‘Abandon Me’ by Melissa Febos
Abandon Me is a fierce exploration of love and obsession
‘The Kissing Booth Girl and Other Stories’ by A.C. Wise
The Kissing Booth Girl and Other Stories is achingly smart, sad, and weird in equal measure
‘Vow of Celibacy’ by Erin Judge
Vow of Celibacy, stand-up comedian Erin Judges dishy debut novel, plunges the reader directly into the world of Natalie—bisexual, plus-sized fashion maven, and undertaker of the titular vow.
‘The Cosmopolitans’ by Sarah Schulman
Sarah Schulman has given us a finely tuned, clever, and remarkably contemporary historical novel
‘Vienna’ by William S. Kirby
Vienna brings together the crime and intelligence of a Holmes story but with a twist: “Sherlock” and “Watson” appear as women—Vienna and Justine, respectively—and to further twist the usual, the unlikely duo are lovers
‘Love Not Given Lightly: Profiles from the Edge of Sex’ by Tina Horn
Love Not Given Lightly is compelling and oh-so-readable. Whether you know of and partake of this world or not, Horn’s portraits are deeply moving in their tender look at human sexuality and connection.
Author Quintan Ana Wikswo on the Limitations and Power of Labels
“Primarily, I wanted to see if I could write a book in which issues of love, erotics, desire, and sex could be momentarily liberated from conventional categorizations of gender identity.”
‘Sphinx’ by Anne Garréta
Sphinx, on the surface, is a standard story of love and loss. But that’s about all that’s standard here. You won’t get past the first page without asking questions, and by the time you turn the last one, you’ll be no closer to an answer
‘Apocalypse Baby’ by Virginie Despentes
Apocalypse Baby, in the end, is a demanding read; Despentes’ words, plot, and ideas are contentious, confrontational, and very purposefully so.
‘The Gracekeepers’ by Kirsty Logan
It’s easy to lose yourself in The Gracekeepers. Logan’s rich tapestry of characters and storylines, her deft language and her exquisitely built world add up to a deep, intriguing, and accessible novel.
‘Call Me Home’ by Megan Kruse
Call Me Home, as the title implies, focuses very strongly on the idea of home. It’s place-based for sure, but in this novel, who we call home is even more important.
‘How to Grow Up’ by Michelle Tea
For all of us late-to-the-party adults, for all of us stumbling around wondering how in fact to actually do this thing called adulthood, How to Grow Up is the book we’ve been waiting for
‘Teaching the Cat to Sit’ by Michelle Theall
“Michelle Theall’s new memoir, Teaching the Cat to Sit, brings some big topics—God, sexuality, abuse, loneliness, love, family—to the page. It’s a rocky ride, full of contentious conversations, frank disclosures, and plenty of struggle.”
‘Makara’ by Kristen Ringman
Traversing from Ireland to India to Venice, Makara (Handtype Press) manages to be both ethereal and incredibly earthly at the same time. It is a coming-of-age story unlike any other.
‘Small Fires’ by Julie Marie Wade
In Small Fires, Julie Marie Wade, who won a Lambda for her memoir Wishbone, considers family and memory with a poetic eye and unabashed tongue. With her carefully chosen words and a studied deliberateness, Wade proves unafraid to delve into her past—to skillfully reconstruct the events of her youth, from the horrifying to the sentimental to the self-conscious and beyond.
