With November here, here are bi books out in November!

Let me know if I missed any bi books out in November. Books listed: The Mischievous Letters of the Marquise de Q by Felicia Davin The Santa Pageant by Lillian Barry I'm A Princess That Ran Away To A Magical World by Terry Bartley Til Death Do Us Bard by Rose Black Abbott: 1979 by Saladin Ahmed and Sami Kivela (Artist) Outdrawn by Deanna Grey Violet Moon by Mel E. Lemon Hummingbird: Part Two by Frances M. Thompson Vicarious by Chloe Spencer Tonight, I Burn by Katharine J. Adams A Power Unbound by Freya Marske @freyamarske Until the Blood Runs Dry by MC Johnson Dark Heir by C.S. Pacat Ride with Me by Jenna Jarvis We Are the Crisis by Cadwell Turnbull Allure by CEON Delay of Game by Ari Baran Hunt on Dark Waters by Katee Robert One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny To Kill a Shadow by Katherine Quinn Come Out, Come Out by Alexia Onyx 💖Make sure to check TWs for all books if necessary. 💖Preorders help the authors greatly, so make sure to preorder any book(s) that catch your interest. 💖Here is the goodreads list of these books

"The Mastery of Love" is a book by Don Miguel Ruiz. It teaches us how to have good relationships with others and ourselves. The book says we should love and accept ourselves first, so we can love others better. It talks about how to stop feeling scared or jealous and how to love and be loved. It also tells us that people show and feel love in different ways. It helps us learn how to talk nicely and set good limits in relationships.

Some lessons from the book:

To have good relationships, you need to love and accept yourself.

You can learn to overcome fear and stop it from ruining your relationships.

Real love doesn't depend on conditions. It's not about what someone does for you.

Good communication is important. You should talk honestly and nicely to others.

Understand your feelings and thoughts so you can have better relationships.

Holding onto anger and resentment hurts you. Forgiving is good for your heart.

It's okay to say no and set limits. This helps you have balanced relationships.

Love is stronger than fear. Choose love in your actions and thoughts.

Focus on the moment. Don't worry too much about the past or future.

Loving is a skill you can practice and get better at over time.

The book has short chapters with things to do and think about. It helps us use these lessons in our own lives. Read this book if you want to learn how to make relationships better and feeling good about yourself.

"She often felt she was nothing but a sponge sopped full of human emotions."

— Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse

Books of the Month: Sep 2024

Whoops, should probably do this before it gets any closer to Halloween. Interestingly, and unusually, my reading seems to have slowed down a little in terms of sheer number of books after the summer, but I think this is partly because 1) the fall has still been pretty busy (still plenty of work, though less than during summer camp season, with added school stuff) and 2) I've had the mental energy to read some different, longer books instead of lots of mindless, quick murder mysteries. (Still plenty of mysteries, though). Here's the books from September that I think are worth reading:

The Curse of Chalion (Lois McMaster Bujold): Had an odd experience reading this book: I didn't exactly know what was going to happen, but after I hit some fairly major plot points, I would think, "Oh yeah, that's right," as if I'd been expecting them. (There's some neat twists in this book! I was not expecting them all!) Anyway, I do read a lot and sometimes forget what I've read, so it's possible I read this a while in the past (sometime before I started tracking my reads, 3 years ago) and then forgot most of it. I don't plan to forget it this time, because I really enjoyed the experience! Good writing, and I do like a main character who's already seen a lot of shit and would ideally like to just live a quiet life (but also sighs and takes responsibility for things pretty regularly). Sad to see that the sequel is not also focused on Caz. (I'll read it someday anyway, because again, good writing!) (I'm not sure the etiquette on this, but to give credit where due: I had a few reasons to check this book out of the library, but one was that I've seen @wearethekat rec it convincingly multiple times!)

Broken Ice (Matt Goldman): OK, so this is actually book 2 in the Nils Shapiro mystery series (I read book 1 in August), so I recommend starting with book 1, but I'm more recommending the series than any individual book. Each mystery is interesting and original, but none of them stands out to me in particular; what I like is that the main character could very easily be a loner, sad, possibly alcoholic, slightly sexist private detective, but instead he builds up some healthy relationships over the series (romantic and other), and generally is someone I think I would get along with. There are 4 books so far, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a book 5 someday but I see nothing online promoting one.

Overture to Death (Ngaio Marsh): I don't think I've recommended this Inspector Alleyn mystery before, anyway? I think it's one of her better-crafted ones (they're all pretty good tho, imo), with some fascinating characters. (Though I feel I should mention, I reread it this time because of @oldshrewsburyian mentioning that 2 of the spinster-ish characters were at least somewhat - unflatteringly - based on Dorothy Sayers and wow, they're even worse than I remembered!)

Read all of the books on the so-called "banned list;" I myself have yet to read Fahrenheit 451, but I know what's on my to do list.

I need a recovery book 😭Pls drop your suggestions. I'd love something in a similar vein, I've been eyeing a few of Terry's books. Thoughts from the fandom??

June has been Hell. June was probably one of the worst months I’ve had in a long time, and I know others’ must have been worse.

It seems stupid and trivial to post something like a monthly reading. But I spend the beginning half of June struggling to find joy, happiness, peace in anything. Funnily enough, hearing a ridiculous, wild, borderline insane story about Den of Vipers made me be like you know what? Let’s try it. And this crazy fucking book gave me ability to read again. It broke me out of that slump, where I was really struggling. And I got some really good books out of it.

So, here’s my few books I read this month. I normally read at least 9 usually more, but like I said, shitty fucking month. I thought maybe me telling you all that I let myself find some peace and joy in reading again during this time it could help someone else. Even if it gave them to power to give themselves some self care.

Now, I have a hard time picking my #1 of the month (it is NOT Den of Vipers even if it was very entertaining”. The Twisted series I’ve read so far was SOOO good, and I really loved Ronan and the story of The Darkest Temptation.

I’d probably pick Twisted Love as my number one with Twisted Games and The Darkest Temptation RIGHT behind it. I loved Ava and Alex the most out of all the characters, even if the story line was the most, ….predictable? Sometimes cheesy but nonetheless enjoyable. But I loved all the men of this series, even the Den of Vipers (Diesel scares the shit outta me tho).

So, I do recommend the Twisted Series, and the Made series. I’ve read all but the first one with Nico, for the life of me I just don’t care too 😂

I’m currently reading the Priory of the Orange Tree, I’m almost halfway through and boy oh boy is it awesome and entertaining and yes very confusing at times because a lot of going on. I can’t wait to see where it goes!

Also, women’s’ rights are reproductive rights are human rights. Anyone with a uterus is really struggling right now, and America is systematically trying to criminalize everyone who can get pregnant. The Supreme Court is starting a coup against the American government. If you can please consider donating to orgs like Planned Parenthood, Abortion Funds, ACLU, and local organizations that help our POC communities & start / organize rallies and protests. If you can, please consider finding a local protest, or demonstration near you. I hope you all are doing the best you can in times like these.

I will aid and abet abortion.

Abortion is healthcare.

Medical privacy is being attacked.

Please be there for your neighbors.

With love ♥️

Rowling isn't denying holocaust. She just pointed out that burning of transgender health books is a lie as that form of cosmetic surgery didn't exist. But of course you knew that already, didn't you?

I was thinking I'd probably see one of you! You're wrong :) Let's review the history a bit, shall we?

In this case, what we're talking about is the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, or in English, The Institute of Sexology. This Institute was founded and headed by a gay Jewish sexologist named Magnus Hirschfeld. It was founded in July of 1919 as the first sexology research clinic in the world, and was run as a private, non-profit clinic. Hirschfeld and the researchers who worked there would give out consultations, medical advice, and even treatments for free to their poorer clientele, as well as give thousands of lectures and build a unique library full of books on gender, sexuality, and eroticism. Of course, being a gay man, Hirschfeld focused a lot on the gay community and proving that homosexuality was natural and could not be "cured".

Hirschfeld was unique in his time because he believed that nobody's gender was either one or the other. Rather, he contended that everyone is a mixture of both male and female, with every individual having their own unique mix of traits.

This leads into the Institute's work with transgender patients. Hirschfeld was actually the one to coin the term "transsexual" in 1923, though this word didn't become popular phrasing until 30 years later when Harry Benjamin began expanding his research (I'll just be shortening it to trans for this brief overview.) For the Institute, their revolutionary work with gay men eventually began to attract other members of the LGBTA+, including of course trans people.

Contrary to what Anon says, sex reassignment surgery was first tested in 1912. It'd already being used on humans throughout Europe during the 1920's by the time a doctor at the Institute named Ludwig Levy-Lenz began performing it on patients in 1931. Hirschfeld was at first opposed, but he came around quickly because it lowered the rate of suicide among their trans patients. Not only was reassignment performed at the Institute, but both facial feminization and facial masculization surgery were also done.

The Institute employed some of these patients, gave them therapy to help with other issues, even gave some of the mentioned surgeries for free to this who could not afford it! They spoke out on their behalf to the public, even getting Berlin police to help them create "transvestite passes" to allow people to dress however they wanted without the threat of being arrested. They worked together to fight the law, including trying to strike down Paragraph 175, which made it illegal to be homosexual. The picture below is from their holiday party, Magnus Hirschfeld being the gentleman on the right with the fabulous mustache. Many of the other people in this photo are transgender.

[Image ID: A black and white photo of a group of people. Some are smiling at the camera, others have serious expressions. Either way, they all seem to be happy. On the right side, an older gentleman in glasses- Magnus Hirschfeld- is sitting. He has short hair and a bushy mustache. He is resting one hand on the shoulder of the person in front of him. His other hand is being held by a person to his left. Another person to his right is holding his shoulder.]

There was always push back against the Institute, especially from conservatives who saw all of this as a bad thing. But conservatism can't stop progress without destroying it. They weren't willing to go that far for a good while. It all ended in March of 1933, when a new Chancellor was elected. The Nazis did not like homosexuals for several reasons. Chief among them, we break the boundaries of "normal" society. Shortly after the election, on May 6th, the book burnings began. The Jewish, gay, and obviously liberal Magnus Hirschfeld and his library of boundary-breaking literature was one of the very first targets. Thankfully, Hirschfeld was spared by virtue of being in Paris at the time (he would die in 1935, before the Nazis were able to invade France). His library wasn't so lucky.

This famous picture of the book burnings was taken after the Institute of Sexology had been raided. That's their books. Literature on so much about sexuality, eroticism, and gender, yes including their new work on trans people. This is the trans community's Alexandria. We're incredibly lucky that enough of it survived for Harry Benjamin and everyone who came after him was able to build on the Institute's work.

[Image ID: A black and white photo of the May Nazi book burning of the Institute of Sexology's library. A soldier, back facing the camera, is throwing a stack of books into the fire. In the background of the right side, a crowd is watching.]

As the Holocaust went on, the homosexuals of Germany became a targeted group. This did include transgender people, no matter what you say. To deny this reality is Holocaust denial. JK Rowling and everyone else who tries to pretend like this isn't reality is participating in that evil. You're agreeing with the Nazis.

But of course, you knew that already, didn't you?

Edit: Added image IDs. I apologize to those using screen readers for forgetting them. Please reblog this version instead.

How about in 2024 we stop it with reading books with the goal in mind to finish the book so you can add it to your list of read books and start reading books slowly and intentionally with the goal to rip it into pieces with your mind and be touched by it and formed by it and changed by it

Happy March! Here are bisexual books out in March!

PS: I totally recommend (and kindly am asking authors or anyone else) to use the tags #bisexualbooks , #bibooks , #bisexualrep or any other variation of them when promoting (your) books with bi main character as it makes it easier for me to find books with like that since I follow those tags! 💖

Books listed:

When Worlds Collide by Erin Zak The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste Comet Cruise by Niska Morrow Never Leave, Never Lie by Thea Verdone Go Lightly by Brydie Lee-Kennedy The Phoenix Bride by Natasha Siegel Diavola by Jennifer Marie Thorn Icarus by K. Ancrum Falls From Grace (Grace Notes #1) by Ruby Landers Ellipses by Vanessa Lawrence The Fealty of Monsters (The Fealty of Monsters, Volume 1) by Ladz Song of the Huntress by Lucy Holland The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn Kiste These Bodies Between Us by Sarah Van Name The Night Compass (Wilderlore, #4) by Amanda Foody Small Gods of Calamity by Sam Kyung Yoo The Dark Feather by Anna Stephens Like Happiness by Ursula Villarreal-Moura That Secret Something by Emily Wright Heirs of Bone and Sea (Dark Depths) by Kay Adams One Last Breath by Ginny Myers Sain The Weavers of Alamaxa (The Alamaxa Duology, #2) by Hadeer Elsbai Saint, Sorrow, Sinner (The Gideon Testaments, #3) by Freydís Moon The Safe Zone by Amy Marsden Tempting Olivia (Oxford Romance #2) by Clare Ashton Crossing Bridges by Chelsey Lynford Sounds of the City by Stacey Ennis-Theobald Searching for Someday by Renee Roman Back to Us by Addison Clarke

Books I Want to Read in September

- John Dies at the End by David Wong (current read)

- The Ring by Kōji Suzuki (for book club)

- Alice Isn’t Dead by Joesph Fink

- Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird by Agustina Bazterrica

it’s time for spooky season~

"She wanted something more, though she did not know, could not think what it was she wanted."

— Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse

Books of the Month: Feb 2024

At this point I'm doing books of the months posts late more by design than by accident (I mean, several were by accident, but now...). It's interesting to look back with a little more distance and see what reads stuck with me from the previous month. This time it was:

My Brother Sam is Dead (James Lincoln Collier): I picked this up literally years ago for free, thinking I've heard of this so I should probably read it. Despite the title being right there, so you know what's coming, it was still a little more violent than I expected, and sort of more sad (although obviously I knew it would be sad! But he still got me). I am including it on the list because of a post I read recently about some people failing to grasp that there's nuance in history. A good book about a boy - young man - and his shrinking family, and how they're mostly just trying to live through the events happening around them.

Thus Was Adonis Murdered (Sarah Caudwell): Now for something completely different! Well, someone still dies in this one, but otherwise. I had heard of these (this is first in a short mystery series) before, but I didn't realize how much of an ensemble cast they have, or how hilarious they are! Set contemporaneously with when they're written, so early 1980s. Oxford Professor Hilary Tamar (gender unclear) seems to never spend time in Oxford, but instead hangs out with a gaggle of young lawyers (solicitors? I admit the British law stuff loses me a little, but it's kind of meant to) in London and in various cities around the world where they keep falling into situations where someone was murdered, and write each other very funny letters about it. I can't describe these sufficiently but I recommend them wholeheartedly.

And then I'm going to do something I never have yet, and list a couple honorable mentions. These were special to me for specific reasons, but might be exactly what someone is looking for so I'll list them too!

Call the Nurse (Mary J. MacLeod): This is one of those books written by someone who had experiences and wanted to write about them, rather than someone who wanted to write and so chose some experiences to write about. True stories from a woman (a nurse) who moved with her family to the Scottish Hebrides in the...1960s?? (Someone is currently borrowing my copy! I can't check, I think that's the right time period.) It was given to me by a very good friend; she'd read it a while ago but had trouble finding a copy to gift. So she was very triumphant when she found one, and I was touched. I enjoyed it as a book to read in the evenings, one chapter at a time.

The Waterman (Tim Junkin): This is fictional but kind of fits with the above as a book that's about a specific place and time as much as about a plot (though it does have a plot! gets exciting at the end). It was written in the 90s, takes place in the 70s, but though things have changed a lot, there's a lot of things that are still true about the communities around the Chesapeake Bay today, and I really liked it.

31 Days!

2 outlaw clubs with a bitter rivalry. 2 men in love with 1 woman...And she has no plans to take any prisoners

Beasts & Burdens is an outlaw style Beauty & the Beast meets Romeo & Juliet vibes story

Preorder Beasts & Burdens at

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFRM3RMT?ref_=pe_3052080_276849420

Final Offer by Lauren Asher (TL;DR)

Mini Book Reviews! originally from Books I Read in February 2023! 5/5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Final offer is the final book in the Dreamland Billionaire series. The books can be read independently of each other and are also the only book in the series I’ve read. The book follows our hero Callahan and the hoops he has to jump through to get his inheritance from his late grandfather. He has to sell his…

View On WordPress

Current read