Half English, half-French, whatever first language comes to mind. This is a list of the books I read and liked. Sorted by author name.
Moitié en français, moitié en anglais, j’écris dans la première langue qui me vient à l’esprit. C’est une liste de livres que j’ai lus et appréciés. Trié par nom de l’autaire.
sc = secondary character / ps : personnage secondaire
queer = any sort of LGBT+ rep / représentation LGBT+
7 Books To Get To Know Me (2022)
Encyclopédie Fleurus Junior des Mythologies : le livre le plus complet (et clair) que je possède sur les mythologies du monde entier. Il m’a permis de compléter mes connaissances des mythes égyptiens, grecs et romains, et de découvrir les mythologies aztèques, japonaises, hindoues… des connaissances qui m’ont notamment beaucoup aidé à apprécier les livres de Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson, etc.).
Les Désastreuses aventures des orphelins Baudelaire, Lemony Snicket : probablement la série de livres que j’ai le plus relue et commentée. On sent que l’auteur s’amuse et disperse des indices sur une histoire beaucoup plus large que celle qui est présentée au premier plan !
Royaume de Vent et de Colères, Jean-Laurent Del Socorro : le premier livre de cet auteur et l’un de mes coups de cœur, ce qui (entre autres) m’a fait devenir proche de la maison d’édition ActuSF et de l’un de ses membres.
OhJoySexToy, Erika & Matthew Moen: speaks perfectly to my curious interest toward sex and sex-related topics, plus the comics are objectively great: clear, pedagogical, showcasing a huge variety of body types (characters are fat, disabled, tattoed, pierced, trans…) and relationships.
The 2012 Hawkeye comics, written by Matt Fraction and colored by David Aja: the first comics I ever loved, the character design is so unique and different from the regular comics I’m used to!
On A Sunbeam, Tillie Walden: the first sci-fi book that made me realize that sci-fi doesn’t have to be about galactic empires and political schemes, but can revolve around character development, which I love. Becky Chambers’s books are in the same category.
Non-Player Character, Veo Corva: the first fantasy book that made me realize that fantasy books can show something else than Heroes Going On A Quest And Defeating Monsters Along The Way. The power of love and friendship is way more interesting!
In summary: mythology, funny yet intriguing books (hello Gideon the Ninth), characters rather than big political plots, comics if they’re not like the old ones. And sex-ed :D
My favorite books
Contemporary
Slay, Brittney Morris
ràd: POC mc & sc, trans sc, queer sc + women good at STEM things
it’s an amazing book! Full of Black culture and love and power. It also shows Black women in STEM! People exploring who they are thanks to videogames (including trans and non-binary folks)! And just, people basking in a world where they can be themselves and not oppressed <3 There’s also some very real discourse about what it means to be Black nowadays, the weight of history and prejudice.
“Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. A sweet and charming coming-of-age graphic novel that explores friendship, love, and coming out.”
Georgia finally starts her college life and thinks this is it, she’s finally gonna have a normal life and meet someone and fall in love… but she’s so, so, so ace. It’s a really lovely book, written by someone who has read tons of fanfiction and knows all about queer internet culture, and it feels cosy and warm and really nice. There’s angst and feels and heartbreak for sure, but there’s mainly people figuring out who they are, and being so. happy. once they accept who they are. <3
read: July 2021
A Series of Unfortunate Events, Lemony Snicket (13 books)
Always a delight to read, to watch the author have fun putting hardships on his characters, playing on words, giving out hints of a bigger story that is only revealed in the last books. The Netflix show is equally amazing and I highly recommend it.
Fantasy
Swords and Fire (The Tethered Mage), Melissa Caruso (3 books)
ràd: lesbian, gay, bi mc and sc, absolutely no homophobia, gay parents. One genderqueer sc in book 3.
What can I say, I love a story with two women as protagonists, one who is a fiery badass, the other very smart and bred for politics, who admits she doesn’t like that world and explains her ethical struggles. Plus danger, adventure, beautiful romance.
An in-depth review (spoiler free) by Alex: “On y suis deux meuf badass à leur manière, très différentes l’une de l’autre, une riche héritière passionnée par la magie et contrainte à faire de la politique, et une sorcière extrêmement puissante & voleuse à la tire à ses heures perdues. Elles sont forcées à collaborer et ne s’entendent pas très bien, mais vont apprendre à respecter l’autre, au fur et à mesure des épreuves qu’elles traverses et des intrigues dans lesquelles elles sont plongées.
L’histoire repose bien plus sur des intrigues politiques que des aventures épiques, mais c’est bien raconté et on crois à l’univers dessiné et aux motivations de chacun.e. Côté romance, la principale est hétero, mais notre sorcière est bi et cela ne pose aucun problème, il y a plusieurs personnages LGBT dans l’histoire et ils sont acceptés et intégrés dans la société comme tout le monde, ça change !”
as they put it on Masto, “scholars and libraries! black magic! zombie friends! evil necromancers but … friendly? ace romance!”
Books & Bone is a bit different from any other fantasy books I ever read, it’s about necromancers and librarians and friendly zombies and power-hungry friends and ace romance and deadly adventures and… it’s so good?? The world V built is amazing, the character are compelling, I want to read more about all this! The story will definitely stay in a snug corner of my heart <3
ràd: in the main group of characters there are people who are disabled, neurodivergent, fat, ace, aro, trans, nonbinary, bi, gay, lesbian, POC
The whole book is very heartwarming. The story starts with Tar, an anxious, autistic, fat, asexual person who’s about to play their first TTRPG game with a friend they met online. What’s not to love about this premise? And then you meet the other players and you’re like wow, this feels like home! The friendly bickering, the queerness of it all, the autistic and disabled characters 😍
This is a whole fantasy adventure without a single combat! Characters are fat, disabled, anxious, queer, and have an amazing time with friends ✨ (and also they do magic and they befriend pets!)
read: June 2022
The Farseer trilogy, Robin Hobb (3 books)
The Locked Tomb books: Gideon the Ninth (1), Harrow the Ninth (2), Tamsyn Muir
ràd: lesbian mc, queer
tags: fantasy, but in space
Molly Ostertag says: “weird prose, sharp humor, dirtbag idiot lesbians, wildly interesting world, good pacing” and yeah i don’t know what else to say honestly, it’s amazing!
Harrow is very different but very good also.
Tamsyn Muir has the amazing talent to play with fanfic tropes and toy with the reader until the very end. The books leave me breathless from excitement and frustration both, it’s genuinely amazing.
read: summer 2022 (Gideon), Sep 2022 (Harrow)
Song of the Lioness, Tamora Pierce (4 books)
ràd: gender non-conforming* polyamorous mc, bi sc, POC sc
I just love Alanna with all my heart. A girl who does all she can to be a knight, and hates magic? That’s me! The adventures she goes through are very nicely written and just transport me effortlessly to her world, no matter how many times I read them.
Be warned though, the books are a bit old and the setting is very patriarchal. Women are supposed to be ladies and want/have children. Also there’s a bit of exotisation (there are Arab-coded desert tribes and Asian-coded melee fighters).
rec by Veo Corva: “A gorgeous fantasy story about a medic and an energy healer who are forced to live and work together as travelling healers going from village to village with a caravan.
It’s deeply character focused with a story that is not at all about action or saving the world and all about finding a way to make peace with themselves, with each other, and to build the lives they dream of.
It’s very vulnerable, tense, and sweet, and I highly recommend it.”
ràd: pp bi, ps lesbienne, tout le monde est poly, ps muette
tags: historique
J’ai relu ce livre récemment, sur un coup de tête (parce que je voyais le Del Socorro en salon juste après). J’en avais gardé un beau souvenir, surtout grâce à la magnifique couverture de l’édition originelle qui reflète parfaitement l’esprit de cette Boudicca (… même si elle tient un bouclier anachronique 😅), mais je me souvenais avoir préféré son premier, Royaume de Vent et de Colères.
À la relecture, le livre m’a transporté. Il est beau, il est puissamment féministe, il est bourré de phrases-perles qui sont souvent à la fois poétiques et percutantes. J’en parle plus en détails sur ma page sur Boudicca.
Royaume de Vent et de Colères, Jean-Laurent Del Socorro (eBook)
ràd: pp noire, pp gays, ps arabe
Un récit historique avec quelques bribes de magie ; un roman à personnages qui nous fait voyager dans la Marseille du XVIe siècle, sous Henri IV et ses guerres de religion.
Tobie Lolness, Timothée de Fombelle (2 livres)
Une aventure poétique au sein d’un arbre, magnifiquement illustrée par François Place.
Tales of the Otori, Lian Hearn (5 books, including a sequel and a prequel)
ràd: Asian-coded characters (in an imaginary world), many with dark skins. At least one queer (probably gay) sc.
A tale of ninjas and assassins in a beautifully crafted world. Also, love, politics, power struggles. Lots of women as strong as men, reflexions on patriarchy, people having relationships with men and women alike… all very well-written.
Nous sommes la poussière, Plume D. Serves
ràd: pp handi, lesbienne
Ce livre m’a fait vivre une foultitude d’émotions ! J’aime les personnages, j’aime leurs avancées, j’aime la trame politique et l’antivalidisme puissant de cette histoire. J’ai souri et j’ai versé des larmes. J’ai aussi beaucoup apprécié le mode de narration sous trois angles différents, c’est assez inédit pour moi et ça marche très bien. Et puis j’ai voulu prendre tellement de passages en note, tellement de phrases percutantes, tellement de moments charnière pour les personnages aussi.
lu: Octobre 2023
Sci-fi
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, Becky Chambers
ràd: polyA mc, sapphic mc, trans mc, POC mc (one from Mexico, one with an African-sounding name and one with an Asian-sounding name)
I mean it’s Becky Chambers, you know. It’s a novella so shorter than an actual novel, and I find it’s a great way to discover Chambers’s books.
It’s about space exploration, discovering new planets, living with the same three crew members for a long long time, scientific joyful discoveries and failed experiments.
read: 2021
On A Sunbeam, Tillie Walden
ràd: nb mc, sapphic mc
tags: hopeful sci-fi
can be read for free on the book’s website! For free!!! But really it’s an amazing story set on a spaceship, that talks about found family, the beauty of space, and love in every sense of the world. It’s a soft and gorgeous story.
read: 2020
Black-Out & All-Clear, Connie Willis
ràd: meh, all white cis het characters
but my oh my is the time travelling good in this one. Future historians going back in time to study bits of history, getting stuck during WWII. London, the English countryside, Dunkirk. The Blitz. Friendships, hardships, love, happiness, struggles, grief. When you run out of time, you might try to settle for what you have.
It’s a book about teenagers and mistakes and love and space travel and choices and… it’s very nice. And queer, in every sense of the word.
Reminds me a bit of Spellhacker (M.K. England) and The Grief Keeper (Alexandra Villasante).
“This was one of my favorite books last year, and… let me tell you I have extreme taste because: butch lesbians in love, found family, and space!! Gays in space!!! The endings is one of my favorite endings ever, and I cried so much over it.” (QPOC Book List)
read: december 2022
Home is Not A Country, Safia Elhillo
ràd: Muslim author
“A mesmerizing novel in verse about family, identity, and finding yourself in the most unexpected places”. “As the ground is pulled out from under her, Nima must grapple with the phantom of a life not chosen, the name her parents didn’t give her at birth: Yasmeen. But that other name, that other girl, might just be more real than Nima knows. And more hungry.And the life Nima has, the one she keeps wishing were someone else’s… she might have to fight for it with a fierceness she never knew she had.” Rec’d on Mis Hashmi’s list.’
Les vies de cinq personnages s’entremêlent dans ce roman très touchant. C’est un roman ado qui parle de sujets très sérieux, des problèmes d’enfants et ded problèmes d’adultes, et c’est fait avec une très belle plume.
lu : 2022
The Henna Wars, Adiba Jaigirdar
ràd: Bengali Muslim lesbian mc, half-Brasilian bisexual mc, South Korean sc
tags: romance, sapphic
A high school sapphic romance between two POC characters, plus a not-so-friendly business competition, talks of racism and homophobia in an all-girls Irish school. And the book shows content warnings at the beginning!
a typical story of a group of teenagers in high school. Here, it’s a trio of girl friends, and two of them become romantically involved! All in all, there’s a lot of drama and people messing up, don’t expect this to be a happy ride; but it was still a nice read.
read: Summer 2021
Darius the Great Is Not Okay, Adib Khorram (eBook)
ràd: QPOC mc, probable gay mc, fat mc
“depression, identity, friendship and family. Its messages and themes are just so heartwrenching and well-written” (QPOC Book List)
“This book does a fantastic job of exploring trauma and grief, and I adored it with all my heart. I thought the buildup of the story (and the !!romantic tension!!) was so well-done” (QPOC Book List)
read: 2021
The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics, Olivia Waite
ràd: sapphic mc
The book is set in Victorian England, where men do science and women are restricted to housekeeping and embroidery. But in the first chapter two women kiss desperately, and the story is full of fierce women with a sharper mind than any men they encounter, and astronomers and botanists and artists that long to thrive in the field they’re good at (and lots of sapphic scenes 🥰). The book is brilliant! And heartwarming, and feminist, and sapphic, and full of love of astronomy and science in general.
Un conte agrémenté de magnifiques illustrations de Tristan Gion qui donnent une ambiance douce/celtique/magique à l’histoire. Ça parle l’air de rien de dépression et d’acceptation de soi (et de transidentité), c’est très beau.
It’s the journal of a naturalist who absolutely loves dragons and she goes with her husband to a land where there have been dragon sightings! There’s adventure but most of all there’s a love for science and biology in this book that is very refreshing to read. Kudos for the dragon sketches that ornate each chapter.
“de la fantasy avec une héroïne espionne, TDS, soumise et badass” (Alex)
cw: harsh bdsm (finding pleasure in pain), the characters are all white, thin and gorgeous
read: 2022
The Princess, Her Dragon and Their Prince, Lady Rowyn
ràd: QPOC mcs, gay and lesbian mcs, trans sc
a polyamorous romance set in a heroic fantasy universe, it’s enthralling and funny and gorgeous and sexy and I instantly loved all the characters.
The Red Threads of Fortune, Neon Yang
ràd: author is nb, ppl in this world can choose their gender, trans/nb characters as well. Asian-inspired world
Second book of their saga (after The Black Tides of Heaven). The background story was a bit hard to follow, but the main characters (Mokoya and Rider) are very interesting. Mokoya has to deal with intense grief that hinders her ability to move forward, I felt that it was nicely written about.
“Yes, it’s a lesbian space pirate romance. But also it’s an interrogation of idealism, the replication of corrupted power structure when attempting to be free of corrupt power structures, and the pain of action in spite of fear and uncertainty.”
added: 03/12/22
read: 05/2023
Spellhacker, MK England
ràd: nb mc, mc with chronic illness, queer mc
“set in a world with tech and magic, really really cool, one of the main character is non binary and has a chronic illness <3 There are a few annoying thing in this book plot wise as the author is at the very beginning of her career I think and I wish it would have gone through a few more rounds of editing but overall I really loved it!!!” (Loke)
Can only agree with Loke! The universe is really really cool, it’s sort of a dystopia with magic that can be used either organically or via technology, and it’s fascinating! I’ve got a big beef with the mc who’s always angry at her friends with no reason, but the overal book felt like a good heist movie.
Not Your Sidekick, C.B. Lee
ràd: bi, Southeast Asian (Chinese-Vietnamese) mc, trans sc
“a fun superhero book with a cute f/f romance” (QPOC Book List)
I liked it a lot! It’s a story about a girl who doesn’t have superpowers in a futuristic America where there are superheroes, and she wants to stand for herself (not be, like Asian characters too often are, just a sidekick).
Also she has a crush on this gorgeous girl, and one of her friends is trans, and none of the main characters are white, and it’s all really well written!
The plot is a bit traditional in the superhero story fashion, but did I say the main character is an Asian bisexual girl? How amazing is this 🥰
ràd: nonbinary mc, ace and aro mc, bi/pan characters, trans sc
This is described as a “dark and weird arcanopunk story”, and I described it as a dystopia set in futuristic Helsinki, with anarchists and self-actualizing cyborgs 🔥
This is not your typical YA dystopian novel though (it’s not a YA novel at all): here, characters have to make really hard decisions and actually deal with the regrets and consequences! It’s fascinating to read.
Murderbot is asexual and possibly also aromantic. Its adventures are fast-paced and funny, not least because it is a SecUnit android who really just wants to watch re-runs of its favourite campy space opera and not have to save everyone all the time.
A non-fiction illustrated book about the history of the queer movement, with very few sentences per page so it’s easy enough to follow through. I learned a lot!
read: 2022
Anaïs Nin : Sur la mer des mensonges, Léonie Bischoff
ràd: polyamour dans les années 20
Qu’est-ce que c’était beau ! À la fois le trait de la dessinatrice, tout au crayon de couleur, très poétique ; et l’histoire. Ça parle d’être artiste, de folie, d’amours plurielles, d’écriture, de sexe, de psychanalyse et de tendresse.
read: 2020
Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me: A Graphic Memoir, Ellen Forney
A graphic memoir about bipolarity, where the author talks about the phases of bipolarity, the meds she tried and all the awful consequences they had, how she went off them and on again. There’s also advice for exercises to follow to understand better how your mind works, that sort of thing.
La traduction française est “Une case en moins”, ce que je trouve fort drôle. Et la suite s’appelle… ”Une case en plus”.
An authobiographical compilation of eir experience of gender.
read: 2022
Books I really didn’t like
The Black Magician trilogy, Trudi Canavan
tags: fantasy
Autrice préférée de punky, “Une présence de la magie/sorcellerie dans toutes ses histoires. Mais c’est fait intelligemment. Ces magies ont des points forts et des points faibles, bien réfléchis. Un world building que j’aime assez bien. Des femmes fortes, pas sexualisées, pas princesses en détresse.”
Apparemment y a une critique du sexisme, du classisme et de l’homophobie, ce qui n’est pas si fréquent en fantasy.
however! there are two very disturbing themes that made me slam book three shut before the end.
The intense homophobia of all countries in this universe. This ranges from “you can be who you want but behind close doors” to killing anyone suspected of having homosexual tendencies. Even the gay characters think that their gay-ness is a curse and is unnatural (books 2 and 3).
During a trial in book 3, one of the accused tries to undermine the main accuser by outing him in front of everyone he cares for, and who he knows are homophobic.
Immense age difference and power unbalance between romantic interests.
In book 2, the main character is 16, and after a few weeks spent with her mentor’s son (almost her brother), who’s ten years older than her, the son kisses her by surprise, she doesn’t react and she’s supposed to be swooned and fall in love because of the kiss.
In book 3, the same 16-year-old character wonders if she’s in love with her 40-year-old mentor because she wants to protect him.
“C’est très très bien, fantasy, avec une personnage principale non-binaire qui utilise les pronoms féminins, un homme homosexuel, des fées, de la magie, un monde un poil dystopique gouverné par la grande Triade : l’empire du Japon, le sultanat de Bagdad et le royaume de France (où règne Louis XX haha).” (Miari)
J’ai dû m’arrêter de lire assez vite parce que le roman exotise sans cesse les personnes asiatiques (des descriptions du genre “son visage ressemblait à de la porcelaine” ou “ses yeux n’étaient pas trop bridés pour une Asiatique”).
Page 19 de Dans l’ombre de Paris.
“Un long soupir franchit finalement ses lèvres exquises. Elle avait désormais vingt ans, et la beauté que promettait l’enfant d’autrefois fleurissait sur toute sa personne. Sa peau soyeuse reflétait la lumière avec le doux éclat d’une perle. Elle avait un petit visage ovale aux traits ciselés, plus hardis qu’il n’est habituel chez les Asiatiques [avec un A majuscule à Asiatiques] : le nez était plus pointu, les yeux surlignés de khôl, à peine bridés, et profonds comme le ciel d’un soir d’été. Ses longs cheveux d’encre, relevés en un chignon complexe et quelque peu vertigineux,”
Et par ailleurs elle se délecte de la violence envers des subordonné·es dans un cadre hiérarchique très normé ; je déteste.
Je n’ai aussi pas lu ce livre au bon moment : en ce moment, je n’ai envie de lire que des livres où ça se passe bien pour les personnes queers / minorisées.
Dans l’ombre du cœur de Paris, c’est tout l’inverse : la société est sexiste, xénophobe, homophobe, classiste (et notre héroïne va sans doute se dresser contre l’ordre établi).
J’achète mes ebooks sur emaginaire.com, une e-librairie gérée par la maison d’édition indépendante ActuSF. Si les ebooks ne sont pas là-dessus… j’en achète d’autres, j’en ai suffisamment dans ma liste pour ne pas en manquer.
Je n’achète de livres physiques que si (1) c’est des romans que j’aime tellement que je veux les prêter à tout le monde, ou (2) c’est des romans graphiques ou des BDs.