When given the opportunity to check out the audiobook for Jennifer Dugan’s Anderson in Bloom, I jumped on the chance. I have previously written about my take on the book itself here, so I will focus on the production, quality, and my enjoyment of the audiobook in this review.
I found the narrator did an excellent job conveying the emotions and nuances of each character. The audio quality is great and good at various different speeds (I tried 1x, 1.25x, and 1.5x). I found my enjoyment of the book increased with this relisten to the book. I recommend this book in print, audio, or ereader format for lovers of Sapphic romance, celebrity memoirs, and second-chance romances.
The trans rights readathon is coming up from March 17-31, though the reading challenge on Storygraph goes through the end of the year. Below is what I’m hoping to read by the end of the year. My goal is to read three of the picks by the end of the readathon itself.
Official StoryGraph Challenge Prompts
1. Transmasc and Trans Man Representation: An author and/or main character who identifies as a trans man or on the masculine side of the trans experience, which can include people who view their gender along the expansive nonbinary spectrum.
Extra Challenge: This year, we encourage readers to read a transmasc book by a BIPOC author.]
Harry’s Pick:Most Ardently by Gabe Cle Novoa. This one has been on my tbr since it came out. While my physical copy is currently with a friend, I found the audiobook at my library.
2. Transfemme and Trans Woman Representation: An author and/or main character who identifies as a trans woman or on the feminine side of the trans experience, which can include people who view their gender along the expansive nonbinary spectrum.
Extra Challenge: This year, we encourage readers to read a transfemme book with multiple trans characters for this prompt.
Harry’s Pick:Woodworking by Emily St. James was one of my five star reads last year and I decided to make it a reread for the readathon though I’ll be trying it in audiobook format this time around.
3. Nonbinary, Agender, Genderqueer, and Other Gender Expansive Representation: A work by an author and/or featuring a main character who exists outside of the gender binary. This includes nonbinary, agender, genderqueer, genderfluid, and other gender expansive identities. For some people, this may mean identifying as both masculine and feminine; for others, it means being neither masculine nor feminine; and in some cases, this means identifying as a midpoint (or multiple shifting midpoints) between masc and femme.
Extra Challenge: This year, we encourage readers to read a gender expansive rep book with diverse body representation for this prompt.
Harry’s Pick: How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days by Jessie Sylva just came out in 2026 and I have an advanced reader copy that’s burning a hole in my ereader. I’m hoping I enjoy it and can get a physical copy from my local romance bookstore HEA Book Boutique who had it on display last I checked.
4. Intersectional Trans+ Representation Outside Your Own Experience: A work by an author and/or featuring a main character who falls under the greater trans umbrella, including trans men, trans women, nonbinary, and other gender expansive identities, and who ALSO holds another intersectional identity, such having a different racial or cultural background than your own, or a disability you have not personally experienced.
5. 2Spirit, Indiqueer, and Indigenous Gender Expansive Representation: A work by an author and/or featuring a main character who holds a gender identity or cultural role outside of the gender binary, and which exists outside of Western definitions of transness and/or queerness. Please note that these identities and terms are specific to the culture in which they originate. Examples include two-spirit identities in Native and First Nations cultures, hijra in South Asia, waria in Indonesia, and other indigenous identities that predate Western colonization. For this prompt, we do not require the author or character to self-identify as trans, but we DO require that the author be writing from their own cultural experience (in other words, no white authors telling 2S stories, etc.). Please be mindful of the language you use for each of these books as these identities and concepts do not always map one-to-one with Western LGBTQIA+ labels, and existed long before Westernized ideas of gender and sexuality.
Harry’s Pick:Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi. Ever since finishing The Death of Vivek Oji (also by Emezi) I have been wanting to read another book by the author. I love the cover and it’s what grabbed me over other options by the author.
6. Trans Joy, Love, and/or Resistance: The annual International Trans Day of Visibility is a day to celebrate trans joy, love, and resistance. Please use this prompt to read a work celebrating trans life.
7. Trans Youth and/or Imagining Trans Futures: A work featuring Trans youth or imagining trans futures. This can be speculative fiction or sci-fi, a Young Adult/Middle Grade/Children’s book, or any work celebrating trans youth and/or the building of a better world for trans people.
Harry’s Pick:Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H is yet another book I intend to take in in audiobook format. I started it once but ran out of minutes before I finished listening so am going to start again.
I hope you consider joining the readathon! Happy reading!
As a trans man a lot of typical men-only or man-centric spaces in person are pretty limited for me. I don’t pass particularly well these days – not that passing needs to be a goal. But this means I am not subject to that sort of “locker room talk” that is associated with the men only spaces that are taking a spotlight right now with the actions (or inaction) of a certain medal-winning-podium-standing men’s sports team. I tend to avoid men-only online spaces that aren’t specifically for trans men.
All this is too say that the rhetoric in this books was not that I am often exposed to. Though having worked with teenage boys in the past it is sadly not unfamiliar. This book was read for my day job at the recommendation of a colleague. I found it difficult to stomach at times but an important read. It was well-written and compelling. Worth the time and the emotional and mental labor if you are feeling up to it.
Full disclosure: I almost didn’t post this review as I am nervous about the kind of negative attention it could garner from certain corners of the internet. But fuck it.
When I was in undergrad I did a year long assistantship where I help work on a database of graphic novels about history. The librarians attached gave me pretty free reign on what I read and catalogued, but they called dibs on the March books and Mouse, which meant I read a lot of cool comics on the Labor Movement, World War II, and various feminist waves. Someday I’ll do a list of my favorites.
This is all a roundabout way of saying I’ve been waiting to read March. I thought I was way behind, but it’s never too late to read this excellent, groundbreaking series of books. Especially if you’re lucky enough to find them at your local library like I did. Thank goodness for libraries.
While I knew some details and the general story of the various protests of the Civil Rights Movement and, I knew very little about John Lewis’s life or the specific history of SNCC. This series gave me a lot to think and reflect on especially in these ever unprecedented times. On a stylistic note I found that the art style was striking and effective with just enough detail to give the reader the scope and context of the images without being overwhelming. I enjoyed the way the lettering would blur or twist when the characters couldn’t hear what was going on or stopped paying attention.
Overall, I highly recommend this series and recommend reading it in print if you can though I check out a preview of the comiXology version and found it well-formatted.
A fun, quick read! This book came recommended in a video by Alex from Pucks and Paperbacks about different hockey books. I read it as part of a readathon where one of the bingo squares was reading a book under 200 pages. This books comes in way under and is a delight to read.
The book primarily takes place in DC and I appreciate a book where the city becomes a focal point to the extent it is almost a character itself. I’ve never been to DC (my only east coast visit was to Boston back in the 2010s for Nerdcon) and I felt like I got to peak at both the local and tourist sides of the city. The youth center scene was my favorite hands down and reminded me fondly of my own time working at a youth center with a large LGBT+ population.
Overall, I recommend this book if you need a quick read that is a feel-good romance with discussions of hockey, community, and SPICE.
The cover of this book won me over immediately. I love the art style, I love the way the characters are gazing at each other, and I love the lil kiddo around the corner. Every detail is so on point and gives nods to little details in the books. Doesn’t hurt that I think making a fish the mascot of a team is hilarious. Almost as good as making the arena the Culver’s arena – my wife said she would change loyalties TODAY if Madison announced they were going to have a team hosted at the Culver’s arena.
First and foremost, I want to focus on the character of Rowan. Both because it can feel rare to find a child character done well (way too many annoying waifs in the regency books of my wasted youth) and because he comes first for Tyler and Jamie themselves. The scene in the children’s museum was precious and I loved seeing Rowan make friends at various WAG events. I greatly appreciated seeing a child who becomes tired, overstimulated, and just plain cranky.
Which leads to Tyler who shows great parenting skills. I love love love watching him become comfortable with letting others show care for Rowan and then for Tyler himself. I deeply appreciate the positive portrayal of sex work and the hustle that being a single parent takes for Tyler. It makes it all the more satisfying when Tyler discovers he and Rowan can be part of a community with Jamie.
Captain, my captain. Jamie is so so soft and I love that in a big ole hockey man. I especially love that the reader gets real hockey play throughout the book (love the inclusion of the winter classic). So often I leave a hockey romance wishing for more hockey and I didn’t feel that dissatisfaction with Making Time.
Overall, I relished reading Making Time and cannot wait to read more from Weston. Thanks to the author for an ARC.
I have been saving this particular book for a reading slump. I like to listen to memoirs and this one rolled in under seven hours which is perfect for the weekend read-a-thon I’m participating in with on Alex (pucksandpaperbacks)’s discord for the Paperback Pals. The memoir combined some of my favorite things: behind the scenes of Hollywood and Broadway; LGBT identities, spaces, and communities; and occasionally breaking into song.
Finding My Way by Malala Yousafzai dives into the life of the author and delves deeper into the genre of memoir. It is excellently written with a clear voice that shows compassion, insight, and humor into the late teens and twenties of a young woman thrust into the public eye. I am married to an education nerd so some of that fascination has rubbed off on me and I was especially interested in learning how the Oxford system works as it seems so different from continuing education in the United States. I appreciated that Malala was not afraid to show her mistakes, mishaps, and missteps that are part of growing up. I also appreciated her focus and frank discussion of the importance of mental health care.
I love an oral history in general (I read an excellent graphic novel adaptation of Stud Terkel’s labor work in undergrad) and when I can listen to an audiobook of one I am even happier. The audiobook for So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color by Caro de Robertis is excellent. The breath of experiences covered by the oral history is interesting and moving. In particular, listening to the book as I myself am undergoing medical transition is interesting experience. I am constantly thinking about my body, its changes, and changes I would still like to see happen. It is wild to know that others have been feeling the same, and different, way(s) for generations.
