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City of Girls (Elizabeth Gilbert)

Coming of age story in ‘40s NYC working in her cool aunt’s vaudeville theatre. Told by grown up main character, so you get past and present life. Themes: Love, mistakes, perseverance, queerness.

Swimming in the Dark (Tomasz Jedrowski)

Set in ‘80s Poland, during the decline of Communism. Forbidden queer love mixed with politics, fitting in, and where to draw the line when doing things to survive.

All the Women in My Brain: And Other Concerns

Truly hilarious, stream-of-consciousness essays about womanhood, depression, and tenacity

The Magnificent Ruins (Walter Mosley)

Having spent childhood in Kolkata but the rest of her life in the states, she suddenly inherits the family estate when her grandpa dies. Unsure of how to proceed, she returns to Kolkata and is met with suspicion and resentment from her family—PLUS, her childhood love pops back up. Themes: outsider-ness, difficult mother/daughter relationships, old flames, power that you didn’t seek to have.

City of Girls (Elizabeth Gilbert)

Coming of age story in ‘40s NYC working in her cool aunt’s vaudeville theatre. Told by grown up main character, so you get past and present life. Themes: Love, mistakes, perseverance, queerness.

Swimming in the Dark (Tomasz Jedrowski)

Set in ‘80s Poland, during the decline of Communism. Forbidden queer love mixed with politics, fitting in, and where to draw the line when doing things to survive.

All the Women in My Brain: And Other Concerns

Truly hilarious, stream-of-consciousness essays about womanhood, depression, and tenacity

The Magnificent Ruins (Walter Mosley)

Having spent childhood in Kolkata but the rest of her life in the states, she suddenly inherits the family estate when her grandpa dies. Unsure of how to proceed, she returns to Kolkata and is met with suspicion and resentment from her family—PLUS, her childhood love pops back up. Themes: outsider-ness, difficult mother/daughter relationships, old flames, power that you didn’t seek to have.