Tell that to my frying pan.

Lui by CM Deiana (who used to write for the Yaoi France fanzine) was a lot of fun! During the Covid lockdown, Alexandre, a sociology student, meets Samuel, a delivery man.

I bought this novel through crowdfunding, so I got:
- 3 bonus chapters about various secondary characters
- 1 fanfic written by Auriane Velten (Ainsi soient-illes) and printed like a fanzine: it's an AU where Alex and Sam meet 25 years later, in a fascist France (we're sadly heading there, but I sure hope that it's not going to last that long)
- a few goodies

I love that the book is a little mixed-media, with illustrations of notebook pages between chapters.

There's major m/m, with Alex being demisexual and on the autism spectrum. The secondary characters mostly include gay men, but also two sapphics and an enby. There are a few POC, and Covid-related anti-Asian racism is tackled.

I was sent an advance review copy of the novella Ants Waking by RJ Huneke in exchange for an honest review. A student in a magical Cambridge tries to find a way to bring their friend back to life.

This book has a lyrical writing style and reads like a fairy tale about the power of stories. The invented mythological figures are fascinating.

The protagonist is non-binary and on the autism spectrum.

Ants Waking releases on October 28th, 2025. For every book sold, the author will be donating $1 to the Global Action for Trans Equality and $1 to the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.

The Ministry of Guidance and Other Stories by Golnoosh Nour was excellent. It's a collection of modern, even rebellious, short stories offering a daily look at the Iranian culture.

One of the stories is called "Tehran Yaoi", which was most unexpected.

It's sometimes f/f, sometimes m/m, sometimes bi f/m.