Check out these books curated to add to your Pride Month bookshelf.
“Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl”
By Andrea Lawlor
Set in 1993, Andrea Lawlor’s “Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl” follows Paul, a student of queer studies, a lover of music and a shapeshifter. Paul often changes his body and gender presentation: a lesbian at a music festival one weekend, a gay man at a bar the next and on and on. In various cities, relationships and bodies, Paul rejects the seriousness and specificity of labels, expectations and norms, and plays, in the true sense of the word, with gender.
“Hijab Butch Blues”
By Lamya H
In their memoir, “Hijab Butch Blues,” Lamya H (pseudonym) writes about living as a queer Muslim while sharing stories from the Quran as parallel to their own life. Each set of stories affirms the other, providing insight into how H’s interpretations of religion pertain to her queer experiences. Titled after Leslie Feinberg’s “Stone Butch Blues,” H’s work serves to further expand public conceptions of “butch” and “lesbian” as Feinberg did years ago.
“Real Life”
By Brandon Taylor
Brandon Taylor’s stellar debut novel, “Real Life,” tells of a young man named Wallace, a gay, Black graduate student of biochemistry at a predominantly white midwestern university. Set over the course of a single weekend, the novel offers a glimpse of a life with intertwining experiences of isolation and racism as well as pleasure and connection.
“Gay Bar: Why We Went Out”
By Jeremy Atherton Lin
Both poetic and academic, Jeremy Atherton Lin’s “Gay Bar: Why We Went Out” is a work that adds to collective queer memory. Atherton Lin chronologizes past evenings with his lover(s) and friends, unapologetically philosophizes on concepts and terms like “fag,” and discusses the politics of the physical spaces wherein he congregated with others in his youth.
“How to Write an Autobiographical Novel”
By Alexander Chee
Speaking of queer memory, in “How to Write an Autobiographical Novel,” Alexander Chee’s essays beautifully reflect on experiences from his life as a gay Korean American writer. As well as writing about writing, Chee tells stories about growing a rose garden, working as a cater-waiter to a wealthy anti-gay public figure, reading tarot, engaging in activism and experiencing the losses of friends and lovers from HIV/AIDS.