Reading Recommendations: LBGTQIA+ Pride Month
By Gypsy Walukones, Senior Communications Manager
Pride Month may be coming to a close, but we celebrate all year at Ballard Food Bank and through our reading. (And, you have until September 8th to fill in the Queer/Trans Voices square for Summer Book Bingo!) There are so many great lists out there - including staff picks from Seattle Public Library and King County Library System – that my TBR (to be read) pile just keeps growing!
Jade’s top choice for this month’s list is Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly. Jade shares “Set mostly in New Zealand, it’s about two queer siblings figuring out their 20-somethings in Auckland all while dealing with an unconventional family (of Maori and Russian heritage) and many exes. Laugh out loud funny - this book made me wish I was at least 25% funnier and includes a very complex/entertaining web of dating relations and fun supporting characters.”
As always, I struggled to narrow down my own recommendations, but here are a few recent reads that I really enjoyed.
The new release The Disaster Gay Detective Agency by Lev A. C. Rosen was a ridiculously fun read. If you’re curious about what it would be like if Guy Ritchie directed one of the international spy episodes of Murder, She Wrote centered around a diverse group (by race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, social class, and job) of best friends in their late 20s, this is the book to check out.
I don’t know if I can improve on this overview from Goodreads of A Shore Thing by Joanna Lowell: “A delightful queer Victorian love story, featuring a boldly brash trans hero, the beguiling botanist who captures his heart, and a buoyant bicycle race by the British seaside.” I enjoyed how it felt like a fun romp and centered joy and love and friendship without ignoring the challenges facing the trans and queer characters. (This could also count for the HEA/HFN Book Bingo square.)
If a fun romp isn’t your style and you’re thinking you’d keep the Victorian era and botany but make it much darker with revenge (and fungus), the delightfully creepy and atmospheric horror book A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock might be for you. I will only say that of the two main characters, the one who does elaborate taxidermy scenes in a basement laboratory is the better adjusted one. (And yes, Horror is another Book Bingo category this year, along with “Hard-to-Love Protagonist”…)
On the nonfiction side, I want to shout out some classics. Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde and The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin are both absolutely essential reads – and good starts to each writer’s catalog if you’re looking for an entry point.
And if you’re waiting with bated breath for a food-themed recommendation, Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live Cultured Foods by Sandor Ellix Katz is one of my favorites (I’m currently brewing up a ginger beer featured in this one).
Jade asked around the food bank to get more perspectives. Most of our colleagues didn’t have a lot of bandwidth to write up summaries, but we’re excited to share some additional perspectives with these recommendations!
Cam's recommendations: The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson, A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine, and Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
Eve's Recommendations: Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado and I Might Regret This by Abbi Jacobson
Johnathan's Recommendations: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller and The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Maddy's Recommendation: Stone Butch Blues Leslie Feinberg
Vy's Recommendation: The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen
And now it’s your turn! If you’d like to share your recommendations around LGBTQIA+ Pride, or for July’s Disability Pride Month, email gypsyw@ballardfoodbank.org.