60th read of 2026:

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

A beautiful story about Lily, a young Chinese American teenage girl, as she comes of age in 1950s San Francisco and discovers that she’s a lesbian. Lo seamlessly weaves history and other narratives into the plot to give readers a fully rounded picture of Lily’s world. We get to know her parents and her beloved aunt, who works for JPL as a computer. Lily herself is great at math and dreams of space. Her love of sci-fi pulp novels causes her to find lesbian pulp, and in her math class, she and Kath (eventually Lily’s love interest) are the only girls.

Lo captures social undercurrents like the “threat” of Communism, China’s Cultural Revolution, the Red Scare affecting immigrants, women as computers, cross-dressing laws, and more, while letting each character have their own motivations.

Like a good YA protagonist, Lily doesn’t always understand all the complex issues intersecting in her life, but she moves through them to gain a greater sense of self.

5/5 stars

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“An elegant disorder is perfectly distinct from a vulgar confusion.” https://library.hrmtc.com/2026/05/26/an-elegant-disorder-is-perfectly-distinct-from-a-vulgar-confusion/ #AdulteryFiction #AngleterreMœursEtCoutumes19eSieCleRomansNouvellesEtc #AttraitSexuelRomansNouvellesEtc #BisexualWomenFiction #book #ConflitsConjugauxRomansNouvellesEtc #elegantDisorder #EnglandSocialLifeAndCustoms19thCenturyFiction #fiction #GrandeBretagneHistoire18371901VictoriaRomansNouvellesEtc #GreatBritainHistoryVictoria18371901Fiction #historicalFiction #horror #IndustrialRevolutionFiction #KatDunn #LGBTQBooks #LGBTQIAFiction #MaritalConflictFiction #Novels #perfectlyDistinct #QueerFiction #quote #ReVolutionIndustrielleRomansNouvellesEtc #romance #RomanceFiction #romans #SexualAttractionFiction #VampireFiction #VampireHorror #VampireRomances #VampiresFiction #VampiresRomansNouvellesEtc #vulgarConfusion

Natalie Adler: Remember Your Love for the Project https://www.writersdigest.com/natalie-adler-remember-your-love-for-the-project #Writer'sDigestAuthorSpotlight #AuthorSpotlightSeries #WriteBetterFiction #speculativefiction #AuthorSpotlights #AuthorSpotlight #LiteraryFiction #BeInspired #Interviews #LGBTQbooks #Literary #Genre

52nd read of 2026:

Always the Almost by Edward Underhill

I adored this book so much. Underhill’s writing builds a sweet romance between Miles and Eric, but never pushes them as a “forever” couple, which is entirely appropriate for a YA book.

I loved Miles’ friend group because, of course, all the queer kids will hang together and try to date each other. I appreciated that at Miles’ low point, he also had failures in relationships with his friends, parents, and piano teacher. Miles’ parents’ uncomfortability with his transness felt realistically awkward.

I had a big appreciation for the musical components and the piano recital competitions of it all. It definitely took me back to the days when my mom also put me in frilly dresses. I honestly don’t know if a suit and tie would’ve been any better. I desperately wanted to give Miles a trans flag pin so his tie would never risk hitting the piano keys. 🎹🏳️‍⚧️

4/5 stars

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48th read of 2026:

Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova

The extrapolated horror of being the replacement child after the first one dies, but actually a monster with a tail-hand. Or the extrapolated horror of when your beloved dog kills all the neighborhood pets and then tries to drink grandma’s blood, but you cannot put it down. Or the extrapolated horror of being mutilated upon birth (like many intersex children) to conform to a “normal” child.

Also, everyone is gay!

I really didn’t know where this was going most of the time, and that was fun. The time jump threw me off. The ending felt more obvious than earned.

4/5 stars

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