June 2023 Be Yourself. 
This month’s special edition of The Southern Bookseller Review celebrates Pride Month, and joyfully honors the impact and importance that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals in our lives. Recognizing the bright light of LGBTQ+ people is more important now than it has ever been. As more and more LGBTQ+ books become the targets of book bans, perhaps the most important thing any of us can do is read those books and decide for ourselves. “The world isn’t binary. Everything isn’t black or white, yes or no. Sometimes it’s not a switch, it’s a dial." —Jeff Garvin, Symptoms of Being Human |
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Read This Now! Recommended by Southern indies… |
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And Then He Sang a Lullaby by Ani Kayode Adult Fiction, African American & Black, LGBTQ+, Literary Fiction And Then He Sang a Lullaby is a powerful debut that follows the story of Segun and August, two college students in Nigeria who yearn for love and connection. Readers will be deeply moved by this brave and beautiful tale of two men who can’t help but deny their attraction despite the risks to themselves and each other. Reviewed by Beth Seufer Buss, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina 
About the author Ani Kayode is an award-winning Nigerian writer and queer liberation activist. His work interrogates themes of queer identity, resistance, and liberation. His writings have appeared in literary magazines across Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America. |
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Bookseller Buzz |
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Spotlight on: Big Gay Wedding by Byron Lane
I just tried to be honest. When I’m honest in my life, about my life, it tends to make others honest about theirs and suddenly we all relate to each other and our lives in a more meaningful way. I don’t know whether it’s been years of therapy or what, but I find I’m generally an optimistic person. Even in sad or heavy situations I can usually find something sweet or helpful or humorous. ― Byron Lane, Interview, The Nerd Daily What booksellers are saying about Big Gay Wedding 
Byron Lane is author of A Star Is Bored, hailed by the New York Times Book Review as “wildly funny and irreverent.” He’s a playwright, screenwriter, Emmy Award–winning journalist, and former assistant to actress Carrie Fisher. He’s originally from New Orleans and lives in Palm Springs, California, with his husband, author Steven Rowley, and their rescue dogs, Raindrop and Shirley. |
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Good Sex by Catherine M. Roach Excerpt: The New Gender and Sexual Revolution A cultural revolution unfolds in America. It emerges from the relationship scene of dating apps and hookup sex, #MeToo activism against sexual misconduct, media campaigns around body positivity, and the increased visibility of people from across the gender and sexuality spectrum. These varied developments stand at the cutting edge of a broad shift happening across America and the globe. Together, they herald a welcome revolution for the twenty-first century and a new vision of sexual and gender well-being. While a puritanical past shapes America, the twenty-first century has ushered in huge changes, fast. All these transformations, disparate yet interrelated, result in greater cultural acceptance and legal protection for diversity in gender expression and romance. A brave new world opens before us: we live in an era of new gender and sexual revolution… This moment builds on the earlier sex-positive revolution of the 1960s and early 70s, fueled by that era’s counterculture movement and widespread availability of reliable contraceptives. But it adds fresh emphasis. Today’s revolution insists on broader inclusion, with personal identity understood as shaped through the overlapping intersection of gender and sexuality, as well as categories of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, body size and shape, age, (dis)ability status, and more (what academics term “intersectionality”). This next-generation revolution makes a deeper commitment to sexual justice through informed, affirmative consent and a hard line against sexual misconduct. It provides for a wider freedom from the exclusive binary boy/girl structure of gender. And it works to reduce the stigma of slut-shaming and to celebrate “cliteracy” (yup, we’re going to talk about closing the orgasm gap). All this it does through online means unimaginable fifty, or even ten, years ago: digital platforms and social media where people share personal stories to create community and empower activism. The very term “new sexual revolution” is trending…Americans across the country are taking part in this new cultural dialogue, reported and debated through news outlets, magazines, websites, Twitter feeds, and at workplace watercoolers. Big picture? The cultural mood has altered. All these changes have us at a turning point, with more support than ever before for diversity and equity. American society is working out and reaching toward a bold new vision of sexuality and gender. 
About the author Catherine M. Roach has 25 years of grant-funded research experience on gender, sexuality, and American popular culture. A two-time Fulbright awardee with a PhD from Harvard and publications in both fiction and nonfiction, she’s been an invited visiting professor in Canada, Australia, and Europe. She is Professor of New College, an innovative liberal arts program at the University of Alabama, where she’s won the school’s top research and teaching awards and where she offers a popular cross-university course titled "Sexuality & Society." Originally from Ottawa, Canada, she is based in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. |
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Dreaming Home by Lucian Childs Adult Fiction, Family Life, Fiction, LGBTQ+, Literary Fiction, Own Voices An absorbing tale that begins with a single, terrible act of violence a father unleashes upon his son before tracing the ripple of that act as it courses over many lives across decades. Structurally, the novel is quite unique; nearly every named character in the novel, all of them affected in some way by this act of violence, have their perspectives shared with us. Childs’ precise writing makes their anguish and their frustration feel so real despite the short time we spend viewing the story through each character’s eyes. A queer coming-of-age story for the ages. Reviewed by Sam Edge, Epilogue: Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
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A Very Gay Book by Nic Scheppard and Jenson Titus Humor, LGBTQ+ The cover on this book is so deceptive – it’s hilarious from page one! You’ll laugh out loud on every page of the satirical gay history primer! Along with quirky art, this book touches on cultural moments and throughout time, and measures how gay they are (spoiler – they’re all very gay). Silly and delightful! Reviewed by Andrea Richardson, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia |
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Darkhearts by James L. Sutter LGBTQ+, Romance, Young Adult Fiction David has lived with regret for the past two years, ever since his middle school best friends’ band hit it big right after he walked away from them. Now one of the Darkhearts duo is dead, and frontman Chance is back in town and back in David’s life. David isn’t sure he’s ready to forgive Chance for the part he played in David’s FOMO, but as they open up to each other, they start to rebuild their friendship, and maybe something more. Fans of LGBTQ romance will adore David and Chance’s budding relationship. Reviewed by Melissa Oates, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina |
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Gender Identity for Kids by Andy Passchier Children, Comics & Graphic Novels, Juvenile Nonfiction, LGBTQ+, Peer Pressure, Prejudice & Racism, Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance This fun and educational book by Andy Passchier helps kids understand the importance of understanding, respecting, and being kind towards everyone and understanding yourself with fun characters, illustrations, and more! This is a great book for young and old, people who already know a thing or two about the subject but want to learn more, people who know nothing at all, and people who know all about it. You are sure to enjoy this helpful guide to being and knowing yourself, and you most likely will learn something from it. Reviewed by Adah Fitzgerald, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina |
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Parting Thought “I was not ladylike, nor was I manly. I was something else altogether. There were so many different ways to be beautiful.” |
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Publisher:
The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance /
siba@sibaweb.com |
SIBA | 51 Pleasant Ridge Drive | Asheville, NC 28805
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