š³ļøāā§ļø Buy Books and Say Gay š³ļøāš
Throughout the month of June, Iām donating 100% of my Bookshop.org affiliate commissions to JASMYN, an organization that supports the empowerment of LGBTQIA+ young people here in Northeast Florida.
As our trans and queer youth continue to be compromised here in the Sunshine State and beyond, organizations like JASMYN are more critical than ever.
Hereās how you can help: purchase books on Bookshop using any of the links in this newsletter or donate to JASMYN directly. Put your šø where your š is this Pride Month!
Happy (Almost) Summer! ā±
Itās felt like summer since April here in Florida. Hereās what Iāve been tossing in my beach bag (along with my fave sunscreen ever and lots and lots of seltzerāIāve been on a coconut + pineapple Bubly kick). š¬
Summer Books Iāve Devoured (So Far)
Either/Or by Elif Batuman ā I loooooved Batumanās Pulitzer Prize-winning debut novel, The Idiot. Her second novel has been my most-anticipated book of the summer, if not the year. The novel continues the point of view of Selin, Batumanās semi-autobiographical narrator. Selin might be my favorite narrator of all timeāsheās brilliant and hilarious and so very eager to figure out how to lead an āaesthetic life.ā When sheās not recounting her sophomore year at Harvard, sheās interrogating classic literature, asking why so many books depict so many ācrazy, abandoned women.ā
If youāre wondering if you can read Either/Or without reading The IdiotāI mean, you probably could, I guess, but why would you? After you read Batumanās latest novel, youāre going to be ~dying~ to read The Idiot.
Mother Noise by Cindy House ā Cindy has continued to blow me away with her frankness and honesty on the page since we met in grad school in 2015. I was so moved by her debut memoir, which chronicles her decision to open up to her young son about her past as a heroin addict.
This book pushes the boundaries of the āmemoirā genre in a wonderful way. Itās composed of essays, some of which contain Cindyās original drawings, which may have been my favorite parts of the book. I canāt wait to read what she writes next.
Book Lovers by Emily Henry ā Just when I start to think that this author is at the top of her game, she finds another way to level up. I felt that way in 2020 when she released Beach Read and again last year with People We Meet On Vacation.
The world is so lucky that Henry is on a book-a-year streak, once again outdoing herself with the story of Nora, a literary agent who takes a trip with her sister to the mountains of North Carolina and winds up in unexpectedly close proximity with her nemesis book editor. Fun characters, compelling conflict, steamy (and I mean steamy š„µ) romanceāthis is the perfect vacation novel.
I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston ā Okay, speaking of steamy! š„ This is the over-the-top queer romance the world needs. I have adored Casey McQuistonās books for years, but this new release completely blew me away.
I was especially appreciative of the novelās Alabama setting, which addressed the Southās widespread oppression of queer youth while also taking time to celebrate the uniqueness (and tight-knit-ness!) of Southern queer communities.
In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss by Amy Bloom ā In this breathtaking memoir, Amy Bloom is generous with the details of her husbandās Alzheimerās diagnosis and his decision to go to Dignitas, a Swiss organization based that āempowers a person to end their own life with dignity and peace.ā
Itās one of the most important books I think Iāve ever read. I hope that, as more people read it, we will be able to normalize assisted death here in the United States.
Whatās Next in My Summer Books Stack
Break This House by Candice Iloh ā I will read anything Candice Iloh writes! Their verse novel Every Body Looking was one of my favorite books of 2020, so I know Iām going to love their new prose novel.
I still think about this sound advice from my interview with Candice about their writing routine:
There are all kinds of ridiculous routines that many authors abide by that will never get you to create meaningful things. And many of those routines leave very little room for self care. Figure out what brings the best and most out of you and try to keep doing that.
Refuse to Be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts by Matt Bell ā Iām fascinated by the method proposed in this craft bookāa novel in three drafts. Sold.
The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet by Leah Thomas ā Iāve been falling down the rabbit hole of climate change as an intersectional issue, so I was pleased to find that thereās a new release devoted to the topic.
Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris ā Iām a die-hard Sedaris fan and just started reading his first new essay collection since 2018. Iām finding that the essays are much less ha-ha funny than his typical style, though he set his readers up for this shift in his 2013 essay about his sisterās death by suicide. Iāll go wherever Sedaris wants to take me.
Go on! Buy books! Say gay! Hydrate! SPF! Ily! š
H.A.G.S.,
Hurley