2019 is coming up so we thought we’d upload our planned reading list. We have got a book for each month that will be discussed on this blog so feel free to dip in and out or read along for the whole year! You can join in the conversation in the comments or if you want to get more involved you can send in your own review/thoughts to queertalksbookclub@gmail.com and have them published on here for discussion 🙂

Let us know which book you are most looking forward to!

Coming up we have:

January: The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

In 1993 after teenage Cameron is caught in the backseat of a car with the prom queen, she is sent away to a treatment centre in a remote area called God’s Promise. While she is being subjected to questionable gay conversion therapies, she bonds with some fellow residents as they pretend to go along with the process while waiting to be released.

February: None of the Above by I. W. Gregorio

None of the Above is about an adolescent intersex girl, Kristin, who discovers she has an intersex condition shortly after becoming Homecoming Queen.

March: Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. … Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus goes with him, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear.

April: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman by Anne Helen Petersen

Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud  – exploring the different experiences of women we are going to focus on ‘Too Queer’ by Caitlyn Jenner

May: Spy Stuff, by Matthew J. Metzger

Anton never thought anyone would ever want to date him. Everyone knows nobody wants a transgender boyfriend, right? So he’s as shocked as anyone when seemingly-straight Jude Kalinowski asks him out, and doesn’t appear to be joking.
The only problem is … well, Jude doesn’t actually know. Anton can see how this will play out: Jude is a nice guy, and nice guys finish last. And Anton is transgender, and transgender people don’t get happy endings. If he tells Jude, it might destroy everything.
And if Jude tells anyone else … it will.

June: If I Loved you less by Tamson Parker

Sunny, striking, and satisfied with her life in paradise, Theodosia Sullivan sees no need for marriage. She does, however, relish serving as matchmaker for everyone who crosses her path. As the manager of her family’s surf shop in Hanalei Bay, that includes locals and tourists alike.

However, Theo’s matchmaking machinations and social scheming soon become less
charming—even hazardous—to everyone involved. And when she fails to heed Kini’s warnings about her meddling, she may be more successful than she ever intended. Theo has to face the prospect of Kini ending up with someone else, just as she realizes she’s loved Kini all along.

July: If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo

Amanda Hardy is the new girl in school. Like anyone else, all she wants is to make friends and fit in. But Amanda is keeping a secret, and she s determined not to get too close to anyone. But when she meets sweet, easygoing Grant, Amanda can t help but start to let him into her life. As they spend more time together, she realizes just how much she is losing by guarding her heart. She finds herself yearning to share with Grant everything about herself, including her past. But Amanda s terrified that once she tells him the truth, he won’t be able to see past it. Because the secret that Amanda s been keeping? It’s that at her old school, she used to be Andrew. Will the truth cost Amanda her new life, and her new love?

August: Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli

In this sequel to the acclaimed Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda we follow Simon’s BFF Leah as she grapples with changing friendships, first love, and senior year angst as she learns to deal with her own secret about sexuality.

September: Spinning by Tillie Walden

For ten years, figure skating was Tillie Walden’s life.
She woke before dawn for morning lessons, went straight to group practice after school, and spent weekends competing in glitter and tights. It was a central piece of her identity, her safe haven from the stress of school, bullies and family. But over time, as she switched schools, got into art and fell in love with her first girlfriend, she began to question how the closed-minded world of figure skating fit in with the rest of her life.

October: Band Sinister by K.J Charles

Sir Philip Rookwood is the disgrace of the county. He’s a rake and an atheist, and the rumours about his hellfire club, the Murder, can only be spoken in whispers. (Orgies. It’s orgies.) Guy Frisby and his sister Amanda live in rural seclusion after a family scandal. But when Amanda breaks her leg in a riding accident, she’s forced to recuperate at Rookwood Hall, where Sir Philip is hosting the Murder. In this private space where anything goes, the longings Guy has stifled all his life are impossible to resist…and so is Philip. But all too soon the rural rumour mill threatens both Guy and Amanda. The innocent country gentleman has lost his heart to the bastard baronet—but does he dare lose his reputation too?

November: Ash by Malinda Lo

An unexpected reimagining of the Cinderella tale. In the wake of her father’s death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, re-reading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted. The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King’s Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Though their friendship is as delicate as a new bloom, it reawakens Ash’s capacity for love—and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.

December: Carol (The Price of Salt) by Patricia Highsmith

Based on a true story plucked from Highsmith’s own life, Carol tells the riveting drama of Therese Belivet, a stage designer trapped in a department-store day job, whose routine is forever shattered by a gorgeous epiphany—the appearance of Carol Aird, a customer who comes in to buy her daughter a Christmas toy. Therese begins to gravitate toward the alluring suburban housewife, who is trapped in a marriage as stultifying as Therese’s job. They fall in love and set out across the United States, ensnared by society’s confines and the imminent disapproval of others, yet propelled by their infatuation.