This week’s Sapphic Reading Challenge features sapphic books with a “forced proximity” theme.
The two main characters are forced to spend time together. It could be because they are stranded somewhere, snowed in, or stuck together for some other reason that forces them to spend time together, even though they are reluctant to do so.
This week’s Sapphic Reading Challenge features sapphic books with a main character who isn’t Hollywood beautiful–they don’t fit the beauty standards that Hollywood imposes on women, where only characters who are thin, toned, young, and have perfect hair are portrayed as beautiful.
For this reading list, I’ve picked books with protagonists who don’t fit those standards. They might have love handles, like Denny, the main character in Wrong Number, Right Woman, or consider their nose to big, yet they will always be beautiful in the eyes of their love interest.
For this month’s Book Unicorn category, read a book with a main character who’s a sapphic trans woman.
Generally, the term “trans” (short for “transgender”) can be used in two different ways:
Trans or transgender is an umbrella term that encompasses a variety of gender identities. It includes everyone whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. Many nonbinary people consider themselves trans since they don’t (exclusively) identify as male or female.
Trans or transgender can also be used for a more specific identity under that umbrella. Trans women are women who were assigned male at birth. They may or may not have surgery and/or take hormones to bring their bodies into alignment with their gender identity.
Since books about nonbinary characters were already covered in an earlier post, pick a book with a protagonist who fits the latter definition of trans for this category of the Sapphic Reading Challenge: a book featuring a trans woman.
While there are many books with trans supporting characters such as my novel Wrong Number, Right Woman, make sure you choose a book in which the trans character is the main character. Ideally, pick a book written by a trans woman.
It’s time for another special category of the Sapphic Reading Challenge. For this one, I’d like you to read a novel by an author who’s completely new to you. You might have come across their name several times or seen their books recommended, but it has to be an author from whom you’ve never read anything before.
Here are some tips on where to discover a new-to-you author!
This week’s Sapphic Reading Challenge features sapphic books in which the main character is a business owner.
The character can be the CEO of a big, successful company, or she can own a small business without any employees.
The business she owns could be a major part of the plot, so we see the character at work a lot, or it can play only a minor role.
For this week’s Sapphic Reading Challenge, pick a sapphic book that is part of a series.
It doesn’t have to be book 1; it can be a book later in the series.
Some series have the same main characters in each book, while others are more loosely connected and feature a different protagonist in every book.
Most series will have the same author, but there are a few series that are a collaboration of different authors, e.g., Ylva Publishing’s Superheroine Collection or The Village Romance Series by T.B. Markinson, Clare Lydon & Harper Bliss.
Some books aren’t even marketed as a series, even though they clearly are, e.g., my novels Just for Show and The Roommate Arrangement. When in doubt, contact the author and ask if the books are considered a series or not.
This week’s Sapphic Reading Challenge features sapphic books set in a country you don’t live in.
One of the great things about books is that they allow you to “visit” new places, even during a time when you might not be able to travel. For this category, choose a sapphic book that takes place in a country that you don’t currently live in. Depending on where you live, that could mean a book set in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, etc. Maybe pick a book set in a place that you’d like to visit or one that takes place in a country you don’t know much about.
This week’s Sapphic Reading Challenge features sapphic books with a mistaken identity theme.
A character is mistaken for someone else for at least a part of the book. Usually, it’s misunderstanding (or at least it starts out that way), rather than one character intentionally lying or disguising herself. The misunderstanding can be cleared up quickly or the other character can play along and start pretending to be someone she isn’t, but the situation didn’t start out as an intentional disguise.
It’s time for another Book Unicorn category: sapphic horror novels! Horror novels generally aim to invoke feelings of dread, fear, and anxiety in readers. In short: These books are meant to be scary! There’s some overlap with other genres such as psychological thrillers and paranormal and other speculative fiction since the scary element is often a supernatural entity such as demons, zombies, ghosts, etc. What is the Book Unicorn? A quick reminder: The Book Unicorn is a bonus level that you can pick either by itself or as an additional goal. The goal is to read at least 10 …
This week’s Sapphic Reading Challenge features sapphic books with a girl-next-door character.
“Girl next door” doesn’t mean that the main characters need to actually be neighbors and live door-to-door. It means that one of the main characters is the “girl next door” type—sweet, kind, and unpretentious. She’s generally well-liked by everyone, and she’s often described as pretty or cute, but usually, she’s not movie-star stunning.