Yes, Daddy was named one of the best queer books of 2021 by Entertainment Weekly, NBC News, The Advocate, Lambda Literary, Bustle, Goodreads and more. Yes, Daddy was also optioned for television by Amazon Studios.
Parks-Ramage's new novel is It's Not the End of the World.
At Lit Hub the author tagged five "novels which feature some of the worst (but most entertaining) parties-gone-wrong." One title on the list:
Raven Leilani, LusterRead about the other books on the list at Lit Hub.
There are few things sadder than a sparsely attended birthday party. And when that birthday party happens to be for a child, it is particularly heartbreaking. Raven Leilani’s brilliant debut novel Luster features one such scene—a roller rink celebration with a mere two guests and a disco ball disaster which I will notspoil here, other than to say it perfectly encapsulates the feeling of a very bad birthday.
Adding to the particularly impactful nature of this scene, is the fact that it perfectly encapsulates the complicated dynamic between the four main characters of the book. Luster follows the thorny misadventures of Edie, a disaffected publishing employee who enters a somewhat kinky affair with Eric, a digital archivist living in New Jersey.
Surprisingly, Eric’s wife doesn’t banish Edie from their home upon finding out about her husband’s dalliances. In fact, she invites Edie deeper into their family’s life. Soon, Edie becomes a significant role model to Akila, Eric’s adopted daughter, and it becomes clear that Edie may be the only Black person in Akila’s life, adding an intense complication to an already complex dynamic.
Luster brims with dark humor, poignant human insight, and sentences that shine with stylistic verve.
Luster is among Emily Everett's five top novels about coming of age later in life, C. Michelle Lindley’s five best novels about art, Alana B. Lytle's eight top novels about destructive women, and Forsyth Harmon's five top obsessive female relationships in literature.
--Marshal Zeringue
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