Staff Picks

There are many tropes in horror that speak to queer people in (often contradictory) ways. This collection of essays guides us through favorites such as The Exorcist, Jennifer's Body, and Get Out to explore the reasons why such a dark film genre can attract such a diverse and marginalized community.

 

Publisher's description: Horror movies hold a complicated space in the hearts of the queer community: historically misogynist, and often homo- and transphobic, the genre has also been inadvertently feminist and open to subversive readings. Common tropes—such as the circumspect and resilient “final girl,” body possession, costumed villains, secret identities, and things that lurk in the closet—spark moments of eerie familiarity and affective connection. Still, viewers often remain tasked with reading themselves into beloved films, seeking out characters and set pieces that speak to, mirror, and parallel the unique ways queerness encounters the world. Twenty-five narrative essays by contemporary LGBTQ writers reflecting on queerness in horror film, from Hitchcock to Halloween.

 

Blackward is a book about books and zines and comics and friendship. Lika, Amor, Tony, and Lala are a joy to spend time with, and I was happy they have the guidance of Marcus, the local bookstore owner. I love Lindell's colors, expressions, and different styles.

 

Publisher's description:

Tired of feeling like you don't belong? Join the club. It's called the Section. You'd think a spot to chill, chat, and find community would be much easier to come by for nerdy, queer punks. But when four longtime, bookish BFFs Lika, Amor, Lala, and Tony can't find what they need, they take matters into their own hands and create a space where they can be a hundred percent who they are: Black, queer, and weird. The group puts a call out for all awkward Black folks to come on down to the community center to connect. But low attendance and IRL run-ins with trolls of all kinds only rock everybody with anxiety. As our protagonists start to question the merits of their vision, a lifetime of insecurities about not being good enough or Black enough bubbles to the surface. Will they find a way to turn it around in time for their radical brainchild, the Blackward Zine Fest? Lawrence Lindell's characters pop from the page in playful Technicolor. From mental health to romance, micro and macro aggressions to joy, our crew tackles everything life throws at them in this heartwarming tale about building a place to belong and the power of community.

 

In this deliciously good fantasy graphic novel, Basil and her friends navigate the pressures of attending a magiculinary boarding school. This book contains amazing LGBTQ+ representation and an adorable romance that will make you hungry for a snack while reading! Cozy up with this book!

 

Publisher's description: 

Basil Eyres and Arabella Oregano are both students of cooking with magic at Porta Bella Magiculinary Academy, and although the two are instantly smitten with each other, Arabella has a secret with the potential to throw Basil's future aspirations into jeopardy.

Find Basil and Oregano in our online catalog. 

Part autobiography, part manifesto on gender and sexuality, part guidebook on FTM transition, part blueprint for effective activism. Jamison Green lays it all out in this eye opening read based on his decades of experience and personal journey. Read with pencil and paper at hand! And tissues!

 

Publisher description:
At least two generations of transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming people have emerged since Becoming a Visible Man was first published in 2004, but the book remains a beloved resource for trans people and their allies. Since the first edition's publication, author Jamison Green's writings and advocacy among business and governmental organizations around the world have led to major changes in the fields of law, medicine, and social policy, and his (mostly invisible) work has had significant effects on trans people globally. This new edition captures the changes of the last two decades, while also imparting a message of self-acceptance and health. With profoundly personal and eminently practical threads, Green clarifies transgender experience for transgender people and their families, friends, and coworkers. Medical and mental health care providers, educators, business leaders, and advocates seeking information about transgender concerns can all gain from Green's integrative approach to the topic. This book candidly addresses emotional relationships that are affected by a transition, and brings refined integrity to the struggle to self-define, whether one undergoes a transition or chooses not to. Emphasizing the lives of transgender men-who are often overlooked-he elucidates the experience of masculinity in a way that is self-assured and inclusive of feminist values. Green's inspirational wisdom has informed and empowered thousands of readers. There is still no other book like Becoming a Visible Man in the transgender canon.

Two sisters, one a cop, the other a drug addict. When one disappears, the other does everything she can to find her. This is a family drama with thriller overtones, and Philadelphia is practically another character. It's a long book but a fast read.

 

 

I am absolutely obsessed with this! Immediately fell into this world and became mesmerized by the setting, plot, and characters. Haven't fallen in love with a fantasy series like this since A Court of Thorns and Roses. I would recommend this series to avid fans of adult fantasy romance. Enemies to lovers perfection.

 

Publisher's description:

Oraya, the adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, must fight to survive the Kejari, a legendary tournament in which she must partner with the vampire Raihn to win over warriors from the other vampire houses.

 

Award-winning author Teju Cole returns to fiction twelve years after his breakthrough debut, Open City.  Praised by Kirkus Reviews as "a provocative and profound meditation on art and life in a world of terror," this unconventional novel is recommended for fans of Hell of a Book, by Jason Mott.

 

Publisher's description:

A weekend spent antiquing is shadowed by the colonial atrocities that occurred on that land. A walk at dusk is interrupted by casual racism. A loving marriage is riven by mysterious tensions. And a remarkable cascade of voices speaks out from a pulsing metropolis.

 

We're invited to experience these events and others through the eyes and ears of Tunde, a West African man working as a teacher of photography on a renowned New England campus. He is a reader, a listener, a traveler, drawn to many different kinds of stories: stories from history and epic; stories of friends, family, and strangers; stories found in books and films. Together these stories make up his days. In aggregate these days comprise a life.

 

Tremor is a startling work of realism and invention that engages brilliantly with literature, music, race, and history as it examines the passage of time and how we mark it. It is a reckoning with human survival amidst "history's own brutality, which refuses symmetries and seldom consoles," but it is also a testament to the possibility of joy. As he did in his magnificent debut Open City, Teju Cole once again offers narration with all its senses alert, a surprising and deeply essential work from a beacon of contemporary literature.

 

Rose is a good girl. Finishing high school in small town Montana, she never even thinks about straying from her path--because when she does, flies pour from her mouth and she sees hideous grinning demons following her. But she has no idea where her quest for answers will end up...

 

Publisher's description: From beloved internet icon Chuck Tingle, Camp Damascus is a searing and earnest horror debut about the demons the queer community face in America, the price of keeping secrets, and finding the courage to burn it all down. Welcome to Neverton, Montana: home to a God-fearing community with a heart of gold. Nestled high up in the mountains is Camp Damascus, the self-proclaimed "most effective" gay conversion camp in the country. Here, a life free from sin awaits. But the secret behind that success is anything but holy. And they'll scare you straight to hell.

 

Utterly charming. If you liked 13 Going on 30, you'll really love Woke Up Like This, despite there not being a "Thriller" dance number. The main characters are just so loveable, even when you're not supposed to love them.

 

Publisher's description:

"Planning the perfect prom is one last "to do" on ultra-organized Charlotte Wu's high school bucket list. So far, so good, if not for a decorating accident that sends Charlotte crash-landing off a ladder, face-first into her obnoxiously ripped archnemesis J. T. Renner. Worse? When Charlotte wakes up, she finds herself in an unfamiliar bed at thirty years old, with her bearded fiancé, Renner, by her side. Either they've lost their minds or they've been drop-kicked into adulthood, forever trapped in the thirty-year-old bodies of their future selves. With each other as their only constant, Charlotte and Renner discover all that's changed in the time they've missed. Charlotte also learns there's more to Renner than irritating-jock charm, and that reaching the next milestone isn't as important as what happens in between. Navigating a series of adventures and a confounding new normal, Charlotte and Renner will do whatever it takes to find a way back to seventeen. But when--and if--they do, what then?