Pride Month 2022 | My Rainbow TBR (with an added challenge)

Hello, my lovely lemons! 🍋 And welcome to my first post of Pride Month 2022! I thought it was only right to kick things off with a post about all the wonderful queer books I’m planning to read this month. Because I did it in 2020 and it was super fun, I’ve picked and arranged these books by colour! A rainbow of reading. (It felt like the only way I could make this list of hella queer books even gayer.)

BUT this year I decided to combine this challenge with another. If you’ve been here for a while you’ll know that every year I do a TBR challenge where I have to read every book I bought in the previous year before the end of this one. (So, I need to read every unread book I owned at the beginning of 2022 before the end of it.) Since my TBR is, um, slightly larger than I would like AND I’m back on a book buying ban, this year I’m doing a Rainbow TBR made only of LGBTQ+ books I already own. Sound good? Great! Let’s see what I’ve got in store this month.

🌈 My Pride Month Rainbow TBR 🌈

First of all, can I just say how impressed I am that I just happened to own unread queer books in pretty much every colour of the rainbow?? What were the chances??? I was only missing purple, but looking at the size of some of these books I think I can live without it.

RED ❤️ Here’s to Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera

This book!! While I secretly love Adam’s tendency to leave books open-ended, I was so happy to see we were getting a sequel that picks back up with Ben and Arthur. These boys deserve to be happy! I can’t wait for another broadway-musical-reference-filled romance in New York.

ORANGE 🧡 Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Yes, I have read this book multiple times before. BUT I’ve never read it in physical form, only listened to the audiobook. I got the box set of The Murderbot Diaries for Christmas and vowed to do a reread of them all on paper. Artificial Condition happens to be next, and it’s orange, and it’s my favourite in the series. Can’t wait to spend some more time with my favourite asexual, agender SecUnit ❤

YELLOW 💛 Late to the Party by Kelly Quindlen

Everything about this book sounds wonderful to me. The ultimate mlm/wlw solidarity!! Main character Codi sounds like exactly the brand of awkward gay teenager I embodied in high school, except she accidentally ends up getting dragged into the popular crowd and having all the adventures I never did. Living vicariously through book characters? Let’s do it!

GREEN 💚 This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron

I read Cinderella is Dead last year and I wasn’t overly impressed with it, but when it was announced the author was releasing a retelling of MY FAVOURITE EVER CLASSIC I had to give her another chance. The Secret Garden was my childhood obsession, and it’s still my absolute favourite classic novel. I even have one of the special Mina Lima editions (it’s soooo pretty). So, yes, I’m excited for this modern retelling about magical powers and poisonous plants.

BLUE 💙 The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

THIS BOOK!! I feel like I’ve been waiting half my life to read it. It’s been on my radar ever since I first joined the book community. And I do love a romance with a tragic ending. There’s just something about crying over a book as it rips your heart out, then being haunted by the painful memories for weeks afterwards. You just can’t beat it! 😀

PINK 💖 The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar

Sadly I did not have a purple book, so we’re skipping to pink. Of all the books on this list, this is the one I’ve owned the longest. I ordered it online last February. Pretty soon after I got it I entered a phase where I just didn’t want to read YA contemporary anymore (which is the same reason Late to the Party is still on here when I was anticipating it so highly). I’m still in a funny place with the genre but this is highly gay, it’s Pride Month, and two people have recommended this book to me already, so clearly I’m missing out on something!

So, that’s all the books I’m hoping to get through this month. I’ll be drawing them at random out of a mini, queer TBR Jar. So I should be good as long as The Song of Achilles doesn’t come out first and leave me in an emotional puddle for the rest of the month.

Do you ever do themed TBRs? Are you planning on reading any specific books this Pride Month? And don’t forget, if you haven’t already then please let me know your favourite LGBTQ+ books in the comments! I’ll be compiling them all into a post at the end of the month and I really appreciate everyone’s help!