NHPR Reads: Pride Month

June marks Pride Month - a time to champion the LGBTQ+ community and commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Riots. To honor this celebratory and reflective time of the year, NHPR staff have curated a list of must-reads for June. From picture books to teen dramas, gut wrenching data about the AIDS crisis in America to sweeping romantic prose, here is what we are reading this month.

For adults:

• The Last Chairlift by John Irving 
  
  • “Set in New Hampshire, in a thinly-veiled Phillips Exeter Academy, this sprawling opus traces decades of a family where everyone is a bit queer, delightfully weird, and hopelessly romantic. Also a novel about skiing, if you like that sort of thing.”

• In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado 
  
  •  “While audacious in form, In the Dream House is tender, artfully-crafted prose that will haunt you long after you put it down. This dizzying memoir will undoubtedly become essential to the queer literary canon.”

• The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (and the rest of the Wayfarers Series) by Becky Chambers 

• Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid 
  
  • “This seemingly simple story champions love in all forms and the lengths we go for the people we hold dear.  While Evelyn Hugo is a brilliant and multifaceted protagonist, what ultimately won me over was the tenderhearted cast of supporting characters.  I shamelessly devoured this book in one sitting and sobbed fat tears when it was over.”

• The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith 

• Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters 
  
  • “Tempted to recommend the full oeuvre of Sarah Waters, but this, her debut, encapsulates everything I love about her writing - historical London, lesbians living in society, gender fluidity, a little bit gritty and dirty like a Dickens novel.”

• Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin 
  
  • “Few books I’ve read have a sense of place like Maupin’s novels of San Francisco have. Absolutely littered with characters you’ll fall in love with - and if (when) you do, there are eight more books in the series.”

• Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
   
  
• The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller 
  
  • “A retelling of the story from Greek mythology of Achilles and his friend and lover, Patroclus. The ending of this book had me absolutely weeping. As tragic as a love story can possibly get.”

• A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara 

• Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett 

• Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake

• The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun
  
  • "A charming rom com about a producer and his reality tv star falling in love on set. A funny and a delightful gay romance for Pride month, but this book is a star whatever month you read it in."

For children:

• Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag by Rob Sanders 
  
  • "This simple and poignant ode to the Rainbow Flag paired with dreamy illustrations is bound to become a classroom staple." 

• Julian is a Mermaid by Jessica Love 
  
  • "A sweet story about gorgeous mermaids, fabulous fashion, and the importance of being seen and celebrated by the people we love. The illustrations still blow me away every time I open this book."
    

For young adults:

• The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

• The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

• In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune 
  
  • "A fiction of futuristic science that is more fable than sci-fi, a reimagining of Pinnochio about the only real boy, and a queer love story with a happy conclusion - so rare!"

• The Simon Snow series (Carry On, Wayward Son, As the Wind Blows) by Rainbow Rowell 

• A Marvellous Light by Freya Markse

• You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson
  
  • "Johnson’s debut novel centers around a young girl who feels “too black, too poor, too awkward” to live in her midwestern town. This book has received accolades such as a spot on TIME's 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time and a Stonewall Book honor." 
    

Nonfiction:

• Last Call by Elon Green 

• Queer Ducks (and Other Animals) by Eliot Schrefer

• We are Everywhere by Matthew Riemer and Leighton Brown

• The Deviant’s War: The Homosexual vs. the United States of America by Eric Cervini 

• How to Survive a Plague by David France 
  
  • "A deeply reported, shattering look at the 1980s AIDS crisis, the toll it took on the queer community, the failures of the United States government to take it seriously, and the activists who tried to slow it down. As good of a summary  as you will find."

• A Queer History of the United States by Michael Bronski 

• Baby Making for Everybody: Family Building and Fertility for LGBTQ+ and Solo Parents by Marea Goodman, LM, CPM and Ray Rachlin, LM, CPM

NHPR Reads is a monthly blog series dedicated to poetry, prose, and everything in between. Follow along for a staff-curated list of what we’re reading that month and read along with us!