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Staff picks for Pride Month
Queer works that celebrate every shade of the rainbow.
Published on April 2, 2024
Girls Can Kiss Now: Essays
Jill GutowitzAs a journalist, Gutowitz covered entertainment with a witty flair for outlets like The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Vulture. In her debut collection of essays, she couples her expert knowledge of pop culture with her own coming-of-age tale, and what results is a laugh-out-loud collection of comedic essays about growing up as a queer person in the early 2000s. — Brittany C. (Lifecycle)
Greedy: Notes from a Bisexual Who Wants Too Much
Jen WinstonGrowing up in the early 2000s, Winston, an Instagram star and internet personality, didn't yet have the words to describe her sexuality, but one thing was clear: She was terrible at dating men. Over and over in her delightful debut that's part-memoir, part-societal analysis, Winston explores the question, “What even is bi culture?”— Brittany C. (Lifecycle)
You Can't Be Serious
Kal PennFrom the onscreen stoner Kumar on a White Castle quest to an IRL role at the White House as an aide during Obama’s presidency, Penn shares his life story in this funny, poignant memoir, where he details an 11-year relationship with his partner, Josh. Penn came out as gay only shortly prior to the publication of “You Can’t Be Serious” in 2021. — Brittany C. (Lifecycle)
Role Models
John WatersFilmmaker Waters is, openly and proudly, weird, eccentric, and gay. In “Role Models,” he lists all the people who influenced him to embrace his whole self, without worrying about labels and mainstream mentality. This book is for “minorities who can't even fit in with their own minorities.” — Brittany C. (Lifecycle)
Ninefox Gambit
Yoon Ha LeeThis is an awesome sci-fi book with an excellent LGBTQ+ protagonist. In the interstellar empire of Hexarchate, six factions with varying skills compete for power. This is the first installment of “The Machineries of Empire” series. — Paige S. (Web Development)
The Song of Achilles: A Novel
Madeline Miller“The Song of Achilles” is a beautifully written imagining of the relationship between Achilles and his companion, Patroclus. Every now and then, I'll listen to my favorite parts again and feel the power in the words. — Moon S. (Customer Service)
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue
Mackenzi LeeFun! Flirty! Witty! In “The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue,” sparks fly when two friends embark on an 18th-century European road trip, complete with a bisexual young lord, highwaymen, pirates, and magic. — Moon S. (Customer Service)
They Both Die at the End
Adam SilveraI loved listening to this novel by Adam Silvera. It was an easy listen (although emotional at times), a unique concept, and the queer storyline was icing on the cake. Such a great take on contemporary storytelling and an important message, especially for young adults and teens. — Sarah S. (Design)
You Can Be Yourself Here: Your Pocket Guide to Creating Inclusive Workplaces by Using the Psychology
You Can Be Yourself Here: Your Pocket Guide to Creating Inclusive Workplaces by Using the Psychology
DDS Dobson-SmithYou Can Be Yourself Here is the perfect pocket guide for leaders, managers, and humans on how to shift workplace culture and create an environment where people feel a sense of belonging. Striking a compelling balance of psychological research, personal experience, and emotional narratives, the author DDS Dobson Smith (who identifies as queer and non-binary) teaches readers how to show up as their most authentic selves at work, and how to create a space where others feel the same freedom to do so. — Emily A. (People Experience)
People, Places, Things: My Human Landmarks
Chuck PalahniukI’ve loved Chuck Palahniuk books since I discovered “Fight Club.” This is a unique story from the author, taking us through the pivotal points that shaped his writing through Vonnegut-esque jumps backwards and forward through time. — Bob F. (Marketing)
Parker
Jack HarbonHarbon writes tender but gritty romance, usually with two flawed queer characters. The voice is distinct and direct, and the conflict before the eventual Happy Ever After seems insurmountable, but is eventually solved, thank goodness. — Megan F. (Content Acquisition)
The Doctor's Discretion
EE OttomanE.E. Ottoman’s queer historical romances are elegantly written, the characters both vulnerable and strong. “The Doctor's Companion” tells the romance of two doctors in mid-century New York, one trans, one cis. They become entangled in the rescue of a trans man who is in danger of being committed to an asylum. It’s compelling and romantic. — Megan F. (Content Acquisition)
This Is How You Lose the Time War
Amal El-Mohtar“This Is How You Lose the Time War” contains the chaos of all of time and space within its beautifully short, never-ending love story. Two women, named Red and Blue, fight for opposite factions in the ceaseless time war, flowing from the past to the future, from timeline to timeline. Through a series of letters sent via tea and lava and other delightful delivery systems, Red and Blue fall for each other, and combine for some of the best purple prose around. I’ve loved this Hugo Award-winning novella before it became all the rage thanks to an enthusiastic recommendation from an amusingly named Twitter account that went viral. — Ashley M. (Editorial)
For Today I Am a Boy: A Novel
Kim FuThere’s so much to unpack about gender, race, and nationality in this slim novel that so lovingly captures a family of five in their worst and most troubled moments across several decades. Peter is a Chinese Canadian boy who desperately wants to be a girl but tries to live up to masculine expectations. Author Kim Fu empathetically portrays all the cruelties and kindnesses of her characters that span different cultures and generations. — Ashley M. (Editorial)
Cemetery Boys
Aiden ThomasA cute, queer love story between a gay trans boy and a ghost. Yadriel is determined to prove his gender identity to his Latinx family by exhibiting powers of a brujo rather than a bruja. Yadriel means to summon the ghost of his recently deceased cousin, but instead ends up with the spirit of his school’s bad boy, Julian Diaz. A stunning #OwnVoices story that is breaking down several barriers. — Ashley M. (Editorial)
High School
Sara QuinQueer twin sisters Tegan and Sara started releasing indie pop and alternative hits in 1998 and have been critically acclaimed darlings ever since. Their memoir chronicles their tumultuous high school years, full of sibling squabbles, sexual discovery, and, of course, songwriting. If you’ve ever jammed out to a Tegan and Sara song (and you probably have, because there are so many, including “Everything is AWESOME!!!” from “The Lego Movie”), the audiobook is a must: It’s narrated by the sisters and contains recordings of their earliest music. — Ashley M. (Editorial)
The Deep
Rivers SolomonSolomon’s “The Deep” is based on a Hugo Award-nominated song from Clipping, the rap group headed by Daveed Diggs. It’s about a group of mermaid-like people who are descended from pregnant slaves who perished when they were tossed overboard crossing the Atlantic. This Lammy Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror winner defines the word haunting. — Ashley M. (Editorial)
Punch Me Up To The Gods: A Memoir
Brian BroomeA moving memoir about growing up Black and gay in rural Ohio. Framing his life story around the Gwendolyn Brooks poem “We Real Cool,” Brian Broome brilliantly calls out destructive stereotypes about masculinity. A heart wrenching, intimate look at an outsider's search for a space to be his authentic self. — Ashley M. (Editorial)
Love after the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction
Joshua Whitehead“Love After the End,” an anthology of short stories, sees the silver lining in our dystopian future. All the stories are written by members of the 2SQ (Two-Spirit and queer Indigenous) community, who each bring a unique take on what will, can, or should happen when climate change devastates the earth. Each story is thought-provoking and rooted in a deep love of Mother Earth and an understanding that sci-fi staples, like colonizing other planets, are paths that only lead to more destruction — or, at the very least, will deplete our souls. — Ashley M. (Editorial)
The Thirty Names of Night: A Novel
Zeyn JoukhadarLet your heart take flight with this gorgeous tale about two artists whose lives intertwine despite the decades dividing them. Haunted by the tragic death of his ornithologist mother, a young Syrian American trans man paints murals of birds across New York City in her memory. When he discovers the journal of Laila Z, a bird artist who disappeared mysteriously decades ago, her story sends him on a quest for a rare bird and opens his eyes to the rich hidden history of the queer and trans people in his community. — Ashley M. (Editorial)