The Big Gay Book Club

Happy Pride Month! Our hosts, Chris and Amy, have a lot to say about The Z Word, Lindsay King-Miller’s debut horror novel about Pride and its problematic corporate overlords. At its core, The Z Word is a story about found-family and how necessary it is for queer folks to have a support system surrounding them to make it through the hardships we face on a daily basis. (Zombie apocalypse, anyone?)....

Would our hosts Chris and Amy survive in post apocalyptic America? Would they find love at the end of the world? What truly is the ideal date? These questions and more are answered in this month’s episode, in which they had the pleasure of reading and discussing Erik J. Brown’s All That’s Left in the World. At its core, this is a queer tale of two boys’ journey across an unforgiving landscape in s...

April showers brought us the wonderful tempura encrusted flower that is Chef's Kiss! - written by Jarrett Melendez, illustrated by Danica Brine, colored by Hank Jones, and lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. A perfect bite-sized slice of life story about Ben, an English major, fresh out of college, struggling with employment, that stumbles upon the perfect opportunity at a cute little restaurant wh...

Our hosts Chris and Amy present their longest episode yet! This month, they've had the pleasure of reading and discussing Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, written by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. They laugh, they cry (seriously), and they make metaphors like it's their job! And it's all because of this excellent slice of life story, which centers around the budding friendship of t...

Our hosts Chris and Amy spend nearly two hours gushing over everything Heartstopper, the mega sensation of a graphic novel series drawn and written by the amazing Alice Oseman. From the two (soon to be three) season Netflix adaptation, to the gayest and most iconic scenes in the series, to their theories on what awaits us in volume 6, season 3, and beyond, nothing is off the table. If you've read...

Our hosts Chris and Amy read the perfectly bite-sized work of queer teen romantic fiction (possibly the best four word combination ever concocted), Twelfth Grade Night! A graphic novel oozing with as much character as it does heart, this story take mighty inspiration from some of Shakespeare's most famous (and fun) works. There's an honest to goodness love triangle, many hijinks, and important mes...

Our hosts Chris and Amy have a lot to say about the queer and chaotic (in all the best ways) Christmas rom-com, 'Kiss Her Once for Me,' by Alison Cochrun. Amy said it best when attempting to summarize what this book was about in two words: fate and failure. If you like any of the following things, you may need to hurry up and read this book so you can listen to this episode! Snowy bridges lit by C...

Our hosts Chris and Amy get ~s~p~o~o~k~y~ this month as they read Echo, by Thomas Olde Heuvelt, a Dutch writer who takes inspiration from some of the greatest horror writers of our time (and it shows)! They have a lot to say about this continent spanning epic and the main character's quest to save a person's soul. This is, at its core, a love story, with more than you can imagine at stake. It just...

Our hosts Chris and Amy read a very neat book by Mary Robinette Kowal about a dog, named Gimlet, in space! Oh, and there are several other cool things that happen, but mostly there is a dog, solving crime, in space. Oh, wait, maybe that's actually the dog's human, Tesla Crane, an engineer-turned-detective whose spouse, Shal, has been framed for MURDER. Together, Tesla and Gimlet save the day, and...

Our hosts Chris and Amy spend one hundred minutes gushing over Alice Oseman's wonderful series, Heartstopper. No topic is off the table as they dive into all the details that make Heartstopper the queer story they wish they had growing up. Learn more about your hosts as they open up about how a story like Heartstopper leaves its lasting impact on them. Both Amy and Chris see themselves in one of t...

Our hosts Chris and Amy discuss the House in the Cerulean Sea, by TJ Klune. Be warned, because you will soon be wrapped in a big gay blanket through no control of your own. This book is a wonderfully important tale about breaking out of your rut, no matter how scary or daunting that task may be, and finding your place in the world amongst family, friends, and maybe even a few magical beings. In a...

Our hosts Chris and Amy explore everything there is to know about them and their shared love of reading and writing. How did they meet? When did their love of reading begin? What were their favorite books growing up? How are reading and writing a part of their lives today? The answers to all of these questions and more wait for you within. Thank you to Kevin MacLeod for the use of our theme song,...