Skye Kilaen’s Desert Island Books

Based on the BBC radio programme ‘Desert Island Discs’, we’ve adapted this idea to ask castaways to list up to eight books, one song and one luxury item that they couldn’t do without on a desert island.

The rules are fairly simple, any type of book can be selected, but we ask that at least half are lesfic. Choices should be justified in a paragraph or two. Any type of music is allowed. The luxury item must be inanimate and of no use in escaping the island or allowing communication from outside.

Other Desert Island Choices

My Books Choices

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

If I’m going to be trapped on a desert island with only eight books, I want the biggest bang for my buck! I know a ton of people who love this sapphic fantasy novel, I haven’t read it yet, and it’s almost 900 PAGES LONG. Perfect.

Swelter by Jules Kelley

Going the complete opposite direction, no way am I being stuck anywhere without access to this short story. Kelley is one of my fave writers, and this tale about college girl Grace finally bagging her older brother’s motorcycle-riding best friend Maya manages to be hot, funny, and sweet. After I re-read it on the island, I can also enjoy my memories of the sequels, so it’s kind of like I’m cheating and bringing 3 stories, yay!

Love by the Numbers by Karin Kallmaker 

This contemporary is one of my fave lesfic books, and I’m overdue for a re-read, so it’s definitely going in the suitcase. Watching grumpy Nicole and sunshiney Lily travel the world promoting Nicole’s accidentally bestselling book, and falling in love along the way, will definitely help me forget I’m stuck on an island.

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

I was blown away by this contemporary fantasy set in Malaysia about a lesbian who must deal with becoming a medium for a god while figuring out how to come out to her parents. Y’know, the everyday struggles we all go through. I’ll break this one out when I’m sick of sand and need some escapism.

Not For Use In Navigation: Thirteen Stories by Iona Datt Sharma

Datt Sharma is one of my auto-buy authors; they write a lot of sapphic and queer characters, both in speculative fiction and romance. This fantasy and sci-fi short story collection was absolutely amazing but I blew through it so fast that I didn’t give myself time to let each story sink in. Will definitely have time to fix that while waiting for rescue.

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

I have to figure out what actually *happened* in this second book about the Necromancer Space Lesbians before the next book comes out, so I need to re-read this! Hopefully I will get rescued before the sequel hits stores.

Improbable Heaven by J.P. Noether 

I’m probably going to need some morale-boosting while I’m stranded, so I’m bringing a paranormal F/F romance that I love by my friend Noether. Messenger angel Kel, one of the MCs, is a character I would fight and die for (fictionally sense), so reading about her finding love & a place to belong will keep my spirits up.

On A Sunbeam by Tille Walden

One of my favorite graphic novels is this YA sci-fi epic about two girls who fall in love and have to find their way back to each other across the galaxy. Sure, I am somewhat influenced in this selection by the fact that it’s over 500 pages long, but I truly adore it and this will be a great one to break out when I want that HEA feeling.

My Song Choice

Know Your Name by Mary Lambert

https://youtu.be/nsc01-0V_QU

I’ve probably listened to this fun sapphic crush song over 100 times so far, both while watching the cute nerdy video and while singing along in my car. It hasn’t lost one bit of its shine, so I’m guessing it will serve me well! (Also here’s hoping that I am stuck on a *paranormal* island and somehow playing the song will magically cause a video game arcade to appear on the island so I have something to do besides read my eight books and crack open coconuts for food.)

Luxury item

My Chromebook! Without WiFi it’s of no use in communicating or escaping the island, so it follows the rules, but it does have offline Google Docs access so I can keep writing. These two-women-kissing books aren’t going to write themselves! When the battery runs out, I’ll plug it at the magic arcade.