pride | The Audioblog

Whether you’re looking for your next favorite listen or looking for more Pride Month celebrations, these nine memoirs capture the spectrum of LGBTQ+ voices and experiences.

1. Tomorrow Will Be Different by Sarah McBride, narrated by Sarah McBride

Before she became the first transgender person to speak at a national political convention, Sarah McBride struggled with coming out —not just to her family but to her University, where she was student body president. Four years later, McBride was one of the nation’s most prominent transgender activists and married a trans man and fellow activist, who complemented her in every way… until cancer struck.
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2. Logical Family by Armistead Maupin, narrated by Armistead Maupin

Born and raised in the heart of conservative North Carolina, Armistead Maupin realized the South was too small for him and took off in search of adventure. Reflecting on the profound impact of those closest to him, Maupin shares his search for the people he could call his own. What emerges is a portrait of the man who depicted the liberation and evolution of America’s queer community.
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3. Surpassing Certainty by Janet Mock, narrated by Janet Mock

Janet Mock is adjusting to her days as a first-generation college student and nights as a dancer at a strip club. Finally content in her body, she vacillates between flaunting and concealing herself while navigating dating and disclosure, sex and intimacy, and letting herself be truly seen, eventually becoming one of the world’s most respected media figures and lauded leaders for equality and justice.
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4. Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies by Michael Ausiello, narrated by Michael Ausiello

TV fans have counted on Michael Ausiello’s insider knowledge to get the scoop on their favorite shows and stars. What many didn’t know is that outside of his professional life, he endured a major personal tragedy: his husband, Kit Cowan, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. In this heartbreaking and darkly hilarious memoir, he tells the story of his last year with Kit while revisiting the 13 years that preceded it.
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5. Note to Self by Connor Franta, narrated by Connor Franta

In this diary-like look at his life, YouTube star Connor Franta talks about his battles with clinical depression, social anxiety, self-love, and acceptance; his desire to maintain an authentic self; his struggles with love and loss; and his renewed efforts to be in the moment-with others and himself. Note to Self is a raw, in-the-moment look at the fascinating interior life of a young creator turning inward in order to move forward.
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6. Party of One by Dave Holmes, narrated by Dave Holmes

Growing up, Dave Holmes was the artsy son in a sporty family. At his all-boys high school and Catholic college, he was the closeted gay kid surrounded by crush-worthy straight guys. And in the middle of a disastrous career in advertising, he accidentally became an MTV VJ overnight, opening the door to fame and fortune. In Party of One, Holmes tells the hilariously painful and painfully hilarious tales in the vein of Rob Sheffield, Andy Cohen, and Paul Feig of an outsider desperate to get in, of a misfit constantly changing shape, of a music geek who finally learns to accept himself.
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7. She’s Not There by Jennifer Finney Boylan, narrated by Jennifer Finney Boylan

The provocative bestseller She’s Not There is the winning, utterly surprising story of a person changing genders. By turns hilarious and deeply moving, Jennifer Finney Boylan explores the territory that lies between men and women, examines changing friendships, and rejoices in the redeeming power of family. Told in Boylan’s fresh voice, She’s Not There is about a person bearing and finally revealing a complex secret. Through her clear eyes, She’s Not There provides a new window on the confounding process of accepting our true selves.
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8. Fire Shut Up in my Bones by Charles M. Blow, narrated by Charles M. Blow

Charles M. Blow’s indelible coming-of-age takes place in a segregated town in Louisiana in the near-constant wash of violence. One day, his life was split into Before and After when a cousin took advantage of the young boy. Charles’s eventually attended university where he joined a fraternity despite brutal hazing, and then experienced a social and sexual privilege that seemed, at first, like everything he needed.
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9. Beyond Magenta by Susan Kuklin, narrated by Nancy Wu, Roxanne Hernandez, Tanya Eby, Nick Podehl, Susan Kuklin, Todd Haberkorn, Marisol Ramirez, Janina Edwards

In Beyond Magenta, Susan Kuklin met and interviewed six transgender or gender-neutral young adults (Jessy, Christina, Mariah, Cameron, Nat, and Luke), who share what it is like for them to be members of the transgender community. Touching on pronouns, body acceptance, transitioning, gender rules, perspective, and family issues, Beyond Magenta is a groundbreaking work of LGBTQ literature.
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Happy Pride Month! Whether you’re marching in a Pride parade or celebrating at home, we’ve got nine great listens by LGBTQ+ authors you’ll love.

1. Beyond Trans: Does Gender Matter? by Heath Fogg Davis, narrated by Paul Boehmer

Beyond Trans pushes the conversation on gender identity to its limits. Whether on birth certificates or college admissions applications or on bathroom doors, why do we need to mark people and places with sex categories? Do they serve a real purpose or are they just mechanisms of exclusion? Davis, himself a transgender man, explores the underlying gender-enforcing policies and customs in American life.
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2. They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera, narrated by Bahni Turpin, Robbie Daymond, Michael Crouch

A little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They’re going to die today. Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they’re both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There’s an app for that. It’s called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo meet up for one last great adventure — to live a lifetime in a single day.
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3. The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Makenzi Lee, narrated by Christian Coulson

Henry “Monty” Montague doesn’t care that his roguish passions are far from suitable for the gentleman he was born to be. But as he embarks on his grand tour of Europe, his quests for pleasure and vice are in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.
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4. A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo, narrated by Jennifer Lim

Jess Wong is Angie Redmond’s best friend. And that’s the most important thing, even if Angie can’t see how Jess truly feels. Being the girl no one quite notices is OK with Jess anyway. But when Angie begins to fall for Margot Adams, Jess can see it coming a mile away. As Angie drags Jess further into Margot’s circle, Jess discovers more than her friend’s growing crush. Secrets and cruelty lie just beneath the carefree surface of this world of wealth and privilege, and when they come out, Jess knows Angie won’t be able to handle the consequences.
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5. Oola by Brittany Newell, narrated by Michael Crouch

An insouciant music school dropout and aimless young writer fix on one another, grab hands and fall head-first down love’s rabbit hole. The pair find themselves mansion-sitting all summer, drinking the liquor cabinets dry and emptying wardrobes to play dress-up. But when they play house in a Big Sur cabin, boredom breeds an idea that could extinguish their love and even destroy them both.
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6. Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard, narrated by Emma Galvin

Pen wants to be the kind of girl she’s always been. So why does everyone have a problem with it? Dressing like a girl and listening to her folks will show respect. Taking orders from her friend Colby will show loyalty. But respect and loyalty are empty words. Old-world parents, disintegrating friendships, and feelings for other girls means that in order for Pen to be who she truly wants to be, she’ll have to man up.
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7. Argonauts by Maggie Nelson, narrated by Maggie Nelson

At its center is a romance: the story of Nelson‘s relationship with the artist Harry Dodge. This story, which includes her account of falling in love with Dodge, who is fluidly gendered, as well as her journey to and through a pregnancy, is an intimate portrayal of the complexities and joys of (queer) family-making.
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8. A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James, narrated by Ensemble Cast

On 3 December 1976, just weeks before Bob Marley was to play the Smile Jamaica Concert to ease political tensions, seven gunmen from West Kingston stormed his house. Marley survived and went on to perform at the free concert. Not a lot was recorded about the fate of the seven gunmen, but much has been said, whispered and sung about in the streets of West Kingston.
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9. Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta, narrated by Robin Miles

Under the Udala Trees is a deeply powerful debut about the dangers of living and loving openly. Ijeoma comes of age as her nation does; she is 11 when civil war breaks out in Nigeria. Sent away to safety, she meets another displaced child, and they fall in love. They are from different ethnic communities. They are also both girls. When their love is discovered, she learns to hide this part of herself. But there is a cost to living inside a lie.
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