It’s that time of the week again! Week two of my Pride Reading Challenge has wrapped up, and I thoroughly enjoyed all five books I read.
This week I tackled the rest of the graphic novels on my TBR as well as some of the shorter books. It was a very busy week, so these were the perfect books to keep me on track. I managed to read all of these in one sitting in less than two hours.
Let’s dive into what I read:
Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
I knew I wanted to kick off this week with this gem. This graphic novel focuses on a prince who likes to break the gender binary by wearing dresses and his dressmaker who dreams of making it big. This has been on so many readers’ LGBTQIA recommended read’s list, and I now see why. Overall, this is a fantastic story that challenges the status quo.
Bloom by Kevin Panetta
I was hesitant about reading this one when I first picked it up. The narrative focuses on a coworker to lovers plot. A family bakery is in peril after the owner’s son wants to be a rock star instead of a baker; that is until another boy with a passion for baking brings new energy to the bakery. Although it took me a while to get into this story, I eventually couldn’t put it down no matter what.
Snapdragon by Kat Leyh
I didn’t know what to expect with this one. And to be honest, I didn’t think this graphic novel would have much LGBTQIA representation in it. But it did. Snapdragon revolves around the story of a high-powered girl and an internet-savvy witch (who lays the spirits of roadkill to rest) and the history they share together. I have my fingers crossed that there will be a volume two coming soon.
Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon
This book is short, sweet, and to the point. Vaid-Menon speaks from experience about their life growing up outside of the gender binary and gender normativity and offers a few points on how society can improve. Because this book is short (around 60 pages), it makes a great introduction to people who know very little about these subjects.
Rainbow Revolutionaries by Sarah Prager
Rainbow Revolutionaries highlights 50 LGBTQIA pioneers from around the world throughout history. Learning about so many people who did so much for the LGBTQIA community made me tear up a little. This book is perfect for all ages, and I think anyone and everyone should read it.
Statistics:
Books Read: 5
Pages Read: 1,088
Money Saved (total price of MSRP of the books I’ve read): $74.95
Be sure to continue following along with me on my challenge on Instagram stories @bucksctylib. And don’t be a stranger; send me messages, answer polls, and leave some engaging comments!
-Zack F.
