Top Ten Tuesday: Twitter Accounts To Follow For LGBT Book Recs/Discussion

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

There are SO MANY posts I was considering doing for today, for Top Ten Tuesday free choice! To fit in with my impromptu LGBT recs week, I was originally going to do the ten upcoming LGBT books I'm most looking forward to, but then I thought about doing ten fab people to follow for LGBT book recs/discussion on Twitter. (I may do the other one later today if I get a chance.)

Then, of course, I couldn't get CLOSE to narrowing it down to ten people, so I've gone for top ten (oops, make that twenty 25) authors and top ten bloggers/sites. (NOT CHEATING, Debbie, whatever you think!)

I've gone for my top author and top blogger first, as I'd written a paragraph talking about them both back when this was a reasonably-sized list, and then gone bloggers/sites alphabetically by Twitter handle, and authors alphabetically by Twitter handle, apart from a couple at the top of the authors list where I wanted to draw attention to other sites they're involved with. I did want to write more about individual authors, but ran out of time!

Also, there are people who nearly made it on but I was trying to keep the list semi-reasonably sized; there are no doubt people I've forgotten and will be MORTIFIED about as soon as I realise this, and there are almost certainly amazing people tweeting about LGBT books who I haven't come across yet. Comments pointing me in their direction would be HUGELY appreciated, and an apology to anyone who isn't on there.

Finally, a huge thanks to my friend Ming (@raremediumwelldone) for her fabulous suggestions!

Top two

@MissDahlELama and @charlieinabook - I would say that if you spent a year reading NOTHING but books recommended by at least one of these two, you would end up with an incredibly good reading list. Charlie is probably the one person whose recommendation of a book can single-handedly immediately make me go out and buy it if I have money available. (I CAN'T immediately go out and buy every book Dahlia recommends because there are just SO MANY, but I try to pick up a decent amount and I don't think I've ever been disappointed.) 

Charlie also writes for MuggleNet and Inclusive Minds, as well as blogging at Charlie In A Book while Dahlia has her own brilliant blog at the Daily Dahlia (including this AMAZING QUILTBAG compendium!) and can often be found on the B & N teen blog, in case her Twitter feed hasn't destroyed your bank balance completely.

Other bloggers/sites

@snugglingonsofa - Superb book blogger at Snuggling on theSofa, wonderful at recommending diverse books, and keeper of the fantastic spreadsheet which is a great way of checking out upcoming LGBT releases!

@cloverness - Fabulous blogger at Fluttering Butterflies, as well as one of the amazing bloggers (alongside numerous others on this list) at @BookishBrits. This awesome recent YouTube video about the relaunch of the Bookish Brits Book Club, focusing on diversity, is brilliant!

@daydreamin_star - Faye is hosting next week's LGBT Readathon at her brilliant A Daydreamer's Thoughts blog, which will include the #UKLGBTChat on Sunday 31st May at 8pm. I know from past experience of her chats that they're brilliant, and she is great at recommending really interesting diverse books, so definitely looking forward to this. (And hoping to take part in the readathon, despite being terrible at them!)

@diversebooks - Surely the most successful book-related grassroots organisation for some time, the Twitter account, the website diversebooks.org, the associated hashtag #WeNeedDiverseBooks - have been responsible for SO MUCH wonderful discussion over the past year or so!

@Jo_OuaB - Book blogger at the excellent Once Upon ABookcase, in addition to being a brilliant bookseller at Foyles' flagship Charing Cross Road. It's mainly down to her displays and recommendations that Foyles is definitely the place to go when tracking down LGBT YA books! 

@Lunaslibrary - Luna is a great blogger and excellent on Twitter, as well as designing some gorgeous book related jewellery! I love her brilliant Diverse Bookcase list, with a huge amount of great books, and links to her reviews for many of them. https://lunaslittlelibrary.wordpress.com/diverse-bookcase/

@queerya - Run by @Caroni_Clarke, brilliant site with fab posts - but Caroline is also wonderful at sharing so many other brilliant things she finds via Twitter.

@thegayya - Current Twitter header has Pantomime, Everything Leads To You, and Simon vs in the centre, so it would be worth recommending on that ALONE. However it's also a fantastic site with so many superb posts - loving Dahlia's yesterday on Making Choices in LGBTQ YA, and Nita Tyndall's from Sunday, Labels are for Soup Cans (and also for me)

@TheGeorgeLester - Superb blogger at georgelesterwrites.com and booktuber at https://www.youtube.com/user/GesterG91 - one of the most awesomely enthusiastic people I've ever met, when it comes to LGBT books!

Other authors

@lauren_e_james - Lauren runs the brilliant LGBT YA Tumblr, and tweets lots of great recommendations and discussion about LGBT books both on that Twitter feed and her personal one. I really loved this post about her second book, which has a lesbian protagonist.

  

@swritesbooks - Author of one of my three favourite books of the year so far, the magnificent Last Leaves Falling (the other two being The Art Of Being Normal and The Wolf Wilder). Sarah also runs @DiversifYA - Twitter account and amazing site - along with @mariekeyn, who's also wonderful on Twitter. 

@amipolonsky (Ami Polonsky)

@beckyalbertalli (Becky Albertalli)

@bibliogato (Katherine Locke)

@Cat_Clarke (Cat Clarke)

@Corinneduyvis (Corrine Duyvis)

@elloecho (Ellen Oh)

@hannahmosk (Hannah Moskovitz)

@_JamesDawson (James Dawson)

@kerensd (Keren David)

@keris (Keris Stainton)

@LeahRaeder (Leah Raeder)

@lisa_letters (Lisa Williamson)

@lizkesslerbooks (Liz Kessler)

@LR_Lam (Laura Lam)

@malindalo (Malinda Lo)

@MissMolliWrites (Molli Moran)

@mariekeyn (Marieke Nijkamp)

@mssusieday (Susie Day)

@Nina_lacour (Nina LaCour)

@NitaTyndall (Nita Tyndall)

@Patrick_Ness (Patrick Ness)

@Robin_Talley (Robin Talley)

@sharpegirl (Tess Sharpe)

@tehawesomersace (Justina Ireland)