Booksology Last month, I read a lot of queer nonfiction, including All the Parts We Exile by Rosa Nozari, a memoir by a queer Muslim immigrant in Canada. It follows her coming out, going back into the closet, and then finding a way to reconcile her sexuality and cultural identity. It is also about her relationship with her mother, and is an attempt to understand her mother better. This was really fun!
I also picked up Guest Privileges: Queer Lives and Finding Home in the Middle East by Gaar Adams. The book is partly a personal account of his experiences as a white gay American living in the UAE for many years, and partly an exploration of the region’s queer community. I learned a lot and it was really interesting to see how some of these queer communities sustain themselves even in places where it’s illegal to be queer, like karaoke bars and parkour groups.
As promised last month, I read Hermaphrodite Logic: A History of Intersex Liberation by Julianna Gleason. Although academic and a little dry at times, it was nice to learn about how intersex activism started in the 90s and how it has changed over time.
I also read “Thick and Dirty: Hollywood’s Gay Golden Age and the Making of Modern Queerness” by Michael Kolesky. This is an exploration of queerness in Hollywood under the Hays Code. I found some chapters more interesting than others, but it was worth it just to read about a butch lesbian director who was working at the time and whom I had never heard of.
We have a few different options for March. 3 Written by Sumiko Arai, translated by Ajani Oroe. I really enjoy this Sapphic manga series and highly recommend it.
I also need to read the two most anticipated books of the year coming out in March. It’s Avery Curran’s sapphic gothic novel Spoiled Milk and its bizarre sci-fi retelling. Moby Dick, “Hell’s Heart” by Alexis Hall.
I borrowed Mia McKenzie’s These Pagans from the library and can’t believe I haven’t read it yet. Mia McKenzie’s Summer Free and Falling in the Sky are two of my all-time favorite books.
