Sapphic September is a month-long celebration of sapphic representation in books. Here are a few gems to add to your reading list!
Bury Our Bones In the Midnight Soil
Toxic lesbian vampires! Say less!
I first heard about this book because I like the show Arcane a normal amount, and I saw on TikTok that Katie Leung, the actress who voices Caitlyn Kiramman, was one of the narrators in the audiobook. So, I naturally started listening to the audiobook immediately, and then checked out a physical copy from my local library.
The story follows 3 characters: Sabine, Charlotte, and Alice. Each woman is from a different time period, and over the course of the novel, the timelines start to collide in the present day, where Alice’s chapters take place. One of the many things I enjoyed about Bury Our Bones is the theme of hunger, not just for blood, but for more out of life, and more than the role a woman was supposed to play. Sabine and Charlotte are both lesbians living in different time periods, where the choices they had were EXTREMELY limited. So, I don’t blame them for becoming vampires.
Through Charlotte and especially Sabine’s characters, the novel also doesn’t shy away from what happens to the mind and soul with immortality. If you live for hundreds of years by killing people routinely to feed yourself, of course your moral compass is going to become rusted. That’s one of my favorite themes in vampire media, and I’m glad V.E. Schwab didn’t shy away from that.
- Advertisement -
A Place of Our Own: 6 Spaces That Shaped Queer Women’s Culture by June Thomas
In addition to bars, sapphics have cultivated their own spaces through things like softball teams, sex toy shops, and bookstores. Journalist June Thomas captures the stories of the business owners, entrepreneurs, activists, and dreamers who made these spaces happen, and their community impact from the 70s into the modern day. This book is an important read for anyone curious about modern sapphic history in the U.S., and as we get closer to having a new sapphic space in the Steel City, a reminder of how special these spaces really are.
She Gets The Girl by Alyson Derrick and Rachael Lippincott
I would be remiss not to write about a lesbian book set in Pittsburgh for a Pittsburgh queer publication!
Alyson Derrick and Rachael Lippincott are local authors (and wives!) who have collaborated on a few other sapphic books, including Make My Wish Come True and the novella follow up to She Gets The Girl, Joy to the Girls. This book is inspired by their own love story, as the authors met during their time at the University of Pittsburgh. When it comes to the books I usually read, I tend to stick with speculative fiction with sci-fi and fantasy, but I really enjoyed this one. The chemistry between Alex and Molly is palpable and sweet, and you can’t help rooting for them. I especially enjoyed picturing the local areas they visit throughout the novel, and it made me extra proud to be a lesbian from Pittsburgh.
This Gilded Abyss by Rebecca Thorne
Sergeant Nyx Marr is a seasoned soldier trying to get by after she survives a disastrous underwater war campaign, until her ex-girlfriend, the princess Subarch Kessendra, resurfaces in her life to call her back to the depths to investigate a massacre. Nyx is forced to return to a place she refused to go back to, with someone she refused to go with. As they travel in a luxurious submersible to the location of the investigation, a mysterious disease infects the crew and passengers with a violent rage. The exes are forced to work together again, and trusting again comes at a cost. If you’re a fan of Arcane and/or Bioshock, this book is for you!