Hello hello! LTB is back! And I am a day late with it because I was sick yesterday and had planned on writing this one the day of. Of course. Nevermind, here we are!

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly bookish discussion meme created by Rukky @Eternity Books and co-hosted by Aria @Book Nook Bits and Dini @DiniPandaReads. Each Friday, bloggers will write posts about a particular topic and share on their blog.

What are your favourite books with LGBTQIA+ representation? Are there authors or series you always recommend?

There are so many books that I have enjoyed over the years with LGBTQIA+ representation, these are just a handful of the ones that have stood out to me, and that I recommend with my whole heart. I enjoyed them all for very different reasons, and I think there is definitely something here for everyone!

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho, The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez, She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan.

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse, Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo, Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper, Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo.

What books are on your Pride Month TBR?

My tbr is quite small this month as I have a fair amount of books I need to read for other things too. So this is a mixture of my June tbr, and some other LGBTQIA+ books on my general tbr that I want to try and read soon.

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri, Harriet Tubman Live in Concert by Bob the Drag Queen, Single Player by Tara Tai, Spitting Gold by Carmella Lowkis

This Love by Lotte Jeffs, The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong, When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley, Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake.

What do you think makes representation feel genuine?

For any kind of representation in a book to feel genuine, I think a character should be fully fleshed out, and this absolutely includes LGBTQIA+ rep. Whether they are a main character or a side character, it needs to feel like real thought and care went into their creation. Without this, the character feels like an afterthought, put there to check a box. By having characters with vibrant personalities and histories, we can feel like they are real people who are more than their identity – which is what every LGBTQIA+ person is. We don’t exist just to be queer; we have interests, friends and other identities too.

I also think that it is important to have more than one LGBTQIA+ person in a book. We don’t exist in vacuums! Queer characters don’t have to make up every single character, but just having other characters talk about friends or family who are LGBTQIA+ in an offhand way can go far!

You Tell Me: What is your favourite LGBTQIA+ book to recommend?