My bike got stolen. I keep it locked up (with a heavy-duty lock) just outside my apartment's front door. This is the second time I've had a bike stolen, but this time it was my NICE bike I treated myself to a couple of years ago. It's been my main form of transportation while the weather is nice. I made a police report but I don't expect anything to come of it. Anyway, that's sort of ruined my day.
I now want to read a book with ALL these elements. I don't know how that would work, exactly, but hey, the time travel will make it possible for something to be set in both the Victorian and WWII eras, right?
Also, I'm assuming, with your list, that you've read Sarah Waters' stuff?
Yes! I loved it. Another good queer YA I read recently is Everything Leads to You by Nina Lacour. It's got mystery, girls who work on a Hollywood film set, and a super-sweet romance. I don't know how realistic the main character's job is (she's a recent high school grad who works as a set designer on an indie movie), but I loved hearing the details about her work as well as her romance with the lead actress.
Oh, Emily's my favorite. Have you read the Blue Castle?
Ooh, one more book I want to yell about that I read recently: Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon. It's science fiction, of the sort that I think people who like Ursula K. LeGuin will enjoy, and the main character is an old lady in her 70s who gets left behind when her planet is abandoned and ends up being the point of first contact with an alien species.
LOVE I Capture the Castle. That's a comfort read for me, for sure.
Yay, a fellow Vorkosigan van. Have you read Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen yet? I haven't - for some reason I feel this urge to save it for when I really need it.
If you liked Rose Under Fire and want to know a little bit more about the history of the camp it's set in as well as the Polish "rabbits" who were experimented on, might I suggest If This is a Woman (I think the U.S. edition is just called Ravensbruck) by Sarah Helm? It's a stunning read, in every sense of the word. I found parts of it hard to get through just from the sheer horror, but I learned about so many brave and amazing women.
I would like to yell about a book I just finished reading, A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab. If you like alternate world fantasy with great worldbuilding and even greater characterization, you should read it! The sequel is out now, too.
How can we add ourselves to the spreadsheet? It's not letting me edit.
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