#11. Read a book with an asexual and/or aromantic main character.

[Briana]

I was on my library’s website and this awesome list just happened to pop up for Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week!

https://austin.bibliocommons.com/list...

[Maggie]

May I recommend Shades of A by Tab Kimpton? It's a free online comic -- see discord comics' site -- but I recommend leaving something in their Patreon. Started off as a satire of Shades of Grey but has its own story and is a very real look at a young person coming to terms with their asexuality.

[Jess]

I'm going with The Bone People by Keri Hulme for this one. I'm trying to read my way through all the Booker Prize winners so it also fits that challenge!

[Shauna]

Reading Glasses podcast talked about Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann. It is a romance novel with an asexual main character- I’m thinking about reading it. Has anyone read it?

[Maura]

Shauna wrote: "Reading Glasses podcast talked about Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann. It is a romance novel with an asexual main character- I’m thinking about reading it. Has anyone read it?"

I have! It's a quick, easy read. I think it depends on your taste in books. It's cute and enjoyable. It has a nice arc of the relationship between the MC and the love interest and a lot around the MC figuring out her identity not just as an asexual person but in terms of what she wants in life and things like that. (ETA: It does also go into aphobia and how Alice experiences that/copes with that) It's a YA book and the main criticism I've seen of it is that it reads a little overly YA considering the characters are in college. It was a little too much on the cute/predictable/YA end for me, even though I enjoyed it overall. If you dislike YA contemporary, it won't be your thing. Feel free to ask any questions if you are wondering about something in particular!

FWIW, Claire Kann has an adult romance with an asexual MC coming out this Spring & I already have that on my TBR and am looking forward to it.

[JessicaMHR]

I found Let's Talk About Love while looking for something else and since it was a quick read I read it in about a day and am going to put it here. I liked how it took time to try and explain about asexuality and her struggles with it. But, I don't really like how much she goes back and forth about her new relationship, it's just too YA emotional in that way.

[Alyssa]

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

[Lisa]

I was reading the book

And I realized about the first chapter in that the main character, a monk, is non binary. He ends up meeting a robot in his travels, so the pronouns were "they" and "it." It is fiction but a philosophical discussion about purpose and meaning. And if you are looking to finish a book in a day, this is very short.

[Lexi]

Lisa wrote: "I was reading the book

And I realized about the first chapter in that the main character, a monk, is non binary. He ends up meeting a robot in his t..."

I adore A Psalm for the Wild-Built, but the MC is not ace. I think you may have meant it for a different category. I hope you enjoy the book.

[Ashley]

I read All Systems Red and loved it - I ended up reading the entire series!

[Sherri]

I read The Love Hypothesis

[Nicole]

This Golden Flame As a fantasy lover, this was a pleasant surprise.

[Nina]

I believe To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara has an Ace-Aro main character in Part 2 of the book. While the character is never explicitly or personally defines as Ace-Aro, the author depicts him in that way. The book consists of many queer relationships of all kinds without calling them out. It’s a great book that shows the complexity and diversity of human relationships and connections.

[Preeti]

That Kind of Guy features a demisexual male character. And I love Talia Hibbert. This can also apply for challenge 7 since the female protagonst here is over 40.

[Mandie]

Mandie wrote: "I'll more than likely be reading my next in the Murderbot series for this one"

My whimsy hasn't quite taken me back to the Murderbot series this year. However, I just started The Cybernetic Tea Shop to fulfill this prompt.

[Kelly]

How to Be Ace: A Memoir of Growing Up Asexual is a pretty direct match for this prompt, which also aims towards general information on the topic.

It could also double-dip with prompt 6 (nonfiction YA comic) if you don't consider some New Adult content as out of bounds. It follows a British teen through high school into university.

The main character also has OCD, which does take up a lot of the narrative, just fyi. Trigger warnings for panic attacks, also (very quick) discussions of sexual assault.

[Cynthia]

I assigned It Sounds Like This by Anna Meriano toward meeting this task. Other books that could have fit this category include Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger, Loveless Loveless by Alice Oseman (currently in progress), All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries) by Martha Wells, and How to Be Ace: A Memoir of Growing Up Asexual by Rebecca Burgess.

[Joanna]

Cynthia wrote: "I assigned It Sounds Like This by Anna Meriano toward meeting this task. Other books that could have fit this category include Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger, [book..."

I went with It Sounds Like This, too!

[Emily]

I read Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe.

[Bonnie G.]

Emily wrote: "I read Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe."

I also read this for the prompt, and just stumbled across the novella Every Heart a Doorway not knowing one of the main characters is Aro. It is good YA fantasy -- not usually my genre but I have read two novellas from this series (I used the second in the series for the queer retelling prompt) and enjoyed them.