We can’t all be excited independent readers. For some of us, reading feels too much like school. (And some of us really loved school.) Or maybe the weather is getting us down; not enough sunlight, not enough warmth. (While some of us really love cuddling up with a warm blanket, lighting some candles, and getting cozy with a book.) Whatever the reason, it’s perfectly normal to get grouchy around reading. Here are some of our favorite surefire recommendations for reluctant and grouchy readers.
It’s National Coming Out Day and we couldn’t be happier. As a publisher that prioritizes intersectionally feminist titles, we’re so pleased to have three queer titles to celebrate today. (Three of them!) For all the new parents, aunts, uncles, and proud friends, we’re recommending our newest picture book: The GayBCs by M.L. Webb, an inclusive book of ABCs meant to encourage conversation among children.
For our young adult readers – and YA fans of all ages – we have Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston, a raucous adventure perfect for anyone who’s braved a con, stayed up all night working on cosplay, or written a piece of fanfic. It’s also super queer in a romcom way, so you don’t have to be a fangirl yourself to fangirl over Imogen and Jessica.
And for long time fans of Quirk Books, dig into our back catalogue with Born This Way by Paul Vitagliano, a book of over one hundred memories from LGBTQIA+ folks about their childhood. It’s a celebration of our true queer selves.
In celebration of this beautiful day, here are our (other) favorite queer-centric books, featuring some of our favorite young adult protagonists.
We seem to have misplaced our calendar. Can anyone tell us what day it is?
Oh that’s right. It’s Mean Girls day! And while we could just spend all day organizing a living room read of Much Ado About Mean Girls – we’re biased, but it’s hilarious – what we really want to do is head on over to North Shore High School and start handing out book recommendations around the cafeteria. Admit it, you want to know what The Plastics are reading when they’re not plotting everyone else’s complete demise. (It’s the picture book Corduroy. We know. We were surprised too.) Read on to see what else we’re recommending!
The Good Place is back for its fourth and final season and we are so forking sad about it. But we love a good exit strategy and we trust Michael Schur with our hearts and our televisions, so we know that this is ultimately the right way to go out. We’re not happy about it! But we accept it.
Everyone loves a one hit wonder – that song you turn on when you’re feeling a little down. Who cares if you don’t know who actually sings this song; it’s a classic! But what about a literary one hit wonder? What about those books that are just devastatingly good – but don’t have a follow up novel to satisfy our hunger? Today, we’re pairing our favorite literary one hit wonders with the one hit wonders we love to dance to. It’s a big ol’ nerdy party over here!
The leaves are finally beginning to change and it’s almost – almost! – sweater weather. We’re waving farewell to those summer days spent reading outside and instead daydreaming about how we can bottle up the taste of a pumpkin spice latte into a reading experience. So grab your favorite blanket, light a few candles, and hunker down for a hygge day of reading.
