Expectation: A heartbreaking and memorable story of forbidden love.
Reality: A well-written but incredibly male-centric romance with laugh out loud dialogue that detract from the novel’s stronger elements.
All in Audiobook
A Children’s Bible – Lydia Millet
Expectation: A moody, intelligent apocalyptic tale for modern times.
Reality: A mess.
Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel
Expectation: A high-brow thriller set in the post-apocalyptic Midwest.
Reality: A richly drawn character study that expertly balances multiple, intersecting plots and timelines.
The Book of Accidents – Chuck Wendig
Expectation: An Americana-hued ghost story.
Reality: Heavy on ambition, light on originality. You’ve heard variations of this story before – and by stronger authors.
Great Circle – Maggie Shipstead
Expectation: An historical fiction epic focusing on the early days of aviation.
Reality: Heavy on scope and scale, light on focus. It’s mostly enjoyable but also didn’t need to be 600+ pages.
Tin Man – Sarah Winman
Expectation: I honestly thought this was a young adult novel.
Reality: A contender for the shortlist of my favorite adult high-brow gay fiction.
The Sixth Wedding: A 28 Summers Story – Elin Hilderbrand
Expectation: “28 Summers, Part II,” also known as a quick cash grab by Hilderbrand.
Reality: An effective and rewarding mini sequel that honors the original while giving the reader closure to the rushed ending of “Summers.”
Wanderers – Chuck Wendig
Expectation: “The Stand” meets “The Walking Dead.”
Reality: A mostly solid end-of-the world story that is a tad too long to provide maximum impact.
Malibu Rising – Taylor Jenkins Reid
Expectation: Another character-driven crowd pleaser from Taylor Jenkins Reid.
Reality: A mostly solid endeavor that keeps you entertained, but outside of one character it doesn’t deliver the emotional depth of her previous work.
Swimming in the Dark – Tomasz Jedrowski
Expectation: A coming-of-age story about overcoming outside forces to live your life fully.
Reality: Another historical fiction gay love story that felt a bit recursive.
Felix Ever After – Kacen Callender
Expectation: A YA romance with a different point-of-view.
Reality: A disconnected effort with a strong plot focused on identity and acceptance brought down by the typical YA tropes of too smart, too woke kids being mad at the world.
Mama’s Boy: A Story From Our Americas – Dustin Lance Black
Part personal memoir, part family history and part cultural commentary, “Mama’s Boy” is nonfiction that follows the formula of quality historical fiction – a strong female character, intersection with landmark events and overcoming barriers both within yourself and from the world around you.
You Should See Me In A Crown – Leah Johnson
Expectation: A YA wish-fulfillment fantasy featuring a BIPOC queer lead.
Reality: A funny, heartfelt and quickly paced story that reminded me of the best late-90s teen comedies.
In the Dream House – Carmen Maria Machado
While “Dream House” didn’t totally work for me, it is an important work. How Machado uses her experiences to raise awareness of the challenges same sex couples face when reporting abuse, to addressing the ways in which the queer community will turn on its own, is important and urgent.
The Guncle – Steven Rowley
Expectation: A what-would-you-do dramedy tailor-made to us queers that relish being the “cool” uncle or aunt.
Reality: A campy, somewhat stereotypical story that runs a little long but delivers a lot of humor and heart.
Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics – Dolly Parton and Robert K. Oermann
At only five hours, I’d encourage anyone to listen to “Songteller,” but it’s probably best suited for fans rather than casual observers of the superstar.
My 2021 Pride Month Reading List
This year I’m going all in on Pride month reading by only choosing to read stories written by LGBTQ+ writers and/or featuring predominately queer characters. Getting through eight novels in a month is a stretch – even when I was quarantining – but I’m committed to prioritizing this list.
My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry – Fredrik Backman
Expectation: A classic underdog overcomes Backman story.
Reality: A scattered and boring effort that showed glimpses of promise but never fully delivered.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas – John Boyne
Expectation: A World War II historical fiction tearjerker.
Reality: A simple, yet layered story that leaves you with complicated feelings.
The Music of Bees – Eileen Garvin
Expectation: A quasi-cozy romance with enough sass and drama to keep you interested but a firm ground in reality.
Reality: A sometimes far-fetched but utterly engrossing story of chosen family. I was surprised by the emotional depth of the characters and how their journey unfolds.