{"id":181459,"date":"2021-06-03T10:00:27","date_gmt":"2021-06-03T15:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lavendermagazine.com\/?p=181459"},"modified":"2021-06-02T10:08:44","modified_gmt":"2021-06-02T15:08:44","slug":"queer-summer-reads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lavendermagazine.com\/our-affairs\/books\/queer-summer-reads\/","title":{"rendered":"Queer Summer Reads"},"content":{"rendered":"
Growing up adjacent to a great lake, it was inevitable that I would, at some point, find myself on a boat. One friend frequently invited me to go sailing with her family, and it was always a pretty good time. I would eat some snacks, lay out in the sun, cool off in the freshwater and return to land slightly sea drunk, jelly-legged, and strawberry. One afternoon, I arrived at the marina to meet them, expecting the usual day out on the Midwestern Sea. It was not that. As they untethered the boat from the dock, I was informed we were competing in a race. All I got was a \u201cwelcome to Team Gordon.\u201d I\u2019ve since blocked out or forgotten most of the details: how many miles, what place we finished, or how many hours we were out there, etc. etc. But upon returning to land, my body ached from pulling ropes and ducking and shifting and running across the deck. I was exhilarated and exhausted from the thrill.<\/p>\n
Similarly, I like reading fiction with a dash of uncertainty and adventure\u2014books that take me by surprise and teach me something or rock my foundation. I want to be left windswept and sunburned, questioning whether I\u2019m ok to stand by the time I finish, to emerge from the book as if from water, heavier after floating.. All of these books have a bit of that: invigoration, bewilderment, and pleasure. Many of them left me aching with a sense of renewal, and summer is its own kind of baptism.<\/p>\n