5 Reads For Pride Month

Hello, Book Nerds! Welcome back to Reading Has Ruined My Life or welcome if you are new. As always, my name is Hannah and I am your captain on this journey into my bookcases.

Happy Pride! I hope all my LGBTQIA+ readers are having a wonderful start to Pride Month. I hope you’ve had a wonderful first week of Pride. I have a lot planned for you this month and I can’t wait to get started. But first, I just want to remind everyone that RHRML is a safe space for the LGBTQIA+ community. You are welcome and respected here. You are safe here. I will gladly punch any and all homophobes and transphobes in the face.

Today I wanted to offer you all some LGBTQIA+ book recommendations. Now there are so many amazing reads out there by so many amazing writers that there is no way I can talk about them all. Five recs hardly scratches the surface. If I miss your favorite then please drop the title in the comments below.

Also, I’ve tried to avoid listing classic pieces like The Color Purple or The Picture of Dorian Gray. Love those titles. Amazing, stunning, groundbreaking, ten-out-of-ten. But you know those titles. I want to recommend some more recent titles. Also, these titles are in no particular order. So let’s get to them.

5. Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen kicks off our list. Described as Knives Out with a queer twist, this novel has got it all. Secrets galore, an Old Money family, murder and mystery, and a safe space for the LGBTQIA+ community in the form of a big ole mansion; like I said, it’s got it all.

4. More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera comes in at number four. You probably know Silvera’s They Both Die in the End pretty well but do you know of, or remember, this 2015 novel? This is Adam Silvera’s debut novel and you will cry reading this one more than you did with They Both Die in the End. More Happy Than Sad is a masterpiece of a novel about self-discovery, choosing happiness even in your darkest days, friendship, love, sexuality, and realizing that through sadness can come happiness. Did I mention you will bawl?

3. At number three we have Mademoiselle Revolution by Zoe Sivak. If you know me, you know I love historical fiction novels. This one is set during the French Revolution and follows a biracial, Haitian heiress, Sylvie de Rosiers, who ends up in Paris right in time for the French Revolution. She ends up entangled with the one and only Maximilien Robespierre and his mistress Cornélie Duplay. Sylvie has a lot to think about. Namely should she stay safe in the arms of Cornélie? Risk losing her head with Robespierre? Just leave? There’s a lot going on and a quick synopsis like this does not do the book justice. TL;DR, this book has some chaotic bisexual energy, piles and piles of detailed research, and bloody scenes of the revolution. What more could you want?

2. Next up is The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean! A secret, supernatural society in which books equal food. Sign me up. Add in themes of loss, power, transformation and identity, and smashing the patriarchy with a gothic, urban fantasy setting; I am sold. Now, the LGBTQIA+ aspect is more of a subplot, but this book is a stunner and deserves some more love.

1. Finally, at number one, we have The Guncle by Steven Rowley! Part comedy, part family drama, this is such a fun read. After a series of unfortunate events, Uncle Patrick is in charge of raising his niece and nephew. He quickly realizes parenting isn’t just being the Fun Uncle armed with treats and jokes. You will cry with this one, but this time because you’re laughing too hard.

Thus endeth our list! I hardly scratched the surface with LGBTQIA+ reads. On top of these five, I highly recommend anything by Gregory Maguire, Kalynn Bayron, and Aiden Thomas. If you want some classics there’s The Color Purple, Carmilla, and Maurice just to name a few. Please feel free to drop some more titles in the comments below.

With that, I must bid you all adieu. Thank you for joining me today, I hope you all had a lovely time. I shall see you next week with a new review! Once again, Happy First Week of Pride. I’ll see you next week.

Until then, stay safe, wash your hands, and read some good books for me.