Over on BlueSky, my friend ’Nathan Burgoine has been revisiting his daily book recommendations from June 2024 for Pride month. I love this because it’s a reminder that any time is the right time for someone to discover a new book, even if it came out years ago.
I don’t get a lot of reading done when I’m teaching, but since the semester ended in May, I’ve gone into higher gear and am playing catch-up with my TBR pile. And most of the books I’ve been reading came out four or more years ago. There are a couple newer ones in there as well, but I’m not the kind of reader who feels compelled to read the newest title the week it comes out. (That’s not to say I don’t buy it the week it comes out, or pre-order it—which is a really helpful thing to do for writers, by the way.) And this time of year, I direct my focus even more than usual toward books by queer (and BIPOC) authors.
So here, in no particular order, are my book recommendations from my recent reading.
Dogs Don’t Break Hearts by ’Nathan Burgoine
Beck has been gaslit by his ex-boyfriend and can’t face his friends, and on top of that, he needs to figure out his volunteer hours for school or he won’t graduate. He settles on an animal rescue, where he meets an especially noteworthy husky who may just change his outlook. Only problem? Unbeknownst to him, his ex’s boyfriend also volunteers there. Now he has to navigate that, his uncertain friend group status, and also piles of poop. So much poop. A tsunami of poop. A poo-nami.
It’s no secret that ’Nathan is one of my favorite people. I read this novella in one sitting and would have loved to spend more time with these characters (I’m greedy like that).
Pangs by Jerry Wheeler
Two true confessions here: Jerry is both a friend and a mentor who has edited my own work, encouraged my strengths and good-humoredly reined in my worst tendencies. Second true confession is that I’m in the middle of reading this collection of three tales about a particular breed of vampires who feed not on blood but on artistic talent. Warner, the narrator, is engaged in a long-term cat-and-mouse feud with rival vampire Seth, but their pursuit of a musician with truly phenomenal talent raises the stakes in their battle, especially when a much more ancient threat emerges.
This one (so far, at least) is set in New Orleans, a city I visit regularly for the Saints & Sinners Literary Festival, which is probably where I first met Jerry in person. Warren is drawn back to the city again and again, and the book is soaked in that atmosphere, which is lush and foul at the same time. That tension is reflected in Warren’s voice, which has a formal tone that speaks to his centuries of life contrasted against the erotic and grotesque events he relates. I have no idea yet how things will turn out, but I’m swept along by the story.
When Haru Was Here by Dustin Thao
Oh my goodness, this book. It’s my first read by this author, but I have his debut, You’ve Reached Sam, in my TBR pile. This one focuses on Eric, who’s reeling after the death of his friend Daniel and missing his musician sister away at college and who later drops out to tour in Europe with her band. Instead of going to college himself (he wants to be a filmmaker), he takes a job and daydreams to cope, until his daydreams about a boy he met in Japan last summer become real, when Haru walks into a coffee shop and sits down across from him.
Only problem? No one else can see him but Eric.
This one is full of twists and turns, poor decisions and a truly unexpected ending. Eric is a relatable mess, and he reminds me of how monumental and consequential everything felt at that age. And that ending is *chef’s kiss*.
Songs for Ghosts by Clara Kumagai
Another true confession: Clara and I went to graduate school together. Her debut, Catfish Rolling, was my favorite read of last year, and this one is shaping up to be my favorite of 2025.
Japanese-American teen Adam discovers a diary in his attic that was written by a woman in Nagasaki a hundred years ago. Like him, she’s caught between cultures and matters of the heart. She is also dealing with the recent loss of her grandmother, a loss that parallels Adam’s questions about his late mother. She is also haunted, ghosts gathering in her garden and seeking her help to move on to the next life. When Adam begins to be haunted himself, he goes to Nagasaki to try and learn who this woman was, why she’s tormenting him now, and who his mother really was.
I don’t think it’s a spoiler, but somewhere in the middle of the book, I went, “Oh my god, this is Madame Butterfly!” But—my hot take—it’s better than Puccini’s: great music, shallow story. This one, told in alternating sections of Adam’s life and excerpts from the diary, is many-layered and beautifully written, as well as a bittersweet love story. I’m already planning to reread it later this year.
Why haven’t you ordered this already?
Baker Thief by Claudie Arsenault
So many confessions in this one post. Claudie is also a friend. We play a Star Trek Adventures TTRPG together, along with Jerry Wheeler above. (Oh, and who’s the gamemaster? That would be ’Nathan Burgoine. Ask me sometime about the Star Trek fanfic I wrote inspired by the game and the character I play, and I’ll send you the ao3 link.) This is one of the most inventive stories I’ve read. A police detective moves to a new city and immediately encounters a thief, a masked woman with a cape, no less, who steals her exocore, an appliance that provides unlimited clean energy to her house and which is rapidly coming into common use. She’s determined to catch this thief, but what she doesn’t know is that the flirtatious baker who sells him her morning coffee and pastry is the same person. What she also doesn’t know is the exocores are powered by the captured souls of witches, and the city plans to light its newly constructed bridge using thousands of these devices. Will she discover the thief’s true identity and the true crime happening here, and will their growing attraction outlast such a revelation?
Thank you, mister. Also, my TBR pile thanks you.