From My TBR: 15 Young Adult and Middle Grade Books By Black Authors

 

(Warning: this post references racism and police brutality)

 ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.

There are three important reasons for me writing this post:

1. Black Lives still Matter.

2. It's always a good time to highlight diverse books.

and 3. There are so many amazing Black creators out there, who don't always get the recognition they deserve.

So here's a small selection of some of the Young Adult (YA) and Middle Grade (MG) books on my TBR list that were written by Black authors.

For those of you who don't know the book-blog lingo - a TBR is a 'to-be-read' list. Mine is immortal and cannot be stopped. Send help.

For those of you who are British like me, and/or haven't heard the book blogging term, Middle Grade books are those aimed at (roughly) ages 8-12, or 8-14, depending who you ask.

(Quick disclaimer: obviously, I haven't read these books, just their synopses, so I don't know what they're like in terms of content, quality, etc.)

I hope you find something to add to your own TBR, and remember to support Black authors, and other Black creators.

There're so many talented Black authors out there who deserve our attention!

Review Time! - Queer As A Five-Dollar Bill by Lee Wind

(Warning: this post discusses Homophobia and bigotry, including physical violence)

 ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.

Title: Queer As A Five-Dollar Bill

Author: Lee Wind

Genre: YA, Contemporary, LGBTQ+ (Gay & M/M)

Amazon: USA

Review Time! - Can Everyone Please Calm Down? by Mae Martin

 ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.

Title: Can Everyone Please Calm Down?: A Guide To 21st Century Sexuality 

Author: Mae Martin

Genre: Non-Fiction, YA (NA crossover appeal), LGBTQ+, Memoir(-ish)

Amazon US

Month in Review(s) - July 2020

July was a month that happened.

Is it bad that all of the months have just kind of squidged into one and I can't remember what happened in July vs what happened in June?

Can I blame the Dyscalculia for that, d'y'think? Or is it just me? (It's probably just me.)

Anyhow, this is your reminder that the Coronavirus situation is NOT over, and you need to keep taking all the hygiene and distancing precautions.

(People who think 'it's all over' are... ARGH!) 

#StaySafeDearestNerdlets

Friday Fics Fix - The Trick of the Detail

 

'...it was possible that they hadn’t thought through all of the consequences of Loki joining the team. They certainly hadn’t anticipated this one.'

You know (or maybe you don't, in which case, lemme inform you,) I have a love of random-a** Avengers fics - add Loki to the mix?

Hell yeah, I am there!

Comics Wrap-Up - They Took A Photograph Of the Place You Hid

 ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.

It's Thursday, let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!

Friday Fics Fix - The Fifth Beatle of the Family

'Klaus blinks into the mug in his hands, shaking and in danger of spilling. The book sits between them on the couch, her own face looking up at her, searching, accusing.'

One of the many interesting thing about Netflix series The Umbrella Academy is the knowledge that this team of superheroes - these children - were famous as kids.

Fame is something that has to be handled very delicately when it comes to children - as the self-destructive tendencies, and generally poor mental health, of many former child-stars, shows.

Comics Wrap-Up - I'll Be the Watcher of the Eternal Flame

 ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.

It's Thursday, 2020 is still being 2020,  let's get some superhero-y, comics-y, goodness!

Nerd Church - Please, Spare Me Your Holier-Than-Thou, 'Look At Me,' Hypocrisy

(Warning: this post discusses Homophobia, Biphobia, etc., and toxic/abusive friendships. It also briefly references racism and the death of George Floyd.)

I've never been especially fond of hypocrisy.

(...Although I guess it's one of those things we can't stand in other people, but rarely recognise in ourselves.)

If you say you have my back, but then you let me fall, I'm worse off than I would have been without you.

At least without you, I would have been more prepared to hit the ground.

Comics Wrap-Up - The Clock Is Moving Hands To Midnight

 ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.

It's Thursday, I got some awesome-sauce comics-y goodness for ya dearest nerdlets, so let's do this!

Friday Fics Fix - A Poisoned Brain

  ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.

'It was a long distance between knowing that all reds equals bad, and what the information actually said. Alex shook her head and started shouting commands, and Nia felt her heart lodge in her throat. '

 

I love Brainiac 5 and Dreamer. They belong together dammit!

In case you have no idea who I'm talking about - 

In CW's Supergirl TV show, Brainiac 5, aka Brainy, aka Querl Dox, is a cyborg alien from the future, 

...and Dreamer, aka Nia Nal, is the Transgender daughter of a human and an alien who can harnass the power of dream energy to see the future (and also smack people with the dream energy, which is handy.)

Comics Wrap-Up - You Can't Spell 'Awesome' Without 'Me'

 ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.

It's Thursday, the world is still pretty bizarre, let's get some comics-y and superhero-y goodness!

Once again, everything is under the 'Other Stuff' category (seems to be happening a lot!) for which we will once again blame Loki.

Month In Review(s) - June 2020

June 2020. Somehow we're only half-way through 2020... which is... interesting.

We're still more-or-less on Lockdown here in Wales, though we're slowly easing things - so as of 6th July, we formed a social bubble with my brother, which meant we could hug him and everything.

Anyways, I had an OK month, although I did have a migraine, and hayfever, and a few bad Depression days... but I'm still here, still standing, still writing slightly rambley blogposts! 😊

Speaking of my blogposts - I once again posted zero reviews this month, and had one of my regular existential crises re: this blog.

(Not to be confused with my regular existential crises re: writing, Queerness, productivity, the meaning of life, etc. etc. etc.)

The typical, really: does my blog have enough bookish content? Can I even call it a book blog? Am I somehow misleading people by posting about other topics on here?

Friday Fics Fix - A Blanket Cocoon

'Dave was probably never going to get answers out of Klaus, but for right now, he was the designated ‘Coax Hargreeves out for Meals’ guy, so he was going to do his job.'

In some ways, fanfolks are just gluttons for punishment - and I'm no different, really. I love me some angst!

Part of that is because I am an emo child to the end of eternity, and the gothicky and/or angsty stuff is always going to appeal to my sense of Drama.

But another part is that actually it's emotionally healthy to give yourself some space to explore your darker and more angsty feelings in a safe environment - such as through media.

(...I don't know whether that last sentence was really smart or really b*llsh**, but I'ma go with it!

And this is where I remind you that I'm not a mental health professional! Just a chick with personal experience of Depression and Anxiety.)

Comics Wrap-Up - We Might Have Started Singing Just A Little Soon

 ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.

It's Thursday, let's get some good goddamn superhero-y comics-y goodness!

Friday Fics Fix - Pride Fics Fest: The Love They Never Allowed On Screen (Steve x Bucky)

It's the last week of Pride Fics Fest!

I hope you've enjoyed the posts that I've done this month - I've really enjoyed writing them! 

It's nice, now and then, to mix-up and refresh a series of posts (Friday Fics Fix) which I've been writing for over 4 years now - I hope you liked it too, dearest nerdlets!

I'm sure a lot of my fanfiction posts will still be based around LGBTQ+ characters and contents going forward - partly because it's me, and partly because it's fanfiction 😉

This week's post is celebrating my OTP, Stucky - the greatest love story Marvel and Disney ever thwarted.

(Fangirling notes:

OTP = 'One True Pairing' - the couple you believe were destined to be together, and you will fight for 'til your (hopefully metaphorical) dying breath!

Stucky - a relationship between Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, and Bucky Barnes, aka The Winter Soldier)

Comics Wrap-Up - Just Keep Staring At the Sun, Pray For Summer's End

 ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.

It's Thursday, the UK is way too hot, let's cool off with some superhero-y comics-y goodness!

Everything this week is once again in the 'Other Stuff' category, and therefore, as per tradition, we shall blame Loki.

Friday Fics Fix - Pride Fics Fest: Fics With Trans+ Characters

It's another Friday in June my dearest nerdlets, which means that it's another instalment in my Pride Fics Fest - and this time we're gonna look at fics with Trans+ main characters.

Fanfiction is here to support our Trans and Non-Binary siblings!

Fanfiction can be a place where Trans+/NB+ people can find the kind of representation that is largely not present in mainstream media.

Comics Wrap-Up - Slowly Words Break Through, Walls Break Down

 ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.

It's Thursday. Somehow it's still 2020. Let's get some comics-y goodness!

Once again this week is only the 'Other Stuff' category - for which, as is traditional, we will blame Loki.

Nerd Church - Supporting Black People, Trans People, and Black Trans People

(Warning: this post discusses racism, Transphobia, and racist, Transphobic, and Transmysogynoiristic murder.)

Brief note before I start: 

Please, please, please remember that we are still in the middle of a global pandemic with Covid 19/Coronavirus - a pandemic that disproportionately takes the lives of People of Colour/BAME people.

Stay safe. 

KEEP SOCIAL DISTANCING - 2m/6ft apart if possible. 

Stay home when you can. 

Wash your hands A LOT. 

Wear a face mask if/when appropriate.

 

Once again, the rights and lives of Black people, Trans people, and Black Trans people, are under threat.

I'm privileged in that I'm a White Cis woman. 

And after all the media attention has died down, I will still be a White Cis woman, and Black people will still be Black, and Trans+ people will still be Trans+.