Expectation: A coming-of-age story about overcoming outside forces to live your life fully.
Reality: Another historical fiction gay love story that felt a bit recursive.
Felix Ever After – Kacen Callender
Expectation: A YA romance with a different point-of-view.
Reality: A disconnected effort with a strong plot focused on identity and acceptance brought down by the typical YA tropes of too smart, too woke kids being mad at the world.
Mama’s Boy: A Story From Our Americas – Dustin Lance Black
Part personal memoir, part family history and part cultural commentary, “Mama’s Boy” is nonfiction that follows the formula of quality historical fiction – a strong female character, intersection with landmark events and overcoming barriers both within yourself and from the world around you.
The Road – Cormac McCarthy
Expectation: A fast-paced apocalyptic survival tale.
Reality: A slow-burn family drama that packs a lot of understated horror and emotional attachment to the main characters into the rich prose.
All Boys Aren’t Blue – George M. Johnson
Three standout essays show the potential of what this memoir-manifesto could’ve been if only Johnson showed more focus.
You Should See Me In A Crown – Leah Johnson
Expectation: A YA wish-fulfillment fantasy featuring a BIPOC queer lead.
Reality: A funny, heartfelt and quickly paced story that reminded me of the best late-90s teen comedies.
In the Dream House – Carmen Maria Machado
While “Dream House” didn’t totally work for me, it is an important work. How Machado uses her experiences to raise awareness of the challenges same sex couples face when reporting abuse, to addressing the ways in which the queer community will turn on its own, is important and urgent.
The Guncle – Steven Rowley
Expectation: A what-would-you-do dramedy tailor-made to us queers that relish being the “cool” uncle or aunt.
Reality: A campy, somewhat stereotypical story that runs a little long but delivers a lot of humor and heart.
13 Genre-Spanning Books About LGBTQIA+ Experiences
For Pride month, I’ve committed to reading only stories written by LGBTQIA+ writers and/or featuring predominately queer characters.
If you’re interested in a similar challenge, let me help you narrow down your choices with a little “Read This, Not That: Pride Edition.”
Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics – Dolly Parton and Robert K. Oermann
At only five hours, I’d encourage anyone to listen to “Songteller,” but it’s probably best suited for fans rather than casual observers of the superstar.
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous – Ocean Vuong
Expectation: A story about straddling two worlds.
Reality: One of the most beautifully written novels I’ve ever read.
My 2021 Pride Month Reading List
This year I’m going all in on Pride month reading by only choosing to read stories written by LGBTQ+ writers and/or featuring predominately queer characters. Getting through eight novels in a month is a stretch – even when I was quarantining – but I’m committed to prioritizing this list.
The Push – Ashley Audrain
Expectation: A page-turning thriller about family secrets, potentially evil children and a mother trying to keep it all together.
Reality: A slower-burn domestic drama that borrows a lot of familiar tropes but keeps you entertained with sharp writing.
Brown Girl Dreaming – Jacqueline Woodson
Targeted to middle grade readers, “Brown Girl Dreaming” is an exceptional introduction to more mature books in verse and poetry, and an accessible conversation starter about the experiences of BIPOC people in the southern United States during the tail-end of the Civil Rights era.
My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry – Fredrik Backman
Expectation: A classic underdog overcomes Backman story.
Reality: A scattered and boring effort that showed glimpses of promise but never fully delivered.
A Blogging Retrospective
Today marks one year since I launched Please Read It To Me, a quarantine hobby that provided both a creative outlet and distraction in a challenging year.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas – John Boyne
Expectation: A World War II historical fiction tearjerker.
Reality: A simple, yet layered story that leaves you with complicated feelings.
Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction – Derek Thompson
Like most pop science, or psychology in this case, the thesis – uncovering why some things become insanely popular while other, sometimes better things, don’t – is an interesting question, but not one that can sustain a 300-page book without becoming repetitive.
The Music of Bees – Eileen Garvin
Expectation: A quasi-cozy romance with enough sass and drama to keep you interested but a firm ground in reality.
Reality: A sometimes far-fetched but utterly engrossing story of chosen family. I was surprised by the emotional depth of the characters and how their journey unfolds.
Under the Banner of Heaven – Jon Krakauer
I had thought I was picking up an American true crime story in the same vein as "In Cold Blood," and while I did get that story, I was treated to nearly 200 pages of history on the Mormon religion.
Not expected.