So how’s my reading year 2021 going? Well. Splendidly, I’d say.
It must be said that 26 of those are rereads of the St. Clares, Mallory Towers and Trebizon series, which are pretty short books and since I’ve read them before I basically inhale them and read 2-3 in a single day. Still, even that is a few good hours of reading time. And of course it leaves more than 50 other books read, so even leaving those 26 out of the counting (though why would I?) I am nicely on track to beat the challenge I set myself.
Anyway, what I really wanted to do was tell you about my tbr for the coming Queer Lit Readathon. It will be my second time participating (you can read my wrap up of the last one here), and like last time I am aiming for a completely filled bingo board, though I realise it is somewhat overambitious when I look at the physical pile of books I need to finish to attain that goal. In the last Readathon the only square I couldn’t check off was the Group Read, since the book was delayed from the webshop I ordered it from. There is a distinct whiff of history repeating itself right now, as I have yet to receive this round’s group read, Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi. I belive it has been dispatched, though, so there is hope.
Well, here we go:
Memoir: We Will Not Cancel Us: And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice by adrienne maree brown. I admit to being unsure of whether this actually counts as a memoir, but I found it on a list of «best queer memoirs of <year>», so I’m hoping it works.
Group Read: Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi – if it arrives…
Hard Hitting Contemporary: Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart.
Choose Your Own Category: I have not decided yet, but I’ll try to come up with a fun one that one of my books fit.
Shorter Than a Novel: We Will Not Cancel Us: And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice by adrienne maree brown.
Brings You Joy: I have high hopes for You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson.
M-Spec: You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
Not Set on Your Continent: Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi (but also most of the others, so this one should be easy)
Intersectional: We Will Not Cancel Us: And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice by adrienne maree brown.
Vintage: Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
Summer Vibes: Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman
Superheroes: Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass by Mariko Tamaki and Steve Pugh. I am going to argue Harley Quinn counts as a superhero, but I might be out on a limb on this one.
Underrepresented Identity: Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi
Religion: Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
Recommended: Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin was recommended to me by @antonymet in the last round.
40%+ BIPOC: I believe the only non-Bipoc author on my list is Douglas Stuart, so I guess I’m ok.
So… I realise I have a pile. Baldwin and Brown are luckily quite short, and the comic/graphic novel is too, but in the other four I have almost 1400 pages to get through. I may have to cheat a bit and start before Sunday. Or I can switch out Shuggie Bain for one of the others, certainly Summer Bird Blue sounds like it ought to fit the «Hard Hitting Contemporary» box, too. But I really want to read Shuggie Bain. Well. We’ll see.
If you’d like to take part, or just want some ideas for queer books to read, check out these:
- Rogan Shannon’s (host) blog post about the readathon
- Katy Trithart’s (host) TBR video
- Jean Bookishthoughts (guest host) TBR video
- Kappa Reads TBR (blog post)
- The Character Study TBR (blog post)
- Bookish Gems TBR (video)
- Annie McNulty TBR (video)
- Lunacia Books TBR (video)
And I’d certainly suggest following @queer_lit on Twitter and/or Instagram.
Note that I have only seen parts of the videos linked above, as this is me:
