As June comes to a close, it’s finally starting to feel like summer here in Canada. The sickeningly hot and humid days have arrived in southern Ontario, and that means it’s time to take my books from the bedside to the poolside! 😎
But if you’re anything like me, you blast your way through the five books you bought last month and are now in need of some new additions to your TBR. Don’t worry I’ve got your back. Here are three queer books coming out (ha) over the summer that are worthy reads.
1. A Thousand times before by Asha Thanki - July 9th
Ayukta is finally sitting down with her wife Nadya to respond to a question she’s long avoided: Should they have a child? The decision is complicated by a secret her family has kept for centuries, one that Ayukta will be the first to share with someone outside their bloodline: the women in her family inherit a mysterious tapestry, through which each generation can experience the memories of those who came before her.
Ayukta invites Nadya into this lineage, carrying her through its past. She relives her grandmother Amla’s life: Once a happy child in Karachi, Amla migrates to Gujarat during Partition, witnessing violence and loss that forever shape her approach to marriage and motherhood. Amla’s daughter, Arni, bears this weight in her own blood in 1974, when gender equity and urban class distinctions divide the community as a bold student movement takes hold. As Ayukta unspools these generations of women—whole decades of love, loss, heartbreak, and revival—she reveals the tapestry’s second gift: the ability for each of these women to dramatically reshape their own worlds. Like all power, both fantastic and societal, this inheritance is more treacherous than it seems.
How much of you is made up of your mother and all the women who came before you?
Early reviews are saying this one is a knockout. The writing connects the separate stories in a beautiful way. It is heavily steeped in Indian history, marking pivotal moments in the country’s life and in the story of Ayukta’s family. But even if you don’t know much about India, the characters and writing will draw you into the world Thanki has built. I’m a huge history nerd with a lot of Indian friends so this one was an instant add to my TBR. I want to read it with my friends and see what they think about it!
It does use a frame narrative, Ayukta is telling the stories of these women to her wife Nadya in the third person, while the frame is her talking to her wife. If you’re not into stories within stories, this might not be for you, but you’ll be missing out on a wonderfully woven story.
A final note, the cover of this book is absolutely gorgeous to me! The way the faces build into one person really drives home the “you are the sum total of everyone who came before you” vibe the story has going on.
2. A Bánh Mi For Two by Trinity Nguyen - August 20th, 2024
In Sài Gòn, Lan is always trying to be the perfect daughter, dependable and willing to care for her widowed mother and their bánh mì stall. Her secret passion, however, is A Bánh Mì for Two, the food blog she started with her father but has stopped updating since his passing.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese American Vivi Huynh, has never been to Việt Nam. Her parents rarely talk about the homeland that clearly haunts them. So Vivi secretly goes to Vietnam for a study abroad program her freshman year of college. She’s determined to figure out why her parents left, and to try everything she’s seen on her favorite food blog, A Bánh Mì for Two.
When Vivi and Lan meet in Sài Gòn, they strike a deal. Lan will show Vivi around the city, helping her piece together her mother’s story through crumbling photographs and old memories. Vivi will help Lan start writing again so she can enter a food blogging contest. And slowly, as they explore the city and their pasts, Vivi and Lan fall in love.
Food, family, and lesbians come crashing together in this super sweet debut novel from Trinity Nguyen. What can I say? I love a good love story where the characters bond over a shared interest!! And Vivi being a fan of Lan’s blog before they even meet? That’s destiny baby! I will read any cute lesbian love story that is sent my way and when I saw this shared on another author’s Instagram, I knew I had to read this one as soon as I could! The cover art is absolutely adorable? The pink? The art on the sides! Not only will this book be cute to read, it’s going to look so cute on my shelf as well!
3. Prince of the Palisades by Julian Winters - August 20th
When roguish Prince Jadon of Îles de la Rêverie is left in America to clean up his image after a horribly public break-up gone viral, romance is not on the table. Carefully planned photo ops with puppies? Yes. Scheduled appearances with the Santa Monica elite Absolutely. Rendezvous with a pink-haired, film-obsessed hottie from the private school where he’s currently enrolled? Uhhhh . . .
Together with his entourage—a bitingly witty royal guard, Rêverie’s future queen (and Jadon’s brilliant older sister), and a quirky royal liaison—Jadon’s on a mission to turn things around and show his parents, and his country, that he’s more than just a royal screw-up. If he doesn’t prove that he’s the prince Rêverie deserves? Well, he may not be allowed home . . .
But falling for a not-so-royal American boy has Jadon redefining what it means to be a leader. If he can be someone’s Prince Charming just by being himself, maybe that’s all it takes to win over a nation. Or at least a prince can dream . . .
For me, anything by Julian Winters is a must-read. King of American queer YA! But then I saw Red, White, and Royal Blue and it was already on my wishlist before I even knew what happened. I love my troupe-y books and if I can have another queer royal/commoner story, I’ll take it!
Early readers are saying that the character development is phenomenal, and not just for the main characters! Side characters get some major love in this one. People are really loving the messages in this book and are eager to read the final version when it comes out at the end of August. Needless to say, I am too!
So there you have it! Three queer books coming out this summer! I hope everyone gets some time to relax and really enjoy the good weather and fantastic books that are coming our way! Unfortunately for me, I decided to do a summer semester and will not actually be bringing my books poolside much this summer 😔. I’ll be doing all my reading in the college cafeteria. At least it has air conditioning!
What's on your TBR for the summer? Do you have a summer reading goal? Let me know in the comments below!