#sindu loves

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🌈 Good morning and happy Wednesday, my bookish bats! You didn't think that tiny "queer books coming out this fall" guide was ALL there was, did you? Here are a FEW of the stunning, diverse queer books you can add to your TBR this month. Happy reading!

❤️ A Vision of Air by Nicole Silver 🧡 Eli Over Easy by Phil Stamper 💛 How to Get Over the End of the World by Hal Schrieve 💚 Kween by Vichet Chum 💙 The Forest Demands its Due by Kosoko Jackson 💜 The B-Side of Daniel Garneau by David Kingston Yeh ❤️ Midnight Companion by Kit Barrie 🧡 Let the Waters Roars by Geonn Cannon 💛 Into the Glittering Dark by Kelley York 💙 When the Rain Begins to Burn by A.L. Davidson 💜 Been Outside by Amber Wendler & Shaz Zamore 🌈 The Forest Demands Its Due by Kosoko Jackson

❤️ A Necessary Chaos by Brent Lambert 🧡 The Spells We Cast by Jason June 💛 Pluralities by Avi Silver 💚 Salt the Water by Candice Iloh 💙 Beholder by Ryan La Sala 💜 This Pact is Not Ours by Zachary Sergi ❤️ Dragging Mason County by Curtis Campbell 🧡 Menewood by Nicola Griffith 💛 Mary and the Birth of Frankenstein by Anne Eekhout 💚 The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw & Richard Kadrey 💙 Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson 💜 Let Me Out by Emmett Nahil and George Williams

🌈 In the Form of a Question: the Joys and Rewards of a Curious Life by Amy Schneider ❤️ Songs of Irie by Asha Ashanti Bromfield 🧡 A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand 💛 Being Ace by Madeline Dyer 💚 Charming Young Man by Eliot Schrefer 💙 The Glass Scientists by S.H. Cotugno 💜 The Fall of Whit Rivera by Crystal Maldonado ❤️ By Any Other Name by Erin Cotter 🧡 Brooms by Jasmine Walls and Teo DuVall 💛 Stars in Your Eyes by Kacen Callender 💚 Shoot the Moon by Isa Arsen 💙 The Bell in the Fog by Lev A.C. Rosen

🌈 Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt ❤️ Family Meal by Bryan Washington 🧡 A Murder of Crows by Dharma Kelleher 💛 A Light Most Hateful by Hailey Piper 💚 Love at 350° by Lisa Peers 💙 Greasepaint by Hannah Levene 💜 The Christmas Swap by Talia Samuels ❤️ Mate of Her Own by Elena Abbott 🧡 Mistletoe and Mishigas by M.A. Wardell 💛 Elle Campbell Wins Their Weekend by Ben Kahn 💚 All That Consumes Us by Erica Waters 💙 If You’ll Have Me by Eunnie

❤️ Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Lillah Lawson and Lauren Emily Whalen 🧡 10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall 💛 It’s a Fabulous Life by Kelly Farmer 💚 Let the Dead Bury the Dead by Allison Epstein 💙 These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs 💜 The Goth House Experiment by SJ Sindu ❤️ Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant by Curtis Chin 🧡 Mudflowers by Aley Waterman 💛 Here Lies Olive by Kate Anderson 💚 Fire From the Sky by Moa Backe Åstot, trans. by Eva Apelqvist 💙 Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date by Ashley Herring Blake 💜 On the Same Page by Haley Cass

❤️ A Dish Best Served Hot by Natalie Caña 🧡 Art of the Chase by Jennifer Giacalone 💛 The Haunting of Adrian Yates by Markus Harwood-Jones 💚 The Sword: Xcian by Elle Arroyo 💙 The Complete Carlisle Series by Roslyn Sinclair 💜 300,000 Kisses by Sean Hewitt and Luke Edward Hall ❤️ Just a Pinch of Magic by Alechia Dow 🧡 Blackouts by Justin Torres 💛 Wrath Becomes Her by Aden Polydoros 💚 Let the Woods Keep Our Bodies by E.M. Roy 💙 Everything Under the Moon: Fairy Tales in a Queerer Light edited by Michael Earp ❤️ Frost Bite by Angela Sylvaine

🧡 We Met in a Bar by Claire Forsythe 💛 Sweat Equity Aurora Rey 💚 Pumpkin Spice by Tagan Shepard 💙 The Misfit Mage & His Dashing Devil by M.N. Bennet 💜 Love and Other Risky Business by Sarah Brenton ❤️ Enough by Kimia Eslah 🧡 A Fire Born of Exile by Aliette de Bodard 💛 Twelve Bones by Rosie Talbot 💚 Wild Wishes and Windswept Kisses by Maya Prasad 💙 Dragged to the Wedding by Andrew Grey 💜 Fox Snare by Yoon Ha Lee ❤️ Murder and Manon by Mia P. Manansala

#queer book recs #queer fiction #queer books #queer #books #book list #books to read #lgbt writers #batty about books #battyaboutbooks

[forestgreenlesbian]

hellooo top ten reads of 2022 in no particular order (+ not including rereads of old favourites):

Our Wives Under The Sea, Julia Armfield

Luckenbooth, Jenni Fagan        

Cantoras, Carolina De Robertis

A Tiny Upward Shove, Melissa Chadburn

Sea of Tranquility, Emily St. John Mandel

Time Is A Mother, Ocean Vuong

Light from Uncommon Stars, Ryka Aoki  

Marriage of a Thousand Lies, Sj Sindu

Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?, Lorrie Moore

Less Is Lost, Andrew Sean Greer    

special mentions:

Young Mungo, Douglas Stuart

In the Dream House, Carmen Maria Machado

A Certain Hunger, Chelsea G. Summers

Briefly, A Delicious Life, Nell Stevens

The Mercies, Kiran Millwood Hargrave

and some quotes from my top ten under the cut if you are looking for a little flavour. what did you guys read this year i am always looking for recommendations :~)

It’s not grief, [...] it’s more like a haunting. Our Wives Under The Sea

“Is it crazy to love someone you’ve only spent seven days with in person?” / “No, it’s crazy to love someone when you’ve known them for years.” Luckenbooth

It seemed, at times, that this was the only way the world would be remade as the heroes had dreamed: one woman holds another woman, and she in turn lifts the world. Cantoras

By then, Lola concluded that love was mostly wanting something you supposedly already had. A Tiny Upward Shove

She never dwelt on my lapses, and I couldn’t entirely parse why this made me feel so awful. There’s a low-level, specific pain in having to accept that putting up with you requires a certain generosity of spirit in your loved ones. Sea of Tranquility

Then it came to me, my life. I remembered my life / the way an ax handle, mid-swing, remembers the tree. / & I was free. Time Is A Mother

“That’s--” / “A violin from China,” she said without looking up. “Yes, I know.” / “No, I mean, it’s all in pieces.” / “Yes. So are we all.” Light from Uncommon Stars

There’s always a way out. You could be a ghost. I could be an empty chair. Marriage of a Thousand Lies

Everything would turn out fine. Or else--hell--it would burn. I only wanted my body to bloom and bleed and be loved. I was raw with want, but in part it was a simple want, one made for easy satisfaction, quick drama, deep life: I wanted to go places and do things with Sils. So what if the house burned down. Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?

“Thomas, why are you wearing a sweater when it’s so warm out?” / Thomas shrugs slightly and says, “As my grandma Cookie says, we’re all having different experiences.” Less Is Lost

also my bottom five if you care these are bad do not reccommend lol (not including dnfs):

Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Under the Whispering Door, TJ Klune

The Midnight Library, Matt Haig

This Is How You Lose the Time War, Max Gladstone & Amal El-Mohtar

A Room Called Earth, Madeleine Ryan

#me reading all the quotes i highlighted: ha ha everything really is about love... #anyway reply or tag me whatever i am interested :-)

[kuckoo]

The power of love

Celine dion

Source:- Music, GIF & Animation Collection/Sindu Hartanto

[catboy-sinister]

4,5 & 15 for Sinister

you guys are too kind to me 🤭

4. If you could put this character in any other media, what would it be?

not counting my ocverse

Okay hear me out on this one: Resident Evil. I think he would just fit right in!!!! I MEAN CMON. And it's not just because I love RE I swear.

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think of this character?

First one that came to mind was Paris 1919 by John Cale (thanks Gillen!). For those that don't know, Gillen made an Immortal X-men playlist, and the very first scene, which takes place in Paris in 1919, was inspired by that song. It's on Spotify btw!

15. Favorite ship for this character

So I'm a big fan of Sindus (Sinister/Exodus) as we know. I'm also a fan of Sinister/Apocalypse. And ofc Sinister/Sinister, but that one's canon. Tbh I think this man should be kept at least 60ft away from everyone else. Except me. I could fix him. I promise.

#THANK YOU #sinister posting #asks

[some-guy-named-john]

I wasn’t tagged in the latest question list making the Tumblr rounds but I’m ungovernable and will answer them anyway.

Currently reading: I just finished the brilliant absurdist sci-fi satire ‘Zoey is too Drunk for this Dystopia’ by Jason Pargin. I’m currently reading the omnibus edition of ‘The Passage trilogy’ by Justin Cronin, the rulebook for ‘Crescendo of Violence’ TTRPG, and a book about the history of Scotland.

Currently listening to: Obsessed with the album ‘She reaches out to she reaches out to she’ by Chelsea Wolfe. The other songs I have in heavy rotation are:  ‘Sindu Sesh’ by Norman Pain, ‘A Machine of’ by Ho99o9, ‘Circus X’ by Scarlett, ‘Highlander’ by Feuerschawnz, ‘V.A.N.’ by Bad Omens feat Poppy, and a song by Witch Club Satan with a very, very x-rated name.

Currently watching: Keeping up to date with All Elite Wrestling. Catching new episodes of Bob's Burgers, Last Week Tonight, and Invincible as they come out. Not currently binging anything but cautiously optimistic about the new Fallout show.

Current hyperfixation: Since it won an Oscar I’m back on my Godzilla Minus One bullshit. Still obsessing about Indonesian Martial Arts film The Raid and its sequel. Building a deck for the Flesh and Blood trading card game. The already mentioned Chelsea Wolfe album.

Favourite colour: Royal Purple, with an honorable mention for VantaBlack.

Spicy, sweet, savoury, or salty? I don’t think you can beat a good Savoury taste, but if it's a middling or bad food I’d prefer sweet.

Last thing I Googled: Before starting to fill in this list: How many ‘The Crow’ films there are. As I’m filling this out: How to spell the name of the author of The Passage.

Song stuck in my head: The already mentioned Chelsea Wolfe album. Several Northern Boys songs. ‘Tom Sawyer’ by Rush. ‘Ex Girlfriend’ by No Doubt.

Favourite food: I’d never turn down a plate of vegetarian nachos.

Dream trip: Not so much a specific location, but there are a number of events I’d love to plan a big trip around. Tabletop gaming conventions, music festivals, Wrestling Pay-Per-Views etc.

[famousbollywood1]

100 Most Loved Bollywood Heroines

Bollywood has the most gorgeous heroines in the industry. The glamorous and talented ladies of the industry bring excitement and the people who watch them get inspired to be like their role models and their favourite Bollywood heroine image and name. The industry is full of talent and most importantly, their hard work pays off, the list of Bollywood heroine names is endless, and it keeps on growing year after year. You can also find heroine photos everywhere rolled over the internet. 

So, the top Bollywood heroine images and names are listed below, we assure you that your favourite must also be one of them, as these are the top in the industry and doing a great job in their work.

Aadin

Aakarsha

Aakarshika Goyal

Aaditi Pohankar

Aakanksha

Aakanksha Naresh

Aakanksha Madhu

Banu

Bhanu Sri

Bharatha Naidu

Bhavana Bhatia

Bhavya Sri

Bhoomika Chawla

Chahat

Chandini Chowdary

Chandrika

Chaya Singh

Chara Fernandes

Daisy Shah

Damini

Dayan Erappa

Deepa Nair

Deepali Purohit

Deepika Bajwa

Diksha Panth

Dimple 

Ekta Khosla

Esha Deol

Elsa Ghosh

Ester Noronha

Erin Andrea

Fagun Thakrar

Farah Khan

Fozia Khan

Gayathri

Gauri

Gauhar Khan

Gayathri 

Gurleen Chopra

Haleem Khan

Harini

Hari Teja

Hari Chandana 

 Indhuja

Iraa

Ishika Nair

Ishara

Ishita Vyas

Jaya Vani

Jasmine

Jayanthi

Jennifer Kotwal

Jerina

Jessy

Kajol

Kalpika

Kamna

Kamna Singh

Kanchan Sharma

Kanika Kapoor

Kareena Kapoor

Karishma

Karronya Katrynn

Kriti Sanon

Lata Suhani

Latha Hegde

Lavanya

Leya

Laya

Leena

Leena Kapoor

Lakshmi Nair

MM Srilekha

Maina

Malavika

Malavika Nair

Malishka

Mouni Gandhi

Sai Sindu

Sailaja

Sakshi Agarwal

Saloni Mishra

Teja Reddy

Tejashwi

Thanamai

Tiska

Upasna

Urvashi Soni

Utthara Unni

Vaani Kapoor

Vishni Santh

Wamiqa

Yuggaa

Yuvika 

Yami Gautam

Zara Sha

Zabyn Khan

Zarine Khan

Zeba Anjum

Zareena

With the best heroine photos and top Bollywood heroine image and name in the industry, this is the list of heroines. 

#actress

[rbtbc]

June was a busy month. Full of new experiences that tested me and treated me. Here are the books I passed time with in June 2023.

• Shakti created by SJ Sindu and Nabi H. Ali

• The Shadow Glass by Josh Winning

• Darknesses by Lachelle Seville

• Empty Vows by Mary Monroe

• Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado

• A More Perfect Union by Tammye Huf

• Cheer Up!: Love and Pompoms created by Crystal Frasier, Val Wise, and Oscar O. Jupiter

How was your reading experience in June 2023?

Did you read any new favorites?

Have you read any of the books?

#MonthlyWrapUp #ReadingWrapUp #BookWrapUp #booksiveread #alltogethernow2023 #alltogethernowsrp #alltogethernowsrp2023 #SummerReading2023 #summerreading

#monthly wrap up #monthly reading #reading wrap up #books i've read #summer reading #all together now #bookblr #booklr

[hrbumga]

Asian Readathon 2022!

Not to worry, I’m making really good progress on A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for my TIMES Best 100 YA Books Challenge, I actually finished reading that and I’m drafting the post now. However, I had to take a break from that challenge to take part in something really exciting: Asian Readathon 2022!

This is the first time I’ve ever participated in a readathon and honestly, it was such a blast. I had an amazing time selecting my books, interacting with the bookish community, and discovering new authors.

What is Asian Readathon?

Asian Readathon was created by Cindy Pham, or withcindy on Youtube. It takes place throughout the month of May to celebrate Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage month by reading books featuring Asian characters or are written by Asian authors, but preferably both! This year was the fourth consecutive Asian Readathon and I was so excited to join.

Check out this video for more information on the Asian Readathon! May 2022 has now concluded, so mark your calendar for May 2023!

My Selections

This image template was created by Julia Vogel, a fellow member of the bookish community.

Here are the books as they correspond with the challenge prompts:

Read a book written by an Asian author: Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So

Read a book featuring an Asian character who is a woman AND/OR older: The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali

Read a book by an Asian author that has a universe you would want to experience OR a universe that is totally different from yours: The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

Read a book by an Asian author that has a cover worthy of googly eyes: Marriage of a Thousand Lies by S.J. Sindu

Read a book by an Asian author that has a high rating OR was highly recommended: Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

How It Went

Overall, I loved this challenge. The books I selected were varied in genre, tone, and perspectives, which I thought felt right. I really appreciate that Cindy Pham included the overall challenge of having each selection for the challenge be of Asians of different ethnicities.

I’m probably going to have spoilers below, be warned.

1. Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So

Ethnicity: Khmer Rating: ★★★½

My thoughts: This was a great collection of short stories from the Khmer diaspora in California. There was a lot of focus on generational trauma from the Cambodian Genocide in the 1970s, as well as the intersectionality of being queer in this particular community.

Being a collection, I thought the curation was very well done. The stories wove in and out of each other while still being their own contained units, I appreciated the nods between the stories that made both the community represented and the book as a whole feel cohesive.

That being said, some stories were certainly stronger than others. I thought the first story didn’t feel as deeply developed as some of the other, which was started the collection on a weaker note. There were also smaller things here and there that would be off, like a mention of a real-life school shooting in the final story. The protagonists mother explains that a bad man was the shooter, but it was a sixteen-year-old girl. The rest of the details of the event were extremely grounded in real-life events, I thought it was odd to misrepresent this part of the story, possibly to fit the profile of typical school shooters? It was a smallish detail, but I found it odd. There were others here and there, but this stood out to me, I think because the book spends a lot of time referencing real events accurately, that in the moments where they strayed it was a little jarring. Perhaps this was a creative choice, but in my gut I don’t know if that was the case.

Overall though, I liked it! I’m familiar with the generational trauma from the genocide from a Cambodian perspective, but I wasn’t familiar of the perspective of those who immigrated or were the children of immigrants, and I thought the variation in those viewpoints depending on who was narrating the story was interesting.

2. The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali

Ethnicity: Iranian Rating: ★★★★★

My thoughts: This was absolutely phenomenal. The writing was beautiful and heart-wrenching and the plot points throughout were extremely well established to where, in the end, everything fit neatly together.

The book goes back and forth throughout the events of the protagonist, Roya’s, life, from her time as a 17-year-old in 1950s Iran to her at age 77 in New England. As a teenager, she falls in love with a fellow poetry lover named Bahman at a stationery shop amidst the turmoil of the 1953 Iranian coup d'état. She’s going to marry him, but the night they’re going to meet up to get their marriage license, he ghosts her… or does he?

You follow her throughout her life as she hurts and heals, meets her future husband at college in America, has a family, moves around, faces hardship through miscarriage, job discrimination, and navigating being an Iranian immigrant. Then, in her late 70s, she reconnects with Bahman, who’s in an assisted living facility only a couple hours from her home in Massachusetts.

I listened to this on audiobook and the narrator, Mozhan Marnò, did a fantastic job bringing the story to life through vivid narration. I was actively crying at multiple points throughout the story, it was excellent and I can’t recommend it enough.

3. The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

Ethnicity: Taiwanese Rating: ★★★★★

My thoughts: This was honestly just so delightful and wonderful. This YA graphic novel follows Frances, a seamstress in 19th century Paris who dreams of someday creating her own fashion line. After being commissioned to make a particularly bold garment for a local debutante, she catches the eye of a high profile client — the Belgian Prince! But wait, you may say, a prince can’t simply wear dresses, right?

I adored this look at gender and gender expression, it was absolutely charming and the end had me tearing up. I loved the prince’s alter ego, Lady Crystallia, I loved their department-store-owning friend, I loved the king and queen. Frances was also a lovely protagonist, you really rooted for her. Not to mention, the illustrations and overall art style were remarkable. My copy even had an appendix where Jen Wang laid out her artistic process, which was really cool.

4. Marriage of a Thousand Lies by S.J. Sindu

Ethnicity: Tamil Rating: ★★★★½

My thoughts: First off, I was surprised to hear this was a debut novel because it was so well written. The author is definitely a highly skilled writer and the story’s pacing and character development was well done throughout.

I will say though, Marriage of a Thousand Lies is not for the feint of heart. Lucky is married to Krishna, though Lucky is a lesbian and Krishna is gay, and furthermore Lucky is in love with Nisha, a childhood friend. Though Lucky and Krishna’s marriage is built on a mutual understanding, Nisha is betrothed to be married and won’t have the luxury of such an arrangement.

I say “luxury” kinda lightly, because Lucky and Krishna’s marriage is not the convenient grift of solidarity they necessarily set it up to be. In fact, Lucky and Krishna seem to put up with each other at best but overall despise each other. I guess I went into the story expecting their friendship to be either a little better established or for them to at least not mind one another’s company, but Lucky largely avoids Krishna and when they’re together they bicker and snipe at each other. I wasn’t the biggest fan of this choice personally, but that was just my subjective opinion.

In addition to this, as the book takes us through Lucky and Nisha’s relationship, it goes to great lengths to establish that this is not a romantic, star-crossed lovers story. Lucky and Nisha are toxic to one another, neither seems to want to attempt to see the other’s point of view and both bring their personal traumas in to the detriment of the relationship. I liked this choice though, I thought it was a nice subversion from the yearning-gays trope. Still, it was hard to read because of how much pain and tension was involved.

I really appreciated how much the novel was tied to its Tamil heritage too. There’s a point where a couple of more Western side characters ask why Lucky can’t simply leave her family and culture behind, and the novel very cleanly lays out why that’s not possible. Yet, the novel doesn’t dismiss the side characters’ points of view either. I liked this, because it created a nice foil between the Lucky/Nisha relationship, two characters from the same background who can’t meet each other halfway and the Lucky/friends relationship, characters who come from very different circumstances but are still able to respect one another.

Overall, a very well crafted novel that I highly recommend!

5. Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Ethnicity: Japanese Rating: ★★★★★

My thoughts: I loved this book and I cannot wait to read the sequel/companion novel, Tales from the Café, next. This is a story about a coffee shop where you can time-travel, but there’s some rules. (1) You can only time-travel to meet someone who’s been to the coffee shop before. (2) You have to sit in one particular chair while time-traveling, and you cannot leave that seat. (3) There’s a time limit to how long you can time-travel. (4) No matter what happens when you time-travel, the circumstances of the present will not change.

There’s a couple of little quirks to some of these rules. For one thing, there’s often a woman in a white dress in the designated seat, and she cannot be asked or forced to leave because she’s a ghost and will curse you if you try. Also, the time limit rule? You begin time-traveling when Kazu, the barista, pours a fresh cup of coffee. You have to drink it all before it gets cold, or else you become the ghost.

The story was told in a series of different scenarios. You had a young couple, an old married couple, a set of sisters, and a mother and daughter. I loved this approach to this particular story because it felt like the author was really playing with the magic system to see how things would change depending on who’s involved.

The story was also deeply human, which I’m a sucker for. You really could empathize with the different characters in the café, everyone in the limited cast was very well developed. The book was shorter, so you could tell a lot of work was put into editing it to make every detail matter.

It was quirky, often very funny, and at times deeply sad. I adored this book!

Final Thoughts

I loved participating in this readathon, it exposed me to a variety of stories and authors I might not have heard of or picked up otherwise. This experience has really got me interested in readathons overall and I plan to participate again next year!

[godzilla-reads]

7 Covers in 7 Days

Day 4: Marriage of a Thousand Lies by SJ Sindu

Rules: Each day, I will post the cover of a book that I love and nominate someone new to start the challenge.

Tagging: @flamingmirrorbookish

#godzilla reads #marriage of a thousand lies #sj sindu #7 covers in 7 days #7 covers 7 days #book cover #books I love #favorite books #books #books and plants #books and reading #books and literature #queer books #booklr #bookworm #reading #bookish #booklover #book blog #bibliophile #book blurb #pretty books

[udayangaperera]

https://www.youtubepp.com/watch?v=E3GKjlkQQuU

#sinhala #kandula #mario #dimitri #music #stagedrama #drama #vichara #sindu #giitha #classical music #sri lankan music #love #love songs #songs #latest songs

[perfectpaperbluebirds]

Never Gonna Leave This Bed

I come bearing an offering of a long (4.7k), wildly self-indulgent fic of sick Shane and Molly, since long and self-indulgent are apparently all I know how to write for them. No contagion, but both are sick at the same time with different things. This fic was all about the cuddly, sickly sweet caretaking for me, and I hope the three of you that will read this can appreciate that as well.

(Also, I promise Shane is a good doctor! He just has an impressive lack of self-awareness and has downplayed how he’s feeling his entire life, at least until he met Molly. He’s way more observant with his patients!)

"Are you sure you're okay to go to worgk today, doc? You're pretty pale."

Shane rolled his eyes as he continued to pull on his shoes. "I'm fine. Just tired. You kept me up blowing your nose all night."

"You said you had a fever lasdt ndight, though."

"I said I *felt like* I might have a fever. I feel fine now."

"Budt you ndever chegcked…."

Shane crossed to where Molly was lying on the couch, wrapped in a blanket. "Only one of us is taking a sick day today, hon, and it's not me." He kissed the top of her head. 

"If I didn't worgk with babies, I wouldn't be stayi'g home either," Molly grumbled. "It's jusdt a stupid cold. I don't have a fever either."

"But you *are* very gross and snotty. No one wants any part of that, least of all in an OB clinic. *I* wouldn't even be hanging around you if you didn't pay half the bills."

Molly threw a pillow at him as he laughed and dodged out of the way.

"Keep bei'g mbean and I'll mbake sure I sndeeze all over your side of the bed so you have ndo chance of escapi'g this grossness."

"Then who would bring you soup and tissues?" 

"I have options. Perhaps one of mby mbany Latin lovers. THEY wouldn't call mbe gross in mby time of ndeed." 

"Make sure you tell them to bring good beer when they come, then." He planted another kiss on her ear. "I gotta go. I'll call you later. Get–"

"If you tell mbe to gedt lodts of resdt and fluids, I'mb goi'g to kigck you."

Shane smiled, quickly hopping out of kicking range. "Ensure adequate hydration and no over exertion, then." He gathered his things and made his way to the door, grasping the knob. "Enjoy your free day. For both of us. I really wish I was joining you, you know that." 

Molly sighed. "I wish you were too. I mbight *actually* enjoy idt then. Budt I'll do mby besdt. Love you, babe."

"Love you more." 

~~~

About ten hours later, Shane reentered the same way he had exited, pushing the door open softly so as not to disturb his wife in case she was asleep on the couch. The living room was empty, however, as was the kitchen. Shane dropped his bags and kicked off his shoes before padding back to the bedroom as he loosened his tie. Reaching the master suite, he cracked the door open and peeked inside. 

Molly was huddled in bed, looking pitiful. Her eyes flickered open at the sound of his footsteps. "Hi baby," she croaked, slowly sitting up but wincing in pain as she did. 

With a noise of concern, Shane moved to her side, pressing his lips to her hair. "Aww babe, your poor nose and lips. Ugh, and your glands too." He passed his thumbs over the sides of her neck with the gentlest pressure, but Molly still groaned softly in discomfort. 

She gingerly rubbed her raw, swollen nose, drawing her knees to her chest and resting her head on them. "I haven't been able to breathe all day. Mby face hurdts. So. Bad. And I have a splitti'g headache."

Shane frowned. "Your face hurts just from wiping it so much?" he asked, tilting her head up and peering closely at her eyes, nose and throat. 

"Ndot jusdt thadt… feels like idt's all swollen. Sindus pressure. All the way ubp to here," she said, touching between her eyebrows with a grimace.

"Been sneezing a lot?"

"Ndot really. Hurdts too mbuch. Too congested."

"But when you do?"

"Green mbucus everywhere." She shuddered at the thought. 

He kissed her forehead again. "You're warm too. Looks like your cold turned into a sinus infection, love." 

She gave him an incredulous look. "Isn't a sindus infegction jusdt andother way of sayi'g a bad cold?"

He chuckled. "No, it's definitely its own thing, and it means you need antibiotics." 

She flopped back down with a groan, covering her head with the duvet.

He flopped down beside her, poking her in the side teasingly. "Why are you being so dramatic? This just means you get to stay home for the rest of the week. I'll write you the prescription when I go in tomorrow and I'll pick it up on the way home, so you don't even have to go to urgent care."

Molly just groaned again.

Smiling to himself, Shane slipped under the duvet with her, pulling her into his arms. She wrapped herself around him, burying her face in his chest as she tried to catch the comforting smell of his cologne through her stopped nose. He lay down all the way, positioning her against his side as she continued to cling to him. He rubbed her back soothingly. 

"I mbissed you today," she mumbled.

"Missed you too."

A beat of silence, then: "Bei'g sigck sugcks."

"I know, babe. I'm sorry."

Molly sighed tiredly. "Tell mbe aboudt your day. Distragct mbe."

Shane huffed a humorless laugh. "My day? Long. Two more therapists called out with strep, plus the ones that were already out. Nothing got done. Everyone was running late all day. It was… a lot. Patients were pissed. Staff were pissed."

"Includi'g you, I imbagine."

"Including me," Shane agreed. "But there's nothing you can do, you know? Sickness is one of those things we all just have to deal with."

"Tell mbe about it," Molly mumbled peevishly. "You talki'g aboudt other people bei'g sigck isn't exagtly distracti'g mbe, by the way."

Before he could respond, Shane's stomach growled loudly enough to make Molly lift her head and give him a look. "Did you forget to eat today?"

"Well… yeah. Like I said, it was insane all day since we were so short staffed. I didn't really have a chance."

"I can mbake you somethi'g while you go shower and stuff. At leasdt then I can do somethi'g productive." Without waiting for him to respond, Molly attempted to get out of bed. However, standing shifted the congestion in her head immediately, and she found herself scrabbling for a handful of tissues, shoving her nose into them just in time to catch a pair of thick, heavy sneezes, so forceful they made her stagger and grasp the headboard with a groan, holding her head. Shane was at her side in a moment, gently pushing her back onto the bed as she blew her nose.

"You're not going anywhere near the kitchen. A, because I'd be afraid you'd collapse, and B, because I don't want your germs anywhere near my food."

"Fide." She let herself fall back into bed again and turned her back to him with a huff, tissues still pressed to her nose. 

Shane debated placating her, but his head was also starting to ache and he was ravenous, so he kissed the top of her head once more with a murmured "Be back in a bit," then left to tend to his own needs.

After a long, hot shower, he only felt marginally better. Every muscle and joint felt achy and tight. He knew he was internalizing a lot of tension, though. It was draining to be around illness all day at work and then all night at home, even for a physician, and Shane hadn't dealt with acute illness daily since residency. Molly was his first priority though, so following his shower he prepared a dinner that was more for her than himself. He wasn't in the mood for soup, but he defrosted a carton of her homemade bean soup knowing she probably was, and sliced up all her favorite fruits, nuking a couple hot dogs for himself for some extra sustenance. 

Meanwhile, he listened to his wife sneeze miserably in the other room. It seemed her sneezing when she had tried to stand up had opened the floodgates, and now she was having trouble regaining control. He reminded himself to grab another box of tissues from the pantry to bring to her, wincing sympathetically as she blew her nose yet again while he stirred the soup.

A few minutes later, he re-entered the bedroom. Molly had hidden herself under the duvet again, so he tossed the box of tissues beside her. She didn't move. He sat down beside her, putting a hand where he guessed her thigh was.

"Food's done," he said, stroking down her leg. "I made soup for us to share." 

"I'mb ndot hu'gry," she mumbled, her congestion clearly worse. "You go ahead."

"Well if you don't want to eat, at least come hang out with me in the living room while I do."

"Ndo thangks," she said flatly. “I’m ndot leaving this bed.”

"How come?"

"You said you don't wandt to be around mby germs. I'mb mbaking thadt easier for you," she said, still not uncovering her head.

"I said I don't want your germs around my *food*. I still want to be around *you*." 

"Why? I'mb gross and crabby."

Shane rolled his eyes, smiling. "You're also my wife and my favorite person. Even when you're germy and choosing to be crabby about it."

"And you're choosi'g to be annoyi'g."

He tickled her playfully. "C'mon babe. Why do you want to pout in here when you could be laughing at dumb YouTube videos with me out there? You can control the remote all night, and I'll even share my ice cream with you since you ate all of yours."

"I don't wandt ice creamb, Shane. I jusdt wandt to resdt." 

Shane stood at last with a sigh, staring at her motionless form. After some deliberation, he moved to the side of the bed and tugged the duvet off of her. Before any protests could cross her lips, he scooped her up bridal-style and began to carry her into the living room.

"Whadt the hell are you doi'g?" she yelled, struggling and pushing away from him. "Put mbe down!"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he said, depositing her gently on the couch. He found their warmest throw blanket and tucked it around her snugly as she sat with her arms crossed, glaring. He gave her his most winning smile as he finished straightening the blanket, and her glare only deepened.

"Why was thadt ndecessary?"

"Because I missed you today and I want to hang out with you, not talk to a blanket lump. Also I want to eat and I don't want to eat in bed. And lastly… " He kissed the tip of her red nose. "... because you told me to distract you, and if you stay in there, you'll wallow in self-pity."

Her nose had immediately begun to twitch after his lips brushed it, and she rubbed it gingerly. "I jusdt wanted to resdt," she muttered again.

"You can rest out here," Shane replied matter-of-factly, going to the kitchen to serve the food. The tickle he had started in Molly's sinuses was relentless, and in a moment he heard her sneeze several more times. He blessed her earnestly from the other room.

"I'mb ndot thanki'g you, since thadt was your fauldt,'' she called back. "I'mb glad this is your hoodie, because idt's goi'g to be ruined. 

"I'm sorry, I can't help it,” he said with a smirk, reentering the living room with two trays. “Red is one of your best colors." 

"I'mb ndot weari'g…." She touched her nose in understanding, then glared at him as he laughed. "You're imbpossible."

"And you're adorable," he said, setting a plate down in front of her with small portions of everything. She simply stared at it. 

"At least eat a little soup please," Shane said, sitting down beside her with his own plate. "It'll make your nose and throat feel better."

"I don't wandt soup," Molly mumbled, picking up the bowl and taking a bite just to please him. "The only thi’g I've wanted all day is hodt cocoa, and we're oudt."

"Aww, poor love. You should have told me. I would've picked some up on the way home."

"I forgodt until jusdt ndow," she sighed, taking another tiny bite.

"Do you want me to go get some?"

"Ndo," she sighed again. "It's ndot worth idt. Jusdt stay." She leaned against him tiredly with a pathetic sniffle, dabbing at her red, chapped nostrils with a wince. 

"I'm not going anywhere," he murmured, nuzzling her fondly.

"I'mb gonna gedt you sigck though," she said, sitting up again to look at him.

He pressed her back down gently. "So be it. This is more important."

"Whadt aboudt your patiendts?"

"You're my patient right now. And if this is what you need, I'm all for it."

Molly didn't reply, but smiled quietly to herself, snuggling against him and closing her eyes, seeming to doze off immediately. Shane almost pestered her again about eating, but decided to let her be and dug in himself, trying to ignore his worsening sore throat. 

Once he was finished, he stood to clear their dishes, waking her in the process, and brought them to the kitchen to wash. As he puttered around tidying up, she sat trying to blow her nose, though she was mostly unsuccessful. 

"Are you due for more medicine?" Shane asked, sitting back down beside her as he pulled on an extra sweatshirt.

Molly shook her head, curling up to lay her head in his lap as soon as he was settled. "I toogk sumb right before you godt home." She pulled the blanket closer around herself with a shiver. 

Shane began to rub her back. "What do you wanna watch?"

"Somethi'g Disney," she yawned.

"I should've guessed," Shane sighed. "Are you letting me pick or do you have a particular one in mind?"

"You pigck. As lo'g as idt's one I've seen before. I'mb jusdt goi'g to fall asleebp."

"Deal," he agreed. 

Shane quickly chose a movie and the couple settled in. Molly's sniffles and soft coughs were constant background noise while Shane's broad palm roved all over her back soothingly. She was sleeping in less than an hour, snoring softly. 

Shane waited to be sure she was sound asleep before sliding out from under her. She shifted, turning her head, but did not wake, and in a moment her breathing relaxed once more. Leaving the movie playing, Shane pulled on his sneakers and grabbed his keys, tiptoeing out the door and locking it behind him. 

~~~

Shane unintentionally woke his sick wife as he tried to slide her back onto his lap about thirty minutes later. He nudged her a bit too hard, causing her to stir with a little groan. 

"Shane?" she croaked, cracking her eyes open. 

"I'm here, love," he said, internally cursing himself. "Go back to sleep."

She settled against him once more, but after a moment of stillness she frowned. "You're shiveri'g. Are you okay?"

"I'm… yeah, I'm fine. Just chilly."

"You're ndever cold," Molly said, sitting up to better scrutinize him. "And ndow the pasdt few ndights you're havi'g chills."

"So what?"

"So idt seembs like you're getti'g sigck."

"Or maybe I'm just cold because the weather is cold, smarty pants."

Molly gave him a look, clearly unconvinced. 

"Well either way, you know what's good when you're chilly? Hot cocoa," Shane said, rising to his feet and stretching. 

Molly's eyes widened. "Did you…?"

"I did. Just ran out to get it. Since you're up now anyway, let's both have some."

She gave a little nod, smiling, and started to stand. 

"Stay there. I'll get it. I know how you like it."

She frowned. "I'mb ndot an invalid, Shane. I can do thi'gs for mbyself."

"I know you can, but you never let me spoil you, and I won't get a better opportunity than when you're sick. Just humor me." He strode out of the room without waiting for her to respond.

"I don't ledt you spoil mbe because I don't like bei'g spoiled," Molly muttered, sitting back down reluctantly.

"You never let me take care of you, then," Shane called from the kitchen, prepping the mugs for cocoa. "So I'm seizing the opportunity."

"You're bei'g ridigculous."

"And you're being difficult."

If Molly wanted to respond, she was prevented from doing so as her nose began to drip in earnest. She began a cycle of nose blowing, followed by a period of fruitless sniffling, followed by more nose blowing. She finally gave up with an exhausted "guh" when Shane returned, handing her a steaming mug. She took it with both hands, attempting to smile as she inhaled the steam. 

"Oh love, your poor nose," Shane groaned sympathetically, cupping her face in his hands and gently massaging her cheekbones with the pads of his thumbs as he kissed her forehead.

 She leaned into his touch with a relieved groan of her own. After a moment though, she pulled away, albeit with some reluctance. "I'mb okay, doc. You don't ndeed to worry aboudt mbe so mbuch."

"Yes I do. You're my girl."

Molly returned to her drink with a little smile as her only response.

"And hey, if I didn't worry about you so much, there's no way I'd have gone out so late to get you hot cocoa you know."

"Well I'mb certainly grateful for thadt. Budt you still don't ndeed to fuss."

"Embrace the fussing." He pulled her gently back so she was reclining against him once more, tucked under his arm. "It's part of the package."

"Mbake mbe," she murmured, her eyes drifting shut of their own accord. 

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he whispered, closing his own eyes and letting his head fall back with a huge yawn. 

~~~

An alarm from his nearly-dead phone awakened Shane the next morning, warning him he needed to be at work in ninety minutes. He was quite disoriented and didn't recognize where he was, until he realized he had fallen asleep on the couch. Sometime in the night Molly had pulled away from him and was lying against the couch's other arm, snoring congestedly, albeit softly. 

Everything hurt. His neck hurt the worst at first, due to the extreme angle it had been held at for hours. However, as he slowly raised his head, that began to throb in earnest as well, and the throbbing aches cascaded all the way down through his chest and torso to his legs, localizing especially harshly in his throat. 

He groaned, scrubbing his hands over his face, but slowly stood. He told himself he would feel better if he got moving, and tried to convince himself that most of his aches were from sleeping sitting up, including the horrendous sore throat. He showered again in the hopes that it would wake him up and ease the aches, but to no avail. Still, he continued the process of dressing and grooming for work. He needed to get Molly's prescription. That was the most important thing today. 

His aforementioned wife had not stirred all morning but remained curled up in the corner of the couch, her face buried in a blanket. When it came time for him to leave, he pressed his lips to her hair. She slept on. He considered waking her, but decided against it. Instead he left her a note telling her where he was and reminding her that he would be bringing medicine home for her. Then, with a weary sigh, he headed out the door with a last wistful look behind him, wishing he was still sleeping beside her–or more preferably, in bed. 

~~~

Molly was clearly surprised later that afternoon when Shane arrived home several hours earlier than usual.

"Whadt are you doi'g here? You should be at worgk," she asked incredulously from the couch, putting down her video game controller as he pecked her on the cheek in greeting. 

"Nice to see you too. Bringing you medicine, what does it look like I'm doing?" Shane said, tossing a sealed pharmacy bag into her lap. 

"Well… thangks. But idt could've waited until after clinic hours. Don't tell mbe you left early jusdt to bri'g this to mbe."

"So what if I did? It's already happened. No point arguing about it now."

"You're somethi'g else, Doctor Mitchell," Molly said, rolling her eyes. Still, she ripped open the bag and took out the pill bottle, smiling a tiny bit at seeing his name as the prescribing physician. 

“How are you feeling? Does your face still hurt?” He scrutinized her closely, running a gentle thumb along her cheekbone as he had the night before. “You still look pretty puffy.”

“Mby sinduses are still throbbi’g, budt the sindus headache is way better. So I feel a little mbore alive anyway.”

“Good. That’s good,” Shane said. “Take that medicine right now please.”

Molly rolled her eyes again, but did as she was told. Meanwhile, Shane began to kick off his shoes and set down his bags and coat, moving slowly, as if in a fog.

Once Molly had swallowed down the medication, she turned her attention back to her husband as he unbuttoned his dress shirt and slid it off. He immediately began to shiver in the temperate room. 

"You're looki'g pretty oudt of idt, doc. You're still really pale. You okay?"

"I'm always pale," he mumbled, folding his shirt over the back of a chair. 

"Nodt this pale. C'mere." She beckoned to him with a sniffle.

He glanced at her, then toward the hallway. "I dunno. I need to go shower and stuff."

"Shane, jusdt come here and sidt for a bit please. You look like you're aboudt to fall over."

"Someone's bossy today," he muttered even as he complied, at last accepting the inevitable.

Holding a tissue to her nose now, Molly scrutinized him as he sat down beside her, then reached out to brush the hair off his forehead. "You have a fever again," she clucked. "I knew it."

He leaned his head into her hand. "Guess I do. Before you ask, yes, I took medicine for it already."

"And you're talki'g weird too. Open your mbouth."

"Mol…."

"Shane. Open your mbouth."

He rolled his eyes but complied once more. She peered at his throat, only needing a glance to see exactly what she expected. 

"Oh mby God, Shane. You have so mbuch petechiae. Your throadt is bright red. And your tonsils are literally squeezed together. Why did you go to worgk today? You had to know you had strebp throadt.” 

"I actually… didn't, at least not right away. Didn't think to look at my throat before I left. I just thought I felt like crap from sleeping weird. But I wanted to get your medicine so I went in anyway. Saw a few patients. My throat hurt so effing bad the whole time. Carol could tell I was sick as soon as she came in. She was the first one to look at my throat and made me go to urgent care right away. Had a rapid test, came back positive. That's where I found out I had a fever too. Got antibiotics for both of us and now I'm here, with strict orders not to go back to the office until Monday."

"Oh mby God, Shane," Molly groaned again. "You probably infegcted all the patiendts you saw today, plus the resdt of your coworgkers. 

"Trust me, I'm aware," Shane sighed, scrubbing his hands over his face. "I feel like a tool. But there's not much I can do about it now."

"You poor guy," Molly sighed, kissing his temple. Shane gently pulled away from her touch, looking pained. 

"Just because you're already sick with something else doesn't mean you can't catch this too. You should probably stay away from me," he mumbled, staring at his hands. 

“Idt’s ndot– hih!-- HIIH!! Hiihh’GEHHTCH’choo! Kihhg-CHOOOf!!”

The explosive, wet sneeze burst out of her against her will, and she was forced to scrabble for a tissue desperately. Shane blessed her quietly as he handed her a clean square. She shot him a grateful look as she tended to the green mess. Shane waited patiently until she could speak again. Finally she directed her attention back to him, trying to recover some dignity, the tissue still pressed to her nose for safety.

"As I was sayi’g… Idt's ndot like either of us are leavi'g this condo. We're gonna be shari'g the same bathroom and kitchen. We really can't avoid each other. So we mbight as well mbake the best of idt.” With this, she pulled him gently toward herself once more, and he bonelessly let his weight rest against her. “We’ll jusdt hope mby bei'g on antibiotics already will keebp the strebp away."

He considered pulling away again, but instead gave in almost immediately, curling up beside her with his head in her lap as he chuckled humorlessly. "There's a joke in there somewhere about trying to keep the doctor away while being married to one. But I feel too shitty to think of it."

"Then stobp talki'g, doofus. I can literally hear how bad your throadt hurdts." Molly covered him with a blanket as he attempted to yawn, which turned into a grimace of pain. 

"Shouldn't lay down. I still need to shower," he mumbled, not moving even as his eyes drifted closed. 

“The shower isn’t goi’g anywhere,” she murmured, beginning to stroke his hair as she continued to sniffle against blocked sinuses. “God, you’re so hodt.”

Shane smiled a little. “I’m glad you still think I’m attractive even when I’m contagious.”

Molly swatted him playfully. “I mbeant hodt as in feverish. But I always thingk you’re attragctive. Especially when you’re lyi’g in mby lap, You know this.” 

“I do know this. And it’s very convenient for me at the moment,” he murmured, sounding sleepier by the second. 

“Thangk you again for getti’g mbe mbedicine, love,” Molly murmured. “And the cocoa last ndight. I really do appreciate idt, mbore than I could tell you. Jusdt wish you hadn’t mbade yourself worse in the process like a dumbass.”

“Hey, don’t forget, I’m *your* dumbass. And I don’t think it made it worse. It was happening either way.”

“Well idt certainly didn’t mbake idt better,” Molly said, rolling her eyes. “And idt’s because you’re mby dumbass thadt I’mb sayi’g this at all. You worry mbe.”

“Still worth it. As long as *you* get better.” 

“Well ndow we’re stugck getti’g better together.”

“Long as I get to sleep as much as I want, sounds like a great deal to me.”

“Whatever you wandt, babe.” She kissed his temple again. “Strebp trumps sindus infegction. You’re sigcker than mbe ndow, so if you ndeed anythi’g, jusdt tell mbe.”

“Mmph,” Shane sighed. “What I need is for you to keep playing with my hair.”

“Right. Sorry.” Molly resumed running her fingers through his sweaty locks, neatening them and massaging his scalp as she did. 

Molly let the silence linger a bit before speaking again. “Feel ubp to eati’g anythi’g? We still have soubp and fruidt from lasdt ndight. Or I can find somethi’g else. I know you love mbac and cheese when you’re ndot feeli’g good.”

Shane shook his head. “Throat hurts too much to eat. Not hungry anyway.”

“Good. Mbe ndeither,” Molly laughed. 

“Honestly, there’s only one thing that sounds good… What would you say to more hot cocoa?”

Molly grinned. "I would say you read mby mbind. Idt seembs you too have realized the curative properties of cocoa. An excellent choice, Doctor Mbitchell."

Shane smiled tiredly. "Indeed. As a physician, it's my duty to only use the best, most proven treatments. Hot cocoa is clearly the superior remedy here. Who am I to prescribe anything else?"

"Well, then I'll see to idt right away. You stay here and try ndot to look too pitiful and sigck. Or wallow in self-pity, as I've heard one is wont to do when one is ill. Ndot from personal experience or anythi’g, mbind you."

"I'll do my best," Shane agreed. 

With that, Molly was gone, leaving Shane lying on the couch. Yet the conversation had cheered both of them, and even out of sight of one another, a smile continued to linger on both of their faces as the smell of hot cocoa permeated the air.

#sickfic #My writing #everyone is hotter with a fever #shane and molly #nothing is hotter than sick doctors #MY OCs

[desbianherstory]

south asian lesbian literature

I. autobiography

Samra Habib, We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir

Kamala Das, My Story

Suniti Namjoshi, Goja: An Autobiographical Myth

Minal Hajratwala, Leaving India: My Family's Journey from Five Villages to Five Continents

Nishta J. Mehra, Brown White Black: An American Family at the Intersection of Race, Gender, Sexuality, and Religion

Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Dirty River: A Queer Femme of Color Dreaming Her Way Home

II. fiction

Suniti Namjoshi, Feminist Fables

Suniti Namjoshi, The Conversations of Cow

SJ Sindu, Marriage of a Thousand Lies

Amruta Patil, Kari

Shamim Sarif, The World Unseen

Parvati Sharma, The Dead Camel and Others Stories of Love

Dolar Vasani, Not Yet Uhuru

Mala Kumar, The Paths of Marriage

Shani Mootoo, Out On Main Street

Shani Mootoo, Cereus Blooms at Night 

Shani Mootoo, Polar Vortex

Farazana Doctor, Stealing Nasreen

Out! Stories from the New Queer India, ed. Minal Hajratwala

IIb. fiction - dubious depiction of lesbian relationships by non-lesbians (there are more of course, and you can read about some of them in Same-Sex love in India: Readings from Literature and History, eds. Vanita and Kidwai)

Ismat Chughtai, “The Quilt”

Ismat Chughtai, The Crooked Line 

Manju Kapur, A Married Woman

Jhumpa Lahiri, The Lowland

Nayana Currimbhoy, Miss Timmins’ School for Girls

Tanwi Nandini Islam, Bright Lines: A Novel

Abha Dawesar, Babyji

III. poetry

Anurima Banerji

Suniti Namjoshi

Kamala Das

Kaushalya Bannerji

Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

Samira Obeid

Nila Gupta

Minal Hajratwala

Kosar Saira

Ruth Vanita

V.K. Aruna

Ghazala Anwar

Inez Dullas

Neema Vachani

Mita Radhakrishnan

Maya Chowdhry

IV. non-fiction and mixed anthologies

Naisargi Dave, Queer Activism in India: A Story in the Anthropology of Ethics 

Ruth Vanita, Love’s Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West

Frances B. Singh, Scandal and Survival in Nineteenth-Century Scotland: The Life of Jane Cumming

Maya Sharma, Loving Women: Being Lesbian in Unprivileged India

Giti Thadani, Sakhiyani: Lesbian Desire in Ancient and Modern India

Because I Have A Voice: Queer Politics in India, eds. Arvind Narrain and Gautam Bhan

No Outlaws in the Gender Galaxy, eds. Chayanika Shah, Raj Merchant, Shals Mahajan, Smriti Nevatia

Sex and the Supreme Court: How the Law is Upholding the Dignity of the Indian Citizen, ed. Saurabh Kirpal

Suparna Bhaskaran, Made in India: Decolonializations, Queer Sexualities, Trans/National Projects

Women's Sexualities and Masculinities in a Globalizing Asia, eds. Saskia E. Wieringa, Evelyn Blackwood and Abha Bhaiya

Facing the Mirror: Lesbian Writing from India, ed. Ashwini Sukthankar

Shraddha Chatterjee, Queer Politics in India: Towards Sexual Subaltern Subjects

Same-Sex Love in India: Readings from Literature and History, eds. Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidawi

Queering India: Same-Sex Love and Eroticism in Indian Culture and Society, ed. Ruth Vanita

Gayatri Gopinath, Impossible Desires: Queer Diasporas and South Asian Public Cultures 

A Lotus of Another Color, ed. Rakesh Ratti

The Very Inside: An Anthology of Writings by Asian & Pacific Islander Lesbian and Bisexual Women, ed. Sharon Lim-Hing

Urvashi Vaid, Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian Liberation

Urvashi Vaid, Irresistible Revolution: Confronting Race, Class and the Assumptions of LGBT Politics

Sara Ahmed, Living a Feminist Life

Monisha Das Gupta, Unruly Immigrants Rights, Activism, and Transnational South Asian Politics in the United States

Ami Ramesh Patel, “A Community History of Satrang: Negotiating Visibility as LGBTQ South Asian Americans in Los Angeles"

Sharon Fernandez, “More than Just an Arts Festival: Communities, Resistance, and the Story of Desh Pardesh” 

*lesbian is used both as an adjective and noun in this list. works are included that deal with lesbian relationships. 

**south asian lesbian cinema for south asian lesbian films and documentaries (the original post is updated whenever more are found)

***south asian lesbian visual art: chitra ganesh, parminder sekhon, samra habib, mumtaz karimjee, sunil gupta, amruta patil, debi ray-chaudhuri, theresa thadani, sharon fernandez etc... not going to attempt to make a full list but check them out.

#south asian lesbian literature #lesbian literature #list

[biandlesbianliterature]

Lucky is a lesbian, but in her conservative Sri Lankan family, that’s not an option. She married her gay friend Kris and they go to gay bars, have lovers, and still have the approval and conditional love of their family. When her grandmother falls and Lucky has to move back home to help take care of her, the lies become harder and more pressing. Then, Lucky’s childhood sweetheart Nisha is getting married, and Lucky wants to save her. She’s trapped in the obligations of a family that has many of its own problems–her father divorced her mother for her best friend, her sister entered an arranged marriage she didn’t want but seems happy, and her other sister ran away. Lucky wants to escape this life of duty without happiness, but how can she leave her family behind?

Marriage of a Thousand Lies by SJ Sindu was reviewed at the Lesbrary

#SJ Sindu #Marriage of a Thousand Lies #lesbian books #queer books #sapphic books #wlw books #literary fiction #fiction #reviews #poc #author of color #main character of color #Asian #Asian main character #Asian author #Sri Lankan

[taskmastersource]

I would Kill for Sindu Vee to go on taskmaster, I think she would be amazing. would also love Sophie Duker, Rosie Jones, Suzi Ruffell, Kiell Smith Bynoe, Natasia Demetriou, Susan Wokoma or Tom Allen

oh she’d be awesome!!! and natasia demetriou and tom allen have been long time wants of mine!

#inbox

[haztobegood]

rules: answer the questions and tag 9 people you want to get to know better or catch up with

Thank you @alienfuckeronmain

three ships: pretty much any 1d ship

last song: Gold Angel by Minke (Mahogany Session version) 

currently craving: kraft macaroni and cheese

last movie: Drinking Buddies. It was super disappointing and I’m still bitter I wasted two hours watching it. 0/10

currently reading: Marriage of a Thousand Lies by SJ Sindu for my book club and You Make Loving Fun by homosociallyyours for fic

I will tag @himynameiszayn @reminiscingintherain @runaway-train-works @uhohmorshedios @setsailtomorrow @ferricadooza @evilovesyou @queenbeeharry @ificouldflymp3

[thatchronicfeeling]

I love to read. In 2019, I was too ill to visit any public libraries in person, so I kept up with the housebound book delivery service that I’d started in 2018. It felt like a lifeline and gave me the opportunity to read books I couldn’t otherwise have accessed. Here are the ones I liked the best: Gaby Dunn, Bad with Money SJ Sindu, Marriage of a Thousand Lies Azeenarh Mohammed, Chitra Nagarajan & Rafeeat Aliyu (eds), She Called Me Woman: Nigeria’s Queer Women Speak Tomi Adeyemi, Children of Blood and Bone Makhosazana Xaba & Karen Martin, Queer Africa Alison Bechdel, The Essential Dykes To Watch Out For Lisa Maas, Forward Meg-John Barker & Alex Iantaffi, Life Isn’t Binary: On Being Both, Beyond and In-Between Jane Austen, Emma Kate Charlesworth, Sensible Footwear William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing Clara Barley, The Moss House Anne Brontë, Agnes Grey Barbara Pym, Excellent Women Carly Usdin, Heavy Vinyl

#reading #public libraries #housebound #disabled #chronically ill #me/cfs #ulcerative colitis #ibd #Inflammatory Bowel Disease #gaby dunn #sj sindu #azeenarh mohammed #chitra nagarajan #rafeeat aliyu #tomi adeyemi #makhosazana xaba #karen martin #alison bechdel #lisa maas #megj-john barker #alex iantaffi #jane austen #kate charlesworth #william shakespeare #clara barley #gentleman jack #anne lister #ann walker #anne bronte #barbara pym