Why am I passionate about this?

I have known that I was gay since I was in second grade and kissed a boy on the playground. But that wasn’t the only way that I knew. Coaches, bullies, religion, and family warned me by namecalling, violence, and intimidation. It wasn’t until I was in college that I heard homosexuality portrayed in a positive light. Thank you, Walt Whitman. Then I saw The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Dessert, and knew that I had to go on my own adventure in search of my gay tribe. Novels can be a tribe. I hope the books on my list give you a place to find acceptance and love.


I wrote

The Magus and The Fool

By Akiva Hersh,

Book cover of The Magus and The Fool

What is my book about?

Carry Iverson needs a change of pace from his predictable life in Ohio. He takes a position with a social…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Two Boys Kissing

Akiva Hersh Why did I love this book?

Two Boys Kissing is a book about the culture and “inherited memory” of LGBTQ+ people. It is a crucial contribution because it bridges the generation of gay men living (and dying) through the AIDS crisis of the 1980s with the younger, modern LGTBQ+ generation who share similar challenges but haven’t connected to the wisdom of LGBTQ history. 

The story and characters affirmed my identity, named my pain, and brought it within the collective history of those who have carried the same burdens of shame, fear, and self-loathing.

By David Levithan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Two Boys Kissing as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

From the New York Times best-selling author of Every Day, comes a touching, thoughtful and deeply romantic look at love and discovering your true self.

The two boys kissing are Craig and Harry. They're hoping to set the world record for the longest kiss. They're not a couple, but they used to be.

Peter and Neil are a couple. Their kisses are different. Avery and Ryan have only just met and are trying to figure out what happens next. Cooper is alone. He's not sure how he feels.

As the marathon progresses, these boys, their friends and families evaluate the…


Book cover of Call Me by Your Name

Akiva Hersh Why did I love this book?

Call Me By Your Name is not just about two young men falling in love in a time and place of extreme homophobia. It’s also about nagging doubt, fear of rejection (from self and others), and illustrates the pain of finding everything you need before you realized what that was—and then how to cope when you lose it.

By André Aciman,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked Call Me by Your Name as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Now a Major Motion Picture from Director Luca Guadagnino, Starring Armie Hammer and Timothee Chalamet, and Written by James Ivory

WINNER BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY ACADEMY AWARD
Nominated for Four Oscars

A New York Times Bestseller
A USA Today Bestseller
A Los Angeles Times Bestseller
A Vulture Book Club Pick

An Instant Classic and One of the Great Love Stories of Our Time

Andre Aciman's Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents' cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera. Each is unprepared…


Book cover of Tin Man

Akiva Hersh Why did I love this book?

Tin Man weaves the beauty and meaning of Van Gogh’s oeuvre into a background for a story that is written like poetry. Time is a main character who is sometimes kind, but mostly cruel. Separation, loss, and longing are themes that all people can relate to but when seen through the perspective of a character who identifies as LGBTQ+ it heightens and clarifies those human experiences in a way that draws a reader from any background deeper into an exploration of what the passing of time means and the consequences of ignoring the herald of each minute that ticks by.

By Sarah Winman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tin Man as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2017 COSTA NOVEL AWARD

The beautiful and heartbreaking new novel from Sarah Winman, author of the international bestseller WHEN GOD WAS A RABBIT.

'Her best novel to date' Observer
'An exquisitely crafted tale of love and loss' Guardian
'A marvel' Sunday Express
'Astoundingly beautiful' Matt Haig

It begins with a painting won in a raffle: fifteen sunflowers, hung on the wall by a woman who believes that men and boys are capable of beautiful things.

And then there are two boys, Ellis and Michael,
who are inseparable.
And the boys become men,
and then Annie walks into…


Book cover of The Song of Achilles

Akiva Hersh Why did I love this book?

The Song of Achilles broke through my love-scarred heart and reminded me that finding someone in this lonely world is worth it. This novel is full of beauty: boys falling in love, fighting through conflict, and maturing into an eternal commitment no matter the cost. I came away with hope and yearning and those feelings alone stoke the fires to keep the search going.

By Madeline Miller,

Why should I read it?

33 authors picked The Song of Achilles as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

**OVER 1.5 MILLION COPIES SOLD**
**A 10th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION, FEATURING A NEW FOREWORD BY THE AUTHOR**

WINNER OF THE ORANGE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION
THE INTERNATIONAL SENSATION
A SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

'Captivating' DONNA TARTT
'I loved it' J K ROWLING
'Ravishingly vivid' EMMA DONOGHUE

Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. Despite their differences, Achilles befriends the shamed prince, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms…


Book cover of They Both Die at the End

Akiva Hersh Why did I love this book?

They Both Die At The End deceives you at first because…the title! We know what is going to happen—or so it seems. But the themes of living life to the fullest and learning to trust yourself and others are really what is at the core of this book. 

The main characters grab your heart and drag it through the streets of New York one fearful stop at a time. You stop wondering when or how they’re going to die (although that fear is neatly tucked in the back of your mind) and absorb the lessons they have to teach you. Keep a box of tissue nearby!

By Adam Silvera,

Why should I read it?

10 authors picked They Both Die at the End as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

From the author of the INTERNATIONAL NO. 1 BESTSELLER THEY BOTH DIE AT THE END comes an explosive examination of grief, mental illness, and the devastating consequences of refusing to let go of the past.

Please note that covers may vary.

You're still alive in alternate universes, Theo, but I live in the real world where this morning you're having an open casket funeral. I know you're out there, listening. And you should know I'm really pissed because you swore you would never die and yet here we are. It hurts even more because this isn't the first promise you've…


Explore my book 😀

The Magus and The Fool

By Akiva Hersh,

Book cover of The Magus and The Fool

What is my book about?

Carry Iverson needs a change of pace from his predictable life in Ohio. He takes a position with a social justice firm in Austin and rents a cottage on Lake Travis. At a bewildering dinner with his cousin, Donovan, his wife, Fallon, and an alluring transgender man, Levi, Carry discovers his neighbor is a wealthy and mysterious man who has everyone talking. Carry’s curiosity turns into attraction after meeting the flirtatious Jacobi. But Jacobi has a secret desire of his own: he is in love with Donovan. Now Carry finds himself caught in the middle of a reckless love triangle with Fallon, who is hellbent on destroying Jacobi to keep her husband from straying. Passion and jealousy reach a fever pitch when the carefully designed lives of Carry, Donovan, Fallon, and Levi unravel. 

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The Bloomsbury Photographs

By Maggie Humm,

Book cover of The Bloomsbury Photographs

Maggie Humm Author Of Radical Woman: Gwen John & Rodin

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Woolfian Gym devotee World-traveller

Maggie's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

An enthralling portrait of the Bloomsbury Group’s key figures told through a rich collection of intimate photographs. Photography framed the world of the Bloomsbury Group. The thousands of photographs surviving in albums kept by Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell, Dora Carrington, and Lytton Strachey, among others, today offer us a private insight into their lives.

Maggie Humm brings together a curated selection of these photographs to offer us a fresh portrait of the Bloomsbury Group, showing them in a new, domestic intimacy. She brings to life the texture of Bloomsbury: their pastimes, children, clothes, houses, servants, pets, and holidays.

The Bloomsbury…

The Bloomsbury Photographs

By Maggie Humm,

What is this book about?

An enthralling portrait of the Bloomsbury Group's key figures told through a rich collection of intimate photographs

Photography framed the world of the Bloomsbury Group. The thousands of photographs surviving in albums kept by Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell, Dora Carrington, and Lytton Strachey, among others, today offer us a private insight into their lives.

Maggie Humm brings together a curated selection of these photographs to offer us a fresh portrait of the Bloomsbury Group, showing them in a new, domestic intimacy. She brings to life the texture of Bloomsbury: their pastimes, children, clothes, houses, servants, pets, holidays. Several photographs are…


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Interested in gay teenagers, coming of age, and bildungsroman?

Gay Teenagers 37 books
Coming Of Age 1,353 books
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