The Readirect Podcast
Shifting the conversation back to books. Hosted by Abigail Freshley and Emily Rojas.
The Readirect Podcast
2026 Pride Month Book Draft
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It’s the most wonderful time of the year at the Readirect Podcast—happy Pride!!! 🏳️🌈
To celebrate Pride Month, we are back with our second annual Pride Book Draft! This highly competitive episode pits Emily against Abigail as we each draft our team of books by LGBTQIA+ authors and/or featuring queer characters.
Abigail’s Picks:
- Conversion Therapy Dropout by Timothy Schraeder Rodriguez
- Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert
- Come and Get It by Kiley Reid
- Every Step She Takes by Alison Cochrun
Emily’s Picks:
- Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfeld
- Minor Black Figures by Brandon Taylor
- Futbolista by Jonny Garza Villa
- The Prospects by KT Hoffman
Honorable Mentions
- The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun
- Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Recent Reads:
- Paladin’s Hope by T Kingfisher
- Star Shipped by Cat Sebastian
- Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz
- We Could Be Rats by Emily Austin
- The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian
- Charming Puckboy by Eden Finley, Saxon James
Cold Open Pigeons And Responsibility
How upsetting it is about pigeons, you know what I mean? Like we domesticated pigeons and we started relying on us. And then we're like, oh, I'm just kidding, like f you, and you're disgusting and dirty, and get away from me. And they're like, yeah, actually, but we literally show if it's a good thing.
Ratings Reviews And Where To Follow
If you are doing the show, it's gonna go on either Apple MyCount or Spotify or Smash 5 stars and leave us a little review and let us know that you're loving the show. You can also follow us on Instagram and TikTok at redirectpodcast. You can follow Emily everywhere at Emily Rahusreads, me on TikTok at Fabigal Insta. No, on Instagram at Fabigal Insta and on TikTok at Fabigal 11. You can visit us at redirectpodcast.com where you can send us a message, shop our cute merch. We should do a summer, a summer book drop or summer merch drop. I've been thinking about that. I have some ideas. So yeah, send us a little email, send us a message, listen to our back catalog uh via the web player if you don't have access to some other kind of platform. Um, but really, if you really, really love the show, you can also share our show with a friend because sharing our show with a friend is by far the best way to help us grow our community of book loving nerds. Yay!
Pride Picks Rules And No Repeats
And there are a few things we like talking about more than queer books. Yeah. As you can see, if you shop our merch. If you shop our merch. So um we're very excited. Podcast for more than one episode or any of that. Really it was a it was a challenge because I'm trying to like keep fresh, not talk about books I've talked about a million times. I went back and I looked at our Pride episode from last year and I was like, oh, this knocks out a couple I would have said. So um, so yeah, we're gonna do our best. I mean, it's kind of impossible not to do some repeats at this point since we've been talking, we've been doing this podcast for four years or I want it to be good. So, and I'm like, this is somebody out there, maybe this is your first ever episode you're listening to from us. And so this is all fresh to you. You haven't heard me talk about these books a million times before. Um, but same. I tried to pick ones. Well, I did pick ones I've all read within since our last uh episode, and I also tried this year because I'm like diversity in the picks. So I'm trying to do if you don't steal my picks, I will have one L, one G, one B, and one T representation. Obviously, that's not representing every single person who identifies as queer, but it's at least a good cross-section of books. You know what's that's my hope. Crazy right now. I just realized I didn't come up with any backup options. Oh, okay. So, but so I can always come up with one, it won't be a problem. But yeah, we didn't we have not disclosed each other's picks, so it's kind of a competition for who can build the best team. Yes. Um I don't know, maybe let's just do it in a really fair way. Like person with the next birthday goes first. Oh, okay. That seems really fair. My birthday's tomorrow, by the way. Um, technically after this airs. That's true, that's true. You know what's so funny though? Earlier in May, I sometimes have no concept of what day it is. And earlier in May, I woke up one morning and it was like the beginning of May, so not even close. But I was just like, oh my god, I had texted you something about the podcast, and then my brain, it was like first thing in the morning, I was like, it's Abigail's birthday today. And I was like, wait, no, it's not at all. I have this issue where like so bad a lot of my friends all have birthdays in November. So obviously you and Emma both have November birthdays, got those locked in. But then like three of my closest friends from LA all have birthdays within a week of each other in November. So it's just like every day of November I wake up and I'm like, whose birthday is it? Whose birthday is it today? Oh, and my dad and my brother-in-law. So it's a lot. It's a lot. I'm really like drawn to Scorpios in my life. Apparently, as you should be. Okay. Anyway. Go ahead. You can go
Memoir Inside Conversion Therapy
first. What's your first one? My my thought process here, I just want to say, is um, we talk a lot about queer romance books because we both love reading queer romance books. And so I tried to pick books that even if they had romantic plots, the focus of the book is not on the romance. Or my my lens on this isn't necessarily on the romance, but the person and their identity as a way of not necessarily centering the the queerness around the fact that they're in a romantic relationship, but just centering it around whatever their life or the plot of the book. Interesting. So with that being said, um gosh, which one should I pick first? I will say I don't think I don't think we're gonna overlap, except there is one I'm worried about. So I don't think you need to worry about me. Okay, I'm gonna start with this one then. Um this one I would say is uh for the allies listening. For uh I wouldn't recommend this. This is kind of traumatic. So it's just not really like in the spirit of like queer joy, but it's conversion therapy dropout by Timothy Schrader Rodriguez. Did I talk about that on our last episode? Yes. I did. Or did you just post about it on TikTok? I think that. I think that I'm like I've heard you talk about this before, but I don't remember where. So yes, I think maybe you just posted it. All right. So Conversion Therapy Dropout is a memoir by this guy named Tim Schrader Rodriguez. Um, he grew up Assemblies of God. Um, so T related to so much of the things he was talking about. Um, but he knew from a from a young age that he is gay. And um so he s basically self-enrolls into conversion therapy as an adult. And he spends eight years in different conversion therapy programs. Um and it's the story of his faith, his experience, and eventually his acceptance of himself. And um it's a beautiful story, uh, painful at times, painful at times, ends in a really happy place. Um, but I think it would be a really great book for a straight Christian person to read, um, who maybe is like, oh, our church is like accepting, or oh, we welcome everyone, we love everyone, but like haven't really like investigated that because maybe it just hasn't been at the top of your mind or hasn't impacted you personally. Um but it's a great book, it's a great memoir. I listened to the audiobook, which he narrates and um it was really engaging. He tells lots of interesting stories from his life, and you know, like uh to tease it out a little bit. Do you do you remember um Exodus? It was like this, like it's it's now it's now like defunct. Uh de Is that is that the word I'm thinking of? Def defunct? Yeah, that's a word. Yeah. It no longer exists. Um but it was this ministry, quote unquote, that helped gay people not be gay. Oh, cool. Or leave like helped like make them straight or abstinent or something. Yeah. Anyway, so he would go to these conferences every year and hang out with like a bunch of other queer people. And it was like it was it this is the interesting thing about this book is like they were all there for the same purpose of like I'm trying to be a good Christian, I'm trying to not be gay, but they were also so drawn to the group because what they were experiencing there was like queer joy and queer community, like they're having like karaoke nights, and people are doing karaoke to Britney Spears and like being like themselves and like being joyful, and so it's like holding the tension between these two things. Um so the rest of mine will be uh more joyful than that one because that one is pretty tough, but it is a really important story, and I think it's important that people hear it. So I like that, yeah, and it's somebody telling their own story um in an honest way, so that's yeah, exactly. Yeah, love that. Okay, you, what's your first pick?
A Marriage Turns Ominous Underwater
Okay, I'll start with the L. That's for lesbians, and I'm picking it up. This is actually the one I have I had the most options for, but I'm gonna pick Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfeld because is that one of yours? Oh my god! Okay, start thinking, start thinking. I was almost gonna pick that as my first one, you f Oh my god. Okay, well, I'm really glad I picked it because I can't wait to talk about it. We have talked about this a good bit, but we both are among the group of people who love this book. It is obviously controversial. Some people think that that's a correct opinion. And I'm you know what? I'm getting really tired of bad opinions about books, but Me too. You just don't get it. Um, no, that's not necessarily true. I get why people don't like this, but it's very weird. Um, it follows Miri and Leah. Oh, Leah. Okay. Okay, so um in this book, Leah goes under the sea on a mission. When she comes back, things are weird. And her wife Miri is trying to figure out what's going on and is trying to care for her, and things continue to get worse and worse um with Leah and things happen. Um, I thought the writing in this was so beautiful. And I think like genuinely I imagine that there are a lot of people out there who have either who especially like if you have this is such a niche experience. I hope none of our listeners have gone through it, but if you have lost your partner to like a long-term illness, or if you've been a caretaker for someone that you loved, I would imagine that this would um be really resonant, or even if you've like, I I just thought reading this book like any human person in any kind of relationship has, and I probably said this when we first talked about it, but has been in the experience of someone you love is going through something and there's nothing you can do and you can't understand what's going on, even if it's a small even like they lost their job or they're having mental health struggles or they're just sick or whatever. Like there are so many ways that that can show up in a relationship, and I thought this was such I love when like uh a very real human experience is written about in like a kind of creepy, horrifying, weird way. Um and so I just really liked this book, and I think I actually have a book in recent reads that I think if you like this book, you'll like the book I recently read. So I can't wait to talk about that, but um, yeah, I thought it has beautiful prose and I loved it um so much. And I'm glad you made me. I know it's so interesting. I I read this for book club, I was among the few people who enjoyed it. So again, like this is not a universal recommendation. No, for sure not. Um I think people, this is one of those books that invites you to see what do you want to what matters to you in the story. So like people at our book club had many different perspectives about what the book was about based on their lived experience. And so like someone was like, oh, it's about disability, oh, it's about death, or oh, it's about like terminal illness, oh it's about um it's about like growing apart or like having a partner transition or something like that. Um so it that's kind of the thing. It's like a literary fiction horror combo. Yes, yes. That is just um, but also yeah, like really beautiful and not not horror in like a scary, scary way, but in like an ominous way that I think life can be a lot of the time. Like a life can be ominous sometimes, um, especially if you live long enough or if you love another person enough. So I just really liked it and um yeah, love this. Ten out of ten. What do we have? Probably not to everyone, but yeah. Go read the description, go read some reviews if you think you might want to read it. Um okay. Sorry. That wasn't even the one I was worried about. So I think we're gonna be fine for the rest
Bisexual Joy In Contemporary Romance
of them. I wish I had picked that one first. Okay, you know what? I'm gonna take this one because I think you might say this. For my next book, I'm taking Take a Hint Annie Brown by Talia Hibbert. Okay. No, that's not one of mine. Okay. That was almost one of mine, but uh, it's not. Okay. So Take a Hint Annie Brown is one of the Brown Sister books by Talia Hibbert. We are huge fans of the Brown Sister trilogy. If you like contemporary romance with like compelling characters, you're gonna love these. If you love good smut, good spiciness, yes, lovable character. I mean, I love you, Talia. Yeah, she's great. She's so great, and she has great representation in her books. I'm picking this book because the main character, Danny Brown, is bisexual. And in the book, she it's mentioned several times that Danny Brown is bisexual. Um, though the main love story of the book um is between Danny and Zaf is like the best. He's perfect. He's the best. Maybe like one of the best male main characters of any book ever. Um but I like this representation um because Danny is uh she's queer, but her having this romance with uh with Zaf and having her happily ever after with Zaf does not take away from her queerness and her bisexuality. Um and she does have a female ex who is like a minor main character or a minor character in the book. Um but this is just her, it is a good example of like her queerness just impact informing who she is, just like she's a professor and a scientist and like all these other things about her that make her who she is. This is one of the things that makes her who she is, and that doesn't go away just because she ends up having her happy ever after with Zaf. Um, so I recommend that. I was worried that was gonna be your B. So thank God. It it was my backup B. Um, but I love this book. This is my favorite of the Brown Sisters uh trilogy. I love Chloe Brown too. But this one might be my favorite. This one is so good though. Also, um uh I forget what the Eve Brown one is, but I forget what like the uh Get a Life isn't it? Get a Life Get a Life Eve Brown. Um that one has great autism representation, which is also really fun. Act your age, act your age, sorry. Act your age, act your age, yeah. So get a life is Chloe Brown. Yeah, get a life Chloe Brown, which also No, and they're all three so good. They're all perfect. Yeah. So that is my next pick. All right, back to you.
Immersive Literary Fiction In New York
Okay, for the G, uh, I am picking a book I have talked at length about, but I was selecting an excerpt before. Yeah. It's Minor Black Figures by Brandon Taylor. I'm saying in the running for my favorite book of the year. But I wanted to read an excerpt because I obviously have to Okay, so I mean, if you're new here, um Minor Black Figures by Brandon Taylor, one of my auto-read authors, and this is my favorite book I've read by him. Um, he uh writes in a way that I think is really interesting and compelling and unique, which is why I wanted to read an excerpt when I get to that, because I think if you hear it, you'll know if it's for you. But um, well, I'm getting there. If you haven't heard me talk about the books, this book follows Wyatt. Wyeth is an artist and he lives in New York post-COVID. The world's opening back up, there's like obviously political unrest. He had like a series of paintings go semi-viral because they appear to people to be like politically motivated or talking about race in a specific way that was really resonating in 2020 and 2021. He's like struggling to follow that up and to figure out what it means if people see a lot of meaning in his art that he didn't necessarily intend. While he's going through this, he meets a man named Keating who was most recently a Catholic priest who has left priesthood to be a bricklayer because he no longer believes in God after witnessing so much death and struggle in the middle of the COVID pandemic. Um, or he does believe in God, but maybe not in the same way. I don't know, it's complicated. So, anyway, I wanted to read an excerpt because I think what Brandon Taylor does better than almost anyone I've ever read is describe the world in a way that feels extremely real. So this is just a quick scene where he's uh in a subway uh in New York. It says, the platform was packed. There had been a cancelled train a few minutes prior, and one of the lines wasn't going as far north as it normally did. A woman with a baby tied to her back maneuvered through the dense crowd, selling snacks. She stopped in front of Wyath and gestured with the box gestured with the box, but he shook his head and she moved on. The baby had large brown eyes and pressed close to her mother's neck, peering out and up at each person she offered the box of candy and peanuts. The woman had an alert, direct gaze, and she moved easily, stepping this way and that, stopping to let people come off the stairs so that they wouldn't bump into her. She moved along the platform, catching everyone. The baby yawned. There was another woman with a fruit cart packed with ice. She sliced mango and melon with a long dark knife and set the fruit out in small plastic bags and upright containers to go. When asked, she could sprinkle paprika or sumac, a little salt, sugar. The woman with the box of candy stopped to exchange a few words with her. The woman with the fruit offered the baby some mashed melon. The baby raised their hand and took the red mash. The woman laughed. And so it keeps going. There's like a lot of but that's just like one example of the way he describes scenes, and every single scene is like that. And I think not everybody likes that level of detail. But I'm immersive. It's very immersive. I feel like I can picture like this entire book like a movie in my head. Um, but it also like presents it without meaning. The next chapter after that, he starts talking about how like he's seen on the news people talk about these immigrants coming and selling food without permits. And I don't know, he just presents things in a way that's like, this is what's happening, draw your own conclusions, and then lets the characters react to the things that are happening around them without necessarily telling or shoving the reader into the meeting, but like letting them find their own way there. And I just really like it and I like this book. And um, I once again want to participate in a Socratic seminar about it because there's so many parts of it that I'm like, uh, did I get this right? Or like I know there's some more symbolism here, but I maybe need like an English teacher to explain it to me. So I loved it. And if that resonates with you, you should read Binder Black Figures by Brandon Taylor. You know what? I had it on hold, like I had like my hold suspended for a long time, like ready to read it at any point. But then I got in a slump and I was like, I don't think this is what I should read in a slump. No, probably not. Um but damn, okay, yeah, that's an amazing passage. You've you've sold me. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, good. Yeah, you sold me. You converted me. Some people don't like that, but I do. I like when it's like so immersed in this. Yes. Yes. I'm back. Um, well, I'll save it for reason reads. So go with your next pick.
Messy Campus Power Dynamics Done Right
Okay, so here's my my replacement pick for Our Wives Under the Sea is Come and Get It by Kylie Reed. Um this is This is one of mine too. Oh, this is the one. Not one of mine, but it was on my short list, it was on my long list before my short list, I should say. I love it. So come and get it by Kylie Reed. The reason I'm picking this to continue with my theme of like not centering queer romance in these books, because we talk about queer romance so much, and that people can be queer without being in an active or healthy romance. So um, like I many obviously we look we are huge romance readers, and so one of the like the main things about reading romance is that like it ends happily, and the the characters are like generally good and you want to root for them and like you're on their team. This book is not a romance and really subverts all of that. So you like you get used to if you're only reading queer romance, you're used to reading just like a bunch of really great people. And um, yeah, as we all know, just being a queer person doesn't make you bad people want to have sex with all kinds of people, and that's what this book is. Okay. So like, yeah, let's let's celebrate the diversity of people. People are nuanced and complicated. Yes, exactly. Exactly. Totally. And these are very nuanced and complicated characters. So Coming at It by Kylie Reed is uh a book set at the University of Arkansas in uh the mid-2010s, which if you went to school, if you went to college in the in like the mid-2010s, this is gonna transport you, especially in the south. Um, but it's especially in the south. Especially in the south. Oh my god. This book is like a train wreck. You can't you can't look or a car accident, you cannot look away from the car accident as badly as you want to. You just can't do it. You have to look, and that's what this book is. So if that sounds horrible to you, it probably would be horrible for you. But um, this is literary fiction um exploring our inappropriate relationship between like a financially struggling, struggling resident advisor at the University of Arkansas and a queer professor who has like a big power dynamic um over her. It's a book about money and wealth and The way we think about the economy and social dynamics. And it is just one of those like you can't stop reading because you're just like, oh God, what's gonna happen next? I don't even want to know. I can't, so I'm so happy I'm not you right now. Um, yes. And um, I don't is there anything else you want to say about it? I think like that is what I can say. Yeah, it's a it's a different perspective on queerness. It's like these queer is just part of who these people are, but it's not the point of the book. And I like that kind of representation because there's a ton of books about people just doing random shit and they are straight and they just happen to be straight even though they're not in a relationship. But a lot of times we only get books about queer people when they're in a queer relationship, right? And it's not even done, it's not done either like there's also sometimes it's like, oh, I'm just checking a box. Here's a random queer person, you know what I mean? Like to get my diversity check. It's not that either, like it is a part of who these characters are and how their life unfolds, but it's also like not the point, you know. So yeah, it's just a very much a part of who they are. Like, just as much as the main character who I'm not even gonna Google her name, I forget, but like just as much as she's like an RA and she's like financially struggling, doesn't come from wealth, she also is queer. And right, all three of those things seem very earned. Um, it's not like she's not being tokenized, it's important to the plot, but it isn't the plot. Yes, totally. So I was just looking to see if Kylie Reed have had any books coming out, but it looks like nothing. She's because she's not a genre author, she kind of just releases things when she wants to release things. Give us more. I think she's I think and I it's such a shame because I feel like such a fun age. Uh much like um uh Wyeth's paintings in minor black figures, such a fun age definitely rode the you know, um, the 2020, 2021 people trying to like, which is great, people trying to platform black authors more, but her this book is better. Come and get it is better. Like such a fun age is really good. I'm glad a lot of people read that, but come back and read Come and Get It because this one is like it's just so good, and I never see it recommended. If you are from the South, I have a what one of the one of my friends at my book club, she went to the University of Arkansas and I was like, read this. You get it. My other my other friend who went to um UT Austin, I was like, Read this book, please. Here and she loved it. Yes. It's so good. It's so good. Um okay. Okay, back to you.
Bisexual Awakening On The Soccer Field
I'm on the B. So the B, I did pick uh Footballista by Johnny Garzevia, as we've talked about it both at length. Um, but if you Wait, is he B? I forgot to draw that. What's his yeah, yeah. The guy in it is B. Here we go. We're Gabrielle Pina. Okay. Oh yeah, Gabi. Okay, Gabby. So Gabi is a goaltender. He plays soccer for his college, and he is unbeknownst to him bisexual. He starts out in a relationship with a girl, and he meets his friend Vale, who starts tutoring him. They become friends, they become more than friends. I know people have heart, I think, strong opinions about bisexual awakenings in books. I understand your opinions. I love them. And I'm waiting what are their opinions? They don't like them. I think people think it's overdone and like the only bicaracters are bicaracters who are discovered. Like, people want I which I think true, yes, we should have bisexual characters who also know they're bisexual. But I just like that as a plot device personally. Sure. I would love there to be a lot of options for people uh as well. So I'm not saying you're wrong if you feel that way. But, anyways, this that is the case in this book. He's also young, um, so he's like 18 or 19, he's a freshman in college, um, and figuring himself out. And I really like this as the B representation, too, because I feel like Gabi could have chosen the least, the path of least resistance. Like he could have chosen to be like, this just isn't gonna work. I my college soccer, like he's apparently good enough that he has the ability to possibly play for like his Mexican national team one day. Um, obviously, both Mexico and America are very homophobic countries, especially when it comes to sports, and there hasn't been anybody like that on any openly queer player on the national team before. And so he's like, I just like the way that it's dealt with in this book, um, of like the choice that he has to make. And I thought it was uh well written and really nice, and I liked him figuring out or like learning to accept himself and to be brave and to like not feel like he had to let go of either dream uh in order to like be happy and to be himself. And so I really like this book. It is very sweet, and obviously we've talked about it at length. If you want to go here talk more, go to our website and search Football Lisa and it'll probably pop up. I don't actually know how good that search feature is, but I assume it searches through our show notes. Try it out and tell us go try it and let us know. Um, but yeah, I thought this book was great, and we both liked it. So love. Yeah, I really like that one. I will say my one note about that book was I was like, I don't ever want to be this close to a 19-year-old boy's brain ever again. Um I need Johnny Garzevia, I need them to start writing more. They have so many young adult books, but I need more uh more adults. I need more adults because I don't care, I don't care how wonderful of a 19-year-old boy you are, you are still a 19-year-old boy. And I get it. I feel like a lot of this is like something I'm so fascinated by. I'm sure there is a marketing reason, but I feel like so many actually queer authors. I'm not talking about people just writing queer stories, but in my observation, genuine queer authors writing queer books seem to start out in YA and then eventually move to adult. I'm sure a lot of people, Emily Henry did that, I think. Rebecca Yarros, uh, that's like a common path for people. But, anyways, I I hate it because then I like find an author I really like and I'm like, hey, I'm gonna go read your back catalog and it's all YA, which is just like I think from reading about 16-year-olds. Yeah, like sometimes I can make an exception. I feel like I read more YA of anybody on this podcast, but you know, I do like to read about adults. I do like to read. I do like to read about adults. Um, I I love Heart Heartstopper, which is about scenes. Exactly. Like it's okay sometimes, but I want most of my books to be about adults. Yeah, I hear that. Anyways, that's my B. Shout out to Gabby. Shout out, Gabby. I think of you fondly.
Camino Travel Romance And Late Blooming
Okay, my last pick, and then I think I would like to have an honorary an honorable mention. Sure. Um why not? But my next book is Every Step She Takes by Allison Cochrane. Were you gonna pick this or something? That was one of my L's. Sorry, I just got distracted. Um, if you had picked Rwes out of the scene. Okay, yeah. Well then I would have been screwed no matter what. Correct. Let's say all right. I also had an L to pick atmosphere, so that but then I'm like, you know, but I picked that was on my list last year. So Oh, I didn't even realize that. Okay, so forget that. Yeah, okay. So every step she takes by Allison Cochrane is a delight. It is a romance, it is a real thing. But I will make an argument here that it is about more than the romance between the two main characters. So every step she takes is about like a woman in her 30s who um through like a set of circumstances, like her her sister was supposed to go on this like prepaid trip to walk the Camino Portuguese, and she wasn't able to go, so she goes in her place, and it's like an all-queer guided tour of the Portuguese Camino. And um that is near and dear to me because I have walked the Portuguese Camino and on that trip, she has a queer awakening, and um she has like a romance with um like a woman who has been out and gay for a long time, and um she kind of like mentors her, and the book uh it's a lovely love story, even if it wasn't. I think you could take the love story out of this book and it would still be a great book because it's about the main character's um journey on her, she calls it her delayed queer adolescence. And so she through the support of the queer community that she has on this like hiking trip, she um she does things like she cuts, she decides to cut her hair. She likes decides to like, you know, the oh, like that's a rite of passage for like every queer kid to like cut their hair or do something stupid. Do something stupid or like yeah, yeah, like to be weird, experiment with your clothes, experiment with whatever. And she like has this community that she's doing with. And I think even if she didn't have a romance on the trip and in the book, it still would be, there would still be a lot of there there. Um, and I think it's really lovely. I think one of the messages from the book that really resonated with me is that there, you know, she she frequently is will be like, oh, you know, I just feel like I'm like too old to do this, or like I should like, I'm not 16 anymore, I should whatever. And the answer is like, yeah, but like we're on a queer time. Like you, there is no timeline, like you can do things whenever, and like whatever timeline works for you works, and it's okay to like figure things out in your 30s or 40s or whatever. And like some of the other folks that are on the trip, like they figured things out like even later in life. Like, there's one of the side characters, like post her divorce, realized she's like in her 50s and she realized she was gay, yeah, and decided to go on the trip, so it's just really lovely, and I think it's really good at modeling that um there isn't like a right way to do things or a right way to be queer. Um and it's really lovely, and we we love Alison Cochrane. Yes, auto by her books, another auto-read. Actually, I know. I gotta go ahead and while I'm talking about her, say my honor, honorable mention, which is the charm offensive by Allison Cochrane. Absolutely, yes. I love that for the asexual representation. Um, I think a lot of people don't really understand asexuality. Um, but this is a romance story in which one of the characters is asexual. Um, but it doesn't mean he's aromantic and he's kind of on this ace arrow spectrum. Yeah. And um, yeah, it's uh also a really, really great book. But I would read anything by her. It's also been to a movie. Like we've cast it, so it feels like it's actually happening. Yes, the charm offensive. So wait, who is I can't wait. Who's who's being let me see? I forget, but there was a bunch of stuff on her Instagram uh a little while ago, maybe a couple months ago. Um, so I'm really excited about that. I feel like that is fit, it's perfectly fit for a movie, honestly. Uh yeah. So I can't. Oh, it's a guy called Nick Dodoni. Cool. Yes. Okay, you're let's bring us up.
Trans Baseball Romance And Letting Hope In
The last pick is another book I have talked about on here for trans representation. It's The Prospects by KT Hoffman. This book, this book is so good. This is this is one of the best romance books I've ever read in my life. Um, definitely one of the best queer romance. It's the top of my two-read pile on uh need you to read this. I can't believe that you haven't yet. Like, I just this is so like seems for you. Um, because you actually do like baseball, unlike me. And so this is a baseball team. Um so Gene and Gene is the main character. He is the first transgender um major league baseball. Well, he plays for the minor league, so first transgender minor league baseball player um in existence. And he uh plays for this team that's like fine and they're doing okay. And he's like, you know, I'm just chill in my life as a minor league baseball player. This is gonna be my career. And then Luis Estrada uh is traded to his team, and he and Luis actually went to college together before uh Gene transitioned. Uh they played on the same college like club team or whatever. So uh they didn't really, they they kind of had this like animosity between them from college days and then from playing on rival teams. So it's very like if you like heated rivalry. They played on rival teams and then uh yeah, Luis is traded, and they're like, Gene is like happy, go lucky, so nice to everybody, and he's like, I will make this guy my friend. But Luis is like very introverted, closed off, no emotion, not talkative at all. And so um it's kind of this like challenge like, will you ever let me in? Um, but then they they become friends eventually, and then they become lovers, obviously. And I love this book because it's like it has really good like mental health representation. Um, both Jean and Luis have their own struggles. Luis really struggles with depression, um, so that's a big part of the book. And also obviously uh Gene being trans is really really well representative. The the author is trans as well, so I feel like that's always helpful. Not that people can't write about stuff they don't understand, but I do feel like that uh makes a difference. And it's also about like I think uh the human relatable experience of not letting yourself want something because then that means you can be disappointed. And Gene is like content to be on the minor leagues, but also part of that is like he doesn't feel like there's a space for a transgender major league baseball player, and to hope for that would be like opening himself up to disappointment, and so I really like his journey through the book of learning that it's okay to be hopeful and to try for something, and that you'll be okay even if it doesn't work out. Um, or if it does, you'll be okay. Like either way, you'll be okay, and and you're you have value and you're you're worth something. So this book is so good. I I love it so much. It's like so good. Again, there are very few things that can make me care about baseball. This and Cat's fashion are basically it's the two. That's it. Dude, I have like a deep, I have like a deep pile right now of books that I have from the library that I need to read or that are on hold. But this trust that this is up there. I think you'll really like it. Um, it's very cute and good. So okay. Thank you. Love that. Love that. That's it. Any honorable mentions? Anything you wanted to add in? No, that's pretty much
Recent Reads Kat Sebastian Sci Fi TV
it. I mean, I have a few recent reads that actually I think both would would be honorable mentions. So okay, great. I would love to transition to that. Great. Um, okay. Well, my recent reads are a couple of things. One, um, I've already talked about Paladin's grace a lot, but I've I'm still reading that series and it's good. And as an honorable mention to the Pride Month thing, I would say Paladin's Hope is a queer story and it's really good. Okay. Love that. Moving on from that, I read Starshipped by Kat Sebastian. Um I loved it. Um, I think it's so hard because now I'm judging Kat Sebastian against herself. Um I give I give this book five stars, but I think that I would give We Could Be So Good six stars. Like six stars. So it's like it's hard because like if this was the first book I read by Kat Sebastian, I would be like, Yes. But like We Could Be So Good is just in a different world. So it's just hard to c you're comparing her against her, which is like it's it's tough. Yes, yes. But I loved Starshipped, I thought incredible characters. So this is about co-stars on like a kind of a campy sci-fi show, and um, through a set of circumstances, they try and engage in like a little bit of a PR relationship um to like boost their stock for their careers, and um they end up going on a wild goose chase for one of their dads and all sorts, but it explores complicated human dynamics, like people who have like an OCD, like the insecurities. I think one thing that Kat Sebastian writes really well is like anxious attachment. Yeah, like she writes attachment styles really well, like uh I like they're just oh my god, you guys, but it's so true to life. You know what I mean? It's just like, oh, this is actually what it's like to be a person. How did you like articulate that so well in a book? Um, but they're just lovely, they are just the loveliest, and um you know I'm a sucker for historical, but yeah, I think that's what makes their her romance book so good is that um the characters fall in love for specific reasons, like there's such a specificity to each character, and especially in this one, like they both have really, really deep like family traumas, and the way that they show up for each other to like meet each other where they're at with those like wounds from their childhood is is specific, and uh that's what makes it interesting. So this is a big like wounds book, like all of her books, she really understands this could be our Noah Con episode for this book as well. She understands people's childhood wounds and how they impact you as adults. Like, I wouldn't be surprised if Kat Sebastian has had like close proximity into her life with to like a couples therapist or something, like I don't know. This seems to be a special interest of hers because she just gets totally yeah.
Robots Reconstruction Metaphors And AI Ethics
Another book I read um is Automatic Noodle by Annalie Newitz. This is a novella um set in the near future. It's like set in like 2060, and it's right after the war between California and the United States, and California has become an independent country. Also at this time, there's a lot of robots. Robots have really popped off. Um, and a lot of a lot of robots now have like human they're humanoid, like they have memories, and they like there's a lot going on in like the separation of California from the United States with robot rights, and like basically this book really mirrors what it would be like after what it was like during Reconstruction and it's really challenging, it's a very challenging book, like it's a fun book, but it's like it challenges your perception of robots and like the ethics around giving robots like human intellect and like feeling and like individualization, and then what what what your is now your obligation to give that robot if you give them those things that you created, yeah. So this is about like a little cast, like a group of robots who had been shut off and by their owner, and they wake up um and they are like robots who are basically like enslaved and they work at this restaurant, and they uh decide they're gonna run the restaurant kind of like as a ghost kitchen, and um it is really lovable characters, like it's just so weird. It's so it's so weird, and I like hate robots. Like, like I hate like f AI, you know, like the Pope really went off, did his big one with the um holy war and AI. Like, yeah, but like but this this book also really was like, okay. We should really be my takeaway from it is like we should really be thoughtful with how much we pour into like robots and AI because like at what point do we owe them something? Yeah, you know, like if we create this thing, it's like domesticating animals, right? Like we domesticated dogs, and dogs now cannot be like, yeah, so we have to we take care of them now, right? Like we don't understand how upsetting it is about pigeons, you know what I mean? Like we domesticated pigeons and we started relying on us, and then we're like, oh I'm just kidding, like f you and you're disgusting and dirty and get away from me. And they're like, Yeah, actually, but you literally bring it. Yeah, I don't I have to be with you. And that's kind of what this is, but also it's a big metaphor for sure reconstruction post-Civil War. Oh cool, and a lot going on. Yeah. But it's great, and I I would recommend it very short. Yeah, you should read it and tell me what you think. There's a lot. I don't know what I think. It just made me think, you know? Yeah. So there you go. That's even better. Okay.
Hockey Fluff Versus Heavy Literary Fiction
All right. Recent readings, very quick. Uh-uh, not very quick. So, first, I read uh look, stay with me, you guys. I read Charming. Puck Boy, which is Puck Boy number 10 in the series. It's the last installment in the Puck Boys. Oh my god. There's 10 Puck Boys. There's 10. You guys. This is by Saxon James and Eden Finley. Look, like these books are stupid, but they're fun. And I read this in like one day. It was really cute and happy. These books, like, the like homophobia vaguely exists in this world, but like not really. There's like 40 million gay hockey players, um, and they all know each other, and they have a thing called the queer collective, where one of them has like strong armed them all into becoming friends and like being a found family for each other. So it's really nice, but this is the last one. It's like the younger brother of all of the some of the older characters, and he ends up in this age gap relationship, and it's uh like with his childhood crush. That's really fun. It was really fun and dumb. Um, okay, forget that. Then I just want to I the overall, the only reason I brought that up is because the Puck Boy series, if you're looking for a very mindless but fun, happy series to get invested in, they're all on Kindle Limited and they're all stupid. Okay. Uh then I gotta read a that's perfect. Sometimes I needed it because I was struggling. Like I needed to kickstart my reading. Before that, it had been weeks since I had really finished anything. I was in a post-Cat Sebastian slump, so I needed it. Um, then I read this is a hard turn, so stay with me, you guys. Okay, but then I read We Could Be Rats by Emily Austin. And this is because I was like looking at my uh, you know, breakdown of my genres. I did a little Instagram post about what genres I'd read this year, and I'm like, okay, I have read one literary fiction book, which I love literary fiction, so I'm like, what is wrong with me? Maybe that's my problem. So I started putting a bunch on hold. This was one of them. Um, this is the first one I read, and I have several more at home waiting for me to read. But um, this book, okay, it starts out as a series of uh suicide notes written by a person who is uh planning to take their own life, and it kind of progress they like keep starting them over. So there's I think like 13 in total, and that's the m majority of the book. And then you transition into getting uh the rest of the story, and so I think this is speaking of Noah Khan, like uh the main character in this book is a younger sister who feels like she's a screw-up. Um, she's like queer in a small town, a very small town. Like, if you've ever spent any time in a small town, you will recognize like the politics of this place. Um but she uh yeah, so she and she like doesn't finish high school, she's working at a dollar store, and she just at the beginning, like those notes say that she feels like she's happy, but it kind of progresses to unreveal more, and it's just I I don't want to give too much away because it does have some interesting twists to it that I didn't expect, but um, she has an older sister who is like very intelligent, who's off at college, who has her life together. It's a very common like every you guys know what this dynamic is, and you get through the story um the older sister's perspective on things and the younger sister's a little bit, and how the like the memories of your childhood might not be the same, and the way that you two people who grew up in the same house cope with things uh differently might not be the same, and and they both could be struggling. And it's very much giving Willie and Abel like uh, are we gonna be able to breach this divide? And uh it was a tough read at times, but um yeah, it deals with a lot. I would check the content warnings beyond just obviously it deals with uh discussion of suicide, but yeah, there's more. But I thought it was very beautifully written. It made me cry. I'm just like getting choked up thinking about it now. Um, if you have a sibling where who you have any kind of relationship with or any kind of complicated relationship with, I think you would really find a lot of pain in this book. But uh yeah, it's also like the the we could be rats comes from the very beginning, and she's like talking about uh if she could be anything, she would be a rat at a county fair, and she would eat all the food on the ground and be fat and happy, and your life is only two years, so it's like not that bad because you just could be we could be rats, and um yeah, I just thought it it's a very interesting perspective on siblings and family and um mental health struggles and it's tough. So to end on a happier note, like it please someone read it and talk to me about it because there is there is a lot that I don't want to give away, but I do want to discuss. So if you do read it, please feel free to give
Highwaymen Historical Romance And Slow Burn
me. Um, and then the last thing I read was The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Kat Sebastian. And okay, I have this in my library right now. Oh, thank God. I read this in one day, uh, one sitting. Um this one I gave it a 4.5. It I'll say my critiques, but this follows um it's one of uh Kat Sebastian's earlier books. Um Kit Webb, obviously. Okay, so Kit Webb, he used to be like a highway highwayman, like robber who would stop carriages. It's like the 1700s or whatever. He would stop carriages of rich people and like hold them up and rob them. And like there's like legends about him. Um, he has like a pseudonym and there's like songs, like folk songs people sing. But he got really badly injured, and now he has like a really bad limp and he has to walk with a cane or whatever. And um he owns a coffee shop in this like town, and he's like, I am living a boring life now, and I'm reformed. And then one day, Percy Do people know do people know he's Kit Webb? People don't know. They know he's Kit Webb, but he has another name of his like guy. They don't know about that. Um, they think he's just like a normal coffee shop guy. Got it. And but one day, Percy, who is Lord Holland, but he's going by Percy undercover, so he's aristocratic. He comes into the coffee shop and he's like, I know who you are. Somebody told me. And I need you to rob my dad because we're being blackmailed, because um the my dad might have had another son before me. He might have had been practicing bigamy, and I might not actually be the heir. And so I need you to rob him um to get this like little book he carries around because that will have like all the secrets and whatever. And kids, like, no way, I have like a bad leg, I can't even ride a horse. And Percy's like, I'm just gonna keep on coming back to this coffee shop because you're my only hope to save my family. Um, yeah, and and Percy has a whole like his best his childhood best friend is married to his dad now, and there's something going on there, and so he's trying to save her because she'll be in ruin. Um, they have like a baby together, so he has a little sister he's trying to save. So yeah, they start working together. Look, I texted you and I was like, I finally understand Regency romance or like historical romance because the the like even though it's a um I've never read this before in a historical romance that was a same-sex couple, but there's like ankle gazing and like the touching because they uh kit agrees eventually to teach Percy how to fight. So like their first touches are like punching each other, but then it's like, oh, let me check the bruise on your face, and it's just like the gentle thumb on the cheek, um, the like shoulder finally being exposed. I'm like, I get it. Like Kat's fashion is just so good at slow walking, even though this is like an instant attraction, they're very upfront about being attracted to each other from the beginning and about their interest in men or whatever. Um, this is also great. Bisexual representation. Kit Webb is canonically bisexual. Not that he really has the words for that because it's the 1700s, but uh, anyways, it was just really fun. I like the slow burning of that, of the like the proprietary is that the right word? Um, of like, oh my god, his ankle is so like like like just that being like gasp. Um, so it was really, really fun. And uh my only I took 0.5 stars off because I think Cat Sebastian thrives on character work and not as much on plot, and this is like super plot heavy. Um, and some of it, like like when I was reading the first few chapters, I was like, is did I miss a book? Like I'm so confused with what's going on. Because she does just throw you in there, which can kind of work sometimes, and sometimes I'm like, I actually have no clue what's going on here. So that was my point five star deduction. But the characters, as always, are incredible, and the romance is. She thrives with character-driven books. That is so strange. And I feel like she's found her sweet spot now. Like this again is one of her first books, so uh, but it was still great, it was still really great. Just a little bit confusing in the plot, but not crazy. So I loved it. Can't wait to read it. Yeah, and I've got several, you guys. I'm back in my litfit b lit fic bag. So I've got several excited to read. I started uh a litfic the other night for a book club. Oh I don't want to say too much about it yet, but I think I'm really gonna I think it's really I think it's like a sky daddy type beat. Ooh, okay, can't wait.
Happy Pride And Closing
So stay tuned, next episode. Okay, all right, cool. All right, you guys, happy pride. Bye.