Firstly, the visuals and aesthetic of this is wonderful! Very readable and colourful, perfect for a coffee table book. The illustrations of the people consistent in style and (mostly) recognisable. Secondly, the breadth of lgbt identities included is great, and people are selected from hundred of years of history, not just modern day. The information given is concise and easily understood; I learnt a lot about many people I had only previously heard about in passing. Also, many other texts/films/books/etc. to look into later.

However, surely there are enough iconic queer people to have one for every day and not include allies? Yes, allies are important, but they are not part of the lgbt community, so I didn’t expect them to also be displayed in the book. They are marked out by a clear ‘ally’ sticker, so they can’t be mistakenly identified, but I don’t think an imagine dragons singer who didn’t feel sympathy for lgbt people until he was personally persecuted for heterosexual pre-marital sex should be priority in a book with limited spaces. (Not to devalue his modern-day allyship, it just seems like a strange choice to include him).

Other than that, this book is full of interesting and valuable information with plenty of quotes and dates to back everything up.

(Also Alice Oseman, Troye Sivan, Ian Alexander (from Star Trek !!) and Jacqueline Wilson are in here !! Personal and biased mention for those since im big fans of them)

This was such a fun & educational read! I greatly enjoyed learning more about some of the prominent LGBTQ+ & allies that have made an impact within the the global rainbow community. It was particularly interesting through the authors due diligence that some of the individuals were featured on certain days for when those events happened. Even though there are plenty of individuals that could have been featured (an entire library could be created with everyone’s role in shaping the growth & supporting in the community), I thought the spectrum of diverse people were well selected. I learned something new from figures I hadn’t hear of, especially those that impacted other countries & their own movements, yet learned even more from those that I thought I was familiar with!

Lewis Laney's 365 Gays of the Year (Plus 1 for a Leap Year) is such a fun history book full of LGBTQ+ people — and a handful of notable allies. I loved the diversity of this book, the fact that included so many QTPOC queer and trans folks, and I loved that it included the community across generations and genres. The L Word creator Ilene Chaiken sharing a spread with pioneering gay bookshop owner Peter Dorey, JoJo Siwa sharing a spread with George Michael, Lizzo sharing a spread with ally Dan Reynolds — where else are you going to get that kind of range in an easy-to-digest format? The illustrations are inviting, the historical write-ups are easily digestible. This would make a great gift for any LGBTQ+ person!

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for the chance to read and share an honest review of this book.

Fantastic. Educational. Informative. This calendar formatted book is a fun way to have daily moment about LGBTQIA+ people. Each day has a person or couple with a brief, three paragraphs explanation of who they are or why they are included. The range of persons includes: royalty, writers, celebrities, historical figures, pop culture, activists and queer allies. There is a color drawing of each person as well. (I had mixed feelings on the illustrations as some look very much like their person and others less so.) For me this is educational as I knew less than half of the people profiled. Easy to recommend for a LGBTQIA+ reader and their allies. Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion for the temporary eARC and I’m leaving a voluntary review.

I DNF'D.
I really need to stop requesting introductory books on any topic because what I often find is that they are very surface level, which makes sense considering that they focus on such a wide scope. This left me wanting in a bad way. All it did was essentially name drop a bunch of people with very little context into who they are and when their acts of resistance had the most impact at the time. I'm not American and considering that it had a very U.S. lens, my not being familiar with these people left me feeling like I was just reading a catalogue.

365 Gays of the Year (plus 1 for a Leap Year) is a fun calendar chock full of bare-bones facts about LGBTQIA+ celebrities, historical figures, and icons. The entries are nicely illustrated and bounce around from category to category for some variety.

As with all calendar-type things, I checked who was listed on my birthday first. It was Freddie Mercury. What fun!

Obsessed! I need to buy this for myself and all of my queer friends. What a cool idea! I love the illustrations and colourful pages. Would make an excellent coffee table book!

365 Gays of the Year, written by Lewis Laney and illustrated by Charlotte MacMillan-Scott, is a fun and colorful coffee table-style book that every gay, lesbian, bi, queer, trans person and their allies will enjoy even if you don’t like to read.

Each page is devoted to one person and the book is set up like a page-a-day calendar. So, you can learn about one gay per day! In fact, this book would make an awesome calendar or planner. There are LGBTQIA icons, celebrities, politicians, authors, historical figures, drag queens, allies, and more. Their contributions are far and wide.

Each page contains a colorful illustration of that person and a few brief paragraphs telling you about them and how they contributed to society. Most of the pages read like a quick Wikipedia entry, but there are some interesting facts sprinkled throughout. The point is you will definitely learn something.

Many of the icons coincide with that particular date whether it be their birthday, the date of their death, or the date of an important event they were involved in. I was personally surprised by the numerous people I’d never heard of before. Older readers will enjoy learning about historical icons dating back to Stonewall and before, while younger readers can expect to learn about more modern gays like Lil Nas X and Dan Levy.

Overall, it’s a fun book that would make a perfect gift for the LGBTQIA reader or history buff in your life. Or for someone young or new to the community or who might have just come out, this book serves as proof that the LGBTQIA community has played an integral part in our society for a very long time. From movies and TV shows, to music and pop culture, to politics and activism, Lewis Laney’s book covers it all. And the bios are short, fun, simple, and quick to read so you can get on with your day!

Aa with another reviewer below I had problems accessing the title ie I couldn’t as it wouldn’t send to my kindle and would only go via the Netgalley shelf app but then the format wouldn’t let me read it that way,it is a great idea though and looked a good read so as again the previous reviewer has done will give it 5 stars but the publishers maybe need to contact.NG admin and try and make it so it can be downloaded via the kindle app as normally do

As an ex-christian, I do miss my little daily devotionals ritual. I will happily purchase this book when it comes out. Entries are laid out in a daily format, one Gay icon on each page, with full color illustrations of the person. Little blurbs accompany each name and illustration that are perfect for a quick morning or evening read.

Lewis Laney's 365 Gays of the Year is FABULOUS.. The icons celebrated in this beautiful collection are all fearless, amazing members and supporters of the LGBTQ+ community. Laney introduces us to so many fierce advocates and brings the spotlight to those who are true leaders and role models. I was shocked by some of the celebrities featured (James Dean!) and awed by some of the bravest voices (Liberace, Elton John, Madonna). As a proud mom of a teenager who will hopefully grace the pages of a book like this one someday, I will be first in line to order a copy of this vibrantly illustrated and tremendously important book.

Unfortunately I couldn't access this ARC but I am grateful to have been made aware of this book and I hope to enjoy reading it soon!

Yes, here’s a lot of gays and I was expecting the content to be 100 percent gay. I am rather disappointed and you will know why. I support the allies but we expect gays when it’s a book of gay people. Yes, the reader got a bit touchy. One ally got super excited but then saw the other allies. Okay, chit chats apart, this collection tells in brief about people who are or who support the gay community. I am using the word as per the title says for this book. The content is rather too colourful but nothing is too colourful when it comes to recognising a community, give the respect they deserve and celebrate them as we do for ourselves.

Thank you, Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion, for the advance reading copy.