Gays Reading

Jason and Brett talk to Nathan Hill (Wellness) about monogamy, parental relationships, social media and the algorithm, and how stories can be both constructed and constricted by the worlds we live in. Wellness is the September 2023 Oprah’s Book Club PickNathan Hill’s best-selling debut novel, The Nix, was named the number one book of 2016 by Entertainment Weekly and one of the year’s best books by The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, Slate, and many others. It was the winner of the Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction from the Los Angeles Times and was published worldwide in more than two dozen languages. A native Iowan, Hill lives with his wife in Naples, Florida.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.

Jason and Brett talk to Gaby Wood, the Chief Executive of the Booker Prize Foundation about the prize process. Gaby talks about choosing judges, facilitating meetings, and other aspects of her role which includes making some difficult decisions. They also talk to three-time Booker Prize listee, Tan Twan Eng about his experience as a nominee and his unique insight as an 2023 International Booker Prize judge. Twan is currently represented on the 2023 longlist with his book, The House of Doors. - Watch how the Booker Prize works in this animated video - Official Booker Prize rulesSupport 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.

Jason and Brett talk to Mona Awad (Rouge) about the key ingredients of a fairy tale, the cult of the beauty industry, and how her own biracial background influenced her writing this contemporary gothic Snow White. Mona Awad is the author of the novels All’s Well, Bunny, and 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl. Bunny was a finalist for a Goodreads Choice Award and the New England Book Award. It was named a Best Book of 2019 by TIME, Vogue, and the New York Public Library. It is currently being developed for film with Bad Robot Productions. All’s Well was a finalist for a Goodreads Choice Award. 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl was shortlisted for the Giller Prize. Awad’s forthcoming novel Rouge, is being adapted for film by Fremantle and Sinestra. This spring, Margaret Atwood named Awad her ‘literary heir’ in The New York Times’s T Magazine. She teaches fiction in the creative writing program at Syracuse University and is based in Boston.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.

Jason and Brett talk to acclaimed actor, playwright, and male actress Charles Busch (Leading Lady) about his career, the evolution of drag performers, and iconic stories featuring the likes Liza Minnelli, Carol Channing, and more. Charles Busch is an actor, playwright and drag legend. He is the author and star of many plays, including Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, one of the longest-running plays in Off-Broadway history. His play The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife played 777 performances on Broadway and received a Tony nomination for Best Play. Busch wrote and starred in the film versions of his plays Psycho Beach Party and Die Mommie Die, the latter of which won him the Best Performance Award at the Sundance Film Festival. He has been honored with a special Drama Desk Award for career achievement as both performer and playwright and he also received the Flora Roberts Award for Sustained Achievement in the theater by the Dramatist’s Guild.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.

Jason and Brett talk to Lara Love Hardin (The Many Lives of Mama Love) about her journey from soccer mom, to opiate addict with 32 felonies, to literary agent turned bestselling author. They talk about the complexities of shame, identity, and empathy, reflect on the power of storytelling, and the courage it takes to confront one's past. And they laugh a lot, too, if you can imagine. Lara Love Hardin is a literary agent, author, and president of True Literary. Prior to founding True Literary, she was the co-CEO of Idea Architects. She has an MFA in creative writing and is a four-time New York Times bestselling collaborative writer, including the #1 New York Times bestseller Designing Your Life, and 2018 Oprah Book Club pick, The Sun Does Shine, which she coauthored with Anthony Ray Hinton. In 2019 she won a Christopher Award for her work “affirming the highest values of the human spirit.” In 2019 she was also nominated for an NAACP Image Award and short-listed for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. Love Hardin lives in La Selva Beach, California, with her husband, Sam. She has four children, two step-children, five dogs, three cats, twenty-one chickens, and four ducks.- Register for Lara's event in conversation with Jason HERE- Watch Lara's TED Talk HERE- Learn about Lara's organization The Gemma Project HERESupport 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.

Jason and Brett talk to Angie Kim (Happiness Falls) about the importance of managing expectations, maintaining your happiness baseline, and of all things, their favorite musicals. Warning: This episode may or may not include a sing-along. Okay, it definitely does.As always, Gays Reading is spoiler-free, so you can listen whether you've read the book or not!Angie Kim moved as a preteen from Seoul, South Korea, to the suburbs of Baltimore. After graduating from Interlochen Arts Academy, she studied philosophy at Stanford University and attended Harvard Law School, where she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. Her debut novel, Miracle Creek, won the Edgar Award, the ITW Thriller Award, the Strand Critics’ Award, and the Pinckley Prize and was named one of the best books of the year by Time, The Washington Post, Kirkus Reviews, and the Today show. Angie Kim lives in northern Virginia with her family. @angiekimaskLearn more about Angelman Syndrome HERE. 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.

BONUS EPISODE! Jason and Brett talk to Rasheed Newson (My Government Means to Kill Me) about his firsthand experience on the WGA picket line and get the inside scoop on what the writers are fighting for. They also chat about gay history and the exciting project that Rasheed is keeping himself busy with in the meantime. Rasheed Newson is a writer and producer of Bel-Air, The Chi, and Narcos. He currently resides in Pasadena, California with his husband and two children. My Government Means to Kill Me is his debut 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.

Jason and Brett talk to Alice Winn (In Memoriam) about the lack of iced coffee in Europe, the books that inspired her WWI journey, and how she created intimate sex scenes for her gay characters. In Memoriam is shortlisted for the 2023 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize.Alice Winn grew up in Paris and was educated in the UK. She has a degree in English literature from Oxford University. She lives in Brooklyn.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.

Jason and Brett talk to R. Eric Thomas (Congratulations, the Best is Over!) about Ann Patchett, The Dutch House by Ann Patchett, Parnassus Books owned by Ann Patchett, and some other things entirely unrelated to Ann Patchett such as the sequel to the best pickleball movie, what Charles Dickens might've talked about over brunch, and so much more. This episode also features special guest Hunter McLendon (aka shelfbyshelf on Instagram) who joins Jason and Brett to discuss some of his favorite essay collections. R. Eric Thomas is the bestselling author of Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America, a Lambda Literary Award finalist; and the YA novel Kings of B’more, a Stonewall Honor book. Both books were also featured as Read with Jenna book club picks on Today. He is also a television writer (Apple TV+’s Dickinson, FX’s Better Things), a Lambda Literary Award–winning playwright, and the long-running host of the Moth in Philadelphia. For four years, Thomas was a senior staff writer at Elle online, where he wrote the popular “Eric Reads the News” column. @ourericSupport 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.

CW: This episode includes sexually explicit content as well as conversations about sexual abuse and trauma. If you or anyone you know needs resources for sexual violence, please visit rainn.org. Jason and Brett talk to Kyle Dillon Hertz (The Lookback Window) about seeking justice, the nuance of fact vs. fiction in writing, and the queerness of the video game Fortnite. Queer-Owned Bookstore Shout Out: A SEAT AT THE TABLE BOOKS (Elk Grove, CA)At Elk Grove’s bookstore, café, and community hub, everyone deserves a seat at the table! Our family-owned, inclusive business will be your new favorite place to shop for books and gifts, meet up with friends, get work done, relax, and connect with the community. Learn more about A Seat at the Table HERE and make sure to listen to the episode for a discount code!Additional reading:Check out Kyle's Esquire articleCheck out Kyle's interview in Interview magazineSupport 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.

Jason and Brett chat with author Tim Murphy (Speech Team) and they recount shared teenage experiences, what it means to be a bully, the search for like-minded peers, and kvell over the brilliance of one 80s soap opera. Tim Murphy is the author of Correspondents and Christodora, which was long-listed for the 2017 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and named a Best Book of the Year by The Guardian. He has also been a journalist for the past twenty-five years.Queer-Owned Bookstore Shout Out: BETTIE'S PAGES!Bettie’s Pages is a queer-owned independent bookstore in Lowell, MI. Their mission is to cultivate community, empower readers, and maintain a welcoming space that is diverse, inclusive, and affirming. You can learn more about them HERE. 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.

Brett and Jason share their recommendations for the perfect books to enjoy poolside, or wherever you may find yourself as summer ends. They’re joined by bestselling author Elissa Sussman (Funny You Should Ask), who not only shares her end-of-summer book picks but also talks about why romance novels make great vacation reads and the importance of the depiction of great sex. Elissa Sussman is the bestselling author of Once More with Feeling, Funny You Should Ask, and three young adult novels. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their many pets. @elissa_sussmanSupport 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.

Jason and Brett talk to author Javier Fuentes (Countries of Origin) about the fears surrounding immigration, mysteries of young love, joy in a perfect dessert, and the places we find home. Gays Reading is excited to shout out queer-owned independent bookstore Libélula Books & Co in the Barrio Logan neighborhood in San Diego, CA. “Libélula is a home for love of language and radical sh*t!” You can learn more about them HERE and purchase your copy of Countries of Origin from them HERE. Javier Fuentes is a Spanish American writer, a 2018 Lambda Literary Fellow, who earned an MFA in Fiction from Columbia University where he was a teaching fellow. Born in Barcelona, he lives in New York.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.

Jason and Brett talk to New York Times bestselling author Caroline O'Donoghue about her new book, The Rachel Incident. They talk about the unique relationship between straight women and gay men, scabies and one-night stands, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and address big questions like: What does Sally Field do in her downtime?Gays Reading is excited to partner with The King's English Bookshop in Salt Lake City, UT, a queer-owned independent bookstore matching books to readers since 1977. You can use the code GAYSREADING to get a discount on your entire order when you purchase HERE.Caroline O’Donoghue is the New York Times bestselling author of All Our Hidden Gifts, her YA debut fantasy, which has been published in more than twenty territories around the world. She has written for The Times and The Guardian, and is the host of an award-winning podcast, Sentimental Garbage. She was born in Ireland and lives in London. The Rachel Incident is her first adult novel to be published in the U.S.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.

Jason & Brett discuss their top five best books so far in 2023. Between them, they only share one common title so there are nine other books to add to your TBR or brag to all your friends about because you're amazingly well-read! 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 celebration of Pride and the inaugural episode of Gays Reading, hosts Brett Benner and Jason Blitman talk about how this podcast came to be and highlight some LGBTQIA+ books that had an impact on them. If you like what you're hearing so far, be sure to like, follow, subscribe, review, etc. wherever you get your podcasts! 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 each week by bestselling authors, VIP gay readers, cultural icons, and other special guests for lively, spoiler-free conversations. Gays Reading celebrates LGBTQIA+ and ally authors and storytellers, offering insightful discussions for everyone. Whether you're gay, straight, or anywhere in between, if you enjoy being a fly on the wall for fun, thoughtful, and fabulous conversations, Gays Reading is for you.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.