Another Pride season draws near, and like clockwork, we have become accustomed to rainbow lettering and parade planning taking center stage. So it becomes all the more crucial, in a time of increased censorship, violence and systemic exclusion, to remember that the first Pride was a riot. As readers and lovers of literature, we know the transformative and life-giving power of art. We’re honored to bring you a few recommendations that have found their way into our hearts, and that bring to the forefront the spirit of joy, love, whimsy and resistance that has the power to make this world a better place for us all – no matter the month, no matter the season.
Black as Diamond by U. M. Agoawike
(Bindery | March 3)
Ready for an epic queer fantasy adventure? Black as Diamond by Nigerian Canadian author U. M. Agoawike is a dark fantasy with detailed world building, magical mysteries and a romance at its heart. It’s a fresh, dark and thrilling debut that untangles questions of queer identity, history and power, illuminating a society crushed by the lingering actions of a few. Get ready to get swept up in an atmospheric new world with a found family you are bound to love.
Devil of the Deep by Falencia Jean-Francois
(Bindery | April 7)
Craving a queer Pirates of the Caribbean to read this Pride? Falencia Jean-Francois’ bestselling Devil of the Deep has all the swashbuckling pirates your heart desires and includes a sprawling cast of queer characters. When the tides and fates bring them three interlinked seafarers together, Nnenna, Lu and Pearl must choose their loyalties, find their courage and race to protect the island they love from false gods and forces of evil — or risk unleashing an ancient curse that could destroy them all. Read it by the pool or sea for maximum mermaid immersion.
Earthly Playing Field by Radhika Singh
(Common Notions | May 5)
If you’re hungry for a tale of love and revolution in a crumbling world order, this high literary and speculative novel is for you. In Radhika Singh’s page-turning debut, our protagonist, Roma, has a steady job, a mortgage and a surrogate family in Queens, New York. But as she moves through her daily routines, the powerful Empire that rules her world bares its teeth elsewhere — crushing freedom movements across the planet. Roma’s life is upended when her older brother entrusts her with a strange gift: an ordinary-looking plant that manifests as a sophisticated bio-engineered technology. The plant’s resulting ‘cell’ opens a portal for an extraterrestrial spirit-body who’s seen a liberated future, one that Roma and her loved ones — who are engaged in daily resistance — could only dream of. As present and prophecy converge, Roma grapples with her troubled faith, turning to mystic poetics and anti-colonial legacies for guidance, all while yearning for a bewitching woman whose heart may only ever belong to the revolution.
There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood by Rasheed Newson
(Flatiron Books | June 2)
While Rasheed Newson is perhaps best known for his screenwriting and producing credits on shows like The Chi and Bel-Air, he also turned heads with his debut novel, My Government Means to Kill Me. With this sophomore effort, There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood, he once again proves his penchant for making queer history sexy and irreverent. Aaron Touissant, freshly back from the Korean War, finds himself soaked in the glamour and glitz of 1950s Hollywood, watching Count Basie and Billie Holiday perform and hooking up with anonymous men in basement bathrooms. Before he’s had his fill, he’s suddenly back in the closet, married to a woman and hired by a studio to keep their Black heartthrob-on-the-rise Xavier C. Barlow in the closet right alongside him. Best read in private, with a bowl of popcorn and a pen to mark the films you want to watch on your next movie night.
Phoning Faust by Sophie Mutiara Nova
(NineStar | June 2)
What if you called for help and reached an associate of the Devil instead? Filmmaker Sophie Mutiara Nova imagines the hijinks that might ensue in this Sapphic, Gen Z take on Goethe’s Faust. Like so many other college students during Covid, Dian Faust finds herself living alone, dialing the suicide hotline late one night. Her finger slips, she dials 666, and she ends up on the line with Memphis, Hell’s foremost golden-tongued agent and notorious liar. Dian is left with just one night to fight for the life she was so ready to give up before the devil comes to collect her soul. Memphis and Dian tackle every imaginable topic: mental health, Indonesian culture, demisexuality, internet culture. Will their connection be enough to stop the Devil themself?
