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NBC News
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC News
18 queer AF beach reads to devour this summer
The summer months are a perfect time to sit back, unwind and enjoy a bit of escapism with a book (or e-reader) in hand. For some, this could entail a trope-filled gay romance, while for others, it could mean tales of lesbian vampires and carnivorous flowers (looking at you, Florida!). In order to serve up beachworthy queer recommendations for book lovers with a variety of tastes and preferences, we asked booksellers and bibliophiles across the country for the titles they'd throw in their beach bags. 'Stop Me if You've Heard This One' ' Stop Me if You've Heard This One ' by Kristen Arnett, about a down-on-her-luck professional clown juggling a messy personal and professional life, was recommended by Christina Pascucci-Ciampa, the founder and owner of All She Wrote Books in Somerville, Massachusetts. 'This book, while at times outlandish and bonkers, was also extremely real and relatable. It's why I fall in love with books like this one. I also fell in love with all of Arnett's quirky characters, and the one-liners are *chef's kiss* — sharp zingers that make you laugh so hard,' she said in an email. When asked how she defines a beach read, Pascucci-Ciampa said it's 'a book that you can get lost in, and if it can, makes you laugh out loud. When you are at the beach, it is all about having a good time, especially if there are books involved.' 'Deep House' ' Deep House: The Gayest Love Story Ever Told ' by Jeremy Atherton Lin, a memoir about young love and gay rights, was recommended by Matty Faries, the assistant manager and book club coordinator at Unabridged Bookstore in Chicago. 'It's an intimate memoir that braids the young author's story of falling in love with the boy of his dreams with the historical record of the fight for marriage equality,' Faries said. 'It'll scratch the itch for anyone who wants a sexy and sweet story of young love, but it has plenty to teach about the culture wars and bureaucratic hurdles that have made living and loving so difficult for LGBTQ and immigrant communities, too.' While Faries notes his top pick is not a typical beach read, he said that 'for a lot of folks a good beach read is any book that is easy to fall into and share with friends, maybe a romance or a fantasy novel that feels like a mini-vacation when you can escape into the pages.' 'Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil' ' Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil' by V.E. Schwab, an epic lesbian vampire tale spanning five centuries, is another top pick from the Unabridged Bookstore team (and a favorite of this article's author). At more than 500 pages, this Sapphic story is a heavy book for a beach read (both literally and figuratively), but it will undoubtedly transport the reader (only figuratively) across Europe, America and time as its three main characters seek to sate their hunger and their hearts (at times simultaneously). This novel, while centered on the undead, may also have readers questioning what makes us human. 'Call Your Boyfriend' ' Call Your Boyfriend ' by Olivia A. Cole and Ashley Woodfolk, a Sapphic romance about two teens seeking revenge on their cool-girl crush, was recommended by Leah Johnson, the owner of Loudmouth Books in Indianapolis. 'It's 'John Tucker Must Die' for a new generation, it's 'Bottoms' in book form. It has all of the makings of a classic teen movie, but infused with an effortlessly diverse, progressive worldview,' she said in an email. 'In a time like now, queer readers — especially young people — need to see themselves reflected in stories that highlight all the complexity of loving and living in a queer body while also getting to experience the shenanigans and hijinx that have long marked the genre for everyone else.' When it comes to a beach reads, Johnson said it must 'be page turning but quick, and bonus points if it fits easier in my suitcase!' 'Hungerstone' ' Hungerstone ' by Kat Dunn, a retelling of the classic lesbian vampire tale 'Carmilla,' is the top recommendation of Alex Spencer, the owner of Common Ground Books in Tallahassee, Florida. She also said it's her bookstore's top seller. 'Lesbian vampires are very in right now, which I don't think anybody is going to complain about,' she said. (This article's author is most definitely not complaining.) When asked about the concept of a 'beach read,' Spencer said she defines it as 'something you would read for enjoyment and to unwind,' but she noted that could mean very different things to different people. 'Some people like beach reads that they don't have to think about very much, like the romantic fiction, the happy ending,' she said. 'Some people just like horror and things that are a little bit darker. I've had some people come in and be like, 'I need a book, but I can't do anything dystopian right now, because it's just too real,' so I would cut dystopian off the list of the beach read, but other than that, pretty much just anything that makes you happy and let's you escape.' 'Eat the Ones You Love' ' Eat the Ones You Love ' by Sarah Maria Griffin is Spencer's second recommendation. The book is centered on a woman who has just lost her job and her fiancé and ends up employed by a flower shop where her co-workers include a beautiful shop manager and a carnivorous, sentient orchid. 'For people that are into the creepier fun reads, that would definitely be a fun one for them this summer,' she said. Spencer added that it was the book''s tagline — 'This is a story about desire, dreams, decay — and working retail at the end of the world' — that initially reeled her in. 'That kind of hits me real hard right now, as somebody who works retail while the world is just like exploding around us,' she said. 'Bed and Breakup' ' Bed and Breakup ' by Susie Dumond, a second-chance romance about two exes reuniting to fix up and sell a bed-and-breakfast, was the first of two recommendations by Jaime Harker, the founder of and bookseller at Violet Valley Books in Water Valley, Mississippi. She explained the story, which is set in Asheville, North Carolina, as 'fun and engaging, with interesting characters.' Harker described a 'beach read' as a 'story that grabs my full attention, without the stress of terrible things happening to characters I like.' 'I like other kinds of novels, too, but a beach read should not, in the end, break my heart,' she added. 'If I Told You, I'd Have To Kiss You' ' If I Told You, I'd Have To Kiss You ' by Mae Marvel, a love story between two international spies unaware of the other's secret profession, is Harker's second pick. Like 'Bed and Breakup,' she described it as a 'fun and engaging' second-chance romance with interesting characters. But this one, she added, is a thriller/fantasy that could be described as a 'Sapphic Mrs. and Mrs. Smith.' 'I read both on vacation (though not at the beach) and I found them funny and interesting,' Harker said of her two recommendations. 'Woodworking' ' Woodworking ' by Emily St. James, about the friendship between a transgender teacher and trans student in South Dakota, is the top beach read recommendation of Melissa Amstutz, the owner of Bishop & Wilde Books in Portland, Oregon. 'Emily St. James is a writer on 'Yellowjackets,' so I was already intrigued by what kind of book she would write. But if you were to compare it to a TV show, it's much more akin to 'Somebody Somewhere' than 'Yellowjackets,'' she said. 'It tells of the friendship between a high school trans girl and her English teacher in small town America and the intersecting lives of trans and queer folk surrounding them. It's heartwarming, compelling, and has fascinating twists.' Amstutz added that a beach read can be 'anything that is compulsively readable, and can be nonfiction, too.' Readers' picks In addition to asking booksellers across the country for their top titles, NBC News also solicited recommendations from queer book lovers on social media and IRL. Here are some their picks:
Irish Times
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Reviews in brief: Stop Me If You've Heard This One; The Shape of Things Unseen; and Take Six
Stop Me If You've Heard This One by Kristen Arnett (Corsair, £20) The opening scene of this novel features a clown escaping through a bathroom window after sleeping with a woman at her child's birthday party. Her tool of pleasure? A magic wand. It is almost an achievement then, after such an energetic beginning, that what proceeds is a drag. Arnett's third novel follows lesbian Cherry, and her clown persona, Bucko, in their quest for artistic excellence, as she navigates the death of her clownish (but not clown) brother and her challenging relationships with her mother and her mother-age girlfriend/mentor. As a comment upon gender and sexual identity, late capitalism and its impact upon art, the novel proves somewhat interesting. However, if what you are seeking is a story to engage and move you, look elsewhere. This airless novel will leave you feeling like the drooping rose of a burnt out clown. – Brigid O'Dea The Shape of Things Unseen: A New Science of Imagination by Adam Zeman (Bloomsbury Circus, £25) Adam Zeman is a neurologist at the very forefront of research into the science of imagination, the focus of his third book. Taking his readers on a tour of their inner lives, Zeman draws on (sometimes) familiar scientific concepts to unlock the various workings and wanderings of the mind, including the 'maladies, remedies and extremes of imagination'. Terms like pareidolia and aphantasia are explained through anecdotes and literary allusions; Zeman has a particular affinity for the Romantic poets. In thinking about thinking, Zeman encourages his readers to let their minds wander, to interact with the book's various questions and quizzes. The Shape of Things Unseen, which oscillates about the main axis of human creativity, is accessible, memorable, and, quite frankly, imaginative. – Emily Formstone READ MORE Take Six: Six Irish Women Writers , Edited by Tanya Farrelly (Dedalus, £11.99) In this powerful anthology, Tanya Farrelly curates six distinct voices exploring the fractures of contemporary Irish womanhood. The short stories span dystopian futures, where daughters are outlawed, to quiet acts of voyeurism, all threaded with emotional tension and ethical ambiguity. Mary Morrissy's Holding On simmers like a slow trap; Geraldine Mills's XX chills with maternal defiance; Nuala O'Connor's Surveillance unsettles with creeping obsession. Rosemary Jenkinson's The Peacemaker exposes the dragnet of political memory, while Mary O'Donnell's The Creators conjures an eco-dystopia where female labour is conscripted. Farrelly's own For the Record captures the erosion of safety after adolescent violence. Take Six reveals charged moments where resistance flickers against silence, insisting on the complex realities of identity, power, and survival in a world narrowing by degrees. –Adam Wyeth
Buzz Feed
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Funny And Relatable Tweets About Airport Security
Airport security is no doubt a very serious matter. TSA checkpoints and guidelines are in place to keep us all safe as we fly. But as the rules and technology have evolved, the passenger experience going through security has inevitably led to some hilarious moments. The funny folks of Twitter think so, anyway. We've rounded up 31 funny and relatable tweets about the airport security process, from strange searches to bizarre passenger behavior and more. to the woman who took a bite out of her chapstick in the airport security line: why you did that — Kristen Arnett (@Kristen_Arnett) November 21, 2018 i dont simply go through airport security. i have a goal. i want everyone in line to be blown away by my efficiency. i want to be celebrated as i push my belongings across the table. i want TSA to offer me a job (i'll decline). i want people talking about me at their gate. glory. — shelby wolstein (@ShelbyWolstein) April 26, 2022 I think when I finally die and go to hell its just going to be a constant loop of waiting in the airport security line hungover — Jamie Fline (@allidois_flynn) September 2, 2019 I hope the TSA agent who made me open my sandwich and 'move the pickles around' feels super stupid. In the end it was a sandwich. — Akilah Hughes (@AkilahObviously) September 19, 2022 TSA agent: do you have anything in your back pockets? me: nah girl that's all me — tracy clayton jr the 3rd (@brokeymcpoverty) November 9, 2017 The most zen place in the airport is the 'get your shit together' bench after going through security — Chase Mitchell (@ChaseMit) January 13, 2019 TSA Agent: Anything sharp or dangerous in here? Me: Only if you fear the written word 😏 😏 *finger guns* TSA: 😐 Me: 😬 TSA: 🤨 Me: No, ma'am, nothing sharp or dangerous. — Lesley Nneka Arimah (@larimah) March 29, 2018 Since they're scanning me anyway, sometimes I wish airport security would just tell me how my bone density is doing — Atsuko Okatsuka (@AtsukoComedy) March 29, 2018 I can help you get through airport security 30% faster - just get in any line other than the one I am in. — 〰 Just Linda 〰 (@LindaInDisguise) December 7, 2017 can't stop thinking about the time I watched a woman try to put her dog through the airport security scanner and the tsa agent picked it up and was like 'ma'am no' — sloane (sîpihkopiyesîs) (@cottoncandaddy) July 1, 2019 TSA checking baggages the day before Valentine's: — ✨️💫🖤Beloved🖤💫✨️ (@MoonGoddess_86) February 7, 2022 TSA: Girl [with pierced nipples]: sorry I have my nipples pierced TSA: the metal detector didn't even go off- Girl: it didn't even hurt as much as you'd think — 1984's George Whorewell (@EwdatsGROSS) April 4, 2019 TSA just unpacked a man's bag and revealed it was 50% potatoes, is there no privacy in this world — worms cited (@christapeterso) May 23, 2021 Avoided saying 'You too' after the TSA guy told me to have a nice flight — Elspeth Eastman (@ElspethEastman) December 7, 2017 Me: Excuse me sir, can you please forward my X-ray and breast exam results to my doctor Airport security:... — Saucy Kensington (@Book_Krazy) August 11, 2014 just used TSA PreCheck for the first time & now this is a pic of me — Sophia Benoit (@1followernodad) October 24, 2017 ppl who go through airport security w naked, unsocked feet: HOW??!!! y'all just put your feet on the lil yellow things and soak up the foot juices of THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE??? — tracy clayton jr the 3rd (@brokeymcpoverty) September 9, 2019 tsa agent: sorry you can only board with 3.4 oz of liquid or less me: ok just toss it out then Kool Aid Man: *dressed in tommy bahama* babe what — jo (@whatsJo) November 27, 2021 me before going through security at airport: what if i accidentally have a gun — Natalie (@jbfan911) June 21, 2019 Probably the hottest thing a person can do is move efficiently through the TSA security line. — Sophia Benoit (@1followernodad) February 28, 2015 Apparently when TSA asks if you have any fluids, "In my bladder" is not an appropriate response. — Fishy Snowboarder (@FishySnowborder) April 6, 2014
Washington Post
10-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
This novel about a cowboy clown is wild, luxurious and absurd
There's funny haha, there's funny weird, and, it turns out, there's also 'funny yikes,' as 29-year-old clown Cherry Hendricks tells us in Kristen Arnett's latest novel, 'Stop Me If You've Heard This One.' Cherry describes her estranged relationship with her mother as follows: 'Sometimes it's funny to consider the fact that if I were a mother, I'd probably be just like her. Not funny haha, though; more like funny yikes.'
