Gays Reading

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Yiyun Li, Music Against the Night Oct 27, 2026

Show notes

When Ann Patchett was on Gays Reading, the must-read book she discussed was Music Against the Night, so it's no surprise that author Yiyun Li joins Jason to talk about it. They discuss how she reads Moby-Dick annually, her relationship to music, and how she first learned of John Field, the subject of Music Against the Night.

Yiyun Li is the author of several works of fiction—Wednesday’s Child; The Book of Goose; Must I Go; Where Reasons End; Kinder Than Solitude; Gold Boy, Emerald Girl; The Vagrants; and A Thousand Years of Good Prayers—and the memoirs Things in Nature Merely Grow and Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life. She is the recipient of many awards, including a Pulitzer Prize, a PEN/Faulkner Award, a PEN/Malamud Award, a PEN/Hemingway Award, a PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, a MacArthur Fellowship, and a Windham–Campbell Prize, and was a finalist for the National Book Award. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, A Public Space, The Best American Short Stories, and The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, among other publications. She teaches at Princeton University and lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

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What Are You Reading? feat. Elizabeth Gilbert Oct 23, 2026

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Prolific writer Elizabeth Gilbert talks about what she's been reading (a set of books recommended by her local indie bookstore), the books she buys in bulk to give away, and her latest book, All the Way to the River, Oprah's Book Club selection last September.

Elizabeth Gilbert is the author of nine previous works of fiction and nonfiction, which collectively have sold more than 25 million copies worldwide, spent more than two hundred weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and been translated into more than fifty languages. She has been a finalist for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the PEN/Hemingway Award. With more than 20 million views of her TED Talk and 2.7 million followers on her social media accounts, she continues to be one of the most beloved and influential writers of our age.

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Mary Beth Keane, Whale Harbor Oct 20, 2026

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New York Times bestselling author Mary Beth Keane (Ask Again, Yes) joins Jason to talk about her newest novel, Whale Harbor. They get into how the book echoes her own family, the most exciting thing that’s ever happened to her, and the surprising freedom of discovering that the worst thing that could happen might not be so bad after all.

Whale Harbor is Good Morning America's November 2026 Book Club pick.

Mary Beth Keane is the author of five novels, including the New York Times bestseller Ask Again, Yes. She was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship for fiction writing and has received citations from the National Book Foundation, PEN America, and the Hemingway Society. Born in the Bronx to parents from the west of Ireland, she lives in New York with her husband and two sons.

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Rebecca Birrell, Venus, Vanishing Oct 16, 2026

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Jason talks to debut author Rebecca Birrell about her novel Venus, Vanishing, this month's selection for The Nod™️ by Gays Reading with Aardvark Book Club.

Rebecca Birrell is an art historian and a Bye-Fellow in the History of Art at Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge. She was formerly the curator of nineteenth and twentieth century paintings and drawings at the Fitzwilliam Museum and has occupied curatorial positions at the Jewish Museum London, the Department of Prints and Drawing at the British Museum, and at the Charleston Trust. She studied English literature at University College London, followed by a master's in women’s studies at the University of Oxford and a PhD from the Edinburgh College of Art. Venus, Vanishing is her debut novel.

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Ríoghnach Robinson, Bad Words Oct 13, 2026

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Jason is joined by Ríoghnach Robinson, author of Bad Words--this month’s Good Morning America Book Club pick--to talk about reviews, what makes us feel most human, Taylor Swift, and--maybe most importantly--their love of em dashes.

RÍOGHNACH (pronounced ree-uh-nock) ROBINSON grew up in North Carolina, studied economics at Kenyon College, and now lives in New York City. Her books for young readers, including Lambda Award winner Come Home to My Heart, are published under the pen name Riley Redgate. She has also written for WEBTOON and The Onion, America's Finest News Source. You can find her on Instagram at @rioghnachrobinson. Bad Words is her first adult novel.

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What Are You Reading? feat. David Lauterstein Oct 09, 2026

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David Lauterstein, founder of iconic queer menswear brand, Nasty Pig, joins Jason to talk books--what he's reading now, and what went into writing Sodomy Gods, a love story for everyone, which he recently released as an audiobook.

David Lauterstein is among the most influential forces in queer culture, celebrated as an unapologetic champion for sex-positivity since co-founding the iconic Nasty Pig fashion brand in1994. As its CEO, he has been honored for his trailblazing entrepreneurship, his philanthropic efforts supporting homeless queer youth, and by the White House for his decades of public health advocacy. A formally trained poet and house music producer, Lauterstein resides in New York City with his husband and Nasty Pig co-founder, Frederick Kearney. Sodomy Gods is his first book.

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Deesha Philyaw, The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman Oct 06, 2026

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Jason is joined by National Book Award finalist Deesha Philyaw to discuss her debut novel, The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman. Deesha shares why she ghosted a hookup, the talent she'd perform if she were in a pageant, why queerness plays such a big role in her books, and much more.

Deesha Philyaw’s debut short story collection, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the Story Prize, the LA Times Book Prize: The Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction. Deesha is a Kimbilio Fiction Fellow, a Baldwin for the Arts Fellow, a United States Artists Fellow, and co-host of two podcasts, Ursa Short Fiction (with Dawnie Walton) and Reckon True Stories (with Kiese Laymon). She is currently at work developing TV shows based on her short fiction.

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What Are You Reading? feat. Meg Mason Oct 02, 2026

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Meg Mason (Sorrow and Bliss) joins Jason to talk about her new novel, Sophie, Standing There, a Reese's Book Club pick, and the books she's been reading between stops on her worldwide book tour.

Meg Mason is the author of Sorrow and Bliss, which became an international bestseller after it was first published in Australia. Winner of the British Book Industry Book of the Year, and shortlisted for the Women’s Prize, it has since been translated into more than 30 languages. Her first career was in journalism, beginning at the Times of London, later writing for Vogue, Elle, GQ, Sunday Style, and The New Yorker’s Daily Shouts and Murmurs. Born in New Zealand, she lives in Sydney with her husband and two daughters.

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Min Jin Lee, American Hagwon Sep 29, 2026

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Jason talks with author Min Jin Lee (Pachinko) about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, her experience taking a class with The Artist's Way author Julia Cameron, why she's quick to curse, her new novel American Hagwon, and everything in between.

Min Jin Lee is the author of the novels Free Food for Millionaires and Pachinko, a finalist for the National Book Award, runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and a New York Times “100 Best Books of the Century.” She serves as the New York State Author Laureate from 2025 through 2027. She is the 2024 recipient of The Fitzgerald Prize for Literary Excellence. Lee has received the Manhae Grand Prize for Literature, the Bucheon Diaspora Literary Award, and the Samsung Happiness for Tomorrow Award for Creativity from South Korea. She is the recipient of fellowships in Fiction from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. Lee is an inductee of the New York Foundation for the Arts Hall of Fame and the New York State Writers Hall of Fame. She lives in Harlem with her family.

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What Are You Reading? feat. Meg Howrey Sep 25, 2026

Show notes

Author Meg Howrey (They're Going to Love You) communed with her bookshelves to identify books that shaped her as a writer. She's self-taught, no MFA, no workshops, just a reader. Meg also talks about her latest novel, Body Language.

Meg Howrey is the author of the novels Blind Sight, The Cranes Dance, The Wanderers, and most recently, They’re Going to Love You, which was a New York Times Editor’s Choice, and a New Yorker Best Book of 2022. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Granta, Harvard Review, Vogue, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. A former professional dancer, she currently lives in Los Angeles.

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