In this new series What’s the TEA? host Jason Blitman gets the inside scoop on new books–authors are tasked with describing their books with 3 words using the letters T, E, and A. This first episode features Shannon Bowring talking to Jason about her new book Where the Forest Meets the River.

Shannon Bowring has been nominated for a Pushcart and a Best of the Net, and was recently selected in Best Small Fictions. She holds an MFA from University of Southern Maine Stonecoast and currently resides in Maine. The Road to Dalton is her first novel.

Gays Reading is sponsored by Audible. Get a FREE 30-day trial by visiting audibletrial.com/gaysreading

Support the show

WATCH!
https://youtube.com/@gaysreading

BOOKS!
Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading

MERCH!
Purchase your Gays Reading podcast merchandise HERE!
https://gaysreading.myspreadshop.com/

FOLLOW!
@gaysreading | @jasonblitman

CONTACT!
hello@gaysreading.com

Host Jason Blitman talks to author Danzy Senna whose new book Colored Television is the latest Good Morning America Book Club pick. They talk about psychics, the Cult of California, author personas, and her writing process. Jason is then joined by Guest Gay Reader, designer Jonathan Adler who shares what he’s reading as well as tips to best curate your bookshelf.

Check out the Colored Television Spotify Playlist

Danzy Senna is the author of five previous books, including the bestselling Caucasia and, most recently, New People, as well as a memoir. The recipient of numerous awards and honors, she teaches writing at the University of Southern California.

Theme song performed by Kyle Sherman

Sign up to learn more about OUTspoken at www.weareoutspoken.org

Gays Reading is sponsored by Audible. Get a FREE 30-day trial by visiting audibletrial.com/gaysreading

Support the show

WATCH!
https://youtube.com/@gaysreading

BOOKS!
Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading

MERCH!
Purchase your Gays Reading podcast merchandise HERE!
https://gaysreading.myspreadshop.com/

FOLLOW!
@gaysreading | @jasonblitman

CONTACT!
hello@gaysreading.com

In the season premiere of Gays Reading, host Jason Blitman talks to acclaimed author Elif Shafak (There are Rivers in the Sky) about the importance of storytelling and information vs. knowledge vs. wisdom. They also engage in a unique conversation about religion and so much more.

This episode features Guest Gay Reader Franklin Cappadora aka Jason’s husband.

Elif Shafak is an award-winning British-Turkish author of a dozen novels, including The Island of Missing Trees, which was short-listed for the Costa Novel Award, and 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World, which was short-listed for the Booker Prize. Her work has been translated into fifty-six languages. She holds a PhD in political science and has taught at universities in Turkey, the United States and the United Kingdom. She lives in London and is an honorary fellow at Oxford University.

Theme song performed by Kyle Sherman

Sign up to learn more about OUTspoken.

Gays Reading is sponsored by Audible. Get a FREE 30-day trial by visiting audibletrial.com/gaysreading

Support the show

WATCH!
https://youtube.com/@gaysreading

BOOKS!
Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading

MERCH!
Purchase your Gays Reading podcast merchandise HERE!
https://gaysreading.myspreadshop.com/

FOLLOW!
@gaysreading | @jasonblitman

CONTACT!
hello@gaysreading.com

In this BONUS episode, Jason and author Amy Jo Burns (Mercury) talk to Abraham Verghese about his book The Covenant of Water. Jason and Amy did a summer-long read-along with fellow listeners and readers and this is their culminating conversation with Abraham. Note: There WILL be spoilers!

The Covenant of Water was a 2023 Oprah's Book Club selection.

Abraham Verghese is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the author of books including the NBCC Award finalist My Own Country and the New York Times Notable Book The Tennis Partner. His most recent book, Cutting for Stone, spent 107 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and sold more than 1.5 million copies in the U.S. alone. It was translated into more than twenty languages and is being adapted for film by Anonymous Content. Verghese was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2016, has received five honorary degrees, and is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. He lives and practices medicine in Stanford, California where he is the Linda R. Meier and Joan F. Lane Provostial Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine. A decade in the making, The Covenant of Water is his first book since Cutting for Stone.

Amy Jo Burns is the author of the memoir Cinderland and the novel Shiner, which was a Barnes & Noble Discover Pick, NPR Best Book of the year, and “told in language as incandescent as smoldering coal,” according to The New York Times. Her latest novel, Mercury, is a Barnes & Noble Book Club Pick, a Book of the Month Pick, a People Magazine Book of the Week, and an Editor’s Choice selection in The New York Times. Amy Jo’s writing has appeared in The Paris Review Daily, Elle, Good Housekeeping, and the anthology Not That Bad.

Gays Reading is sponsored by Audible. Get a FREE 30-day trial by visiting audibletrial.com/gaysreading

Support the show

WATCH!
https://youtube.com/@gaysreading

BOOKS!
Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading

MERCH!
Purchase your Gays Reading podcast merchandise HERE!
https://gaysreading.myspreadshop.com/

FOLLOW!
@gaysreading | @jasonblitman

CONTACT!
hello@gaysreading.com

In this Season Finale, Jason and Brett take it back to the beginning--two friends talking about books. They shout out 8 different books releasing in the second half of 2024 that they're excited about as well as share some Gays Reading updates.

Gays Reading is sponsored by Audible. Get a FREE 30-day trial by visiting audibletrial.com/gaysreading

Support the show

WATCH!
https://youtube.com/@gaysreading

BOOKS!
Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading

MERCH!
Purchase your Gays Reading podcast merchandise HERE!
https://gaysreading.myspreadshop.com/

FOLLOW!
@gaysreading | @jasonblitman

CONTACT!
hello@gaysreading.com

Jason and Brett are joined by debut authors Alana S. Portero (Bad Habig), Komail Aijazuddin (Manboobs), and Gina María Balibrera (The Volcano Daughters). They talk about how the city of Madrid is like a drag queen, cheesecake and carbs, and reclaiming your culture's narrative.

Alana S. Portero is a medieval historian, writer, playwright, LGBTQIA+ activist, and cofounder of the theatre company STRIGA. Her writings on feminism and LGBTQIA+ activism from the perspective of a trans woman have been featured in a number of international publications, including Agente provocador, elDiario.es, El Salto Diario, S Moda, and Vogue. She lives in Madrid.

Komail Aijazuddin is a visual artist and writer. He holds degrees in Art & Art History from New York University and an MFA from the Pratt Institute, NY. His debut book Manboobs: A memoir of Musicals, Visas, Hope & Cake is coming Fall 2024, published by Abrams Press (US) and Transworld/DoubleDay Books (Internationally). He lives and works in New York City.

Gina María Balibrera earned an MFA in Prose from the University of Michigan’s Helen Zell Writers’ Program. She’s been awarded grants from Aspen Words, Tin House, the Rackham Foundation, and the Periplus Collective, as well as a Tyson Award, the Aura Estrada Prize, and the Under the Volcano Sandra Cisneros Fellowship.

Gays Reading is sponsored by Audible. Get a FREE 30-day trial by visiting audibletrial.com/gaysreading

Support the show

WATCH!
https://youtube.com/@gaysreading

BOOKS!
Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading

MERCH!
Purchase your Gays Reading podcast merchandise HERE!
https://gaysreading.myspreadshop.com/

FOLLOW!
@gaysreading | @jasonblitman

CONTACT!
hello@gaysreading.com

Jason and Brett talk to Lev Grossman (The Bright Sword) about the difference between an adventure and a quest, being the hero of your own story, the trials of putting on armor, and what makes a king.

Lev Grossman is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Magicians trilogy—The Magicians, The Magician King, and The Magician’s Land—which has been published in thirty countries and adapted as a TV show that ran for five seasons on SYFY. He is also a screenwriter and the author of two children’s books, The Golden Swift and The Silver Arrow, and his journalism has appeared in Time, Vanity Fair, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, among many other places. He lives with his wife and children in New York City.

Gays Reading is sponsored by Audible. Get a FREE 30-day trial by visiting audibletrial.com/gaysreading

Support the show

WATCH!
https://youtube.com/@gaysreading

BOOKS!
Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading

MERCH!
Purchase your Gays Reading podcast merchandise HERE!
https://gaysreading.myspreadshop.com/

FOLLOW!
@gaysreading | @jasonblitman

CONTACT!
hello@gaysreading.com

Jason and Brett talk to Peng Shepherd (All This and More) about what it means to be real, the repercussions of the choices that we make, the many versions of our lives, and get the scoop on her very first published book.

Peng Shepherd was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, and has lived in Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, London, New York, and Mexico City.

Her second novel, The Cartographers, became a national bestseller, was named a Best Book of 2022 by The Washington Post, and received a 2020 fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Her debut, The Book of M, won the 2019 Neukom Institute for Literary Arts Award for Debut Speculative Fiction, and was chosen as a best book of the year by Amazon, Elle, Refinery29, and The Verge, as well as a best book of the summer by the Today show and NPR’s On Point.

Gays Reading is sponsored by Audible. Get a FREE 30-day trial by visiting audibletrial.com/gaysreading

Support the show

WATCH!
https://youtube.com/@gaysreading

BOOKS!
Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading

MERCH!
Purchase your Gays Reading podcast merchandise HERE!
https://gaysreading.myspreadshop.com/

FOLLOW!
@gaysreading | @jasonblitman

CONTACT!
hello@gaysreading.com