An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

The Carls just appeared. Coming home from work at three a.m., twenty-three-year-old April May stumbles across a giant sculpture. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship–like a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armour–April and her friend Andy make a video with it, which Andy uploads to YouTube. The next day April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world–everywhere from Beijing to Buenos Aires–and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the centre… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Bimisia
  • Graphic physical injury
  • Hospitalisation
  • Attempted murder by gun violence and stabbing
  • Terrorist attack (explosion)
  • Building collapse from a fire, on-page
  • Loss of autonomy (mind control)

Much Ado About You by Samantha Young

Much Ado About You by Samantha Young

At thirty-three years old Evangeline Starling’s life in Chicago is missing that special something. And when she’s passed over for promotion at work, Evie realizes she needs to make a change. Some time away to regain perspective might be just the thing. In a burst of impulsivity, she plans a holiday in a quaint English village. The holiday package comes with a temporary position at Much Ado About Books, the bookstore located beneath her rental apartment. There’s no better dream vacation for the bookish Evie, a life-long Shakespeare lover.

Not only is Evie swept up in running the delightful store as soon as she arrives, she’s drawn into the lives, loves and drama of the friendly villagers. Including Roane Robson, the charismatic and sexy farmer who tempts Evie every day with his friendly flirtations. Evie is determined to keep him at bay because a holiday romance can only end in heartbreak, right?

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism mentioned
  • Homomisia
  • Sexual harassment
  • Alcoholism
  • Emotional, verbal & physical abuse mentioned
  • Death of a parent

Daily Grind by Anna Zabo

Daily Grind by Anna Zabo

Brian Keppler, owner of Ground N’At, the coffee shop beneath SR Anderson Consulting, doesn’t have time for a relationship. His most recent girlfriend broke up with him because he’d become married to his shop, which is falling apart without his favourite barista, Justin.

As he struggles to stay afloat, the arrival of handsome British high-tech whiz Robert Ancroft becomes another complication. Rob quickly becomes a fixture at the shop with his sharp wit and easy charm, and Brian soon finds himself looking forward more and more to Rob’s visits—to the point where his heart skips a beat when he walks in. But will Brian be able to come to terms with his previously unexplored sexual identity and find happiness now that he has a chance?

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Homomisia
  • Bimisia
  • Sexism
  • Suicide

Close Quarter by Anna Zabo

Close Quarter by Anna Zabo

On a transatlantic cruise to New York, sculptor Rhys Matherton struggles to piece his life back together after losing his mother, inheriting a fortune, and finding out his father isn’t his father after all. He spills a tray of drinks on a handsome stranger, then he finds himself up against a wall getting the best hand-job he’s ever had. And for the first time in his life, he feels whole.

Rhys enjoys the company of Silas Quint, but for the eerie way no one pays attention to them even while they kiss in a crowded bar. Silas explains he’s a forest fae able to glamour the room around them—and more importantly, that he’s on the cruise to hunt vampires. Rhys thinks Silas is full of it, until he discovers vampires are real, and he’s part of their main course… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Homomisia
  • Torture recounted

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram Kendi 

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

Antiracism is a transformative concept that reorients and reenergizes the conversation about racism—and, even more fundamentally, points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other. At its core, racism is a powerful system that creates false hierarchies of human value; its warped logic extends beyond race, from the way we regard people of different ethnicities or skin colours to the way we treat people of different sexes, gender identities, and body types. Racism intersects with class and culture and geography and even changes the way we see and value ourselves.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Misogyny
  • Queermisia
  • Cancer

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay

In these funny and insightful essays, Roxane Gay takes us through the journey of her evolution as a woman (Sweet Valley High) of colour (The Help) while also taking readers on a ride through the culture of the last few years (Girls, Django in Chains) and commenting on the state of feminism today (abortion, Chris Brown). The portrait that emerges is not only one of an incredibly insightful woman continually growing to understand herself and our society, but also one of our culture.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Queermisia
  • Ableism & ableist slurs
  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Classism
  • Misogyny & sexism discussed (theme)
  • Hate crimes
  • Rape culture discussed
  • Abortion mentioned
  • Eating disorders mentioned
  • Murder mentioned
  • Terrorism mentioned
  • Police brutality mentioned

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had been cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual fire alarm. As one fireman recounted, “Once that first stack got going, it was ‘Goodbye, Charlie.’” The fire was disastrous: it reached 2000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library—and if so, who?

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Homomisia
  • Death from HIV/AIDS
  • Fire & arson

American Sweethearts by Various

He’s Come Undone: A Romance Anthology by Emma Barry, Olivia Dade, Adrianna Herrera, Ruby Lang, and Cat Sebastian

For him, control is everything…until it shatters, and now he’s come undone.

Collects Appasionata by Emma Barry, Unraveled by Olivia Dade, Caught Looking by Adrianna Herrera, Yes, and…. by Ruby Lang, and Tommy Cabot Was Here by Cat Sebastian.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Appassionata by Emma Barry– Workplace sexism mentioned
– Parental estrangement
– Anxiety
– Depression
Unraveled by Olivia Dade– Domestic violence recounted
Caught Looking by Adriana Herrera– Homomisia mentioned
Yes, And… by Ruby Lang– Parent with Early-Onset Dementia
– Panic attack, on-page
Tommy Cabot Was Here by Cat Sebastian– Homomisia
– Familial disownment
– Smoking

American Love Story by Adriana Herrera

American Love Story by Adriana Herrera 

Haitian-born professor and activist Patrice Denis is not here for anything that will veer him off the path he’s worked so hard for. One particularly dangerous distraction: Easton Archer. The Assistant District Attorney who last summer gave Patrice some of the most intense nights of his life, and still makes him all but forget they’re from two completely different worlds.

All-around golden boy Easton forged his own path to success, choosing public service over the comforts of his family’s wealth. With local law enforcement unfairly targeting young men of colour, and his career—and conscience—on the line… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism & racial profiling
  • Homomisia
  • Forced outing recounted
  • Parental abandonment
  • Cheating mentioned
  • Heart surgery mentioned
  • Police brutality
  • Immigration & political asylum