My Revised June Pride TBR: Reading as Many Books by Black Queer Authors As I Can!!

This is proof that I’m terrible with TBRs!

I made my original June TBR right before Black Lives Matter protests broke out all over the world, spurring people and companies and also the book community to take action. One of the things that we can do in the book world moving forward is to read from Black authors and support their work.

So! I decided to drop a few books off my original Pride TBR to make room for more books by Black authors. Of course, I’ll be holding myself accountable to keep this same energy throughout the entire year instead of just this month with the protests, but I thought it was especially fitting for June since Pride exists today because of Black queer activists!!

(I also was looking at my TBR and realizing that I wasn’t really too excited about some of the books. And as a mood reader, especially right now with my inability to focus, being excited about the books I plan to read is really important!)

 

BLM links & resources

• sign petitions
• text/call/email people
• stream this video (ad revenue will be donated, don’t skip ads!)
• donate to the George Floyd gofundme
• donate to the Gianna Floyd (his daughter) gofundme
• donate to the Breonna Taylor gofundme
• donate to the Ahmaud Arbery gofundme
• donate to these bail funds, research local ones near you too
• donate to these organizations
• donate to small Black businesses that were destroyed (in general, buy from Black businesses)
• donate to protesting youth on the frontlines
• buy from Black-owned bookstores
• protest, if you can be safe/healthy! wear a mask, tips on overall safety
• I put together a list of just a few YA books by Black authors to read on Goodreads

RUNNING WITH LIONS

This was the first book I picked up for Pride almost a week ago and I still haven’t finished it… This is how you know my focus is absolutely terrible right now!

I’m about halfway through and, um, unfortunately not enjoying it too much? Something is off about the writing and it bothers me a lot, and it makes the book overall feel very weirdly written, including the characters and the romance. So far it’s at 2 stars so we’ll see where it goes from here!!

⇒ rep: bisexual MC, gay Pakistani Muslim LI

HOW TO BE REMY CAMERON

I discovered that this is also on Scribd, so you bet I’ll be reading it after I finish Running with Lions! Even if I don’t end up loving Running with Lions, I still want to read this since I’ve been meaning to read Julian Winters’ books for a while.

From the Goodreads blurb, it seems like this is literally just a book about discovering who you are. Which I love! I’m definitely into character-driven books like these. I also have heard that there’s a focus on family which I’m really excited about!!

⇒ rep: Black gay MC, Korean gay LI

THE BLACK FLAMINGO

I’ve heard only the highest of praise for this book (and it won the Stonewall award!), so I’m confident that I’ll love it too. It’s also told in verse, which makes me extra excited for it since I haven’t read poetry in so long!!

I adore stories about self-discovery and coming to terms with your identity, and this book tackles exactly that. Pretty much everything I’ve heard about this book has described it as “beautiful” so I’m ready to dive in to its gorgeous writing!!

⇒ rep: biracial (Black Jamaican, white) gay MC

FULL DISCLOSURE

I’ve been wanting to read this book for so long, so when I saw it was available at my library, I got so excited!! My friend Elise’s review of it is also a large part of why I think I’m going to love this book (as her reviews always are with any book).

I haven’t read a book with a character that has HIV, so I’m looking forward to that representation, along with all the other amazing things I’ve heard about it, including its phenomenal writing and character relationships.

⇒ rep: Black bisexual MC with HIV, Asian bisexual SC, Asian asexual lesbian SC

LET’S TALK ABOUT LOVE

I’m just really excited about a Black queer girl because I will always be excited over Black queer girls, and I’ve heard that this is a really cute book! Lots of romance (we’ll see how much of that, I can handle, as a happiness hater…) but also lots of friendship too.

I’ll be honest, I am a bit nervous that I’m not going to like this one, but I do want to still try it out because I’ve been interested in reading Claire Kann’s books for a while now!

⇒ rep: Black biromantic asexual MC

THE BEAUTY THAT REMAINS

This is a book about grief, which is GREAT because I’ve been feeling so meh about a lot of the books I read recently and I just really want something that’ll make me emotional. I think this is going to be a very character-focused book so I’m excited for that!

Also I just saw that there’s leukemia involved, so now I know I’m going to cry. (If you’re unaware, my mom has had leukemia since 2012, and anything involving cancer or illness is essentially my only trigger in books!)

⇒ rep: Black MC, gay MC, Korean MC

THE FIFTH SEASON

I think I read about 140 pages of this earlier this year but wasn’t able to finish because it took me a long time to really get into it—but once I was into it, I couldn’t stop reading. I know I’m having focus problems right now but I’m still hoping that I can get through this? Because it’s award-winning and I’ve heard only the best things about it, and I also really enjoyed what I read!!

(Remembering what I read will also be a challenge… It’s fine, I’ll wing it!)

⇒ rep: Black cast, several queer SCs, polyamory

AN UNKINDNESS OF GHOSTS

I’m trying to read more adult, so this is perfect! I read Rivers Solomon’s The Deep earlier this year and enjoyed it, so I hope I like this book from them as well. It’s sci-fi, which I haven’t read in so long, but it looks to be on the heavier side and not as easy to read.

The world in this book sounds really intriguing—there’s a spaceship where the lower decks are reserved for darker-skinned people—and I’m excited to see how this concept will be written!! Their writing in The Deep was beautiful so I have no doubt that this will be beautiful too.

⇒ rep: Black queer (intersex) autistic MC, nonbinary SC

NON-BLACK BOOKS

     

• Steel Crow Saga: I’m checking this out from my library and I genuinely believe it’s going to be a new favorite of mine. I’m trying so hard to lower my expectations because I don’t want to be disappointed but I can’t!!! (Asian f/f)
• Girl, Serpent, Thorn: I have a physical ARC of this and I am dying to read it!! I read the first few paragraphs because I couldn’t help myself and I’m already in love (Persian f/f)
• Forest of Souls: I didn’t finish reading this in May, so I have to finish it to review it later this month… (This is not queer!)
• Percy Jackson: I’m actually feeling like this might be a maybe rather than a definitive yes?? I could reread PJO any time, so if I don’t have enough time for all the books on this list, I probably will just push it back to July.

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what’s on your June TBR, if you have one? remember to include Black authors in your reading not just now but throughout the year! also I’ve always been curious: do you enjoy reading TBRs?

(I always feel like TBRs don’t do as well as other posts, which always is a surprise to me because I personally LOVE reading them)