summer beach reads
really queering the definition of "beach reads" in this one
It’s summertime and a reader recently asked me:
Hello Maddy Court readers, I am looking for good beach reads…and would love any recommendations on books including DYKE DRAMA. need summer beach reads please and thank you!!
Have read Dykette, Big Swiss, Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl...looking for more books in that vein! esp w/ a more diverse cast than white dykes! The L Word as a book??
Okay so you’re looking for “beach reads“ by which you mean literary fiction heavy on DYKE DRAMA, cheating, age gaps, and unhinged sex energy. Off the top of my head: Valencia by Michelle Tea (where would we be without Valencia? also this new cover hits), How it Works Out by Myriam Lacroix, Milk Fed by Melissa Broder, and Women by Chloe Caldwell.
Professionally successful, interpersonally messy lesbians who live in LA and reference The L Word: Perfume and Pain by Anna Dorn.
Trust and Safety and The Very Nice Box by Laura Blackett and Eve Gleichman: two funny, irreverent novels where a bisexual protagonist must solve a mystery/uncover a devious scheme whilst being totally unmoored by someone hot.
More contemporary novels about queer women: Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters, Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg, Cannonball by K. Wroten, and Stay and Fight by Madeline ffitch.
Novels about queer and trans people living through climate collapse, fascism, and general dystopia: The Earthquake Room and X by Davey Davis.
Novels that are more diverse than just white dykes: All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews and Homebodies by Tembe Denton-Hurst (sadly literary and queer fiction is very white, there is a lot more diversity in romance, science fiction, and other genre fiction! Let me know in the comments if you know of any novels by and about queer women of color!!)
If you’re open to vampires and time travel: The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez. If you’re open to death, Nigerian folklore, and queerness as supernatural: Akwaeke Emezi.
Not especially queer novels that feature unhinged women wanting unhinged sex in the vein of Big Swiss: Luster by Raven Leilani and The Pisces by Melissa Broder (such a good, topical beach read because it’s about a woman having sex with a merman and many scenes take place on a beach)
Very queer novels that feature unhinged women wanting unhinged sex: every Miranda July novel.
Other queer novels that are SO GOOD, I’m telling you: Sorry to Disrupt the Peace by Patrick Cottrell (SO GOOD! Do NOT sleep on Sorry to Disrupt the Peace by Patrick Cottrell), Nevada by Imogen Binnie, Real Life by Brandon Taylor, and My Lesbian Novel by Renee Gladman.
What I’m reading at the beach this summer
I live in Vermont, so “the beach“ means “swimming spot” which usually means “deep part of a river that may or may not have some kind of adjacent sandy zone to sit on.” The best swimming spots are closely guarded secrets and if you post about them online, people will yell at you. Unless you have a really perfect spot, expect a harrowing descent down a steep bank and sharp rocks in and outside the water (Tevas or another bespoke water shoe are NOT OPTIONAL.) Liz and I are still looking for a good spot by our new house but once we find it, here’s what I’m going to read:
A few years ago, Imogen Binnie wrote, “a screenplay that finally answers the question ‘what if Love, Actually (2003) was set in Burlington, Vermont, and also everyone was trans.’” It’s called Burlington, Vermont.
There’s a new Alison Bechdel graphic novel, which I learned about from this smart, thoughtful interview with Alison on Gender Reveal.
Earlier this spring, I practically inhaled “Stag Dance,” the titular story from Torrey Peters’ new collection. The story is narrated by The Babe, a prodigiously strong lumberjack who longs to be courted as a women in his logging camp’s upcoming stag dance. The Babe is a tender and whimsical soul, and I want to spend more time in her head!! She also speaks entirely in 19th century lumberjack slang (eggs are called cackleberries), which is as delightful as it is confusing and demands subsequent reads.
I’m also going to re-read Zipper Mouth by Laurie Weeks. Originally published in 2011, Zipper Mouth is a short novel about a lesbian with substance abuse issues who’s in love with her straight best friend and also the long-deceased actress Vivien Leigh. I read Zipper Mouth in my early 20s and it really taught me that fiction could be super gay, and also the power of voice. I still have the same copy and the most random phrases are highlighted in gel pen i.e. “I wanted to die” :/
So that’s what I’m reading this summer. Let me know what you’re reading, if there’s any books you wanna throw in the Subaru. xoxo, Maddy
P.S. Who’s ready for a new season of The Ultimatum: Queer Love THIS WEDNESDAY?? All my recaps of season 1 are now free for all :)
post-op television
Today I’m answering two questions from people who are wondering what to watch when they, or their girlfriend, don’t have the juice for anything serious and long.
I must recommend these two that I read recently and loved and are not overwhelmingly white! can't stop talking about both of them
-Feast While You Can by Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta: butch/femme horror romance in '90s Italy, written by a married lesbian couple (!). the femme main character is possessed by a strange monster and conveniently, the only thing that can protect her is the touch of her brother's sexy butch ex-girlfriend. absolutely terrifying and also scorchingly hot.
-Butter Honey Pig Bread by francesca ekwuyasi: non-chronological story of a mother and her twin daughters that takes place in Nigeria and Canada. one of the daughters is queer and a chef, it's beautiful and sensual and poignant and there are lots of delicious food descriptions.
*note: I would check out the content warnings for both of these if you are sensitive to certain topics because there are some pretty graphic/violent scenes
This is exactly the thread I NEED.
Idlewild by James Frankie Thomas is pretty beach read-y! More trans and gay but certainly dykey as well.
Hijab Butch Blues is full of interesting nonwhite dyke stories and can be kinda beachy??
We Both Laughed in Pleasure by Lou Sullivan is trans/gay male but like IS drama and IS sex and is so fucking good if you haven’t read.
Girls Can Kiss Now by Jill Gutowitz is maybe actually absolutely what you are looking for but in nonfiction essays.
Cantoras by Carolina de Robertis is ACTUALLY what you are looking for. DYKE DRAMA AT THE BEACH and all of them are Latina.
The Fixed Stars by Molly Wizenberg is figuring out you’re gay while married and a mom memoir and there’s plenty of drama and queer and poly dating!