Recs if you like The Leaving Room...

Some books I either love or am super excited to read that are queer, BIPOC, and have some kind of speculative element (fantasy, sci fi, paranormal, etc)

If you’re not familiar with Mychal, he is the new host of The Reading Rainbow and he has been spreading “library joy” on social media for years. Mychal has a book club on Fable that is for a more mature audience than The RR. He has posted a new book monthly since March 2024. I have enjoyed every book I’ve read from his club! I am not Mychal Threets and I do not know him personally. I am creating this list to help share a bit of Mychal’s Library Joy with Pagebound.

Poetry written by Black and/or African writers! Emphasis on intersectionality.

Fictional books featuring Black characters that are part of the queer community.

A dynamic list that is updated at least once a month. Features sapphic books across a variety of genres.

Currently includes: October and November 2025

Titles not available on PageBound: Descent by Wole Talabi (Clarkesworld Magazine) Novella Novelettes Human Voices by Isabel J. Kim (Lightspeed Magazine) We Begin Where Infinity Ends by Somto Ihezue (Clarkesworld) Short Stories Autogas Ferryman by Champ Wongsatayanont (Nightmate Magazine) Because I Held His Name Like a Key - Aimee Ogden (Strange Horizons) Commensalism, Or the Labyrinth's Vessels - Albert Nkereuwem (Will This Be a Problem) Ichthyosis by M.L. Krishnan (Fantasy Magazine) The Octopus Dreams of Personhood by Hannah Yang (Diabolical Plots) Poetry After the Storm – Ishita Basu Mallik (The Deadlands) In an attempt to seduce Death my sister starts calling him Love – Karan Kapoor (Strange Horizons) Set It Off (1996) – Fans’ Cut – Nova Cypress Black (Strange Horizons) The Language of Fireflies – Angela Liu (The Deadlands) The oblique light at Kakushima (a memory of persimmons) – Ryu Ando | 安堵 龍 (Strange Horizons) Narrative Non-fiction A Conjuror’s Manifesto: Notes on the Afrosurreal – Shyheim Williams (Strange Horizons) Photon Torpedoes Break the Space Muqarnas: SFF Audiovisuals and Anti-Muslim Violence – Tanvir Ahmed (Strange Horizons) Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler – Susana M. Morris (Amistad) The Outspoken and the Incendiary – Terry Bisson (PM Press) The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction – Gautam Bhatia (Alter Magazine) Other categories not listed include Community Award, Ember Award, Podcasts, Critics