Reading at the beach, taking your book to the local park, turning pages by the pool or simply spending a few quiet hours reading in your own back garden; when the sun comes out many readers reach for summery picks from their TBR. With Pride Month also ringing in the beginning of summer, what better time could there be to share just a few of the great LGBTQ+ summer reads on offer in bookshops, libraries and online retailers?
The Castle of Stories by Matt Cain:
The latest book from author of One Love, The Castle of Stories takes readers on a trip to the Tuscan countryside of Italy. Adam inherits his late estranged uncle’s Italian home and with it the secrets hidden in its nooks and crannies. As he works to renovate the home though, he also needs to connect with his boyfriend’s children who are joining them for the summer in this story of modern love and families.
Sure of You by Armistead Maupin
The sixth book in the Tales of the City series, this works sees Mona and Mrs Madrigal holiday in the historic home of Sappho, the Greek island of Lesbos where Mona enjoys a very Sapphic encounter.
Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman
The iconic novel that inspired the film, Call Me By Your Name is also available now as a graphic novel. Also set in Italy, during the 1980s, this novel tells the story of Elio Perlman who is drawn into a blossoming summer romance with visiting scholar Oliver; chronicling their relationship and the twenty years that follow that summer.
Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth
Set in the early 1990s in an Irish village, this Sapphic coming-of-age love story has been shortlisted for countless literary awards. Lucy has always felt out of place but during a long hot summer, she begins to understand herself better when a spark with school friend Susannah burns into an all-consuming love.
Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
Now a major motion picture starring Emma Mackey and Fiona Shaw, this novel is set in a village on the Spanish coast. A sun-drenched exploration of womanhood, as a mother and daughter see their lives clearly for the first time in years.
The Pairing by Casey McQuiston
From the author of the acclaimed Red, White and Royal Blue, comes The Pairing. When two bisexual exes accidentally book the same European food and wine tour, they’re thrown back together. In an attempt to prove their over each other, Theo challenges Kit to a ‘hook up competition’ but the friendly wager might well prove a different hypothesis.
Evenings and Weekends by Oisin McKenna
et in London during the hottest summer on record, lives are set to change as Saturday night approaches. Maggie is 30, pregnant and broke. Her boyfriend Ed is harbouring secret dreams. Phil is falling for his housemate Keith; who already has a boyfriend. And Rosaleen, Phil’s mother has recently been diagnosed with cancer and is on her way to London to tell her son… if she can ever get hold of him.
Orange by Curtis Garner
A multi-timeline novel that spans Cornwall 2018 to East London 2023. In In the quiet Cornish village of Portscatho, sixteen-year-old Daniel Orange forms an unexpected connection with local boy Jago. Five years later, Daniel is living his authentic queer, loud life in London. But when Jago visits, he is forced to reckon with his former self.
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