books + brie's pride picks

Books + Brie
Jun 7, 2019
6 min read

Updated: Jun 23, 2019

Check out Books and Brie's book, film and tv recommendations for pride month below:

I've talked about how much I adore Booksmart before, and this is one of the many reasons.

Best friends Molly and Amy spent all four years of high school studying, preparing to go to Ivies. On the eve of their graduation, the pair discovers that everyone else also got into good schools—and they partied. (One of the best lines is 'I'm incredible at hand jobs, but I also got a 1560 on the SATs'.) .

Amy, one half of the film's core duo, is an incredibly awkward lesbian. In one scene, Amy attempts to flirt with her crush, and find out if she's gay. She does so by going on a tangent about how homosexuality is illegal in Uganda, resulting in many LGBT people being murdered there. Amy then asks her crush, 'would you be scared to go to Uganda?'

Booksmart is currently playing in cinemas nationwide.

With everyone from Natasha Lyonne to Clea DuVall to RuPaul starring in it, But I'm A Cheerleader is a classic campy comedy. The film follows a popular cheerleader, who believes she is straight, after her parents send her to conversion therapy.

But I'm A Cheerleader is currently available on Vudu for free.

I really had to think whether or not to include this on the list. Half the people I know love Call Me By Your Name, and the other half despises it. While I am not its biggest fan, I still think about the book and film to this day, over a year since I read and watched it; so I feel it earns a spot on the list.

Call Me By Your Name takes place somewhere in Northern Italy during the 80s (as a result, the film's soundtrack and scenery are incredible). The book is narrated by Elio, who finds himself infatuated with his father's protégé, Oliver. The pair finds themselves in a brief, but beautiful, summer relationship that has long lasting effects.

A sequel, Find Me, is planned to be released in October.

The book is available to purchase on Amazon. The film can be streamed through Amazon.

Keira Knightley—queen of period pieces and queen of my heart—stars as the film's namesake, the French writer Colette. The film shows Colette as she marries, moves to Paris, and becomes a literary sensation, all while challenging standard 1800s gender expression and exploring her sexuality.

Colette is available to stream on Amazon Prime.

Sebastián Lelio’s film is more than just a forbidden romance with a London Orthodox Jewish community as the backdrop.

After the death of her father, photographer Ronit Krushka returns to England. During the memorial services, she stays with her father’s protégé, Dovid Kuperman and her former lover, Esti Kuperman. The film follows Ronit and Esti as they rekindle their romance within the perimeters of the Jewish religion.

From the opening scene, which features Rabbi Rav Krushka’s final sermon, the themes of faith and freedom are apparent. Krushka’s speech on choice and desire boom through the air as the camera tilts up, illustrating the all-consuming power of the synagogue and the fundamental segregation between men and women in the orthodox community.

Lelio’s drama refreshingly respects the two leading women (Weisz edited the six-minute sex scene herself, in order to eliminate the male gaze from said scene), as well as the male lead, treating none of them as antagonists but instead well-rounded characters.

The book is available to purchase on Amazon. The film is available to stream on Amazon Prime.

Donna Tartt is, hands down, the best writer alive today—there's a reason why it takes her nearly a decade to release a new novel.

Online, Tartt has a devout following, and not just because of her labyrinthine plots, rich vocabulary or abundance of references. Instead, social media users carefully analyse the homoerotic subtext in her two most popular novels, The Secret History and The Goldfinch.

In The Secret History, the unreliable narrator, Richard, joins an elite group of Classics students. During their first encounter, Francis, one of the students, asks Richard (in Latin, of course) if he would like to go to bed with him. Murders, pagan rituals and orgies then ensue. 300 pages later, Richard hilariously tells everyone that he thinks Francis might be gay.

The Goldfinch is a coming of age novel which follows 13-year old Theo after he survives a terrorist attack, accidentally steals a famous painting and becomes an orphan. One of the key relationships in the book is between Theo and his Ukrainian best friend, Boris. The pair spends their early teenage years in an alcohol and drug induced stupor, which includes a fair amount of experimentation.

The Secret History is available to purchase on Amazon. The Goldfinch is available to purchase on Amazon and the trailer for its upcoming film adaptation can be seen here.

'Listen. I can't stop thinking about this film. It's so bourgeoise, it's so sexy.'

—One of my Letterboxd reviews for The Favourite.

I was so lucky to see The Favourite, which was nominated for ten Academy Awards, opening night. I would have seen it earlier, but I was an idiot and didn't buy my early screening tickets in advance. When my friend and I approached the small theatre on a random Wednesday evening, old people from the suburbs had already swarmed the cinema. I looked up and, to my dismay, saw in bright letters above the theatre 'THE FAVOURITE EARLY SCREENING SOLD OUT'. I seriously cried.

The Favourite is a glorious, decadent tale of Queen Anne's love triangle with two of her ladies in waiting. Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone are at their best as their characters connive, backstab and seduce one another.

The Favourite is available to stream on Amazon.

Y'all know exactly what this show is about; I find some way to mention Killing Eve in nearly every blog post.

However, let's say you don't know what the show's about. At its core, Killing Eve is revolves around the relationship of its two leads: Villanelle, a Russian assassin, and Eve, the MI5 agent ordered to either capture or kill Villanelle.

The two travel across the world, chasing one another, leaving a trail dead bodies, designer clothes and heartbreak in their wake.

Still not interested? Check out these promos.

You can watch Killing Eve for free on BBC America.

So trashy, so cheesy, but so good.

Despite the fact that I've rewatched this show an embarrassing amount of times just in the past year, I'm not sure how to describe The L Word. Simply put, it's a melodramatic show about a messy friend group of lesbians in Los Angeles.

I'm gonna let the show's horrendously catchy theme song speak for itself.

Over a decade after the finale airing, a reboot is going to premiere on Showtime this fall.

The L Word is available on Netflix.

In the style of director David Lynch, I'm going to keep this description as vague and mysterious as possible.

Amnesia. Hollywood mobsters and a cowboy. Persona. Billy Ray Cyrus.

Mulholland Drive is available on Amazon.

I've been hearing about this documentary for years, but it wasn't until this spring that I watched it for one of my film classes.

If you, like me, know barely anything about drag, consider checking this film out. Paris is Burning is a guide to New York's 80s black drag queen scene. For 71 minutes, Jennie Livingston rapidly introduces the viewer to slang that is still used today (just one example is 'shade'), various houses and balls, and famous drag queens via interviews—all while touching on the impact racism and poverty have on the subculture.

Paris is Burning is available on Netflix.

You've probably seen Richard Siken's poetry all over the internet.

His work is known for its electric mix of eroticism, violence and homosexuality. His poems are angsty, messy and, above all, real.

In 2004, he wont the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition for his first and most popular book, Crush.

This past March, Siken suffered a stroke and is currently recovering. His publisher has started a GoFundMe page in order to raise funds for Siken's recovery. You can donate here.

Siken's books, Crush and War of the Foxes, are available on Amazon.