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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 It wasn't perfect and some of the ideas they had seem out of date now, the ones we know about anyway.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 June Reviews (2024)

Greetings

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

This is the only newsletter I’m releasing in July. I’m taking a small break to work on a five-part essay series (Patrons already have part one, everyone else receives that in August), and to adjust to my new job. There will be one review each week on Sundays, but other than that I’m giving myself the space to re-read almost thirty books in order to write an essay series discussing various facets of two particular long-running series by queer authors: Seanan McGuire’s October Daye series and A.K. Faulkner’s Inheritance series.

Last year I took all of July off, and at this point I’m planning to have a break of some kind during one of the summer months so I can relax, recharge, and make plans for another year (since the calendar year’s end has too many events to make a good planning time).

News and Events

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

Notable July Releases:

  • Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle

  • Toward Eternity by Anton Hur

  • The White Guy Dies First by Terry J. Benton-Walker

  • Bells Hells by Cassandra Khaw

  • Nicked by M.T. Anderson

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.

Recent Reviews

DREAMS OF THE DYING by Nicolas Lietzau, book 1 of Enderal is Fantasy/Horror, with queer character(s), marketed as Adult. Jespar is summoned to figure out why a powerful leader is in a coma, but it turns out he'll have to travel far to find out what to do. Told in Third Person with Ensemble POVs.

FOR REAL by Alexis Hall, book 3 of Spires Universe is Contemporary/Romance, with queer character(s), marketed as Adult. Laurie is entranced by Toby, a young dom who is everything he needs but is afraid to accept. Told in Third Person with Dual POVs.

PANSIES by Alexis Hall, book 4 of Spires Universe is Contemporary/Romance, with queer character(s), marketed as Adult. Alfie accidentally sleeps with the guy he bullied incessantly when they were kids. Told in First/Third Person with Dual POVs.

THE THIRTEENTH HOUR by Trudie Skies, book 1 of The Cruel Gods is Fantasy, with queer character(s), marketed as Adult. Kayl lives in Chime, a city where none of the gods rule, supposedly, but ever being belongs to and is shaped by one of them. Told in First Person with Dual POVs.

PARIS DAILLENCOURT IS ABOUT TO CRUMBLE by Alexis Hall, book 2 of Winner Bakes All is Contemporary/Romance, with queer character(s), marketed as Adult. Paris was signed up for a baking competition show by his best friend, and he might not be able to handle it. Told in Third Person with Single POV.

BABEL by R.F. Kuang is Fantasy/Historical, with queer character(s), marketed as Adult. Robin is taken from his home in China and brought to England to work magic based on translation. Told in Third Person with Single POV.

Reviews forthcoming for TOWARD ETERNITY by Anton Hur and RITES OF WINTER by A.K. Faulkner.

Rereads and Older Reviews

I’m re-reading the Inheritance series by A.K. Faulkner and October Daye by Seanan McGuire for a multi-part series of essays I’m drafting.

Current Reads

A LOCAL HABITITATION by Seanan McGuire

NICKED by M.T. Anderson (paused)

SOMETHING FABULOUS by Alexis Hall (paused)

A CROWN SO CURSED by L.L. McKinney (paused)

In Case You Missed It

This time last year I read NONA THE NINTH by Tamsyn Muir.

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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