By Raiyah Butt
Happy Pride!
Disclaimer: these books can be read all year round, anytime. But we figured this month, people might just take a little bit more notice.
We present our LGBTQIA+ book recommendations, from the fun fiction fantasies of Adiba Jaigirdar to the life lessons of activist Urvashi Vaid.
Because when we read these stories, we better understand the different voices within a community - what it means to discover yourself, to love in a new light, or to be fighting front and centre against oppression.
This #PrideMonth, do a book exchange with a friend, donate your old reads at a charity drive, or pick up a new LGBTQIA+ story at your local bookstore.
Fiction
The Henna Wars - Adiba Jaigirdar
Cobalt Blue - Sachin Kundalkar
Funny Boy - Shyam Selvadurai
Bright Lines - Tanwi Nandini Islam
Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating - Adiba Jaigirdar
The Best at It - Maulik Pancholy
Poetry
The World That Belongs To Us: An Anthology of Queer Poetry from South Asia - Akhil Katyal and Aditi Angiras
Non-fiction
A Dutiful Boy - Mohsin Zaidi
Burning My Roti: Breaking Barriers as a Queer Indian Woman - Sharan Dhaliwal
The Truth About Me: A Hijra Life Story - A. Revathi
Irresistible Revolution: Confronting Race, Class and the Assumptions of LGBT Politics - Urvashi Vaid
Out of Time: The Queer Politics of Postcoloniality - Rahul Rao
Smashing the Patriarchy: A Guide for the 21st-century Indian Woman - Sindhu Rajasekaran