Hi, Jason. Welcome to the What Your Next podcast.

Hi. Thank you so much for having me.

So happy to have you here. So tell us a little bit about yourself and about your podcast.

Oh gosh. I am a late in life reader, so I only really started reading like seven or eight years ago, and now I host a book podcast called Gays Reading. Where some recent guests include people like Jonathan Van Ness and Rosie O'Donnell, and authors like AIF Shaak and, oh God, who else have I recently had on the show? Daria Lall, who wrote the book, aftertaste and Jem Ma Way, who wrote The Original Daughter? So many fabulous people have been on the show recently.

Oh my gosh. My nineties kid is feeling the Rosie O'Donnell mention, like, I love her talk show

I talk about her on gaze reading all the time, and so to have her on the show was such a dream. It was really special.

Yes. Oh, I love this. So we gotta like in the show notes, we'll put those links episodes so you can take and listen to them. So, awesome. So Jason, you're here to talk about gaze reading, so talk to some book recommendations. Let's get to the book, let's get to the recommendations so people can actually start reading ai.

Yes. Okay. So I have four LGBTQIA+ plus literary fiction recommendations. And I'll rattle those off. So Martyr by Kave Akbar. It is a dazzling and spiritually inquisitive debut novel. It follows a queer Iranian American recovering addict, searching for meaning amid grief. Art and faith readers drawn to lyrical language and existential longing will be captivated by the poetic and soul deep storytelling.

Oh my gosh. I'm actually excited for this one. You have me at Iranian. You have me at, you have me at soul searching and just giving me the journey. Give me the character arc of just going through it.

He's a poet and poets write such beautiful language. So it's a beautiful book to read and a really fantastic story.

Perfect.

My next is called In Tongues by Thomas Gratton. This novel dissects the quiet fractures of a queer man's life. Across languages, countries, and relationships, exploring what is lost and found in translation, both literal and emotional. Gratta's res, restrained, elegant style will appear to, will appeal to readers who savor intimate introspective narratives.

Ooh, I like this. I like this. It's like, as someone who doesn't do a lot of litter fiction, I feel like these are actually ones that I'm like, oh, maybe I'll dive my little, like little to in the pool with it. So.

Yes, this was my goal. I wanted to pick some books that you know, even if you, regardless of what you like to read,

Yeah.

I think lots of people would appreciate. So my next pick is The Safe Keep by El Vander Woodin. I've been talking about this book nonstop since last year. It was one of my favorite books last year. Set in post-war Netherlands, this simmering debut explores forbidden desire and long buried secrets between two women navigating a world of repression. Fans of slow burning queer romance and gothic tension will be drawn to its lush atmosphere and emotional intensity.

Ooh, you have me another one.

it sic. Call Me By Your Name.

That is a great recommendation.

Yes. So I'm a big fan of that.

That is a great recommendation.

My last literary fiction pick is when the harvest comes by Den Michel Norris Norris weaves a haunting, multi-generational story of a black southern family marked by queerness, in inheritance and quiet resistance with a rich prose and deeply rooted characters. It's perfect for readers who appreciate literary fiction that centers black queer voices and ancestral memory.

I love this. I love the fact you gave us some recommendations, are like they're beyond just your comfort zone. Like there is a little bit of everything. But there is also bipoc representation. There's southern representation, there's European representation, there's aranian and poetry and beautiful prose. So I think it's like a li if you're like new to literary fiction, these are like, you look for one thing to come with it and try it out and then maybe try the rest of the list. Like this is a great way to like beyond if you're bread and butter gay reading, these are actually like hidden gems that we can actually take advantage of.

Yes, exactly. And I also have a couple of memoir recommendations if you

yeah, let's just do memoirs. Let's do like a little bit of like, let's do combine it and then just like, because sometimes they're like, let's just talk about real people too. So.

totally. So here are my four memoir picks the Dry Season by Melissa FBOs. In this intimate debut memoir, the dry season by Melissa FBOs, melissa goes on a journey of having sex for an entire year and then writes about it Oh, I saw that. Yes, I saw this arc. I actually is on my list to read, I know. I just started the audio book too, and it's so good.

Yes. I'm fascinated by the, I love people going through journeys of like skipping something and having this major awareness or not having any inciting incident. And I read Glen Nichols, I think the year of, it's a year or she spends a year, like a summer in Paris having sex. It's and the best part is like there was no inciting of incident. I just needed to go and enjoy pleasure and I was like, I.

Yes. I am obsessed with Glens Mcni McNiel. She's a friend of mine. She's so talented. She's an amazing human, and if you haven't read anything by her yet, I highly recommend everything. Glynis. McNiel.

Yes. Yeah. So we're gonna go for the exchange. If you want the sex, go to the Glens. If you want the no sex, go to the, you got

Exactly.

got the spectrum here.

So funny. So my next pick is Walk Like A Girl PRL Guru. PRL was never on my radar. He is a world renowned fashion designer and I'm not in the fashion world, so I had no idea who he was. I, but he tells the story of his life, walk like a girl. He was a guest on gay's reading and I fell in love with him. He's an incredible person. And in his memoir, he sort of talks about his journey growing up queer and it's about identity and, defining gender norms and just anyone who's interested in like, fashion and coming of age and activism and like what it means to reinvent yourself. It's a great story for you.

Oh my gosh, I'm adding this one. I know fashion as an actress accent, it's something that's been, it's been, you grew up in, like in the pop culture space. You have it, but I'm curious to, to hear the story, so adding it into the memoir Tott BR list.

A hundred percent. Then there's this book called, this is Your Mother by Erica j Simpson. That just came out recently as well, and she. Chronicles this journey of her life dealing with her mother, who just wanted to give Erica and her sister the best life possible. And it follows the struggles and things that she was dealing with through her death and all of the stuff that Erica needed to navigate from. Homelessness and other sorts of poverty and resilience and it's this really beautiful story of just like the things that we do persevere.

I love this. This is exciting. This one is good, so I'm adding it again. You're just toping my TBR with lots of reads, not just beyond Pride month. This is all your round reads.

Yes, exactly. And then my last recommendation is congratulations. The best is over by r Eric Thomas. Eric has been on gay's reading. I've got, I've had the pleasure of interviewing him in person as well. And I'm so grateful to call him a friend. He writes these fantastic. Funny, meaningful essays and short stories. There all of his, some of his books most recently have been essay collections and he's just so funny and taps into real life elements of being human right now. And, he tells stories of. sort of his daily life, and I don't wanna say too much, but he is so funny. And his audio books, he reads them and I highly recommend them as audio books. They're also great to read on the page. But yeah, he's a, he's just such a great essayist. He's, he has a great newsletter if you wanna sign up to, to read some funny things online, so I couldn't recommend him as a personality more.

I love this so much. I actually have his books actually on my list because I need sometimes like memories of someone talking about life and like just having those observations, like those are my favorite. Nuance, like, are we the same or do we have the same history, or we don't, and like, I can, I identify, do I don't identify. And just having this place of companionship, it's like friendships of with memoirs,

yeah, totally. Exactly. And his books absolutely do that. His other book is called Here for It,

Yeah.

was a read with Jenna booklet Pick.

I love this. All right, so Jason, tell us where you're gonna find GA reading.

You can find gaze reading wherever you get your podcasts. So, but also you could go to gays reading.com. You could find us on Instagram at Gays Reading. We're on Blue Sky, we're on YouTube. We are all over the place. Just search Gays Reading Podcast or Gaze Reading wherever, and

Yeah.

you'll find it.

Awesome. Thank you, Jason for being in the show.

Thank you so much for having me. I can't wait to keep listening and hear more what hear more about what other people are recommending too.

I love this. So if you enjoyed this podcast, please consider rate review or subscribe or join our newsletter where we have exclusive episodes every week. So you'll have more info, more in depth recommendations and whatnot. So just join whattoreadnextblog.com/newsletter slash newsletter. Thank you so much. Bye.