march '24 favs:

• those who leave and those who stay & the story of the lost child ; elena ferrante — the final two books in the neapolitan novels, a tetrology recording the lives of two girls in naples from childhood to old age. gutting, beautiful, layered, and complex. this series is a masterpiece, elena ferrante is everything to me <3 (please read it!!)

• sirens and muses by antonia angress — following an array of characters at an art university as they navigate life, work, academia, relationships, and being an artist in a capitalist world where everything is commodified. the depth of characters paired with the nuanced discussions of art, class, and politics left me so pleasantly surprised. (it's also extremely gay and perfect for all you tumblr users with mummy/daddy issues)

I love it when two queer characters start falling in love with each other and become completely obsessed and deranged. 

Yes, of course I will pose for your paintings. I will buy a picture of you for a few thousand dollars.

Fave Five: Literary Fiction About College Students

The Adult by Bronwyn Fischer Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever Old Enough by Haley Jakobson We Do What We Do in the Dark by Michelle Hart Bonus: Small Joys by Elvin James Mensah is about a college dropout

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Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress

Today's sapphic book of the day is Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress!

Summary: "Four artists are drawn into a web of rivalry and desire at an elite art school and on the streets of New York in this 'gripping, provocative, and supremely entertaining' (BuzzFeed) debut

'Captures the ache-inducing quality of art and desire . . . a deeply relatable and profoundly enjoyable read, one drenched in prismatic color and light.'—Kristen Arnett, New York Times bestselling author of With Teeth

It’s 2011: America is in a deep recession and Occupy Wall Street is escalating. But at the elite Wrynn College of Art, students paint and sculpt in a rarefied bubble. Louisa Arceneaux is a thoughtful, observant nineteen-year-old when she transfers to Wrynn as a scholarship student, but she soon finds herself adrift in an environment that prizes novelty over beauty. Complicating matters is Louisa’s unexpected attraction to her charismatic roommate, Karina Piontek, the preternaturally gifted but mercurial daughter of wealthy art collectors. Gradually, Louisa and Karina are drawn into an intense sensual and artistic relationship, one that forces them to confront their deepest desires and fears. But Karina also can’t shake her fascination with Preston Utley, a senior and anti-capitalist Internet provocateur, who is publicly feuding with visiting professor and political painter Robert Berger—a once-controversial figurehead seeking to regain relevance.

When Preston concocts an explosive hoax, the fates of all four artists are upended as each is unexpectedly thrust into the cutthroat New York art world. Now all must struggle to find new identities in art, in society, and among each other. In the process, they must find either their most authentic terms of life—of success, failure, and joy—or risk losing themselves altogether.

With a canny, critical eye, Sirens & Muses overturns notions of class, money, art, youth, and a generation’s fight to own their future."

Sirens and Muses by Antonia Angress

Antonia Angress in “Sanctuary: How My Mother’s Art Shaped Me as a Writer” in our July/August 2022 issue.

i have always felt this feeling, i think. i just didn't know how i would describe it as accurately as this back then. i thought of it as some kind of itch, a poke, a tickling, a rush. but i know what it is in its deepest form. it is the call of art. in my case, it's writing. it grabs you by the throat and it cradles you and it whispers, quite passionately, their desire to be created right then and there. a kind of warning without preamble—write me, it begs. and on the occasion that it shows itself to me, i do. i write.

sirens & muses is so delightfully melodramatic

Sirens & Muses

by Antonia Angress

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Genre: literary fiction

2023 Reading Goal: 1/60

Review: This book is delightfully melodramatic. The characters make absolutely unhinged and unrealistic choices constantly but this creates such a vivid narrative that is deeply compelling to read. Angress successfully jumps between several intertwining and intersecting POVs in a way that feels fluid rather than choppy, and I enjoyed all the different narrators. I love reading books about creative people and I love reading books about academics, so the concept really worked for me! I felt connected to the main characters and the writing style was excellent. Just shy of 5 stars because I felt the plot kind of lacked a sense of climax and closure.

Sirens & Muses (2022)

Antonia Angress

Ballantine Books

Stop right now. I am so miserable about Robert and Vince from Sirens and Muses by Antonia Angress.

The fact that Vince was the reason he became a well-known artist or artist at all. The fact that he blames himself for his death. I am sobbing.

New Releases: July 2022

New Releases: July 2022

This Way Out by Tufayel Ahmed (1st) Amar can’t wait to tell everyone his wonderful news: he’s found The One, and he’s getting married. But it turns out announcing his engagement on a group chat might not have been the best way to let his strict Muslim Bangladeshi family know that his happy-ever-after partner is a man―and a white man at that. Amar expected a reaction from his four siblings, but…

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Here is the final part of the bi4bi books posts!

I'd appreciate it if you let me know if there are any more bi4bi books that I didn't include here 💕

Books listed: They Never Learn by Layne Fargo If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia The Drowning Summer by C.L. Herman Case Sensitive by A.K. Turner Missing, Presumed Dead by Emma Berquist Her Soul to Take by Harley Laroux Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao City of Shattered Light by Claire Winn City of Vicious Night by Claire Winn The Light Years by R.W.W. Greener The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza by Shaun David Hutchinson Tell Me Anything by Skye Kilaen Her Scarlet Letters by Cat Giraldo Break Free by Raleigh Ruebins Modern Divination by Isabel Agajanian Caroline's Heart by Austin Chant The Door Into Fire by Diane Duane The Stone Prince by Fiona Patton Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner Wolf, Willow, Witch by Freydís Moon When the Stars Alight by Camilla Andrew Love at First Set by Jennifer Dugan Cleans Up Nice by Margo Phelps Educated by Nellie Wilson Queried Sick by Dallas Smith Chance Agreement by Margo Phelps Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress Release by Suzanne Clay Orphia and Eurydicius by Elyse John Crown of Starlight by Cait Corrain To Beg or Not to Beg by Cat Giraldo Two Winters by Lauren Emily Whalen Electric Idol by Katee Robert Neon Gods by Katee Robert The Scandalous Letters of V and J by Felicia Davin The Spinster's Swindle by Catherine Stein Rocky Mountain Freedom by Vivian Arend Um traço até você by Olívia Pilar Biforia by Rebecca Romero Escalando Você by Rebecca Romero Entre estantes by Olívia Pilar → translated Between Bookshelves by Olívia Pilar Honor Among Thieves by Rachel Caine Victories Greater Than Death by Charlie Jane Anders The Stars Undying by Emery Robin Legend of Korra: Graphic Novels Harley Quinn: The Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour Novels Seven Days: Monday–Sunday by Venio Tachiban Brimstones and Roses It Would Be Great If You Didn't Exist My Werewolf Girlfriend The Fiancée Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur Xeni by Rebekah Weather

Part 1

Part 2

Hi, do you know of any bi4bi f/f or f/nb books where they both (could be polyamorous too) are the MCs? Like The Fiancée Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur. I'd be really grateful if you could help <3

bi4bi F/F Contemporary Romances

Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales

6 Times We Almost Kissed by Tess Sharpe

mga x mga F/F or F/NB Romances (pan, queer, and unlabeled)

Curved Horizon by Taylor Brooke: bisexual female x demisexual panromantic female

Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly: queer female x pansexual non-binary

Hairpin Curves by Elia Winters: bisexual female x queer female

Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur: pansexual female x bisexual female

poly FFM or FFNB Romances with bi / mga identities

Scandalous Passions by Nicola Davidson: Domme bisexual female x sub questioning bisexual female x sub straight male with a stutter

A Lake of Feathers and Moonbeams by Dax Murray: polyamorous bisexual female x queer non-binary MC x Asian bisexual female

Honor Among Thieves by Rachel Caine: black bisexual female x Brazilian bisexual female x bisexual male

Honorary Mentions

The Drowning Summer by Christine Lynn Herman: bi4bi FF but not a Romance (it's Fantasy/Mystery)

Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress: bi4bi FF but not a Romance (it's Literary Fiction)

Sorry Bro by Taleen Voskuni: Armenian-American bi4bi FF and a contemporary Romance, but it's single POV so they're not both MCs

Moonlight Love and Witchcraft by Vaela Denarr: wln non-binary MC x asexual female x bisexual female with ADHD (included bc it's SO cute but only one confirmed-bi MC)

thanks for the ask! please feel free to send more if there's something else I can help you find <3

if I can drum up a few patrons, I want to add a new tag to the database so you can search for relationships by pairing (FF, FM, MM, FNB, MNB) or by specific types of romance (bi4bi, t4t, interracial, etc)