The Best (and Worst) Queer Books I Read in June

First off, I finished Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab for a Book Riot Podcast discussion with Rebecca Schinsky and Vanessa Diaz. This was my first V.E. Schwab book, and I really enjoyed it! It lived up to the “toxic lesbian vampires” pitch, which was all I needed. I also had a great time talking about it with Vanessa and Rebecca.

An in-person queer book club I’m in picked A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder by Ma-Nee Chacaby, which I’ve been meaning to read for quite a while. I’m really glad I finally picked it up. The writing is quite matter-of-fact, which could be jarring, but the content is unforgettable. Ma-Nee Chacaby has gone through so much in her life, and her ability to continue to show up for people is incredible. I definitely recommend it.

For another queer in-person book club (I told you I had a lot of reading obligations this month!), I read A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers. I love queer cozy fantasy, so I always expected that when I finally picked up this very popular nonbinary cozy sci-fi book, I’d love it. Surprisingly, I wasn’t a big fan. I think it would make a great graphic novel or movie, but the parable-like story just didn’t connect with me, which was disappointing.

Another one of my lowlights for the reading month was I Can Fix Her by Rae Wilde. This is a horror novella about a toxic relationship between two women. I liked the premise, but the “nightmare logic” (as the blurb puts it) was a little much for me: it felt like it was mostly dark, surreal visuals. But lots of other readers loved it!

I read the second volume of The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All by Sumiko Arai, which is a delightful YA F/F manga. I’ve talked about it before, so I’ll just say that I’m definitely continuing with the series.

For the All the Books podcast, I read The Original by Nell Stevens, a queer historical fiction book with gothic elements. I had a feeling I’d be a fan of Nell Stevens’s writing, and I was right. This story about family curses, a maybe-imposter heir, and queerness in 1899 was captivating. You can hear my full thoughts on the July 1st episode!

Then I picked up Slayers, Every One of Us by Kristin Russo and Jenny Owen Youngs, a joint memoir from the creators of the Buffering the Vampire Slayer podcast. I really enjoyed that podcast, and when I first started the book, I thought I’d already heard most of these stories. As it continued, though, I got much more of a look into their divorce and how difficult it was to keep doing the podcast together through that. It’s a vulnerable look at a painful time of their lives. Obviously, if you listened to Buffering, you should read this—and if you’re a Buffy fan who hasn’t, start there!

Right now, I’m trying to complete my final reading obligation for the month: Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin for the BooksAndLala book club. I don’t usually participate, but since I watched Little Shop of Horrors in preparation, I do want to get to it in time. I’ve only just started, but I’m hoping to finish it by the end of the month.

I’m not sure what I’ll be reading next. I have Boyfriends, Vol. 4 by Refrainbow out from the library right now, which I’m excited about. This is a very cute (almost too cute) M/M/M/M graphic novel I’ve been having a great time reading. I also hope to get to Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H soon, which—you guessed it—I’m reading for a book club.