANIMATOR'S SOUL by Kara Jorgensen, book 2 of The Reanimator Mysteries is Fantasy/Historical/Romance, with queer character(s), marketed as Adult. Felipe is coming to terms with being alive, sort of, but he hasn't figured out how to tell his family what happened. Told in Third Person with Dual POVs.

THE POMEGRANATE GATE by Ariel Kaplan, book 1 of The Mirror Cycle is Fantasy/Historical, with queer character(s), marketed as Adult. Toba can neither shout nor run, something which becomes an issue when she finds herself in strange realm after getting lost in the woods. Told in Third Person with Dual POVs.

ANCILLARY SWORD by Ann Leckie, book 2 of Imperial Radch is Sci-Fi marketed as Adult. Breq travels to Athoek Station to protect the family of the lietenant she murdered. Told in First Person with Single POV.

THE GENTLEMAN'S BOOK OF VICES by Jess Everlee, book 1 of Lucky Lovers of London is Historical/Romance, with queer character(s), marketed as Adult. Charlie is resigned to marrying a woman he doesn't love, when he has one last fling before the wedding that turns into something much more serious. Told in Third Person with Dual POVs.

SAVAGE LEGION by Matt Wallace, book 1 of Savage Rebellion is Fantasy, with queer character(s), marketed as Adult. Evie goes undercover in the Savage Legion to retrieve someone. Told in Third Person with Ensemble POVs.

HEART, HAUNT, HAVOC by Freydís Moon, book 1 of The Gideon Testaments is Horror/Romance, with queer character(s), marketed as Adult. Colin Hart is a transgender exorcist who is kept awake by ghosts, demons, ghouls, and the handsome nonbinary owner of a haunted house, Bishop Martínez. Told in Third Person with Single POV.

Reviews forthcoming for THESE FRAGILE GRACES, THIS FUGITIVE HEART by Izzy Wasserstein and KNIGHT OF FLAMES by A.K. Faulkner.

DNFs

Part of trying more books outside my comfort zone, unfortunately, is DNFs as I don't enjoy them for some reason. Here are this fortnight's DNFs:

  • THE DEATH I GAVE HIM by Em X. Liu

  • THE FALL IS ALL THERE IS by C.M. Caplan

  • BEHOLDER by Ryan La Sala

  • MALUM DISCORDIAE by Ashley Drewek

  • BLACKWING by Ed McDonald

Rereads and Older Reviews

I've been re-reading the Tithenai Chronicles by Foz Meadows, I finished A STRANGE AND STUBBORN ENDURANCE and am now in the middle of ALL THE HIDDEN PATHS.

Current Reads

I'm paused in my reading of MOONSTORM by Yoon Ha Lee. Not sure, currently, whether I'll resume or if this might be a DNF because as much as I love this author's other work I'm finding it hard to get into new YA.

I finally started A CROWN SO CURSED by L.L. McKinney, a book for which I waited a very long time.

THE FALL THAT SAVED US by Tamara Jerée is a sapphic romance between a nephilim and a demon, I'm halfway through and enjoying it.

Then, of course, there's my re-read of ALL THE HIDDEN PATHS by Foz Meadows.

In Case You Missed It

This time last year I read THE LIGHT BETWEEN WORLDS by Laura E. Weymouth, a Narnia A.U. in which three children were magically plucked from a WWII backyard bomb shelter and spend several years in the Woodlands, where they grew up, faced dangers, went through a different kind of war, then returned home when the older two were ready. But Evelyn wasn't ready to go back to England.

Pluggables and Podcast News

If you're looking for a place to buy any of the books I've reviewed, please consider our Bookshop page (if you use our links to purchase any books we get a small commission). Let us know if there's a category you'd like to see curated and we'll see if we can get some titles together.

Speaking of Bookshop, I've put together top picks lists for 2021 onwards. Books are included based on the year they were published, so occasionally older lists might get new titles. To be in the Top Picks list a book needs to get a five-star rating from me, and be published in the year of the list. You can find the 2024 list here.

As for the podcast, hopefully you're enjoying our most recent episode. If you'd like to receive episodes early, as well as bonus content, please consider supporting us on Patreon. Patrons receive this newsletter one week early, as well as a list of upcoming podcast episodes and even more planned reviews.

Patrons pledging $20 or more each month receive a bonus episode. Patrons pledging $50 or more can vote once per month on what we'll cover in the podcast. You can find all of those polls here. Patrons at any level receive the booklist with our planned episodes for up to three months at a time.

Thanks for reading, the next roundup will be in two weeks!

-Robin

Co-host of Books That Burn

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A small black and orange tortoiseshell cat crouches next to a plush fox toy, leaning over to sniff the fox's ear.


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