The best book I read in May was Ten Incarnations of Rebellion by Vaishnavi Patel, the author of Kaikeyi. I was a little intimidated picking up this alternate history of 1960s India, so I decided to listen to the audiobook and read along for the first chapter to get into it. I ended up immersive reading like that for the whole novel, which is the first time I’ve done that. The audiobook is fantastic, and I felt like I got so much more out of it by reading and listening simultaneously.
I could say so much about this book—and I do, on the June 3rd episode of All the Books—but suffice it to say this is a complicated, realistic story about resistance and revolution. It has a queer main character and a sapphic relationship, but don’t expect a feel-good romance: there are some truly dark moments. This was a five star read, and I hope it gets the critical attention it deserves.
Another book I picked up for the June 3rd All the Books episode was Cosmic Love at the Multiverse Hair Salon by Annie Mare. This is such a fun sapphic romance about falling in love across timelines. It’s romantic to the point of being a little cheesy at times (our love is strong enough to rearrange the universe!), but there’s nothing wrong with that. I also really enjoyed the queer community/friendship and the subplot romances with some of the side characters. This is Annie Mare’s debut, and I can’t wait to see what they write next.
Be Gay, Do Crime: Sixteen Stories of Queer Chaos edited by Molly Llewellyn and Kristel Buckley was also one I picked up for the podcast, but after finishing it, I realized I didn’t feel like I could enthusiastically recommend it. There are a few stories I really liked, but most of them weren’t a great match for me. It’s a lot of messy people doing petty crime. I think a lot of people will enjoy this, but I wasn’t the right reader for it.
I recently joined (another) queer book club, and the first pick was Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg, which is about a queer photographer and writer who go on a road trip together and collaborate on a project about Philly in 2020. We were pretty divided on this one, and unfortunately, I was one of the people who didn’t like it. It felt like a slog to get through. While it had elements I usually love (slow, character-based stories), I wasn’t invested in the story. But some other people in my book club loved its descriptive prose and realism, so don’t let me dissuade you from trying it!
I’m currently reading Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab, the upcoming “toxic lesbian vampires” book, and I’m having a great time so far! This is my first V.E. Schwab book. I’ll be discussing this on the Book Riot podcast in June with Rebecca, Jeff, and Vanessa, so stay tuned for that!