Booksta Babes: The People Who Make This Community Everything 💚
Okay BABES. I need to talk about something that genuinely makes my heart so full I don't even know what to do with myself.
When I started #sterlingsapphicreads, I thought it was going to be about books. And yes, obviously, it is very much about books. But what I did not fully see coming — what completely blindsided me in the absolute best way, was the people. The friendships. The DMs that turned into voice memos that turned into real actual humans that I love so much it's almost embarrassing.
I am so serious when I say this community has changed my life. And a huge part of that is because of the people I'm about to tell you about.
These are my booksta babes. My hype squad. My "I just finished this book and I'm not okay and I need to text someone RIGHT NOW" people. They are incredible reviewers, community leaders, and genuinely wonderful humans who show up for sapphic books and for each other every single day. I am so grateful for every single one of them and I just need the whole internet to know it.
Let's go. 👇
MJ — @mjs.queerbookclub
OKAY. MJ. Where do I even start. She is out here raving about Ruby Roe with her entire soul, dropping the spiciest lists, posting chapter call-outs that make me want to immediately reread whatever she's talking about, AND running a whole Queer Book Club with energy I can only aspire to. She is doing SO much and doing it all with so much joy and enthusiasm. I am obsessed. You will be too. Go follow her right now, I'll wait.
Cat @lez.be.readin.ya.89
I am genuinely, consistently impressed by Cat. Her review style is so thorough and personal and real — and the sheer volume of what she reads has me looking at my own TBR like... okay, Cat, I see you. Every review she posts makes me want to drop everything and immediately pick up whatever she's talking about. I have done this. I will continue to do this. Zero regrets.
Aisley — @aisley_stark_industries
My collab queen!!! My Bloom Town hype girl!!! Aisley brings the most incredible energy to everything she's part of and I am SO grateful to get to work alongside her. She shows up fully and enthusiastically and makes everything more fun just by being in it. Truly one of my favorite people to create with and I am so lucky she's in my corner.
Ana — @readingpurride
Okay so Ana and I met through bookstagram, which is already so wholesome, and then we found out we literally lived right down the road from each other. THE UNIVERSE WAS TRYING TO TELL US SOMETHING. She is my local booksta-bestie turned long distance bestie and honestly one of my favorite people on the entire planet. I miss her every single day and I am so glad bookstagram brought us together because I genuinely cannot imagine this journey without her. 💚
Kathryn — @sapphic_bookworm_
Bookstagrammer. Author. Crafting queen. Such a fun human. Kathryn is out here building an entire creative world and thriving in all of it. Her bookstagram is wonderful and her author journey (go find her at @rj_berryhillauthor!!) is so exciting to watch. She is the kind of person who just radiates warmth and creativity and I am so glad she exists in this space.
Mari — @sapphic_bookworms
Lists. On lists. ON LISTS. And every single one is so thoughtful and carefully put together… you can feel how much she genuinely cares about these books and this community. Mari is one of the sweetest humans I have ever encountered on the internet and her reviews are just so good. So considered. So her. If you are not following her I am begging you to go fix that right this second.
Sydney — @sapphicbookcritic
Here is the story of Sydney: she won a giveaway ticket to ReadOUT. I met her there. I gained a best friend. Just like that!! That is genuinely how it happened and I think about it all the time because it is so perfectly bookish and community-coded and I love it so much. I adore Sydney with my whole heart, her passion for this community, her reviews, just her as a person. Some friendships just feel inevitable and this is absolutely one of them.
Bridget — @justanothersapphicreader
Wonderful human. Wonderful reviews. Wonderful graphics. And here is the thing about Bridget that I keep thinking about, I cannot actually pinpoint the moment I "met" her because from the very beginning it felt like I already knew her. That instant feeling of oh, you, yes, obviously, of course it's you. She is exactly that kind of person. This community is so lucky to have her and honestly so am I.
SJ — @queerafictionado
SJ won my very first giveaway. We met in person at Queers and Quills. And they have not been able to get rid of me since….which, honestly, that's on them for being so wonderful. SJ brings so much light and love to this community and I mean that in the most genuine way possible. Queer reads, queer joy, queer love, they show up for all of it with their whole heart and this space is so much better because of them. I adore you, SJ. You're stuck with me.
Book friends are the best friends. I have believed this my whole life and this community has proven it to me over and over again.
If you are not already following every single person on this list, please go do that right now. Seriously. Close this tab, go follow all of them, come back and tell me which one immediately became your new favorite. They are building something real and beautiful in this space and they deserve every single reader and every bit of love this community has to give.
So much love, always.
- Tacie 💚
