Iris's Picks
Damani is running on fumes. Her father just died, her mother is house ridden, and she's driving a ride-share gig that is progressively paying her less and less. Her city is in an uprising, but protesting is not Damani's priority while she can't pay rent. Enter, Jolene. She's hot, white, rich, queer, and An Ally. Damani lets her guard down as their chemistry sparks, and Jolene is saying all the right things. At least, at first. Your Driver is Waiting has fiery, wry, wit, and a buff bisexual narrator that I know you fellow queers will eat up. I felt like I've been waiting years for this novel, a romp that pulls no punches. And it deftly tells the story of performative activists, who walk back their politics when the going gets tough. Catch Damani before she's gone, or at least pay her for her wait-time.
Aurora Mattia entranced me with this debut. It ebbs and flows, with moments of opaque writing, and tender scenes with a silky translucent shine. This book takes the traumatic and ecstatic moments of her life, her wounds, her loves, and circles around them in romantic and stylized prose. Her high femininity and appropriation of a mythic self hit my heart. Mattia did what few could ever do when writing The Fifth Wound, I really loved reading this book.
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A deep and spiritual account of a female artist. The narration is extremely first person, and the novel is incredibly interior, taking place over one day. It explores feminine space, class dynamics, and meaning in general. This book took me awhile, considering how short it is, but I really loved the vibe. If you're into plotless reads that eb in and out of coherence, I would give Lispector a try!
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This is the second book I've read from Jenny Hval, though this was her debut work. It felt like I was reading a debut, and I was surprised that the story wasn't as fragmentary as 'Girls Against God.' But ultimately I really loved the story, and the creeping magical aspects intwined with the attachment of the two female characters. Its this wild sapphic read that I highly recommend!
Like chafing swim suits or a sugar rush, this book ran hot and grimy. Through experimental prose, Canary dialect, and set at the base of an active Volcano, nine and ten year-old's, Shit and Isora live through the feverish summer of early pubescence. Abreu captivated me with this gross yet magnetic exploration of budding sapphic sexuality.
Funny and absurdist literary auto-fiction. Scapegoated by her family, Iris runs away from her life, changes her name, and works on a farm. Working in-between the hyper real and surreal, she explores her resurfaced childhood trauma through emo songs, heart-stomping cows, and disability poetics. This little book held a lot of emotional catharsis.
Beloved sapphic-YA writer Nina LaCour debuts in Adult Fiction with a sensual story of two women in Los Angeles. Full of precious moments, artisanal displays, and the un-beat atmospheric prose I've come to expect from LaCour's writing.
This was a fantastic and accessible indigenous view of Environmental Justice. Dr. Hernandez has a scathing review of exploitation of indigenous people and indigenous women in the sciences. I really respect and honor the connection to her multiple indigenous communities that she centered while writing this book.
A welcome reissue of the novel called "trans-lit ground zero"! Funny and wry, with a dead-beat dirtbag protagonist, this transfemme road trip narrative consumed two nights. I'm so glad it is getting a wider release!
90s trans sci-fi set in a brutal climate apocalypse, first published in English in 2021. Humans have started to live in bubbles under the sea, and our main character Momo is a skin care technician working to protect the wealthy against the deadly UV-rays. In the short afternoon it took to read this bleak novel, I was delighted by the reveals in each chapter of a hostile and surveillance based dystopia. Read this for some retro nostalgia and for the afterword by the translator, who breaks down the many working parts of the novel. (We have copies available in store, call (608)257-7888 to order)
18, pregnant, and stuck in a dead end pizza slinging job, this deadbeat protagonist starts fixating on a mid-30s regular at work. Wry and funny, this debut is taking millennial fiction, and giving it a gen-z twist. It's a quick read, but such a good one!
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Vampires are real, but they’re not sparkly or inherently deadly, just unalive. While transness is not something to fret over, but feelings and wants to uncover after years of repression and repressive trans-exclusive-lesbian discourse. A romance, a ghost story, and an exploration of queer fanfic writers and readers. What an easy, illuminating read. Transmasculine MC and genderfluid love interest :]
This item is out of stock with our warehouse. Some recently published books may be in stock @ Room. Email to check.
Punk anti-establishment poetic prose. This is auto-fiction parading as a novel, and sometimes it's a drug induced body horror. I absolutely loved the rumination on art, meaning making, and nonbinary philosophy.
I'm in love with this debut novel! Realistic queer fiction with an element of magic set in the misty Pacific Northwest. Owen has grown up hiding from the Army of Acronyms because there is a small bird that lives in his chest. This makes him a Terror, an anomaly, and a medical wonder. While the queer coming-of-age tale focuses mostly on being gay, the magical element of this book both works as a trans metaphor, and diverts the drama away from queerness to not add to the plethora of tragic queer tropes. It was a heartfelt read!
