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We may not be at school anymore, but you’re never too old to celebrate World Book Day.
It can’t just be us that remembers the excitement of the book fair rolling into the school hall for World Book Day, surely? Thought not. Here’s a list of some of our top queer-friendly picks to check out as spring rolls around.
Rose McGowan – Brave
In this honest and at times heartbreaking memoir by our favourite charmed one, Rose opens up about being raised by a cult on an Italian farm, her marriage and divorce from Marilyn Manson, and eventually the revelations about that abusive Hollywood exec that changed the way we’ll talk about sexual harassment forever.
Patti Smith – Just Kids
Reading the words of Patti Smith will transport you to a 1970’s New York that no longer exists, but is perfectly captured in this book. More than an autobiography, it’s a love story about two lifelong friends: Smith and the late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Tissues at the ready, however, as she writes about the devastating grief she experienced when Mapplethorpe passed from AIDS-related complications.
Matthew Todd – Straight Jacket
Before Straight Jacket, there was The Velvet Rage, but Matthew Todd’s relatable interpretation and retelling of the cycle of shame young gay men experience from a British perspective had us gripped. It features moments from his own life, as well as some throat-closing stories about boys who struggled to cope with the strain of grown up queer in a straight person’s world.
Andre Aciman – Enigma Variations
While this follow up from Call Me By Your Name author Andre Aciman isn’t quite as addictive as its more famous predecessor, Enigma Variations follows the life of a bisexual Italian man and various points in his life, as he explores the ways he deals with sex, love, and commitment.
L. C. Rosen – Jack of Hearts
In this fictional story about a gay, makeup wearing boy named Jack, he writes an advice column for his best friend’s blog addressing everything from unfortunate anal experiences to BDSM. If the premise sounds similar to Netflix’s wildly popular new series Sex Education, that’s because it kind of is, only this story is far more queer, and perhaps more outrageous – if that’s even possible.
Crystal Rasmussen – Diary of a Drag Queen
In this hilarious and candid telling, Northern queen Crystal Rasmussen writes about shagging men three times her age, knocking over an urn of ashes while feeding a man viagra, and crashing her car because she was giving a handjob in traffic. Describing herself as ‘a block of cheap Edam that’s been left out in the sun’, this recently released memoir is a must read for anyone interested in drag. Or anyone with a sense of humour. Or just anyone at all.