Shuffling of the Shelves: June Part Two

By Anais Aguilera, Katie Norris, Olivia Paris and Sophie Poirier

Pride Month is in full swing and the books and authors on this list celebrate love in all its forms.

Amazon

On Amazon’s LGBTQIA+ bestseller list this month, Matt Cain’s One Love took the top spot! One Love is a love story about Danny and Guy, who first meet at freshers’ week in university and become firm friends. We watch as over twenty years later at the weekend of Manchester Pride, Danny finally summons the courage to tell Guy his true romantic feelings. In a story of constant mistimings and miscommunication, will Danny’s confession lead to the end of a treasured friendship or be the start of something even more beautiful?

Another bestseller this month is Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart, an LGBTQIA+ Glaswegian retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Set in Glasgow housing estates, it follows Mungo and James, two men from differing sectarian sides and supposedly sworn enemies. In a world of gang violence, the pair are forced to repress their love for one another in order to follow the rigid rules of masculinity. But can their love prevail? Young Mungo is a moving read which details the violence faced by queer people, the true meaning of masculinity and, most importantly, love. 

WHSmith

High on WHSmith’s bestsellers list this month is Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski. Brought together in the summer of 1980 at an agricultural camp in Poland, Ludwik and Janusz fall in love slowly, deeply and passionately. But what will become of them when they return to Warsaw? This novel depicts the beauty and hardships of love. Love is always a choice, but what will Ludwik and Janusz choose? To be together and live in fear or to stay apart but live in misery? 

June is the perfect month to explore André Aciman’s novel Find Me. In 2007, Aciman left Elio and Oliver, protagonists of the bestseller Call Me by Your Name, broken-hearted and apart. Now, almost two decades later, he invites us back into the characters’ lives to discover what became of them in the elapsed time. Will Elio and Oliver ever meet again? Does love truly prevail? 

Waterstones

Ten years after his death, a final novel from Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez has been published to wide acclaim: Until August. In a moody and scenic novel set during a hot summer in the Caribbean, we follow Ana Magdalena Bach’s annual ritual of briefly escaping her life as a wife and mother to a remote island where she meets a new lover. With the themes of love, family and hints of magical realism that García Márquez is so known for, his final novel pays tribute to his illustrious writing career and gives readers one last chance to enjoy his beautiful prose.

Quickly becoming a Waterstones bestseller after its May release, Long Island by Colm Tóibín is a remarkable sequel to Tóibín’s Brooklyn. Eilis Lacey is an Irish woman living in New York City who has the perfect life: a good husband, a big family and a nice house. When a mysterious Irishman shows up on her doorstep with life-changing news, it forces Eilis to take a closer look at the life she’s built for herself and whether it’s what she truly wants. Long Island is already a big hit with readers and has been chosen for Oprah’s Book Club.

Social Media

Celebrate Pride Month with these two social media sensations. TikTok highly praises They Both Die in the End by Adam Silvera with reviews gaining over one hundred million views. Renowned for its spoiler-alert title, Silvera’s book is a tale of acceptance, love and loss and has gripped the hearts of teenagers across the globe. 

Love comes in all sorts of different shapes and sizes, and Alice Oseman’s novel Loveless explores the complexity of discovering all the different ways love can take shape. When Georgia leaves for university, she is certain she’ll find love and be ready for it. What she doesn’t realise is that not all love is romantic and maybe romantic love isn’t right for her after all. 

Noteworthy Author

Kalynn Bayron has a knack for fairytale retellings that take classic stories and add a unique charm. She made her novel debut with Cinderella Is Dead, a twist on the story of Cinderella. Since then, she has become a New York Times bestselling author, venturing into YA horror and paranormal stories alongside fairytales and fantasy. Bayron identifies as pansexual and says she wants to spotlight queer and queer Black families and relationships in her stories. She was awarded the 2022 Randall Kenan Award for Black LGBTQ fiction for her spectacular work representing the community. Readers can look forward to her newest novel, Sleep Like Death, publishing on 25 June. This time, Bayron tackles the story of Snow White – and it’s sure to be a hit.