It’s Time for Some Pride Listens!

Last year, I had the wonderful pleasure of interviewing Kristen Arnett about her second novel With Teeth. Sammie is raising her son Sam with Monika, her wife. But when Sam bites Sammie in the car during a disagreement, Sammie’s entire perception of herself begins to change. Instead of the perfect queer family that she and Monika had always dreamed of, Sammie must come to terms with the fact that her family life might not be as idealic as they imagined. As Sam continues to act out during public outings and at school, Sammie and Monika’s marriage begins to crumble.

Arnett possesses the brilliant ability to capture what it’s like for a lesbian couple to try to parent in a time when there’s so much pressure for lesbian queer parents to act as a “good” example of queer parenting. But Arnett makes a point of illustrating that Sammie and Monika are just as flawed as everyone else. 

Kristen Sieh performs the audiobook with such great vocal characterization of Sammie’s narrative voice as she deals with all of her confusion and anxiety over her son’s behavior. When I listened to the audiobook, I became engrossed in this family’s story. I had no idea what on earth Monika and Sammie could do for their son or how their marriage would turn out. So prepare yourself for a rollercoaster of a family novel.

This Oprah’s Book Club pick will capture your attention from the first few minutes. Kiara and her brother are trying to make ends meet in Oakland, California. Kiara also tries to take care of the boy next door. Through a strange set of circumstances, Kiara ends up in a line of work she never expected. Plus, she’s a key witness in a case against the corrupt local police department.

Nevada is the story of Maria, a trans woman working in a bookstore. She loves her job, but is slowly admitting to herself that she doesn’t love her girlfriend Steph. After Maria and Steph break up, Maria finds herself  traveling to Star City, Nevada. This is a road trip book for a new generation now on audio for the first time.

One night while in New York City’s Chinatown, Lola runs into one ex and then another. What might have been coincidence turns into something a little supernatural as memories begin to swirl about her. This fantastical literary novel is sure to amaze at it tackles ideas around memory, identity, and love.

As a huge fan of Kirsten Chen, I couldn’t be more thrilled that she has a brand new novel. In Counterfeit, we meet Ava, a Chinese American woman whose life feels like it’s crumbling apart. But her college best friend, Winnie Fang, appears on the scene, full of confidence that Ava didn’t know she had. But how did Winnie gain so much confidence and an eye for top-tier fashion?

Malak, Kees, and Jenna feel like it’s them against the world. Taught a certain way to be good Muslim women by their families, they always expected their lives to go a certain way. But as they grow closer to adulthood, they begin to see that their lives are going to be more complicated than they first imagined.