*The Vanished Birds* is a beautiful sci-fi book that was my top read of 2020. Interwoven plots and timelines with interesting characters and surprising connections. Multiple Fluid Characters
*The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet* and the rest of the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers is very friendly, happy, and fairly drama free. All the characters are very likeable and the setting of the book basically follows different characters as they traverse through their jobs/social interactions. Not great for “hard sci-fi” but a good light read for people who like a hint of fantasy in their relationship driven stories. Multiple Fluid Characters
*This Is How You Lose the Time War* by Amal El-Mohtar is written like a series of love letters. Very interesting and romantic. F/F Romance
*The Memory Librarian* by Janelle Monae is a series of short stories set in her “Dirty Computer” universe. Some stories are more successful than others, but when it works, it WORKS. I eagerly look forward to future works from Monae, but I worry that the magic I found was due to the collaborators they chose as opposed to their own talent. Multiple fluid characters
*Pet* by Akwaeke Emezi is a novella about a young transgender girl who discovers an unusual monster. Crams a lot of unique mythos and plot into a short number of pages.
*The Starless Sea* is very popular on this site, and has a man who falls down a rabbit hole of literary driven mystery. Gets a little esoteric by the end, but has some neat moments. Lead Gay Male character
*The House in the Cerulean Sea* by T.J. Klune is a very Tim Burton-esque magic realism book. Very sweet and self aware of it’s qwirkyness. M/M Romance
*Witchmark* by CL Polk is the start of a very sweet series that is magical realism and a very cozy read. Feels a little like a Harry Potter vibe but for adults. It’s also the start of a series so if you like it you can keep diving in. M/M Romance
*The Chosen and the Beautiful* by Nghi Vo is a retelling of The Great Gatsby only from the viewpoint of Jordan and if she was an Asian gender fluid magic user. It’s really well written, “better than it sounds,” and would be fun to read if you have recently read the original.
*The River Had Teeth* is a witchy book set in a nature preserve in the south. Several local women have disappeared and the local witch family is trying to figure out whodunnit, while hoping it’s not their matriarch who transforms at night into a scary creature. The sister of one of the victims comes sniffing around looking for answers. F/F romance
*The Women Could Fly* by Megan Giddings is a dystopian world where
witches are a real thing and treated like a political fear by politicians. So we still have witch burnings and women who aren’t married at a certain age are “monitored” for witchcraft. A bit “on the nose” for today’s political climate, but extremely fascinating at the same time. Lead character is bi-sexual.
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*The Vanished Birds* is a beautiful sci-fi book that was my top read of 2020. Interwoven plots and timelines with interesting characters and surprising connections. Multiple Fluid Characters
*The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet* and the rest of the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers is very friendly, happy, and fairly drama free. All the characters are very likeable and the setting of the book basically follows different characters as they traverse through their jobs/social interactions. Not great for “hard sci-fi” but a good light read for people who like a hint of fantasy in their relationship driven stories. Multiple Fluid Characters
*This Is How You Lose the Time War* by Amal El-Mohtar is written like a series of love letters. Very interesting and romantic. F/F Romance
*The Memory Librarian* by Janelle Monae is a series of short stories set in her “Dirty Computer” universe. Some stories are more successful than others, but when it works, it WORKS. I eagerly look forward to future works from Monae, but I worry that the magic I found was due to the collaborators they chose as opposed to their own talent. Multiple fluid characters
*Pet* by Akwaeke Emezi is a novella about a young transgender girl who discovers an unusual monster. Crams a lot of unique mythos and plot into a short number of pages.
*The Starless Sea* is very popular on this site, and has a man who falls down a rabbit hole of literary driven mystery. Gets a little esoteric by the end, but has some neat moments. Lead Gay Male character
*The House in the Cerulean Sea* by T.J. Klune is a very Tim Burton-esque magic realism book. Very sweet and self aware of it’s qwirkyness. M/M Romance
*Witchmark* by CL Polk is the start of a very sweet series that is magical realism and a very cozy read. Feels a little like a Harry Potter vibe but for adults. It’s also the start of a series so if you like it you can keep diving in. M/M Romance
*The Chosen and the Beautiful* by Nghi Vo is a retelling of The Great Gatsby only from the viewpoint of Jordan and if she was an Asian gender fluid magic user. It’s really well written, “better than it sounds,” and would be fun to read if you have recently read the original.
*The River Had Teeth* is a witchy book set in a nature preserve in the south. Several local women have disappeared and the local witch family is trying to figure out whodunnit, while hoping it’s not their matriarch who transforms at night into a scary creature. The sister of one of the victims comes sniffing around looking for answers. F/F romance
*The Women Could Fly* by Megan Giddings is a dystopian world where
witches are a real thing and treated like a political fear by politicians. So we still have witch burnings and women who aren’t married at a certain age are “monitored” for witchcraft. A bit “on the nose” for today’s political climate, but extremely fascinating at the same time. Lead character is bi-sexual.
Most, if not all TJ Klune books.
I’ll Take Everything You Have by James Klise
Side-By-Side Dreamers by Iori Miyazawa
Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman