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But last year, after so many friends had taken the step of moving to StoryGraph, I decided it was time to finally do the same and start my reading challenge for 2022 there. I was ecstatic with finally getting to see all of the reading stats StoryGraph offers. I started by using the export/import option to transfer everything from my Goodreads into this new account. That way, I would simply continue to use StoryGraph while maintaining all of the info I had been accumulating on Goodreads for the last years....

Although the quarter is a little on the lighter side, it’s packed full of quality! Look for a great, new queer paranormal graphic novel co-written by Lumberjanes co-creator Shannon Watters, a fantastic memoir from The New Yorker cartoonist Liz Montague, a hard-hitting memoir from a survivor of a mass shooting, and a new addition to the Heartstopper world for those of you still watching the Netflix show on repeat! And because I missed this one last quarter (it came out at the end of September) but it’s now a National Book Award longlist title, here’s one more!...

Hannalee Pervan, co-owner and head baker at One House Bakery, worked with her co-owner and mother Catherine for two weeks to create this Star Wars display featuring “the Pain-dough-lorian” (The Mandalorian), “Baby Dough-da” (Baby Yoda) and “The Pandroid” (Bounty Android, IG-11). Indeed, these much of these incredible scarecrows are edible. The “Pain-dough-lorian” is made entirely out of bread, while “Baby Dough-Da” himself is as well. He’s nestled inside a set of mixing bowls....

In my thirties, I added reading YA and later middle grade, and yet never thought to pick up a picture book. So I started the year with the intent to read one picture book a week. I opened my library’s Hoopla and OverDrive and started wishlisting picture books. I selected using my most trusted and favorite method: I like that cover, and that cover, and that cover. I’d amassed a little pile of picture books and I was ready, at least for a few months, to read one a week....

This report was commissioned by the UK reading charity BookTrust and written by Dr. Melanie Ramdarshan Bold. I’ve written before on the lack of diversity in the UK publishing industry, specifically when it came to including protagonists in MG & YA lit that featured BAME protagonists. It’s crucial that students see their lives, their culture, religion, their neighbourhoods, and their heritage reflected in the books that they read. This severe lack of representation highlights a huge problem in the publishing industry....

Green and Valencia have amazing taste, so this is a winner of a volume. Also Anne Shade has a fancast for the characters on her Facebook…just in case you wanted that extra oomph for envisioning her characters. Ily Goyanes is a prolific editor as well, with an amazing bibliography of top notch erotica. This is a scorching hot addition to your shelf. But come on, it’s cowgirls! The wild west isn’t just a place of subtext anymore, now we get to ride out loud and proud!...

Across America by Bicycle: Alice and Bobbi’s Summer on Wheels by Alice Honeywell and Bobbi Montgomery Ever want to just keep riding? These two know that feel! Honeywell and Montgomery, recently retired, decide to bicycle from Astoria, Oregon, to Bar Harbor, Maine. Along the way, they meet some neat people and have some fun adventures, all the while being some of the nicest people you’ll ever get to read about. Beware!...

Like every other social platform, Goodreads has its power users. What to call the reviewers who have thousands of followers and review hundreds of books a year? Influencers? Power reviewers? Hot critics? Whatever you call them, the best Goodreads reviewers are a goldmine for of-the-moment book reviews. I’ve made a list of 10 of the best Goodreads reviewers to turn to for insightful reviews, but there are hundreds more worth following....

What is important is that the “there’s only one bed” trope gives characters the potential to navigate vulnerable space. The forced proximity trope is rife with tension. Sharing a sleeping space adds a layer of difficulty to the management of the situation. After all, even if you don’t like someone, you must trust them in order to share a bed. Listen, when your trope kryptonite is “there’s only one bed,” the minute your characters go into a room and realize there’s only one bed, you will squeal....

For many AAPI people, myself included, the feeling of being trapped between two cultures is all too familiar. We often find ourselves torn between our full-Asian heritage and the non-Asian communities we call home. But many of our friends in the AAPI population balance opposing cultures within their own families, which comes with a totally separate set of joys, challenges, heartaches, and uncertainties. I recently finished Mariko Turk’s The Other Side of Perfect, a YA novel about Alina, a half-Japanese, half-white ballet dancer trying to find her way after recovering from a ballet-ending injury....

Such A Fun Age Summary Note that this summary contains spoilers The plot revolves around Emira, a young black babysitter working for a privileged blogger turned entrepreneur, Alix Chamberlain, and her husband who is a news anchor. At the beginning of the novel, Emira takes the toddler she babysits to the local upscale supermarket. Seeing a white kid with a black girl immediately piques the curiosity (and racism!) of the security guard, who accuses Emira of kidnapping the child....

In 1979, the first women’s history conference was held at Sarah Lawrence College. In the 21st century, our history is still overwhelmingly male-centered. The fact I hadn’t heard of so many of these women before making this list makes me more determined than ever to share the history of women when I can, and to do what is possible to change the perception of history from the deeds of men to the deeds of humans....

at Brightly: Books That Help Kids Learn a New Language at Bustle: 20 Books Like Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries, From The Third Rainbow Girl To Hell In The Heartland at BuzzFeed: 10 Vampire Books To Pick Up After You’ve Sunk Your Teeth Into Midnight Sun at Crime Reads: The Best Frenemies in Fiction at Electric Lit: 9 Novels About Nannies for Grown-Up “Baby-Sitters Club” Fans a Epic Reads: 16 Books With the Summer Vibe We’re Missing at Esquire: 15 Extraordinary Books You Can Read in One Sitting at Get Literary: Boozy BookCation: 7 Zesty Book and Cocktail Pairings at POPSUGAR: Got a Short Attention Span?...

Want even more space adventures? Check out these 25 universe-expanding science fiction novels for kids (including a few more great sci-fi comics and graphic novels), some women-centered space comics, and 9 space comics to take you to the final frontier. Hilarious, light-hearted, and oh-so-cute.

Of course, that’s not to say that the work is done. As I shared in a recent list of 25+ LGBTQ books for teens, we’ve got a long way to go. Though queer YA has grown drastically in recent years, this growth isn’t enough to close the huge diversity gaps in traditional publishing. I’ve said it many times: kids need queer books. All kids need to see themselves and their families valued....

March 1 “I have no conscience at all—least of all an artistic conscience. All I have is nerves.” —Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Rashōmon and Seventeen Other Stories “I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: That I am nobody but myself....

Preordering is one of the best ways to support authors, as they count toward first week sales and can help build excitement for a new book. It’s also a fun way to surprise yourself with a book you forgot you bought, and who doesn’t love surprise book mail? So preorder one of these titles today to show your support of LGBTQ writers and creators. Uncomfortable Labels: My Life as a Gay Autistic Trans Woman by Laura Kate Dale (July 1, Jessica Kingsley Publishers) Did you know that autistic people are statistically more likely to identify outside of traditional gender and sexuality labels?...

But like other manga genres, it can be difficult to figure out where to start. Thankfully, there are many kinds of horror manga out there—ranging from action horror to downright disturbing “I can’t go to sleep at night” horror—so I firmly believe there’s something out there for everyone. Here, I’ve collected 12 titles that you should give a try if you’re interested in reading a horror manga, whether you’re new to the genre or even if you’re a bit of scaredy-cat....

Picture Books About Kindness Shelter by Céline Claire and Qin Leng A snowstorm blows into the forest and brings with it two arctic visitors. These visitors knock on the doors of every animal family to find help, but nobody will let them in. Because they don’t know the visitors, they see no reason to help. But when the fox family’s home is struck by the storm, the visitors offer them help when nobody else could....

An adaptation of Shaftesbury’s award-winning, groundbreaking queer vampire web series of the same name, Carmilla mixes the camp of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the snark of Veronica Mars, and the mysterious atmosphere of Welcome to Nightvale. When I was in high school, like many teenagers, I became fascinated with vampires. I was a weird kid (shocking, I know), and over the course of many years, I amassed a collection of about 200 vampire novels....