thoughts on my year of sapphic books + 52 book challenge

02 Feb, 2025

I finally got to post my book list last night~ A huge chunk of books I finished last year were sapphic books, so I had to make a review or something.

I've only started to read again as a habit 3 years ago and my total number of books read per year started to increase from there because I learned the valuable lesson of reading what I like. That has been the sole expectation I have for every book. I must simply enjoy it. And I did!

I am well aware of how the romance genre as a whole can be perceived, especially with the rise of BookTok and the never-ending misogyny surrounding it since forever. With that, I felt like I have to say at least a bit about it. I still feel a little shy sharing this particular interest of mine. When I started going to the office and would read during break, I would play a scenario in my head where someone would ask me what I’m reading. There is fear of being judged and not to be taken seriously if I say the truth. I don’t know where that fear or shame comes from.¹ I guess this post is me trying to overcome that. I just wish people who are dismissive about romance would give it a chance or not be an asshole about it. Because, it just comes down to reading what you like and letting people enjoy things.

These books got me through a busy 2024, so I’m thankful for every one of them. I either snuck a few little chapters on the commute, treated reading time as a reward after working or sacrificed a night’s sleep to finish these books. Romance books have happy endings most of the time - they are easy to read, highly entertaining, and a convenient source of dopamine (it was addicting²).

It is also worth noting that I don’t ever have the expectation of lesbians being killed off in books - not like TV shows and movies - because it so rarely happens. As it turns out, lesbians and women not getting happy endings are almost always executive decisions...

What I do want to highlight is that if a romance book did not make me swoon that first time 3 years ago, I honestly wouldn’t be able to make a reading habit now. I think that’s what matters to me the most - learning how I can find books less intimidating and be more comfortable reading ones with more subtlety and most often subject to literary analysis - not that it’s the end goal, but I see books as portals to an infinite amount of possibilities and opportunities. A lot of books that are criticized to be life-altering will probably require more of my mental or emotional investment. The more I get around to reading them, regardless of what it’s about, I will learn and feel something - and that makes it fun for me.

I believe it is absolutely crucial that I feel something.

In every book in this list, I did. A separate post out there may better tell you how important representation is. But me, who is a fully-realized lesbian in her 20s, may see these books fit for leisure activity, but it would be a different story for my 15-year-old self struggling to compromise her wanting to kiss a girl and her parents’ expectations. I would have probably been obsessed with these even more so now and developed multiple hyperfixations. Maybe I would have less internalized homophobia then. Or maybe I would’ve come out sooner. There is something about seeing little bits of you in a book, behavior that would otherwise be not talked about or concealed in real life.

A life, however fictional, that makes you feel hopeful for a world where it becomes easier being yourself is validating.

It does remain true that another thing I liked about sapphic books is that I see myself and r in these characters, every time. Sometimes, I send her quotes or we will buddy read a book. It is as if we have our own multiverse and I’ve loved her in every love story ever told (I would).

I’ll be all the poets, I’ll kill them all and take each one’s place in turn, and every time love’s written in all the strands it will be to you.

— from This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

52 book challenge

I’m contemplating how this series of back-to-back female-centered stories have shaped me... Would it become too difficult to read stories in a man’s voice? Does it matter that much? I just set a goal of 52 books this year. I’m looking into more genres and broadening my horizons and will update what kind of list I’ll have this time again next year. Maybe it will still be sapphic books, or maybe not.

I just think I have this thing of chain-reading similar books because it maintains the same level of excitement that helps me get to my goal. I’ll definitely keep this in mind and will be careful as I transition to other genres ^^

Thanks for reading :)

If you have any book recommendations or want to share your own ways of completing your reading goal, do let me know.

#2025 #books #sapphic