Gays Reading

Host Jason Blitman talks to Oprah's Book Club pick Tayari Jones about Kin, her long-awaited new novel, nearly a decade in the making.

Conversation highlights include:

🔎 A Google-tangent about the etymology of the word "kin"

🌈 On writing an overtly queer book

🍰 The best kind of red velvet cake

Per the conversation, here is the link to Motherhood Beyond Bars:

https://www.motherhoodbeyond.org/

Tayari Jones is the author of four novels, most recently An American Marriage, which was an Oprah’s Book Club selection...

Host Jason Blitman talks to everyone's favorite influencer and bestie, Misha Brown aka @yourbestiemisha, about what he's been reading as well as his new book Be Your Own Bestie: A No-Nonsense Guide to Changing the Way You Treat Yourself

Misha Brown is an undeniable entertainment powerhouse who excels as an influencer, podcast host, and performer. With a knack for captivating audiences, he shot to notoriety on TikTok in 2021 with the viral Lessons in Not Crossing a Gay Man series, amassing over 6 million followers. Named Motivational Creator of the Year and honored by the Webby Awards for s...

Host Jason Blitman is joined by prolific author Kate Quinn to talk about her latest novel, The Astral Library. 

Conversation highlights include:

📖 The book Kate would (and wouldn't) want to live in

✨ Sacred spaces

📚 Reading habits and the best books to reread

The Astral Library is out now wherever you get your books. 

Kate Quinn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A native of Southern California, she attended Boston University, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in classic...

Announcing the March Gays Reading Book Club pick with Allstora 

SO OLD, SO YOUNG by Grant Ginder

Five parties over the course of twenty years bring six college friends together, exploring the ways we run from and cling to our friends in love, life, and death.

New to the club? Get your first book for just $1!

When you join the Gays Reading Book Club with Allstora, here’s what you get:

Host Jason Blitman is joined by debut author Patmeena Sabit to talk about her book, this month's Barnes & Noble Book Club Selection, Good People. 

Conversation highlights include:

♥️ What it means to be a good person

✨ Karma and how we choose to live our lives

🫆 Paying a price to be your authentic self

Good People is out now wherever you get your books. 

Patmeena Sabit was born in Kabul a few years after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. When she was a month old, her family fled t...

Host Jason Blitman talks with author April Reynolds (The Shape of Dreams) about what she’s been reading lately and the joyful surprise of discovering just how many LGBTQIA+ authors have quietly shaped her reading life.

April Reynolds is the author of the novel Knee-Deep in Wonder, which won the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation Award and the PEN American Center: Beyond Margins Award. She co-wrote The Red Rooster Cookbook with Marcus Samuelson and is co-editor, with Henry Louis Gates Jr., of The Toni Morrison Reader and The Zora Neale Hurston Reader. Reynolds has taught creative...

Host Jason Blitman talks to author Nikesha Elise Williams about her new novel, The Seven Daughters of Dupree. 

Conversation highlights include:

🎶 Janet Jackson choreography

💜 What it means to be "enough"

🙏 The sacred, intimate rituals of hair

Nikesha Elise Williams is a two-time Emmy Award–winning producer, an award-winning author, and producer and host of the Black and Published podcast. A narrative strategist by day and journalist always, her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Essence, and Vox. Nikesha is a Kimbilio Fiction Fellow and a DeGroot Foundation Writer o...

Host Jason Blitman sits down with bookish-multihyphenate Brian Larson aka @brian.reads who shares what he's been reading and talks about his new podcast, The Shelf Care Society.

Brian Larson is the author of The Afterparty (publishing June 2027) a memoir that reframes sobriety not as loss but as liberation. Known as @brian.reads on social media, he is the founder of Shelf Care Society, a book club with RuPaul’s Allstora, and the host of Shelf Care Society: The Podcast, where he sits down with authors, activists, and cultural voices for candid, curious conversations. Brian blends hu...

Host Jason Blitman is joined by acclaimed author George Saunders who talks about his new novel, Vigil. 

Conversation highlights include:

🎭 Comparisons to Shakespeare

🕯️ Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol

🍔 George's Last Meal

George Saunders is the author of nine books, including the novel Lincoln in the Bardo, which won the Man Booker Prize, and the story collections Pastoralia and Tenth of December, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. He has received fellowships from the Lannan Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Guggenheim Foundation. In 2006...

Host Jason Blitman sits down with author Nina McConigley (How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder) to talk about what she’s been reading lately—beyond Eric Carle’s The Very Lonely Firefly.

Plus: head to the Gays Reading Substack to hear Nina talk about adapting Cowboys and East Indians for the stage, now playing at the Denver Center through March 1, 2026.

NINA McCONIGLEY is the author of the story collection Cowboys and East Indians, which was the winner of the PEN/Open Book Award and the High Plains Book Award. She has received grants and fellowships from t...

Host Jason Blitman talks to author Gabriel Tallent about his new book, Crux. 

Conversation highlights include:

💈 The surprising number of hot gay barbers in Salt Lake

🧗🏼‍♂️ What drawing a climb looks like

⭐️ Ambition and legacy

Gabriel Tallent is the author of the New York Times-bestselling novel My Absolute Darling. He was born in New Mexico and raised on the Mendocino coast by two mothers. He received his B.A. from Willamette University in 2010, and after graduation spent two seasons leading youth trail crews in the backcountry of the Pacific Northwest. T...

Host Jason Blitman talks to author Annie Summerlee about what she's been reading as she awaited the publication of her book: The Book of Blood and Roses.

Annie Summerlee lives in Spain with her partner, two cats, and a rescue dog. Her short stories have been featured in 404 Ink, Litro, and So To Speak, as well as other magazines and anthologies. She also writes in Catalan and Spanish.

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Announcing the February Gays Reading Book Club Pick...

⭐️ MISSING SAM by Thrity Umrigar, the bestselling author of HONOR

At first glance, MISSING SAM looks like a classic thriller: a woman goes missing after a morning run and her wife is left behind to search for answers. But very quickly, this book becomes something much deeper. The book is about what happens when grief collides with prejudice. About how quickly suspicion attaches itself to certain bodies. About love, marriage, and what it means to feel unsafe not just in the world, but inside your own communi...

Host Jason Blitman chats with author Emily Austin about her latest novel, Is This a Cry for Help?

Conversation highlights include:

Emily Austin is the author of We Could Be Rats, Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, Interesting Facts About Space, and the poetry collection Gay Girl Prayers. She was born in Ontario, Canada, and received two writing grants from th...

Host Jason Blitman sits down with Sarah Dickinson, creator and host of popular podcast Sarah’s Bookshelves Live, to talk about the books she’s most excited to read in 2026.

Conversation highlights include:

Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERE

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Host Jason Blitman kicks off 2026 by revisiting some of the quiet yet impactful moments from Gays Reading episodes in 2025.

Featured in this episode are conversations with:

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In the final episode of 2025, host Jason Blitman sits down with author and critic Marion Winik for a wide-ranging, bookish conversation. Winik shares her top ten favorite fiction reads of the year and reflects on her memoir First Comes Love as it celebrates its 30th anniversary—plus the release of its new audiobook. Even more from this conversation, including top ten nonfiction books and exclusive critic talk, is available on the Gays Reading Substack. https://gaysreading.substack.com/

Marion Winik is the author of nine books, including The Big Book of the Dead (Counterpoint, 2019) and First Comes Love (Panth...

Host Jason Blitman sits down with literary icon John Irving to discuss his latest novel, Queen Esther. Their wide-ranging conversation touches on the story behind Irving’s first tattoo, what it truly means to be an ally, where he finds optimism in uncertain times, and the deeply personal experiences that continue to shape his writing—plus plenty more along the way.

John Irving was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1942. His first novel, Setting Free the Bears, was published in 1968, when he was twenty-six. He competed as a wrestler for twenty years, and coached wrestling until he was...

In this episode, host Jason Blitman sits down with Alex Snodgrass (aka The Defined Dish) to talk all things book club menus—how to plan them, why they matter, and how food can deepen the reading experience. Using Alex’s recent book club gathering for Conform as a case study, the conversation expands to include Conform author Ariel Sullivan, who joins to unpack the creative collaboration behind the menu and the meal. As part of our celebration of people doing interesting things with books, Ariel also shares a peek into her ambitious storytelling vision—including how her series isn’t just a...

Host Jason Blitman sits down with Reginald Dwayne Betts—poet, lawyer, and founder of Freedom Reads—for an intimate conversation about transforming America's prison system one library at a time. 

In an extraordinary turn of events, Dwayne receives a live call from Jermaine, a friend currently incarcerated at Lawrenceville Correctional Facility. Jermaine joins the conversation to share how not having a Freedom Reads library has impacted his own journey, offering rare, unfiltered insight into what literature means inside the prison system. 

Reginald Dwayne Betts is a poet and lawyer. A 2021 MacArthur Fellow, he is the...

In this re-release special episode, host Jason Blitman dives into the world of Wicked. Joined by legendary author Gregory Maguire, Guest Gay Reader is comedian and host of That’s a Gay Ass Podcast, Eric Williams, and Gays Reading’s first Guest Gay Icon, Broadway powerhouse Eden Espinosa. 

Highlights include:

📖 The legacy of this iconic story

🎭 Insider behind-the-scenes

🎤 Unforgettable riffs, obvs

💚 Identify, friendship, and self-acceptance

This episode is perfect for fans of the musical, lovers of literature, and anyone who has ever felt like an outsider finding their pl...

In this Thanksgiving week episode, host Jason Blitman talks to brand-new-dad Justinian Huang about his paper baby, Lucky Seed.

Conversation highlights:
👻 hungry ghosts and superstitions
🤳🏼 social media and millennials
🦃 tips for navigating family during Thanksgiving

Guest Gay Reader™️ this week is White Lotus and Overcompensating favorite--and avid reader--Lukas Gage.

Justinian Huang’s debut novel, The Emperor and the Endless Palace, was an Indie Next Pick and a 2025 Stonewall Honor Book. It was hailed by Booklist as “a sweeping triumph,” and as “page-turning and deeply...

Host Jason Blitman sits down with author Olivia Laing (The Lonely City) to talk about their new book, The Silver Book.

In this conversation, they dive into:
🎥 making art and Italian cinema
🏳️‍🌈 the role queerness plays throughout Laing’s work
🗣️ how identity becomes a negotiation with—and around—fakeness

Plus, this week’s Guest Gay Reader™️ is Michael Galyean (aka Dancing Blue Shirt Guy), who shares what he’s been reading and talks about his multifaceted career as a choreographer, private chef, and children's book author (The Dancing Blue Shirt Boy).

In this *spoiler free* conversation, host Jason Blitman talks to author Erin O. White about her book LIKE FAMILY, the December Gays Reading Book Club pick with Allstora.

LIKE FAMILY — a warm, big-hearted debut about the beautiful, messy, complicated ways we love one another. Set in a picturesque town in upstate New York, the novel follows three interconnected couples navigating friendship, parenthood, queer identity, jealousy, grief, and the quiet bravery of choosing each other again and again.

At its core, LIKE FAMILY is a love letter to queer families and small-town li...

Host Jason Blitman talks to award-winning Irish writer Gráinne O'Hare about her debut novel, Thirst Trap. 

Conversation highlights include:
❤️‍🔥 icks on dates
🙃 drunk alter egos 
🧡 Taylor Swift
👯‍♀️ long friendships

Next up is Guest Gay Reader™️ Brian Schaefer who talks about what he's been reading (hint: it's NOT books!), the book club he has with his mom, and shares the inspo behind his debut novel, Town & Country.

Gráinne O’Hare is a writer from Belfast based in Newcastle upon Tyne. She received a Northern Debut Awar...

Host Jason Blitman is joined by Aja Gabel to talk about her first novel in nearly a decade, Lightbreakers. 

Conversation highlights include:
✍🏻 the death of handwriting 
🧪 science vs art 
💭 what memory means to us

Jason's then joined by Guest Gay Reader™️ Anthony Delaney who shares a giant stack of books he's reading as well as shares about his new book, Queer Enlightenments. 

Aja Gabel is the author of the novel The Ensemble. Her prose can be found in The Cut, the Los Angeles Times, Opra...

Host Jason Blitman sits down with returning Gays Reading guest Catherine Newman (Sandwich) to talk about her new book, Wreck.

Conversation highlights include:
🤧 Ailments, of course.
😵‍💫 Anxiety, of course.
💻 The Portal, you understand.
🥳 But also a lot of fun stuff, too.

Jason is then joined by Guest Gay Reader™️ Rachel Runya Katz to hear about what she's been reading (get ready for some fab romance recs!) and learn about her new book, Isn't It Obvious? -- the perfect book for those of us who love A Cinderella Story and You've Got...

Host Jason Blitman talks to bestselling author Tom Ryan about his latest adult mystery, We Had A Hunch. 

Highlights include:
🕵🏻‍♂️ a love of mysteries
✍🏻 how Tom taught himself to write
🎤 a question that Tom calls "Barbara Walters level journalism"

Jason is then joined by Guest Gay Reader™️, RuPaul's Drag Race superstar, Kim Chi about what she's been reading as well as her new books, Kim Chi Eats the World and Donutella Hamachi and the Library Avengers.

Tom Ryan is an internationally bestselling, award-winning author, scr...

Prepare to grow your already overflowing TBR (sorry, not sorry!) with our new series What Are You Reading?. In this episode, host Jason Blitman sits down with Pentatonix and Dancing with the Stars' Scott Hoying and Mark Hoying to chat about the books that they've been reading recently and about their new children's book, Fa La La Family.

Scott Hoying is a Grammy and Emily award-winning singer, songwriter, and arranger from the multiplatinum-selling a cappella group Pentatonix. He cofounded the group in 2011 and has headlined hundreds of shows worldwide...

In this *spoiler free* conversation, host Jason Blitman talks to author Victoria Redel about her book I AM YOU, the November Gays Reading Book Club pick with Allstora.

I AM YOU subverts the idea of a 17th-century historical novel  — it’s intimate, modern, and deeply queer in the way it explores gender, art, and identity. The characters feel so alive and complex that you can’t help but get pulled into their world, which makes it a perfect book for thoughtful, layered discussion. It’s the kind of book that lingers — beautifully...

Host Jason Blitman talks with Megha Majumdar about her acclaimed second novel, A Guardian and a Thief—recently nominated for the Kirkus Prize and shortlisted for the National Book Award.

Conversation highlights include:
🐢 fables and folktales
🦬 interpretations of cave art
🤔 moral quandaries
🎶 concerts and music taste

Jason is then joined by Guest Gay Reader™️ Brandon Taylor about tennis, what might tempt him to read fiction, his newest book Minor Black Figures, and of course, what he's been reading. 

Megha Majumdar’s debut novel, t...

Host Jason Blitman talks to author Lily King about her newest novel, Heart the Lover. 

Conversation highlights include:
👩🏼‍🏫 weird classes we took in college
📝 beautiful sentences 
🃏 a love of card games
💌 a story about letters from an ex-boyfriend

Jason is then joined by Guest Gay Reader Dustin Thao who shares what he's been reading and talks about his book, You've Found Oliver.

Notes from the Episode:
HERE is the link to the rule sheet for the book's card game, Sir Hincomb Funnibuster

The Joyce quote t...

Prepare to grow your already overflowing TBR (sorry, not sorry!) with our new series What Are You Reading?. In this episode, host Jason Blitman sits down with Heather Aimee O’Neill—debut author of The Irish Goodbye, this month’s Read with Jenna pick—to chat about the books that have been keeping her company lately.

Heather Aimee O’Neill is a poet, a teacher, and the assistant director of the Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop. She lives in Brooklyn with her wife and two sons. The Irish Goodbye is her first novel.

⚠️ Quick note: In today’s episode, one of Jade’s answers unfortunately disappears into the ether. It turned out not to be as simple of a fix as we first hoped, but as soon as we’re able to repair it, we’ll update the file. Thanks for listening (and for rolling with the hiccups)

Host Jason Blitman talks to author Jade Chang about her newest novel, What a Time to Be Alive

Highlights include:
🎶 The Nanny theme song
😪 grief as a unifying force in the world
🗣️ what Jade's TED Talk would b...

Get ready to add to your ever-growing TBR (we're sorry!) because Gays Reading is kicking off the new series What Are You Reading?. On this episode, host Jason Blitman talks to Sarah Dickinson, host of Sarah's Bookshelves Live, about some of the books she's been reading recently. 

Sarah’s Bookshelves Live is a weekly book podcast featuring real talk about books and recommendations from a featured bookish guest.

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