Read to discover your identity. Read to know you’re valid. Read about different perspectives beside your own. Read to be informed. Read to learn something new. Just read, read, read diversely.
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want to read some Irish myths? (or other Celtic myths?) here’s a list!
this is just a list of the books that I read/use for Irish myths, collected into one place. some of them are translations and others are more like adaptations, but they’re all good!
The Tain, translated by Thomas Kinsella - I always recommend this one because it’s my favorite, but if you’re looking for a place to start with Irish myths, this is a good one. it includes tales from before the Tain itself and is a good introduction to a lot of the characters in the Ulster Cycle.
A Celtic Miscellany, Kenneth H. Jackson (Penguin Classics) - collects from various Celtic stories/poems/quotes, but if you’re looking for some Irish myths in particular there’s a bunch! (and also the other stuff is good too)
Over Nine Waves, Mary Heaney - covers not only some Mythological Cycle tales (”Children of Lir,” the Milesians, etc.) but also tales from the Ulster and Finn/ Fenian Cycle. this is where I first read “Bricriu’s Feast” and “The Death of Cuchulainn.” also has some tales about St. Patrick, St. Brigid, and St. Columcille (or Columba, if you prefer). very good and would highly recommend!
The death-tales of the Ulster heroes, Kuno Meyer - in the mood to read about all the heroes dying? want to know how your favorite characters’ stories ended? say no more! this is the book for you! in this book everybody dies. (stories about the Irish heroes dying are so common that they have their own classification, which is wild. I love it). best part: you can read this for free online here (or get it from a university library, which is what I did at first).
Early Irish Myths and Sagas, Jeffrey Gantz - has a lot of the stories already previously told in the earlier books on this list, but includes some extra ones, such as “The Wasting Sickness of Cuchulainn” and “The Only Jealousy of Emer.” (in which Emer gets some knives and an army of women to go kill the woman her husband has been sleeping with, because she’s Extra like that)
Ancient Celtic Romances,
P.W. Joyce - exactly what it says in the title. these are some Celtic
romances, including that of Diarmuid and Grainne (a tale similar to an
older myth, “Deirdre of the Sorrows”). also has a longer version of “The
Children of Lir,” among other tales.
Celtic Wonder-Tales, Ella Young - earlier myths/stories from the Mythological Cycle, about people like Lugh and Goibniu the Smith. a fun read!
The Wonder Smith and His Son, Ella Young - a series of tales about the Gubbaun Saor and also a fun read!
Merugud Uilix Maicc Leirtis (The Wandering of Ulixes son of Laertes), Kuno Meyer - a very enjoyable version of the Odyssey that you can read for free online here!
(I wanted to add the one where St. Patrick and Oisin are being cranky and snarky at one another, but I couldn’t find the book it’s located in, so will probably add that in later)
Its agallamh na seanorach/the colloquy of the ancients. Its online but its one of those brutal 19th c translations
https://archive.org/stream/silvagadelicaix00gragoog#page/n135/mode/1up
How many books have you read this year and out of the ones you read, which has been your absolute fave? 🌈📚
How many books have you read this year and out of the ones you read, which has been your absolute fave? 🌈📚
There’s also a giveaway if you read to the end! I really had fun putting this list together.
books read in 2018: every heart a doorway, by seanan mcguire.
we notice the silence of men. we depend upon the silence of women.
2018 Upcoming Queer Fiction I’m Excited For!
This is my top nine for LGBTQA fiction featuring women that I’m most excited to read. All of these books sound like they have wonderful stories to tell, with a refreshing and unique mix of characters in each one. Lady drummers seem to be the theme of this year’s queer fiction, and let me tell you, I am here for it. Who didn’t spend their formative years staring longingly at the school band’s lone female drummer and feeling all sorts of feelings aflutter? Lesbihonest.Below you’ll find titles, summaries and goodreads links to the above books. I really look forward to reading them, and to seeing what everyone else thinks of them too - this has already been such a great year for representation in literature, and that movement is growing day by day.
- Leah On The Offbeat by Becky Albertalli
“When it comes to drumming, Leah Burke is usually on beat—but real life isn’t always so rhythmic. An anomaly in her friend group, she’s the only child of a young, single mom, and her life is decidedly less privileged. She loves to draw but is too self-conscious to show it. And even though her mom knows she’s bisexual, she hasn’t mustered the courage to tell her friends—not even her openly gay BFF, Simon.
So Leah really doesn’t know what to do when her rock-solid friend group starts to fracture in unexpected ways. With prom and college on the horizon, tensions are running high. It’s hard for Leah to strike the right note while the people she loves are fighting—especially when she realizes she might love one of them more than she ever intended.”
- Out Of The Blue by Sophie Cameron
“Ten days after Jaya Mackenzie’s mum dies, angels start falling from the sky. Smashing down to earth at extraordinary speeds, wings bent, faces contorted, not a single one has survived.
Hysteria mounting with every Being that drops, Jaya’s father uproots the family to Edinburgh intent on catching one alive. But Jaya can’t stand this obsession and, struggling to make sense of her mother’s sudden death and her own role on that fateful day, she’s determined to stay out of it.
When her best friend disappears and her father’s mania spirals, things hit rock bottom and it’s at that moment something extraordinary happens: An angel lands right at Jaya’s feet, and it’s alive. Finally she is forced to acknowledge just how significant these celestial beings are.” - Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann
“Alice had her whole summer planned. Non-stop all-you-can-eat buffets while marathoning her favorite TV shows with the smallest dash of adulting–working at the library to pay her share of the rent. The only thing missing from her perfect plan? Her girlfriend (who ended things when Alice confessed she’s asexual). Alice is done with dating–no thank you, do not pass go, stick a fork in her, done.
But then Alice meets Takumi and she can’t stop thinking about him or the rom com-grade romance feels she did not ask for (uncertainty, butterflies, and swoons, oh my!).
When her blissful summer takes an unexpected turn, and Takumi becomes her knight with a shiny library employee badge (close enough), Alice has to decide if she’s willing to risk their friendship for a love that might not be reciprocated—or understood.”
- Nothing Happened by Molly Booth
“This modern-day retelling of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing takes place at the idyllic Camp Dogberry, where sisters Bee and Hana Leonato have grown up. Their parents own the place, and every summer they look forward to leading little campers in crafts, swimming in the lake, playing games of capture the flag and sproutball, and of course, the legendary counselor parties.
This year, the camp drama isn’t just on the improv stage. Bee and longtime counselor Ben have a will-they-or-won’t-they romance that’s complicated by events that happened—or didn’t happen—last summer. Meanwhile, Hana is falling hard for the kind but insecure Claudia, putting them both in the crosshairs of resident troublemaker John, who spreads a vicious rumor that could tear them apart.
As the counselors juggle their camp responsibilities with simmering drama that comes to a head at the Fourth of July sparkler party, they’ll have to swallow their pride and find the courage to untangle the truth, whether it leads to heartbreak or happily ever after.” - If I Tell You by Alicia Tuckerman
“Seventeen-year-old Alex Summers lives with a secret and the constant fear someone will find out. But when a new family moves to town, they bring with them their teenage daughter Phoenix Stone. When Alex falls for Phoenix, there is no warning. In a small town with small minds, girls don’t go out with other girls, even if they want to.
In fear there is bravery – you can either cling to the edge or have the courage to jump. But what do you do when you’re left spiralling through the freefall?” - Drum Roll, Please by Lisa Jenn Bigelow
“Melly only joined the school band because her best friend, Olivia, begged her to. But to her surprise, quiet Melly loves playing the drums. It’s the only time she doesn’t feel like a mouse.
Now, she and Olivia are about to spend the next two weeks at Camp Rockaway, jamming under the stars in the Michigan woods.
But this summer brings big changes for Melly: her parents split up, her best friend ditches her, and Melly finds herself falling for a girl at camp named Adeline. To top it off, Melly’s not sure she has what it takes to be a real rock ‘n’ roll drummer. Will she be able to make music from all the noise in her heart? “ - The Brightsiders by Jen Wilde
“As a rock star drummer in the hit band The Brightsiders, Emmy King’s life should be perfect. But there’s nothing the paparazzi love more than watching a celebrity crash and burn. When a night of partying lands Emmy in hospital and her girlfriend in jail, she’s branded the latest tabloid train wreck.
Luckily, Emmy has her friends and bandmates, including the super-swoonworthy Alfie, to help her pick up the pieces of her life. She knows hooking up with a band member is exactly the kind of trouble she should be avoiding, and yet Emmy and Alfie Just. Keep. Kissing.
Will the inevitable fallout turn her into a clickbait scandal (again)? Or will she find the strength to stand on her own?” - The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza by Shaun David Hutchinson
“Sixteen-year-old Elena Mendoza is the product of a virgin birth.
This can be scientifically explained (it’s called parthenogenesis), but what can’t be explained is how Elena is able to heal Freddie, the girl she’s had a crush on for years, from a gunshot wound in a Starbucks parking lot. Or why the boy who shot Freddie, David Combs, disappeared from the same parking lot minutes later after getting sucked up into the clouds. What also can’t be explained are the talking girl on the front of a tampon box, or the reasons that David Combs shot Freddie in the first place.
As more unbelievable things occur, and Elena continues to perform miracles, the only remaining explanation is the least logical of all—that the world is actually coming to an end, and Elena is possibly the only one who can do something about it. “ - The Beauty That Remains by Ashley Woodfolk
“Autumn always knew exactly who she was—a talented artist and a loyal friend. Shay was defined by two things: her bond with her twin sister, Sasha, and her love of music. And Logan always turned to writing love songs when his love life was a little less than perfect. But when tragedy strikes each of them, somehow music is no longer enough. Now Logan can’t stop watching vlogs of his dead ex-boyfriend. Shay is a music blogger struggling to keep it together. And Autumn sends messages that she knows can never be answered. Each of them wonders: How different would my life be if this hadn’t happened? And now that it has … what’s next?”
I had no idea that there was so much wlw literature out there. How come we never learn about this or see it in libraries or bookstores?
Hi! I think there’s a lot of reasons we don’t hear as much about wlw literature. One of them, of course, is that publishing is an industry, and women who are interested in, well, wlw books, are a very small subset of the population. It has been, in past, seen as something that wasn’t very marketable to a wider audience. There are also some complicated issues with censorship that arose throughout the 1900s, where most publishers had to abide by certain rules - mainly that if they included lesbian or bisexual characters, they weren’t allowed to have a happy ending, or stay with the woman they fell for. Thankfully, things have changed!
If you’re interested, I’ve done a similar post for 2019 wlw releases.
I went to the coolest little bookshop yesterday in Sedona, AZ. There aren’t too many Independent bookstores where I live so I was happy when we came across this little shop! It also has the cutest name: The Literate Lizard. I picked out a couple books that I’ll be excited to read in the new year 😊