The Best Book Club Books Out in June
How are we in June already? With the year half over, I’m looking forward to all the best-of-books-of-the-year-so far lists that I’m sure will start cropping up. I’m planning to do one myself, centered around book clubs, of course.
Now for the rest of today’s book club things, there are queer coming-of-age novels that take place (at least partially) in countries other than the U.S., cursed women, and hitting historical novels.
Nibbles and Sips: Brown Sugar Cinnamon Cold Foam
If you and your book club members, like me, need several pick-me-ups throughout the day, this recipe for brown sugar cinnamon cold foam for coffee is delightful. You’ll need heavy whipping creams, milk, brown, sugar, and, of course, cinnamon. madremiacoffee has the tea (ha) on their Instagram.
Fire Exit by Morgan Talty
From the award-winning author of Night of the Living Rez comes a story of secrets. Since she was born more than 20 years ago, Charles Lamosway has watched Eizabeth’s life unfold across the river on Maine’s Penobscot Reservation. The truth is, he’s her father, but he’s never been able to act as such and laments the life he could have had on the reservation. Now that he hasn’t seen Elizabeth in weeks, he’s worried. What’s more, everything seems to be falling apart. His alcoholic friend is a mess in general, his mother is slipping deeper into dementia, and he’s wondering if it’s finally time to share the truth with Elizabeth or if it is fair to share at all.
Malas by Marcela Fuentes
This historical fiction starts with a curse cast in 1951. In La Cienega, Texas, an older woman confronts Pilar Aguierre and curses her, thinking she stole her husband. Fast forward 40+ years, and Lulu Muñoz’s life is a mess: her father is moody, she’s a secret punk band singer, and her grandmother has passed away. Then, at her grandmother’s funeral, a mysterious and glamorous stranger shows up. As the narrative shifts between two bold female voices — and things like rodeos, Selena concerts, and Tejano family gatherings — Lulu and this stranger grow closer, and their friendship threatens to unravel family secrets.
Blessings by Chukwuebuka Ibeh
This glittering queer coming-of-age novel is set in Nigeria, just before the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act of 2014 would make queerness officially illegal. The sensitive and creative Obiefuna develops a sweet connection with a boy from a neighboring village, but when his father catches the two of them together, he sends him away to boarding school. There, his fight for survival entails hiding who he really is and trying to navigate random violence. Meanwhile, his mother, Uzoamaka, wonders why her son was sent away since his father won’t say and is left to reckon with long-avoided truths.
Swift River by Essie Chambers
In 1980, Diamond Newberry and her Pop are the only Black people in Swift River. That is, until he disappears. Seven years later, Diamond is trying to learn to drive since she and her mother have to hitchhike everywhere. And, since it’s been so long, Ma is now trying to declare Pop legally dead so she can get his life insurance money and the two can get their house back. Then a letter comes. It’s for Diamond, and it uncovers things about Pop that she never knew. She meets two generations of the Black women in her family and learns about all the joys and ills of the Newberry women, which helps her cement her own place in the world.
More To Read
Quiz: Which Romantasy Book Should I Read First?
10 Exciting Books to Read this Summer
Reese’s first YA book of the month pick in a while: Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Follmuth
**Below is an extended list for subscribers**
Hombrecito by Santiago Jose Sanchez
Here’s another queer coming-of-age novel, this time going from Colombia to the U.S. One boy moves with his mother and brother from Colombia to Miami, leaving behind their absentee father. But once they get to their new home, their doctor-turned-waitress mother essentially disappears herself. As he grows up, he embraces his queerness, and his relationship with his mother becomes more and more complicated. She’s shown carelessness towards him, but she’s also always on his mind. When he moves to New York, his search for the missing piece of himself takes him in and out of different men’s beds. It’s his mother’s invitation to visit family in Colombia that takes him back to his homeland, where his father and memories of his old self are.
The God and the Gumiho by Sophie Kim
We could all do with more romantasy, and this contemporary one even has a little mystery. Kim Hani is the infamous Scarlet Fox, who, now retired and too full from having devoured souls, spends her time working as a coffee shop barista. (The soul-devouring fox spirit to barista pipeline is apparently a thing.) It’s at the coffee shop that she does a little annoyed flirting with the handsome exiled god Seokga the Fallen. Then things get spicy: a powerful demon escapes from the underworld, and Seokga is offered entry back into godhood if he kills it…and the legendary Scarlet Fox. Hani isn’t going down without a fight and so agrees to be Seokga’s assistant to undermine his search for the Scarlet Fox right under his nose. As they search for the demon, they become more and more drawn to each other, but with the looming apocalypse, they may be doomed.
Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle
If you’re unfamiliar, Chuck Tingle has a few queer niche erotica books with…interesting titles. With Camp Damascus and Bury Your Gays, Tingle seems to be in his mainstream era. We live. In this latest horror novel, Misha is finally getting his moment as a scriptwriter. He’s been nominated for an Oscar, but now his producers want him to kill off the gay characters in the season finale. His refusal means he becomes a target, but that’s not even the worst thing — the monsters from his horror movies are after him and his friends.
Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi
All it takes is one weekend — and one ill-advised sex party — to send five friends down to the depths of the Nigerian underground world. It’s Aima’s and Kalu’s long-term relationship ending that leads Kalu to visit a sex party put on by his best friend, Ahmed. When Ola and Souraya, two sex workers, meet up with the other three, everyone is pretty much doomed. All of them come up against the violence, betrayals, and darkness of the underground, and all are trying to escape the consequences of their actions.
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