This Queer Book Saved My Life

Without this book, I wouldn't have become me. And I guess I'd be married to a man. Today we meet Adrineh Der Boghossian and we’re talking about the book that saved her life: Princess Freak by Nancy Agabian. And Nancy joins us for the conversation! Princess Freak documents through poetry and prose texts Nancy's coming-of-age of as a shy, funny, bisexual Armenian-American woman who fl...

Today, Once Upon a Crime Books presents 7 Minutes in Book Heaven, the podcast where we interview LGBTQ authors about the new books they have coming out for us to love and cuddle up with. Once Upon a Crime Books is an independent bookstore specializing in mystery fiction. Located in Uptown Minneapolis, you can shop in their store Monday through Saturday 11am – 5:30pm. Or, visit their website! There...

Ancient queer Greek love. The Easter Bunny. And everything in between. Today we meet Christina Bagni and we’re talking about the book that saved her life The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. Christina is an editor, host of Classics and Chill, and the author of the YA novel My Only Real Friend is the Easter Bunny at the Mall . For Christina, The Song of Achilles not only helped her to process a...

You didn't realize you'd end up reading a charming gay couple's 3,100 love letters.  Today we meet Scott Bane and we’re talking about the book that launched a life-saving journey for him: American Renaissance by F.O. Matthiessen. Scott is a Program Officer at the John A. Hartford Foundation and author of A Union Like Ours: The Love Story of F.O. Matthiessen and Russel Cheney . Imagi...

I knew something was wrong, but what? This book helped me realize I have a disability. And it's treatable. Today we meet David-Elijah Nahmod and we’re talking about the book that saved his life: Blind: A Memoir by Belo Miguel Cipriani. And Belo joins us for the conversation! David-Elijah Nahmod is a freelance journalist in San Francisco, who writes for publications all over the country and in...

We meet Dianna Hunter and her new novel Clouded Waters which releases today: October 10! What's it about? When a local water scientist goes missing, newspaper owner Susan B. Ellingson follows a trail of evidence from a tiny, off-grid community into a global tangle of lies, corruption, whistleblowing, and danger. All the while her mother-in-law leads a group of Ojibwe and Métis grandmothers fi...

 Coming out wasn’t a switch that fixed everything. This book explained why. Today we meet Chris Tompkins and we’re talking about the book that saved Chris' life: The Velvet Rage by Alan Downs. Chris is an LGTBQ affirmative therapist and author of the new book Raising LGBTQ Allies: A Parent's Guide to Changing the Messages from the Playground . In The Velvet Rage , psychologist Alan Downs...

I had no queer friends. I kept going to the same bookstore hoping a girl would hit on me. Welcome to our new season! Today we meet Leslie Vincent and Michelle Tea! We’re talking about the book that saved Leslie's life: Valencia by Michelle Tea. As a music maker, Leslie Vincent performs jazz and the great American Songbook. She released her new album About Last Night earlier this year. Michell...

Welcome to our Summer of Book Love series! Our series concludes today as we meet Rebecca Turkewitz and her new new spooky story collection: Here in the Night.  New episodes of This Queer Book Saved My Life! drop next Tuesday! September 19th! What's it about? The thirteen stories in Rebecca Turkewitz’s debut collection, Here in the Night, are engrossing, strange, eerie, and emotionally nuanced...

Welcome to our Summer of Book Love series! Every Tuesday this summer we will feature new episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven which has your next summer read! New episodes of This Queer Book Saved My Life! drop September 19th. Today we meet Robert Kirby and his new graphic memoir: Marry Me A Little. What's it about? Rob recounts his experience of marrying his longtime partner, John, just afte...

Welcome to our Summer of Book Love series! Every Tuesday this summer we will feature new episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven which has your next summer read! New episodes of This Queer Book Saved My Life! drop this September. Today we meet Marisa Crane and their new novel: I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself . What's it about? Dept. of Speculation meets Black Mirror in this lyrical, speculative...

Welcome to our Summer of Book Love series! Every Tuesday this summer we will feature new episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven which has your next summer read! New episodes of This Queer Book Saved My Life! drop this September. Today we meet Tristan Taormino and their new memoir: A Part of the Heart Can't Be Eaten. What's it about? Sex educator, filmmaker, and podcast host Tristan Taormin...

Welcome to our Summer of Book Love series! Every Tuesday this summer we will feature new episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven which has your next summer read! New episodes of This Queer Book Saved My Life! drop this September. Today we meet Lin Thompson and their new novel: The House That Whispers. What's it about? Eleven-year-old Simon and his siblings, Talia and Rose, are staying the week a...

Welcome to our Summer of Book Love series! Every Tuesday this summer we will feature new episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven which has your next summer read! New episodes of This Queer Book Saved My Life! drop this September. Today we meet Lucian Childs and his new novel: Dreaming Home . What's it about? When a sister's casual act of betrayal awakens their father's demons--ones spa...

Welcome to our Summer of Book Love series! New episodes of This Queer Book Saved My Life! drop this September. Every Tuesday this summer we will feature new episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven which has your next summer read! Today we meet Dr. Gwen Bass and her new memoir: Immaculate Misconception: A Story of Biology and Belonging. What's it about? In the early 1980’s, 95% of all artificial...

Welcome to our Summer of Book Love series! Every Tuesday this summer we will feature new episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven which has your next summer read! Today we meet Christine Suggs and their graphic novel ¡Ay, Mija! My Bilingual Summer in Mexico. In this bilingual, inventive, and heartfelt debut, graphic novel sixteen-year-old Christine explores a trip they took to Mexico to visit family,...

Welcome to our Summer of Book Love series! Every Tuesday this summer we will feature new episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven which has your next summer read! Today we meet Kelly Balch and their novel Aphrodite's Sister . This novel series follows Petra Ambrosi, who is a Goddess with empathic abilities, though she is emotionless herself. Throughout the novel, and its subsequent sequel, she is...

Welcome to our Summer of Book Love series with our newest episode of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven! Every Tuesday we feature your next summer read.  Meet C.H. Williams and his new book One of a Thousand Names . This fantasy novel follows Rose, who is on a mission to avenge her father's death. As she sacrifices her friends, she must make a decision about whether avenging her father is worth the inc...

The book where your self-proclaimed fag hag decides to kidnap you.  Today we meet Clark Carlton and Robert Rodi! Our guest is novelist, playwright, and producer Clark Carlton. You may know him from his sci-fi/fantasy novel Prophets of the Ghost Ants which launched his Antasy series. Our featured author is Robert Rodi who has published seven novels, and he also writes comic books, nonfiction, as we...

Queer kids have to grow up so fast to protect ourselves.  Our guest todays are Nick Bussett and A. Rey Pamatmat! Nick is the co-host of Gay Talk 2.0 and the Director of Development at the Shubert Theatre. Rey is an award winning playwright and writer. He is a GLAAD and Lambda nominee and the co-Director of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab. We’re talking about the play that saved Nick's life: Edith Can S...

All of the queer futures that we can build for ourselves. Our guest today is the CEO and founder of editaudio, Steph Colbourn. editaudio is a podcast production company with a mission to hire more women, nb and trans people in media. Founded in 2014, Steph put together an amazing queer team of producers and staff to make the audio industry more representative of what the word actually looks like....

Meet A.J. Irving and her new book The Wishing Flower ! An LGBTQ-inclusive story about understanding your peers, your feelings, and yourself, The Wishing Flower is a love letter to longing, belonging, and longing to belong. With stunning illustrations by Kip Alizadeh, The Wishing Flower will inspire readers to honor their wishes and show the world their truest selves. A.J. Irving grew up in Boise,...

Drag. Vodka. 90s subculture. And knowing you're gonna be ok. Our guest today is Nathan Eckstein (he/they) who is a writer, playwright, and graduate student at the University of Minnesota pursuing a Masters degrees in Architecture. They are also a candidate for another masters degree in Science Research Practices. Nathan shares with us how the memoir I Am Not Myself These Days by Josh Kilmer-P...

Meet four-time HQ MIX Trophy winner for best Webcomic, Mário César and his new book Blessed Cure .  Like Alison Bechdel's Fun Home , César's Blessed Cure uses comics to explore queer life.  In this book, our hero, Acacio do Nascimento, knew he was a different boy from others. He would rather be playing with dolls than playing soccer. The hula hoop interested him more than cowboy pistols....

I read it as a teenager. Then starred in it with Olympia Dukakis. Our guest today is writer, actor, and teacher Jonathan Fried. Jonathan shares with us how the play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams saved his life. What’s extra special about this for Jonathan is that not only did this play have life-saving features for him as a teenager, he went on to star in it in a production with Olympi...