Gays Reading

In this episode of What Are You Reading?, Jason is joined by author Emma Brodie to discuss the books she's been recommending lately and to celebrate her new novel, Into the Blue, this month's Reese's Book Club pick.Emma Brodie has worked in book publishing for fifteen years, currently as an Executive Editor at Clarkson Potter. She graduated from Johns Hopkins University’s Writing Seminars program, and her debut novel, Songs in Ursa Major, received the American Book Award. She lives on Martha’s Vineyard with her husband and their very good dog, Freddie Mercury.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jason Blitman sits down with Caro Claire Burke to discuss her debut novel Yesteryear, April 2026's Good Morning America Book Club pick.Conversation highlights include:🩰 Ballerina Farms🐳 Why all millennials wanted to be marine biologists 📱 TikTok, culture at large, and fitting inCARO CLAIRE BURKE received her Master’s in Fine Arts from the Bennington Writing Seminars. She is the co-host of Diabolical Lies, a politics and culture podcast. Yesteryear is her first novel.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of What Are You Reading?, host Jason Blitman sits down with Lisa Lee to talk about the books that shaped and sustained her through the decade-long journey to her debut novel, American Han.Lisa Lee is the recipient of the Marianne Russo Emerging Writer Award from the Key West Literary Seminar, an Emerging Writer Fellowship from the Center for Fiction, and a Pushcart Prize. She has received other fellowships and awards from Kundiman, Millay Arts, Hedgebrook, the Rona Jaffe Foundation, Tin House, Jentel Artist Residency, and the Korea Foundation. Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, VIDA, North American Review, Sycamore Review, Gulf Coast, and elsewhere. Lee holds an MFA from the University of Houston and a PhD in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Southern California. She lives in Los Angeles.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman talks to prolific author Yann Martel (Life of Pi) about his latest novel, Son of Nobody. They talk about religion versus art, dreams versus reality, Greek gods like Hades, and Martel’s enthusiasm for CrossFit burpees.Yann Martel is the author of Life of Pi, the international bestseller that won the 2002 Booker Prize and was adapted to the screen in the Oscar–winning film by Ang Lee. He lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of What Are You Reading?, host Jason Blitman sits down with actor, writer, and all-around fandom icon Felicia Day to talk favorite books, current reads, and her brand-new graphic novel, The Last Daughter of Sparta.Felicia Day has appeared as an actress in numerous television shows and films, including Supernatural, The Magicians, and Mystery Science Theater 3000. However, Felicia is best known for her work in the web video world, behind and in front of the camera. She costarred in Joss Whedon’s award-winning internet musical Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and created and starred in the seminal web series The Guild. She is the New York Times bestselling author of three books, including her debut graphic novel The Last Daughter of Sparta. Find out more at Felicia.Day and follow her on X and Instagram @FeliciaDay.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman talks to Lauren Groff about her new story collection, Brawler. This conversation was recorded live at Warwick's in San Diego. Conversation highlights include:📓 A therapy session about story collections💡 How Lauren knows an idea is a story and not a novel🇫🇷 Expectations of ParisLauren Groff is a three-time National Book Award finalist and the New York Times bestselling author of the novels The Monsters of Templeton, Arcadia, Fates and Furies, Matrix, and The Vaster Wilds, and the celebrated short story collections Delicate Edible Birds and Florida. She has won the Story Prize and the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, and has been a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 2024 she was named one of the “TIME 100 most influential people.” Groff ’s work regularly appears in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and elsewhere. Her work has been translated into thirty-six languages. She lives in Gainesville, Florida, where she and her husband run an independent bookstore, The Lynx.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jason Blitman talks with novelist Saleem Haddad about what he's been reading, his new novel Floodlines, and the story behind its stunning cover.Saleem Haddad was born in Kuwait City to a Palestinian-Lebanese father and an Iraqi-German mother, and educated in Jordan, Canada, and the United Kingdom. He has worked as an aid worker with Doctors Without Borders in Yemen, Syria, and Iraq, and has advised on humanitarian and peacebuilding issues throughout West Asia and North Africa. He is the author of the acclaimed debut Guapa, a 2017 Stonewall Honor Book and the winner of the 2017 Polari Prize. His 2019 directorial debut, Marco, was nominated for the 2019 Iris Prize for “Best British Short Film” and is available to watch on YouTube. He is currently based in Lisbon. Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Announcing the April Gays Reading Book Club pick with Allstora ALMOST LIFE by Kiran Millwood HargraveTwo young women meet in Paris one sultry summer in a decades-spanning tour de force about the enduring power of young love and the poignant heartbreak of missed chances—perfect for fans of One Day and Normal People.New to the club? Get your first book for just $1!When you join the Gays Reading Book Club with Allstora, here’s what you get:A SIGNED copy of the book!30% off everything on Allstora’s websiteAccess to our Book Club chatEvery subscription donates a children’s book to an LGBTQIA+ youthA book club that exclusively supports LGBTQIA+ authorsAnd more along the waySign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman is joined by debut novelist Tara Menon to talk about her new book, Under Water. Conversation highlights include:🍦 The food textures that Tara hates🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 Chosen family🐦‍⬛ Venery nounsTara Menon was born in India, grew up in Singapore, spent a decade in New York, and now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts where she is an assistant professor of English at Harvard University. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, the Nation and the Paris Review.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman is joined by Kate Schatz who lives out her Reading Rainbow fantasy by sharing some of her favorite books. Kate then shares the personal story behind writing her debut novel, Where the Girls Were. Kate Schatz is a feminist author from California. She’s the New York Times bestselling author of Do the Work: An Anti-Racist Activity Book, with W. Kamau Bell, and the “Rad Women” book series (including Rad American Women A-Z, Rad Women Worldwide, and Rad American History A-Z). Her book of fiction, Rid of Me: A Story, was published as part of the cult-favorite 33 1/3 series.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman is joined by T Kira Madden, author of the acclaimed memoir Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls, to discuss her debut novel, Whidbey.Conversation highlights include:⛴️ T Kira's trip to Whidbey Island☀️ The trauma of growing up in Florida📺 Favorite reality TVT Kira Māhealani Madden is a diasporic Kanaka 'Ōiwi (Native Hawaiian) writer and author of the acclaimed memoir Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls, which was named a New York Times Editors' Choice, as well as a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize, and the Lambda Literary Award. She is the Founding Editor of No Tokens, a magazine of literature and art, and has received fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, Hedgebrook, Tin House, MacDowell, and Yaddo. Winner of the 2021 Judith A. Markowitz Award, she is an assistant professor at Hamilton College in Creative Writing and Indigenous studies and served as the Distinguished Writer in Residence at University of Hawai'i at Mānoa.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jason Blitman talks with singer-songwriter and queer icon Ani DiFranco about her reading life and the story behind her new book, The Spirit of Ani.ANI DiFRANCO is a Grammy Award–winning singer-songwriter and musician who has released twenty-three albums, traversing genres and addressing a range of autobiographical, political, and social issues. She is widely considered a feminist icon, and created her own record label, Righteous Babe Records, in 1990. She regularly releases new music, and continues her decades-long career as a major touring artist. DiFranco released a collection of poems and paintings titled Verses in 2007. Her memoir, No Walls and the Recurring Dream, was a New York Times bestseller, and she is the author of two children’s books, The Knowing and Show Up and Vote. In 2024, she completed a five-month run on Broadway in the role of Persephone in Hadestown.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman sits down with author Amy Jo Burns — who returns to Gays Reading after co-interviewing Abraham Verghese with Jason in summer 2024 — to discuss her latest novel, Wait for Me, the March pick for Read with Jenna's book club.Conversation highlights include: 🎶 Amy Jo's relationship to (and the power of) music🫂 Embracing your authentic self🖼️ Commercialization of artAmy Jo Burns is the author of the memoir Cinderland and the novel Shiner, which was a Barnes & Noble Discover pick and an NPR Best Book of the Year. Her novel Mercury was a Barnes & Noble Book Club pick, a Book of the Month selection, a People Magazine Book of the Week, and an Editor's Choice at The New York Times. A western Pennsylvania native, she lives in New Jersey with her family.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman talks to RuPaul's Drag Race runner-up and Miss Congeniality, Sapphira Cristál about what she's been reading as well as about what folks can expect from her new comedy tour, One Slue Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Sapphira Cristál (runner-up and Miss Congeniality of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16) is a classically trained opera singer, composer, and drag queen known for her theatrical lip syncs and six-octave range. She is renowned as a charismatic host who forges a special connection with her audiences. Sapphira holds 16 pageant crowns and has performed globally. In 2024, she was thrice the guest artist in Madonna’s Celebration Tour, and she debuted her original operatic production, Soundcake, with Monét X Change and Thorgy Thor at Lincoln Center. Afterward, she brought her one-woman show, The Cristál Ball Tour, across North America.Sapphira works to inspire young people through appearances at colleges, youth camps, and high schools. She taught several years of master classes in drag makeup and performance at Emerson College, and she has given artist talks at Rockland Community College. An experienced attitude and stage presence coach, Sapphira has also taught master classes at the Philadelphia Burlesque Academy and various dance studios.Whenever she gets the chance, Sapphira partners with charitable organizations to raise funds to change people's lives. Her personal credo is: "There is no better exercise for the heart than reaching down to lift someone up," and she has made it her mission to uplift, encourage and inspire those around her.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman talks to Oprah's Book Club pick Tayari Jones about Kin, her long-awaited new novel, nearly a decade in the making.Conversation highlights include:🔎 A Google-tangent about the etymology of the word "kin"🌈 On writing an overtly queer book🍰 The best kind of red velvet cakePer the conversation, here is the link to Motherhood Beyond Bars:https://www.motherhoodbeyond.org/Tayari Jones is the author of four novels, most recently An American Marriage, which was an Oprah’s Book Club selection and also appeared on Barack Obama’s summer reading list and his year-end roundup. It won the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Aspen Words Literary Prize, and an NAACP Image Award and has been published in two dozen countries. Jones is the C.H. Candler Professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory University and lives in Atlanta.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman talks to everyone's favorite influencer and bestie, Misha Brown aka @yourbestiemisha, about what he's been reading as well as his new book Be Your Own Bestie: A No-Nonsense Guide to Changing the Way You Treat YourselfMisha Brown is an undeniable entertainment powerhouse who excels as an influencer, podcast host, and performer. With a knack for captivating audiences, he shot to notoriety on TikTok in 2021 with the viral Lessons in Not Crossing a Gay Man series, amassing over 6 million followers. Named Motivational Creator of the Year and honored by the Webby Awards for social impact, he also earned a Best Comedy Podcast nomination from the Podcast Academy. Misha’s work has been spotlighted by People, USA Today, and Good Morning America, cementing his status as one of the most compelling voices online.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman is joined by prolific author Kate Quinn to talk about her latest novel, The Astral Library. Conversation highlights include:📖 The book Kate would (and wouldn't) want to live in✨ Sacred spaces📚 Reading habits and the best books to rereadThe Astral Library is out now wherever you get your books. Kate Quinn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A native of Southern California, she attended Boston University, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in classical voice. A lifelong history buff, she has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga and two books set in the Italian Renaissance before turning to the 20th century with The Alice Network, The Huntress, The Rose Code, The Diamond Eye, and The Briar Club. The Astral Library is her first foray into magic realism. She and her husband now live in Maryland with their rescue dogs.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Announcing the March Gays Reading Book Club pick with Allstora SO OLD, SO YOUNG by Grant GinderFive parties over the course of twenty years bring six college friends together, exploring the ways we run from and cling to our friends in love, life, and death.New to the club? Get your first book for just $1!When you join the Gays Reading Book Club with Allstora, here’s what you get:A SIGNED copy of the book!30% off everything on Allstora’s websiteAccess to our Book Club chatEvery subscription donates a children’s book to an LGBTQIA+ youthA book club that exclusively supports LGBTQIA+ authorsAnd more along the waySign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman is joined by debut author Patmeena Sabit to talk about her book, this month's Barnes & Noble Book Club Selection, Good People. Conversation highlights include:♥️ What it means to be a good person✨ Karma and how we choose to live our lives🫆 Paying a price to be your authentic selfGood People is out now wherever you get your books. Patmeena Sabit was born in Kabul a few years after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. When she was a month old, her family fled the conflict and became refugees in Pakistan, joining the millions of other Afghans that had sought refuge there. They later moved to the United States and she grew up in Virginia. She currently lives in Toronto.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman talks with author April Reynolds (The Shape of Dreams) about what she’s been reading lately and the joyful surprise of discovering just how many LGBTQIA+ authors have quietly shaped her reading life.April Reynolds is the author of the novel Knee-Deep in Wonder, which won the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation Award and the PEN American Center: Beyond Margins Award. She co-wrote The Red Rooster Cookbook with Marcus Samuelson and is co-editor, with Henry Louis Gates Jr., of The Toni Morrison Reader and The Zora Neale Hurston Reader. Reynolds has taught creative writing at New York University and the 92nd Street Y, and currently teaches at Sarah Lawrence College. A former resident of East Harlem, she now lives in Astoria, Queens.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman talks to author Nikesha Elise Williams about her new novel, The Seven Daughters of Dupree. Conversation highlights include:🎶 Janet Jackson choreography💜 What it means to be "enough"🙏 The sacred, intimate rituals of hairNikesha Elise Williams is a two-time Emmy Award–winning producer, an award-winning author, and producer and host of the Black and Published podcast. A narrative strategist by day and journalist always, her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Essence, and Vox. Nikesha is a Kimbilio Fiction Fellow and a DeGroot Foundation Writer of Note grantee. A Chicago native, she lives in Florida with her family.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman sits down with bookish-multihyphenate Brian Larson aka @brian.reads who shares what he's been reading and talks about his new podcast, The Shelf Care Society. Brian Larson is the author of The Afterparty (publishing June 2027) a memoir that reframes sobriety not as loss but as liberation. Known as @brian.reads on social media, he is the founder of Shelf Care Society, a book club with RuPaul’s Allstora, and the host of Shelf Care Society: The Podcast, where he sits down with authors, activists, and cultural voices for candid, curious conversations. Brian blends humor, honesty, and literary love to explore identity, recovery, ambition, and reinvention.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman is joined by acclaimed author George Saunders who talks about his new novel, Vigil. Conversation highlights include:🎭 Comparisons to Shakespeare🕯️ Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol🍔 George's Last MealGeorge Saunders is the author of nine books, including the novel Lincoln in the Bardo, which won the Man Booker Prize, and the story collections Pastoralia and Tenth of December, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. He has received fellowships from the Lannan Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Guggenheim Foundation. In 2006 he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. In 2013 he was awarded the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction and was included in Time’s list of the one hundred most influential people in the world. He teaches in the creative writing program at Syracuse University.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman sits down with author Nina McConigley (How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder) to talk about what she’s been reading lately—beyond Eric Carle’s The Very Lonely Firefly.Plus: head to the Gays Reading Substack to hear Nina talk about adapting Cowboys and East Indians for the stage, now playing at the Denver Center through March 1, 2026.NINA McCONIGLEY is the author of the story collection Cowboys and East Indians, which was the winner of the PEN/Open Book Award and the High Plains Book Award. She has received grants and fellowships from the NEA, the Radcliffe Institute, Bread Loaf, Vermont Studio Center, and the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. She was a recipient of the Wyoming Arts Council’s Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Writing Award and a finalist for a National Magazine Award for her columns in High Country News. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, Orion, O: The Oprah Magazine, The Virginia Quarterly Review, Salon, among other outlets. Born in Singapore and raised in Wyoming, she now lives in Colorado.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman talks to author Gabriel Tallent about his new book, Crux. Conversation highlights include:💈 The surprising number of hot gay barbers in Salt Lake🧗🏼‍♂️ What drawing a climb looks like⭐️ Ambition and legacyGabriel Tallent is the author of the New York Times-bestselling novel My Absolute Darling. He was born in New Mexico and raised on the Mendocino coast by two mothers. He received his B.A. from Willamette University in 2010, and after graduation spent two seasons leading youth trail crews in the backcountry of the Pacific Northwest. Tallent lives in Salt Lake City.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman talks to author Annie Summerlee about what she's been reading as she awaited the publication of her book: The Book of Blood and Roses. Annie Summerlee lives in Spain with her partner, two cats, and a rescue dog. Her short stories have been featured in 404 Ink, Litro, and So To Speak, as well as other magazines and anthologies. She also writes in Catalan and Spanish.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Announcing the February Gays Reading Book Club Pick...⭐️ MISSING SAM by Thrity Umrigar, the bestselling author of HONORAt first glance, MISSING SAM looks like a classic thriller: a woman goes missing after a morning run and her wife is left behind to search for answers. But very quickly, this book becomes something much deeper. The book is about what happens when grief collides with prejudice. About how quickly suspicion attaches itself to certain bodies. About love, marriage, and what it means to feel unsafe not just in the world, but inside your own community.New to the club? Get your first book for just $1!When you join the Gays Reading Book Club with Allstora, here’s what you get:A SIGNED copy of the book!30% off everything on Allstora’s websiteAccess to our Book Club chatEvery subscription donates a children’s book to an LGBTQIA+ youthA book club that exclusively supports LGBTQIA+ authorsAnd more along the wayThrity Umrigar is the bestselling author of nine previous novels, including Honor, which was a Reese’s Book Club Pick, as well as four picture books and a memoir. Her books have been published in over twenty countries and in several languages. A former journalist, she has contributed to the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, the New York Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and other newspapers. She is a recipient of the Nieman Fellowship to Harvard, and winner of the Cleveland Arts Prize, the Seth Rosenberg prize and a Lambda Literary award. She is currently a Distinguished University Professor of English at Case Western Reserve University.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman chats with author Emily Austin about her latest novel, Is This a Cry for Help?Conversation highlights include:Emily’s habit of endlessly rewriting the pitch at the top of her manuscriptThe ethics of librarianship and why access to information mattersBug killing, sex dens, and everything in betweenEmily Austin is the author of We Could Be Rats, Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, Interesting Facts About Space, and the poetry collection Gay Girl Prayers. She was born in Ontario, Canada, and received two writing grants from the Canadian Council for the Arts. She studied English literature and library science at Western University. She currently lives in Ottawa, in the territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman sits down with Sarah Dickinson, creator and host of popular podcast Sarah’s Bookshelves Live, to talk about the books she’s most excited to read in 2026.Conversation highlights include:Anticipated book trends for the year aheadWhy first lines should be part of a book's marketing materialFeelings on classic booksSign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman kicks off 2026 by revisiting some of the quiet yet impactful moments from Gays Reading episodes in 2025.Featured in this episode are conversations with:Rabih Alameddine Daniel BlackJennifer Finney BoylanKarissa ChenPrabal GurungDylin HardcastleRickey LaurentiisNathan H. Lents Sameer PandyaV.E. SchwabSign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the final episode of 2025, host Jason Blitman sits down with author and critic Marion Winik for a wide-ranging, bookish conversation. Winik shares her top ten favorite fiction reads of the year and reflects on her memoir First Comes Love as it celebrates its 30th anniversary—plus the release of its new audiobook. Even more from this conversation, including top ten nonfiction books and exclusive critic talk, is available on the Gays Reading Substack. https://gaysreading.substack.com/Marion Winik is the author of nine books, including The Big Book of the Dead (Counterpoint, 2019) and First Comes Love (Pantheon, 1996). Her essays have been published in The New York Times Magazine, The Sun, and elsewhere; her column at BaltimoreFishbowl.com has been running since 2011. A professor at the University of Baltimore, she reviews books for The Washington Post, Oprah Daily, and People, among others, and hosts the NPR podcast The Weekly Reader. She was a commentator on All Things Considered for fifteen years. She is the recipient of the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Service Award.  Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman sits down with literary icon John Irving to discuss his latest novel, Queen Esther. Their wide-ranging conversation touches on the story behind Irving’s first tattoo, what it truly means to be an ally, where he finds optimism in uncertain times, and the deeply personal experiences that continue to shape his writing—plus plenty more along the way.John Irving was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1942. His first novel, Setting Free the Bears, was published in 1968, when he was twenty-six. He competed as a wrestler for twenty years, and coached wrestling until he was forty-seven. He is a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 1980, Mr. Irving won a National Book Award for his novel The World According to Garp. In 2000, he won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Cider House Rules. In 2013, he won a Lambda Literary Award for his novel In One Person. Internationally renowned, his novels have been translated into almost forty languages. His all-time bestselling novel, in every language, is A Prayer for Owen Meany. A dual citizen of the United States and Canada, John Irving lives in Toronto.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, host Jason Blitman sits down with Alex Snodgrass (aka The Defined Dish) to talk all things book club menus—how to plan them, why they matter, and how food can deepen the reading experience. Using Alex’s recent book club gathering for Conform as a case study, the conversation expands to include Conform author Ariel Sullivan, who joins to unpack the creative collaboration behind the menu and the meal. As part of our celebration of people doing interesting things with books, Ariel also shares a peek into her ambitious storytelling vision—including how her series isn’t just a trilogy, but a trilogy of trilogies.Alex's invite, menu, recipes, photos, and MORE conversation can be found over on the Gays Reading Substack. Alex Snodgrass is a food lover, health enthusiast, and founder of the popular blog and social media outlet The Defined Dish. She is a recipe developer and food stylist from Dallas, where she lives with her husband and two young daughters. She is a master at substituting clean ingredients to create bold flavors in the kitchen and her recipes are perfect for any level of home cook. In 2018, Alex won the "Most Inspired Weeknight Dinners" Saveur Blog Award, and she continues to share her love for creating special moments around the dinner table.Ariel Sullivan is the author of Conform and Beneath. She lives in Connecticut with her husband, two sons, and their two French bulldogs. Growing up a military brat, Ariel moved every two years as a perpetual new kid; Ariel often observed from the outskirts, where a deep love of reading was born. When she isn’t writing, Ariel loves to read everything from poetry to psychology, bake with her sons, listen to live music, and travel.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman sits down with Reginald Dwayne Betts—poet, lawyer, and founder of Freedom Reads—for an intimate conversation about transforming America's prison system one library at a time. In an extraordinary turn of events, Dwayne receives a live call from Jermaine, a friend currently incarcerated at Lawrenceville Correctional Facility. Jermaine joins the conversation to share how not having a Freedom Reads library has impacted his own journey, offering rare, unfiltered insight into what literature means inside the prison system. Reginald Dwayne Betts is a poet and lawyer. A 2021 MacArthur Fellow, he is the Executive Director of Freedom Reads, a not-for-profit organization that is radically transforming the access to literature in prisons through the installation of Freedom Libraries in prisons across this country.For more than twenty-years, he has used his poetry and essays to explore the world of prison and the effects of violence and incarceration on American society. The author of a memoir and three collections of poetry, he has transformed his latest collection of poetry, the American Book Award winning Felon, into a solo theater show that explores the post incarceration experience and lingering consequences of a criminal record through poetry, stories, and engaging with the timeless and transcendental art of paper-making. His book Doggerel: Poems is available now.In 2019, Betts won the National Magazine Award in the Essays and Criticism category for his NY Times Magazine essay that chronicles his journey from prison to becoming a licensed attorney. He has been awarded a Radcliffe Fellowship from Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study, a Guggenheim Fellowship, an Emerson Fellow at New America, and most recently a Civil Society Fellow at Aspen. Betts holds a J.D. from Yale Law School.Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this re-release special episode, host Jason Blitman dives into the world of Wicked. Joined by legendary author Gregory Maguire, Guest Gay Reader is comedian and host of That’s a Gay Ass Podcast, Eric Williams, and Gays Reading’s first Guest Gay Icon, Broadway powerhouse Eden Espinosa. Highlights include:📖 The legacy of this iconic story🎭 Insider behind-the-scenes🎤 Unforgettable riffs, obvs💚 Identify, friendship, and self-acceptanceThis episode is perfect for fans of the musical, lovers of literature, and anyone who has ever felt like an outsider finding their place in the world.Originally released November 20, 2024. Gregory Maguire has written quite a few books for adults, including Wicked, which inspired the Broadway play and the two-part movie. He’s also written several dozen books for children, the more recent titles being What-the-Dickens, Egg & Spoon, and Cress Watercress, a Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Book.Eric Williams is an actor, comedian, and podcast host based in Los Angeles. His podcast “That’s A Gay Ass Podcast” was recently named “One of the Best Podcasts To Listen To” by Glamour Magazine. Guests include Dan Savage (‘Savage Love’), Bowen Yang (‘SNL’), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (‘Modern Family’), Jinkx Monsoon (‘Rupaul’s Drag Race’), Joel Kim Booster (‘Fire Island’), and more. Listen here. Eric also hosts the popular “That’s A Gay Ass Live Show,” a variety competition show that has been featured in the Netflix Is A Joke Fest, New York Comedy Festival, and multiple sold out engagements in New York and LA. You can read more about the podcast and live show in Variety (brag).Eden Espinosa is most recognized for her portrayal of Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway and in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Other credits: originating the title character in Brooklyn the Musical, Flora in Flora the Red Menace, and Maureen in the closing company of Rent on Broadway. She also originated Sadie Thompson in Rain at the Old Globe Theater and portrayed Eva Peron in Evita at TPAC and Studio Tenn. Recently, she originated Tamara De Lempicka in Lempicka, earning her a Tony Award nomination. @edenespinosaSign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Thanksgiving week episode, host Jason Blitman talks to brand-new-dad Justinian Huang about his paper baby, Lucky Seed. Conversation highlights:👻 hungry ghosts and superstitions 🤳🏼 social media and millennials🦃 tips for navigating family during Thanksgiving Guest Gay Reader™️ this week is White Lotus and Overcompensating favorite--and avid reader--Lukas Gage. Justinian Huang’s debut novel, The Emperor and the Endless Palace, was an Indie Next Pick and a 2025 Stonewall Honor Book. It was hailed by Booklist as “a sweeping triumph,” and as “page-turning and deeply thoughtful,” in a starred review by Publishers Weekly. He lives in Los Angeles, where he also works as a film executive, most recently on KPop Demon Hunters. Justinian’s second novel, Lucky Seed, is a USA Today bestseller.Lukas Gage is an actor/writer/producer who is best known for his role in the first season of the Emmy Award–winning HBO limited series, The White Lotus. Lukas also starred in Netflix’s You; Euphoria on HBO; Daniel Goldhaber’s How to Blow Up a Pipeline; Down Low for FilmNation, which he cowrote and stars opposite Zach Quinto and Simon Rex; and Fargo on FX/HULU. Lukas can also be seen in the remake of Road House for Amazon/MGM, Smile 2 for Paramount, and the highly anticipated film, Rosebush Pruning.Support the showBOOK CLUB!Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERE December Book: Like Family by Erin O. White SUBSTACK!https://gaysreading.substack.com/ MERCH!http://gaysreading.printful.me WATCH!https://youtube.com/@gaysreading FOLLOW!Instagram: @gaysreading | @jasonblitmanBluesky: @gaysreading | @[email protected] up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman sits down with author Olivia Laing (The Lonely City) to talk about their new book, The Silver Book.In this conversation, they dive into:🎥 making art and Italian cinema🏳️‍🌈 the role queerness plays throughout Laing’s work🗣️ how identity becomes a negotiation with—and around—fakenessPlus, this week’s Guest Gay Reader™️ is Michael Galyean (aka Dancing Blue Shirt Guy), who shares what he’s been reading and talks about his multifaceted career as a choreographer, private chef, and children's book author (The Dancing Blue Shirt Boy).Watch Michael's viral video HERE. Olivia Laing is an internationally acclaimed writer and critic. They’re the author of eight books, including The Lonely City, Everybody, and the Sunday Times number one bestseller The Garden Against Time. Laing’s first novel, Crudo, won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and in 2018 they were awarded the Windham–Campbell Prize for nonfiction. Their books have been translated into twenty-one languages.Michael Galyean is a choreographer, chef, creator, author, and beloved Knoxville personality best known as the viral “Dancing Blue Shirt Guy.” After his breakout dance video reached millions, he parlayed that momentum into a multifaceted career leading with warmth, enthusiasm, and a commitment to making people feel welcome. Michael choreographs high-school musical theatre (most recently Legally Blonde), works as a private chef and event emcee, and fosters community as Business Development Manager at Painter1 of Knoxville.Michael's debut children’s book The Dancing Blue Shirt Boy blends humor, heart, and personal storytelling to celebrate self-discovery and the joy of dance.Find him on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube: @dancingblueshirtguy.Support the showBOOK CLUB!Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERE December Book: Like Family by Erin O. White SUBSTACK!https://gaysreading.substack.com/ MERCH!http://gaysreading.printful.me WATCH!https://youtube.com/@gaysreading FOLLOW!Instagram: @gaysreading | @jasonblitmanBluesky: @gaysreading | @[email protected] up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this *spoiler free* conversation, host Jason Blitman talks to author Erin O. White about her book LIKE FAMILY, the December Gays Reading Book Club pick with Allstora.LIKE FAMILY — a warm, big-hearted debut about the beautiful, messy, complicated ways we love one another. Set in a picturesque town in upstate New York, the novel follows three interconnected couples navigating friendship, parenthood, queer identity, jealousy, grief, and the quiet bravery of choosing each other again and again.At its core, LIKE FAMILY is a love letter to queer families and small-town life. What I love most is how Erin O. White writes about family — the people who see you, hold you, frustrate you, change you — with tenderness, humor, and honesty. These characters are flawed, loving, funny, and so deeply human. If you enjoy character-driven family novels in the spirit of Anne Tyler, Catherine Newman, and Ann Patchett, this one will feel like a cozy hug.A fifty-one-year-old debut novelist, Erin O. White is also an essayist and the author of the memoir Give Up For You. After growing up in Colorado and living for twenty years in western Massachusetts, she now lives with her wife and daughters in Minneapolis.What do you get when you join the Gays Reading Book Club?Curated book delivered monthly to your door (at a discount!) – the books we’d call “accessibly literary”30% Off Allstora’s websiteAccess to the book club “Kiki” to talk about the booksExclusive author Q&AsAllstora donates a children’s book to an LGBTQIA+ youthThis club exclusively supports LGBTQIA+ authorsAnd more!Support the showBOOK CLUB!Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERE December Book: Like Family by Erin O. White SUBSTACK!https://gaysreading.substack.com/ MERCH!http://gaysreading.printful.me WATCH!https://youtube.com/@gaysreading FOLLOW!Instagram: @gaysreading | @jasonblitmanBluesky: @gaysreading | @[email protected] up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman talks to award-winning Irish writer Gráinne O'Hare about her debut novel, Thirst Trap. Conversation highlights include:❤️‍🔥 icks on dates🙃 drunk alter egos 🧡 Taylor Swift👯‍♀️ long friendshipsNext up is Guest Gay Reader™️ Brian Schaefer who talks about what he's been reading (hint: it's NOT books!), the book club he has with his mom, and shares the inspo behind his debut novel, Town & Country.Gráinne O’Hare is a writer from Belfast based in Newcastle upon Tyne. She received a Northern Debut Award for Fiction from New Writing North, and was awarded funding by the Arts Council for the development and completion of her first novel. She has also been shortlisted for the Francis MacManus Short Story Competition and the Bridport Prize, and came in the top three of the Benedict Kiely Short Story Competition. She is media sub-editor of Criticks reviews for the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, and has a PhD on eighteenth-century women’s life-writing from Newcastle University.Brian Schaefer contributes regularly to The New York Times and has written for The New Yorker, New York magazine, and more. He is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Arts Journalism and was a finalist for the Livingston Award for International Reporting. He earned his master’s degree in creative writing from Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv. He and his husband live in New York City and the Hudson Valley. Town & Country is his first novel.Support the showBOOK CLUB!Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERE December Book: Like Family by Erin O. White SUBSTACK!https://gaysreading.substack.com/ MERCH!http://gaysreading.printful.me WATCH!https://youtube.com/@gaysreading FOLLOW!Instagram: @gaysreading | @jasonblitmanBluesky: @gaysreading | @[email protected] up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Jason Blitman is joined by Aja Gabel to talk about her first novel in nearly a decade, Lightbreakers. Conversation highlights include:✍🏻 the death of handwriting 🧪 science vs art 💭 what memory means to usJason's then joined by Guest Gay Reader™️ Anthony Delaney who shares a giant stack of books he's reading as well as shares about his new book, Queer Enlightenments. Aja Gabel is the author of the novel The Ensemble. Her prose can be found in The Cut, the Los Angeles Times, Oprah Daily, and elsewhere. Her short story “Little Fish” was adapted into a feature film, and she has written extensively for television. She lives in Los Angeles.Dr Anthony Delaney has a PhD in history from the University of Exeter, where he is an Honorary Fellow, and presents the History Hit podcast After Dark. Queer Georgians is his first book.Support the showBOOK CLUB!Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERE December Book: Like Family by Erin O. White SUBSTACK!https://gaysreading.substack.com/ MERCH!http://gaysreading.printful.me WATCH!https://youtube.com/@gaysreading FOLLOW!Instagram: @gaysreading | @jasonblitmanBluesky: @gaysreading | @[email protected] up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERESUBSTACK! MERCH! WATCH! CONTACT! [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.