Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler (2025) by Susana M. Morris is one of the best biographies that I’ve read, about one of the most amazing authors of speculative fiction that ever lived. Although I’ve not reviewed any of Butler’s work in this space (that’s changing next week with a reviewContinue reading “Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler”
Author Archives: bbwesquire
No Fats, No Fems
No Fats, No Fems: A Guide to Queer Empathy and Unpacking Prejudice (publication day May 19 2026) by Max Hovey is a decent introduction to anti-racist, feminist, trans-positive, and body positive concepts for gay white men who may never have been exposed to those ideas before. The title comes from a common phrase found inContinue reading “No Fats, No Fems”
A Perfect Hand
A Perfect Hand (publication day May 19, 2026) by Ayelet Waldman is my favorite kind of historical fiction–where actual historical figures make an appearance as characters! Set in the late 1800s in England, the story centers on Alice Lockey, a lady’s maid who grew up in a village, daughter of a farmer, and entered serviceContinue reading “A Perfect Hand”
Migrant Heart: Essays About Things I Can’t Forget
Migrant Heart: Essays About Things I Can’t Forget (publication day May 12, 2026) by Reyna Grande is a beautifully-written collection of memoir pieces about a variety of things. Grande writes about her relationship with her parents, who separated when she was little, and who she spent several years away from when they came to theContinue reading “Migrant Heart: Essays About Things I Can’t Forget”
A Grandmother Begins the Story
A Grandmother Begins the Story (2023) by Michelle Porter is an inventive, beautifully-written book that tells the story of five generations of Métis women and the bison and the land they live on. The audiobook is read by a full cast of 16 different actors, who read the chapters written from the perspectives of theContinue reading “A Grandmother Begins the Story”
The Library of Flowers
The Library of Flowers (publication day May 3, 2026) by L.C. Chu (aka Lily Chu) has a little bit of everything. This hard-to-categorize, enjoyable fantasy/historical/ romance/family drama/coming of age features Lucy Hua, the latest in a long line of Hua women perfumers who can create perfumes that can affect emotion or even summon true love–calledContinue reading “The Library of Flowers”
Fat Swim
Fat Swim (publication day April 28, 2026) by Emma Copley Eisenberg (of the Frump Feelings Substack, Housemates, and The Third Rainbow Girl) is a beautiful collection of semi-linked short stories that is a celebration of fat, queer love. All of the stories are set in or around Philadelphia and feature fat and queer characters inContinue reading “Fat Swim”
The Duke
The Duke (publication day April 28, 2026) by Anna Cowan is a sapphic political romance set in a Regency era where women can inherit title! Kate, the Duke of Howard, inherited when she was a young teenager after her own treachery, born of her youth, inexperience, and ambition. Now much-feared, she cultivates her icy reputation.Continue reading “The Duke”
We Burned So Bright
We Burned So Bright (publication day April 28, 2026) by T.J. Klune is a short standalone dystopian fantasy that also happens to be uplifting, despite being set at the end of the world because a black hole is coming to swallow the earth. As the book opens, 72-year old Rodney and 78-year old Don, aContinue reading “We Burned So Bright”
The Frozen River
The Frozen River (2023) by Ariel Lawhon (2024 Goodreads Choice Nominee for Reader’s Favorite Historical Fiction) was a recent book group choice, and I’m so glad that it was. Although I love historical fiction, I might not have gotten to it as quickly if it hadn’t been a book group choice. And it has theContinue reading “The Frozen River”
Reading While Fat 