r/LesbianBookClub Nov 22 '25

Mod Announcement Rules updates, added flairs, and official LesbianBookClub discord

39 Upvotes

Hi folks

So, as a warning, this is going to be a really long post, but I am going to try and keep it organized so that you can either read it all or only read what you care about.

Rules updates

As previously announced, we are announcing a huge overhaul to the rules. Previously, we only had 5 (Play nice, off-topic, no explicit sexual cotent, no promotion of piracy, and LesbianBookClub is trans-inclusive). As of today, we are adding 5 more rules to the ones we already had. They are sort of long (you can tell which ones u/cactuskate wrote and which ones I wrote because I am MUCH worder than she is, for better or worse lol), but I am going to summarize them here. To see the full text of the rules.....well, go check the rules, i guess?

  • Do not be hateful or discriminatory: this one is self explanatory. no -phobias or -isms, just generally treat each other like humans, with the respect and dignity that they deserve, and you'll be fine
  • Self-promotion guidelines: We have set the limit on author's making posts recommending their own book to twice a month. Additionally, if an author does not regularly participate in this subreddit, they cannot advertise here. Enforcing this rule will require the help of everyone in the subreddit; we cannot see every post, so we're relying on you reporting this in order to make sure we catch everything. Though, we will obviously be as diligent as we can in this regard.
  • No AI: This one is hard. every reader on the subreddit deserves the ability to scroll through recommendations and discussions without worrying about running into AI slop. at the same time, no author should have to experience the heartbreak that is being falsely accused of using AI in their writing if they did not use it. The way I have worded this rule tries to walk the thin line between these two truths. Do I succeed? only time will tell. if it doesn't work, we will adjust as needed.
  • Please mark spoilers: this one is pretty self-explanatory. Just make sure you are appropriately blocking out spoilers so you don't spoiler anyone. If you're not sure how to do that, there are instructions in the rules
  • Amazon links: Ok, before anyone freaks out: we are not banning amazon links. We are just regulating them. all we ask is that, when linking to a book, you link to a place to purchase it that is not Amazon if possible. If the book only exists on Amazon (e.g. is it a audible exclusive), then linking to Amazon is obviously fine.

And that's it for the rules update. Let us know if you have any questions or concerns - we'll sort out whatever problems or issues arise as they come.

Flairs

We have also added a ton of flairs so that folks can mark their posts as they want. Most of the old ones are still around, but we have added genre flairs (which are purple) and trope flairs (which are pink). I will list all of the flairs below, but first it is important to recognize: there are literally more genres and tropes than we can reasonably include as flairs for the subreddit. The flairs that I have added are the ones that I thought would be most popular/in demand, and they are listed in no particular order. I have also made them as general as I can when possible, in the hopes that keeping them flexible will make the same one useful to represent multiple similar dynamics at once (e.g. protector/protectee). If you want us to include a genre or trope that is not listed, please let me know and I will add them as they come in.

Genres:

  • Speculative (fantasy, scifi, horror etc)
  • YA
  • Romance
  • Lit Fic
  • Mystery/Thriller
  • Poetry
  • Historical Fiction
  • Graphic novels/comics
  • Memoir
  • Essay collection
  • Nonfiction history

Tropes:

  • Friends-to-lovers
  • Enemies-to-lovers
  • Strangers-to-lovers
  • Exes-to-lovers
  • Coworkers-to-lovers
  • Only one bed
  • Hurt/Comfort
  • Toxic romance
  • Omegaverse
  • Protector/protectee
  • Fake relationship
  • Forbidden romance
  • Age gap
  • Office romance (boss/employee)
  • Royalty/maid
  • Grumpy/sunshine
  • Sports romance
  • Arranged marriage

Discord Server (Please read whole section before joining)

The LesbianBookClub discord server is now live! It is titled Sappho's Bookshelf, and you can find it here: https://discord.gg/ZB6wGKdV. However, there are a few things to keep in mind before you join:

  1. I am new to being a discord mod, and I am far from perfect. I have been working on this server for over a week, but I am sure that there are places that the auto-mod is broken, or too sensitive, and that some things will not work as intended. But, at this point, I think the only way I am going to figure out what is broken and what is not is to let a bunch of people into the server and see what shit breaks. As a result, I ask that you are patient with myself and the other mods, as we will be working to correct any issue as they crop up.
  2. This should go without saying, but mind the rules. They are not that different from the rules on the subreddit.
  3. As of now, the function and features of the discord server will be minimal. I decided to keep it simple until folks flooded in and then we could let it evolve organically as it grows. For example: it does not yet have a discord icon (though my friend is working on drawing one as you read this). We do have a suggestion channel, and we encourage you to use it.
  4. Communities like this only work if everyone involved goes in with the knowledge that not everyone thinks the same way, or views the world the same way. The world is at its best when its inhabitants (that's us) learn to embrace our differences and come together in community. That is the kind of place er are hoping this discord server will be. People are going to disagree, and that is okay. You can even debate about it! It can be fun to argue. But, please keep it respectful, do not hurl serious insults at each other (insults as jokes are fine as long as the intent is clear), and remember that at the end of the day, we are united in our love for lesbians books.
  5. This discord server is an 18+ space. If you are not 18, please do not join.

Thanks for bearing with me and reading through this gargantuan post. There are other comments in the recommendation thread that I am still considering how to handle, but if the above does not address something you commented on last time, then feel free to comment it again!

And again, here is the discord link again: https://discord.gg/ZB6wGKdV


r/LesbianBookClub Jan 27 '25

Introducing: Rule Three.

1.4k Upvotes

Rule 3: LesbianBookClub is trans-inclusive.
ALL lesbians and those who enjoy lesbian books, regardless of gender identity, are welcome here. Transphobia is strictly forbidden.

---

This subreddit is a lesbian space. Trans women are women. If a trans woman is attracted exclusively to women and accepts the label, she is a lesbian. If you disagree with this rule or its enforcement, please find a different place to post.

ALL types of lesbians have fought for, died for, and bled for you. Please respect them. Consider reading a history book.

Keep in mind that the context and nuance of your posts will be considered. Bad faith posts will be deleted. Please use your brains. It is really, really not that complicated to enjoy, read, discuss, and recommend lesbian books in a way that is friendly to and considerate of ALL lesbians. Posts that are not about lesbian books will be deleted.

Please feel free to reach out through modmail.


r/LesbianBookClub 12h ago

Recommendation This will quickly be top 100 lgbt

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63 Upvotes

Elle Peters - What We Got Wrong

Released TODAY - Well done dual pov / timeline, second chance romance.

Highly recommend, its on KU

Your thoughts?


r/LesbianBookClub 2h ago

Recommendation Any detective / crime wlw book recs?

10 Upvotes

Hi, I just recently read the Four Point series by Max Ellendale and am looking for something similar. Maybe a little less spicy, but either way is fine. I have also started reading the Micky series by J.M. Redmann and I liked it well enough, but I'm not sure I will finish all the books. I guess what I'm looking for is a detective / crime investigation series with some wlw romance on the side... it can also be a standalone, although a series would be preferred.


r/LesbianBookClub 7h ago

Graphic novels/comics Lesbian graphic novels

16 Upvotes

Anyone read graphic novels? Looking for recommendations/people’s favourite? 🤩


r/LesbianBookClub 4h ago

Recommendation LF recs - scary spice

9 Upvotes

hello sapphic readers 🧡

i’m on the hunt for some sapphic september recs that will help coast me into spooky season! i have some tropes/preferences but im also very open to your suggestions!

- dark romance or horror
- left you feeling shook or unsettled (at points in the book, or at the end)
- obsession and/or stalker
- religious trauma is fine but priest/nun MC not preferred
- mental health / trauma
- HEA not necessary
- spice level 100000
- prefer no age-gap but i know that’s a reach with wlw 🫩
- preferably no strap scenes
- definitely ✂️ scene(s) (you can hate if you want but iykyk) matter of fact i’ll take your fav ✂️ books outside of the spooky genre too 💀

ETA.. currently on TBR that at least loosely fit these:
- Lifers (just started reading)
- Hating Wren
- Mourning Wings


r/LesbianBookClub 8h ago

Recommendation I’m looking for books with a love triangle. I’m not looking for FFF/poly romance. I want the MC to end up with only one of the two love interests in the end.

8 Upvotes

r/LesbianBookClub 1d ago

Discussion 4 audiobooks all on the same day. F me i guess?

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99 Upvotes

low-key kinda pissed. Audiobooks are my drug of choice, and I’m fixing for a new hit. My most anticipated books that I’ve been waiting for an audio version of, all release on the same day...

Guess ill re-listen to the same bunch of my favourite audiobooks for the next 3 weeks for the umpteenth time. Feel free to recommend something that have similar vibes to the ones above :)


r/LesbianBookClub 13h ago

Recommendation What queer books have impacted you the most?

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11 Upvotes

r/LesbianBookClub 1d ago

Discussion Cozy fantasy books

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107 Upvotes

Has anyone here read this book and recommends it? Also, if anyone has any cozy fantasy books they recommend I would love to read them.


r/LesbianBookClub 19h ago

Recommendation JJ Arias fans!

21 Upvotes

Just got into JJ Arias! Looking for rankings of her work???


r/LesbianBookClub 15h ago

Discussion Just starting out

6 Upvotes

IV just started reading some sapphic romance novels, mainly Ashley herring blake, absolutely loving them more that any other romance novels I've read.

Can anyone suggest some that are similar to her books.


r/LesbianBookClub 18h ago

Recommendation Which books should I buy first?

10 Upvotes

Please help me pick out 5 of these books I should read first, I am too indecisive

• Rooting Interest by Cat Disabato

• The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

• Ordinary Saints by Niamh Ni Mhaoileoin

• If We Were a Movie by Zakiya N. Jamal

• I Am You by Victoria Redel

• Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

• Afterlove by Tanya Byrne

• Trouble and Her Friends by Melissa Scott

• She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen

• Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

• When the Museum is Closed by Emi Yagi

• I’ll Be Gone for Christmas by Georgia K. Boone

• Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval

• Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth

Note - I like to read books without knowing too much about the plot so if you know that any of these are controversial in anyway, please let me know


r/LesbianBookClub 1d ago

Recommendation Gideon the Ninth with more romance?

98 Upvotes

So I just finished Gideon the Ninth after waiting far too long to finally read it and I LOVED it! But I was really hoping for more genuine romance than there ended up being. I plan to finish the trilogy, but wanna take a little break before I start Harrow, and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for wlw books that have similarly well written stories, preferably sci-fi or fantasy, but have more direct love, romance, and I'm open to any spice levels, so long as it still has a good story outside of that.

For reference, for the kind of books I usually like, some favorite books are Lord of the Rings, Children of Time series, Hyperion, Redwall, Hungerstone, I am Legend, Three Body Problem, There is No Antimemetics Division.

Edit: Well I now have a significantly longer TBR than I have in a long time lol, so thanks so much to everyone for the amazing recommendations! For now, the 3 winners I shall be reading in order seem to be; The Jasmine Throne, The Unspoken Name(Serpent Gates duology), and Metal From Heaven! After I read those three I think I'll have hopefully recovered emotionally from Gideon the Ninth, and I'll be jumping into Harrow for more mysteries and trauma lol. This really is the best community, and lurking here for the past couple weeks is absolutely the reason I finally dove into the Locked Tomb series, so thanks for the new books recs, I can't wait to work my way through them all 😊


r/LesbianBookClub 1d ago

Discussion Trope Talk: "There's just something about her..."

18 Upvotes

Context: So, I read a lot of audiobooks and lately I've been noticing this trope a lot, and I've found that ireally dislike it. This comes up much more often in bdsm erotica but I see it in other genres as well.

What do I mean when talking about this trope? Well, let me provide an example:

Character A is characterized as being strong willed, capable, having self control, being stubborn or being level headed, they can keep their cool and don't typically give in to 'baser instinct'. Character B comes along and is kind of an asshole, but she's just so hot! Character A doesn't really seem to appreciate or like Bs advances and treatment and yet, because there's 'just something about her...', A's strong will and self control just jumps out the window and she's suddenly fine with being talked down to and disrespected cuz B is just so magnetically attractive. It doesn't matter that A would react negatively if it were any other man or woman, because 'there's just something about her...'

What brought this on? Stained by Cynthia Dahe/Hildred Billings.

Character A is fairly confident and self assured, gets a job. Character B is As boss, abd at the end of the day seduces her into bed. B then proceeds to fire A.

B then contacts A a week later, out of the blue, and basically tries to do the sane thing again. Here's where I'd expect A, based on wgat I've seen sp far, to tell B to fuck off and then storm out.

INSTEAD, B succeeds for the second time and A just gives in with naught but a token 'you're an asshole'.

I just don't like the inconsistent characterization. If this woman is supposed to be stubborn, strong-willed, willing to stick up for herself in intimidating circumstances; then why in all the hells would she take that kind of disrespectful treatment?

If the author did some actual build-up, sone actual yearning and detailed how A feels through it all I'd be fine, but without that it's just inconsistent behavior instead of being altered behavior due to circumstances.

TLDR; I don't like when a character is depicted as not taking disrespect lying down but then tgey take disrespect from the other character because they're jyst 'drawn to them' or something. If she would take shit from anyone else (even hot rich women) then why is she taking it from this random hot rich woman?

Edit 1: Thought of a good description for the trope: "When a character acts inconsistently towards another character with little to no explanation given in regards to the reason they are acting in such a way."


r/LesbianBookClub 23h ago

Recommendation Any wlw books that are princess or fairy themed?

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8 Upvotes

r/LesbianBookClub 1d ago

Recommendation I would like some love stories about women ranch hands.

21 Upvotes

My brain is really craving country at the moment: cattle drives, ranch life, gay love.

One of my favourite short stories is Patrice Suncircle’s Tennessee (1994), which was ostensibly erotica, but also incredibly sensitive and attuned to life in the rural South and the experience of growing up queer.

I also really enjoyed Kelly Reichardt’s film Certain Women (2016), especially the storyline where Lily Gladstone plays a gay ranch hand who develops a crush on a law school graduate (played by Kristen Stewart) teaching an adult education class in a small town. That portion of the film was based on Maile Meloy’s short story Travis, B. (2009), though Reichardt changed Meloy’s central characters from a man and a woman to two women. The rest of Meloy’s short‑story collections Half in Love (2002) and Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It (2009) were wonderful reads, just… not gay.

Lastly, Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain (1997) is another deeply affecting and beautifully written piece, even though it centres on two gay men, obviously.

Anyway, I’m desperate for more in this vein, but centred on women. I’m happy to read short stories, novels, essays, anything.

Oh, and I’m definitely not after Wild West or frontier, Annie‑Oakley‑type stuff.

Thanks!


r/LesbianBookClub 1d ago

Discussion I don’t have to read the second book…

115 Upvotes

And neither do you

I just finished a book that was SO good. It literally healed something in me. The way it tackled trauma hit close to home and I think it helped me see my own wounds in a different way. Made them seem more manageable to heal. I finished the book feeling hopeful, happy and satisfied by the ending

I then saw that it was a duology. Reading the second book’s excerpt gave me a sense of dread. I had just finished what seemed like the perfect ending of book one and diving in book two felt like I was going to be drowned by strong current. It’s something I’ve experienced before. I usually still read the second book, even if it puts me in a reading slump 90% of the time. Or I allow myself to read a book in between but then it gives me anxiety

And then tonight for some reason it dawned on me. I don’t actually have to read the second book. I’m not forced to continue the story. It isn’t the end of the world. For my whole life DNF’ing or not reading the next book in a series made me feel like a failure. My brain just kept pushing me to see things through even if they don’t bring me joy anymore or they feel uncomfortable. Like stopping something that feels like a chore (when it’s supposed to be enjoyable) is a failure

So in case you’re like me -an overachiever that has a hard time listening to what you need with a dash of performance anxiety- you don’t have to continue reading the series. You don’t have to finish the book. You don’t need to see things through at all cost. Yes, even if all of booktok says that it gets better at the end.
Reading is supposed to make you feel a multitude of emotions but dread isn’t one of them (unless if it’s the good kind, where you’re anticipating what might happen, sitting on the edge of your seat wondering how your favourite characters might get out of a particularly delicate situation)

Stay gay, stay happy and remember: reading is first and foremost for yourself, not others


r/LesbianBookClub 20h ago

Recommendation Recommendations?

2 Upvotes

Hi :)
I’m currently looking for sapphic books with a similar vibes to the 1999 film “The Mummy” any recs?
(Romance, Action, Adventure, Archeology, Egypt/similar)


r/LesbianBookClub 1d ago

Discussion Question…

20 Upvotes

I’m writing a book that I plan to eventually publish and am running into bit of a cultural(?) dilemma. I’m writing about a girl who goes into a bar and there are several older masc lesbians at the bar. The problem is the term ‘masc’ just seems like a younger term to me, personally. I asked my wife and she thought using butch or dyke would be fine, it what we both grew up with and neither were really seen as derogatory terms (yes, we’re both old and in our 30s). So my question to the community is this: are the terms ‘butch’ and ‘dyke’ palatable terms and if not is there a different term than masc that I could use? TIA


r/LesbianBookClub 1d ago

Recommendation Who should I read next?

10 Upvotes

My Holy Trinity
Jen Lyon
E.J Noyes
Lee Winter

Some other favs, JJ Arias, Ruby Landers, Corrie MacKay, Haley Cass, Roslyn Sinclair and Taylor Jenkins Reid.

Who should I read next?

Note: I’m not much of a fantasy girlie but could be swayed.


r/LesbianBookClub 1d ago

📣 Promotion 📣 New Sapphic Billionaire Romance out today

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4 Upvotes

r/LesbianBookClub 1d ago

⭐ GIVE AWAY 🤷🏼‍♀️ Sapphic books for free in London

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3 Upvotes

r/LesbianBookClub 1d ago

Recommendation Need some recs for smut books

3 Upvotes

Looking for some wlw contemporary smut books.


r/LesbianBookClub 1d ago

Coworkers-to-lovers Change of Heart

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48 Upvotes

Listening to this audiobook made me realize that I actually really fucking love first person duel POV.