15 Great Reads for Pride Month

Recommended by Trinity clergy and staff, the hand-picked books on this Pride reading list — from poetry to science fiction, theology to memoir — will comfort you, inspire you, and dare you to settle into the goodness of all God’s creation. And that includes you.

A meditation on belonging

Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand by Jeff Chu

Although this collection of spiritual reflections is brand-new, I’ve been reading Jeff Chu’s newsletter, Notes of a Make-Believe Farmer, for several years. At a turning point in his 30s, Chu left a job in publishing to study at Princeton Theological Seminary’s “Farminary,” an experimental project that combines theological education with life on a 21-acre working farm. Here he reflects on lessons learned, blending spiritual autobiography with food and nature writing in meditations that often land like a gut punch to the soul, in the best possible way. His essays on faith, LGBTQIA+ identity, heritage, and family (of origin and of choice) will leave you heartbroken and hungry for more. — Dane Miller, head verger and associate director, Liturgical Operations

An artfully written, present-day fairy tale

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

In this delightfully cozy fantasy novel about learning to love yourself and others, Linus Baker is a mild-mannered caseworker for the Department of Magical Youth sent to investigate an orphanage on a remote island off the coast of England. As he learns more about these feared and misunderstood youth and their guardians, he discovers something unexpected: himself. This is a story about finding family among a group of outcasts — something familiar to many queer folks — that resonates with our understanding of what it means to be church. TJ Klune’s writing is simple and direct, but often profoundly beautiful. — The Rev. Matthew Welsch, priest and director, Children, Youth, and Family

A vision that counters our deep divides

Inciting Joy: Essays by Ross Gay

I once read that the best writing feels as if you are sitting across a kitchen table with a friend, having a cup of coffee. In his work, New York Times best-selling poet and activist Ross Gay cultivates such compelling intimacy. His ruminations on how joy emerges from caring for one another create a spaciousness for how we live and who we love — and illuminate the holiness of shared experience. Gay gives us a map for navigating hardship and facing injustice with that gutsy, clear-eyed joy, which he sees as “an ember for or precursor to wild and unpredictable and transgressive and unboundaried solidarity.” — The Rev. Kristin Kaulbach Miles, priest and director, Parish Life

A medieval mystic challenges the patriarchy

Julian of Norwich: The Showings: Uncovering the Face of the Feminine in Revelations of Divine Love by Mirabai Starr

Julian of Norwich wrote her famous Revelations (the first book published in English attributed to a woman) alone in the tiny cell where she willingly cloistered herself. And yet her visions — or “showings,” as she called them — draw us into an expansive, sensual, gender-transgressing understanding of the divine that feels radical to read today, let alone in the fifteenth century. In Mirabai Starr’s translation, with a foreword by renowned writer and theologian Richard Rohr, Julian’s loving Mother God “created our human nature . . . took our human nature upon herself . . . and spreads herself through all that is, penetrating everything with grace,” a still-powerful subversion of patriarchal and androcentric Christianity. Julian empowers us to see God in the feminine, and the feminine in God. — Jude Wetherell, communications manager, Liturgy

A breathtaking quest on the high seas

Saltswept by Katalina Watt

The moment I grabbed Saltswept, I knew I was in for an adventure. Set in a world inspired by Southeast Asian mythology and narrated by a pirate, an acolyte, and a mother, the story unfolds into a queer journey at sea that shows how a group of unlikely pirates find connection and purpose in a chosen family. And there’s a talking cat! — Angie Delgado Ruiz, social media editor/producer

Break your worldview wide open

Queer Virtue: What LGBTQ People Know About Life and Love and How it Can Revitalize Christianity by the Rev. Elizabeth M. Edman

We read an excerpt from this book in our special Pride gathering each June. An Episcopal priest, Liz Edman asserts that not only does Christianity itself reject false binaries and “us vs. them” thinking, but Christians can learn a lot from the witness of queer people, whose very lives disrupt the harmful divides of our day. With rich nuance, she addresses the deep blessing and heartbreaking challenge of moving through the world in these soft, vulnerable bodies in a way that embraces and inspires hope for everyone. — The Rev. Kristin Kaulbach Miles

A sweet and satisfying sci-fi novella

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

In the distant past, the robots of Panga woke up and decided to leave human civilization behind, choosing instead to live among the plants and animals of the protected wilderness. Centuries later, human civilization has adapted, becoming simpler and more eco-conscious. One day, Sibling Dex — a queer tea monk who offers the ministry of presence to the humans of Panga — feels an unexpected call to travel deep into the wilderness. There, they meet Mosscap, a robot who has been sent to find an answer to the question: “What do humans need?” Becky Chambers’s story of their unlikely friendship invites thoughtful reflection on philosophy, human nature, and our relationship with the created world around us. — The Rev. Matthew Welsch

A feminist poet ahead of her time

Selected Works by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, translated by Edith Grossman with an introduction by Julia Alvarez  

The 17th-century Mexican Catholic nun and poet Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was a trailblazer for women at a time when intellectual pursuits were largely confined to wealthy and/or well-connected men. Known as the Phoenix of the Americas or the Tenth Muse, Sor Juana is held up today as a champion of the right of all people — including queer folks, who are among her most ardent admirers — to contribute to public scholarship. Any collection of her work will include the epic poem “First Dream” and her fiery essay “Response to Sor Filotea.” The latter defends her right to study all subjects, including theology, which she calls the “Queen of the Sciences.” I first encountered Sor Juana as a college student and return to her frequently; Pride Month is the perfect excuse. — Christopher Washnock, program director, Leadership Development

Uncover the sacredness of the skin you’re in

This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories That Make Us by Cole Arthur Riley

A group of Trinity folks recently returned from a pilgrimage to South Africa. While there, they met with a business leader who prays these simple words each morning: “God, help me to remember the truth about myself, no matter how beautiful it is.” In this luminous volume of coming-of-age memoir and theological reflection, Cole Arthur Riley, creator of Black Liturgies, offers a guide to claiming one’s beauty and strength, especially amid the harmful projections of others. “People say we are unworthy of salvation. I disagree . . . It seems to me that God is making miracles to free us from the shame that haunts us,” she writes. “Our liberation begins with the irrevocable belief that we are worthy to be liberated, that we are worthy of a life that does not degrade us but honors our whole selves.” — The Rev. Kristin Kaulbach Miles

Learn from a controversial Bible scholar

The Sin of Certainty: Why God Desires Our Trust More Than Our "Correct" Beliefs by Peter Enns

If you’ve watched Conclave recently, it’s possible this line from the movie resonated with you as it did with me: “Certainty is the great enemy of unity. Certainty is the deadly enemy of tolerance. Even Christ was not certain at the end.” Peter Enns’s books are powerful tools for countering harmful interpretations of the Bible — which are often held with great certainty. He argues for “adopting and intentionally cultivating in Christians a culture of trust in God, rather than raising up soldiers for holy wars.” When we embrace doubt as a holy, human, and courageous spaciousness that makes room for relationships, that’s when others will see God’s love in us. — The Rev. Yein Kim, priest and associate director, Sacramental Life and Membership

If you love the Bible, you’ll love…

Trans Biblical edited by Joseph A. Marchal, Melissa Harl Sellew, and Katy E. Valentine

“Gender variation is as ancient as stories about creation.” These opening words set the tone for an illuminating essay collection that subverts destructive modern-day readings of the Bible by interpreting the richly inclusive message of Scripture through a trans lens. In particular, I appreciate the Rev. Justin Sabia-Tanis’s exploration of the Good Samaritan parable, a story Jesus tells in which a traveler, robbed and left for dead on the side of the road, receives life-saving care from a Samaritan, his perceived enemy. Drawing parallels between the biblical Samaritans and trans people today, Sabia-Tanis reminds us Jesus often points to the reviled “other” as a model of what it means to embody neighborly Christian love. — Shane Fryer, senior writer

For poetic sanctuary in the storm

In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World by Pádraig Ó Tuama

The title of this 2015 book is drawn from a lovely old Irish proverb: “It is in the shelter of each other that the people live.” Hearing the stories of others has provided shelter for me throughout my life. In this compelling collection of poetry and prose, acclaimed poet and theologian Padraig Ó Tuama offers readers a lyrical reflection about coming out and finding shelter in faith, community, language, and nature. — The Rev. Kristin Kaulbach Miles

For theology nerds who want to think deeply

Sexuality and the Christian Body: Their Way into the Triune God by Eugene F. Rogers, Jr. 

My recommendation is not really a book but a person. Eugene Rogers has spent years developing a theology that enriches our understanding of marriage. His argument is consistent: For Christians, marriage can be a primary means of spiritual growth — and LGBTQIA+ folks need it just as much as anyone else. In this wonderful 1999 book, Rogers addresses many of the arguments bound up with LGBTQIA+ inclusion in the global church, offering new and creative readings of the Bible and Christian tradition. I find in his work what few, if any, other theologians have accomplished: a deeper, more beautiful picture of marriage that enriches queer and straight Christians alike. — Patrick Haley, fellow with Trinity’s Faith Formation and Education team and lecturer at Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary

A revelatory read of an ancient text

The Soul of the Stranger: Reading God and Torah from a Transgender Perspective by Joy Ladin

In an early chapter of this book, poet and scholar Joy Ladin extends a remarkable invitation to readers: “[Q]uestions transgender people face are questions we all face. Everyone, transgender or not, has to decide what parts of ourselves we will and will not live.” Weaving together Scripture interpretation with sections of memoir on her own experience as a transgender Jewish woman, Ladin revisits some of the best-known stories in the Torah (which comprises the first five books of the Bible) with an eye for how God calls us to confront and overturn our assumptions about identity. — Jude Wetherell

For nature-lovers and fans of Mary Oliver (and who isn’t?)

Upstream: Selected Essays by Mary Oliver

This collection of lesser-known essays by beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver offers a beautifully incisive meditation on discerning identity in light of the interconnectedness of all things. “I had to go out into the world,” writes Oliver on the first pages, “and see it and hear it and react to it, before I knew at all who I was, what I was, what I wanted to be.” For me, it’s a reminder that we find God, and ourselves, not apart from our first-hand experience, but precisely in our real-world lives, in one another. — Shane Fryer