After a slow start to my May 2026 TBR, I actually ended up okay. I didn’t read as many days last month, so that impacted some progress on my ARCs. But I read two of my priority reads and one of my hopeful reads and read 30% of my third priority read. For my June 2026 TBR I have a list of hopeful reads for Pride Month. This is a first for me.

I never read to a particular monthly theme. It makes me want to have a mental temper tantrum because I don’t like being held to a list. The only reason I started doing these monthly TBR posts is to keep ARCs in the forefront of my mind. In that regard, I think my TBR posts work. However, I have a massive backlog of physical books I want to get through, including LGBTQ+ books. So, I decided to use Pride Month as encouragement to tackle some backlist LGBTQ+ reads.

June 2026 TBR Hopefuls

THE FEYWILD JOB by C.L. Polk: I was very happy when the publisher reached out with a widget for this ARC. I’m avoiding NetGalley because I’m behind on ARCs, but this one is right up my alley. It’s another D&D-related cozy romance. I loved the author’s novella, Even Though I Knew the End. “Sparks fly when bitter exes are forced to team up for an elaborate Feywild heist, in this cozy fantasy romance by the bestselling author of the Kingston Cycle and Even Though I Knew the End.“

THE RED SCHOLAR’S WAKE by Aliette de Bodard: I don’t have high hopes for this given how low its Goodreads rating is. But I’m going to give it a shot, also because it’s a backlist Illumicrate book of mine. “When tech scavenger Xích Si is captured and imprisoned by the infamous pirates of the Red Banner, she expects to be tortured or killed. Instead, their leader, Rice Fish, makes Xích Si an utterly incredible proposition: an offer of marriage.”

A MARVELLOUS LIGHT by Freya Marske: It’s high time I get to this since I won it in a giveaway Chris had a while ago on his blog. I’ve heard good things about this author, so I’m looking forward to reading this book. “Red, White & Royal Blue meets Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell in debut author Freya Marske’s A Marvellous Light, featuring an Edwardian England full of magic, contracts, and conspiracies.“

A LETTER TO MY TRANSGENDER DAUGHTER by Carolyn Hays: I bought this book from the Gay on Wye bookstore (a play on the town Hay-on-Wye, where the store is located) when we took a trip to southwest England and Wales last year. “A parent’s love letter to a daughter who has always known exactly who she is.“

A VOW MADE TWICE by Emma Denny: I learned about this author thanks to bookstagram. The medieval time period is what initially made me curious, but also how a queer person might live during that time. It features the marriage of convenience trope and maybe bi or trans characters? I’m not entirely sure based on the synopsis, but I guess I’ll find out when I read it!

THE OUTRAGE by William Hussey: I followed this author back on Twitter and learned about his books that way. I’ve had this one for a while. In fact, I think I ordered this back when Book Depository was still a thing. (It’s available to purchase on Amazon in the U.S., or from Blackwell’s, who has free shipping to the U.S.) It’s a YA dystopian story. “You know, when you live in a time of progress, it seems that progress is the only possible way. The idea that everything we’d gained, all of those hard-won rights, could be taken away from us, and that open minds could be closed again? But then the Outrage happened.”

And, of course, I’m sure I’ll throw some mood read book into the mix, usually in the form of an audiobook.

What’s on your June 2026 TBR? Are you also participating in Pride Month with respect to hopeful reads?