The Sea Elephants
By: Shastri Akella
3.78
Format: 384 pages, Hardcover
For fans of Shuggie Bain and A Burning, a queer coming-of-age novel set in 1990s India, about a you…
Want to Read $ 14.99"He sat down on the porch, chuckling, and I wanted to be that sound in his throat, to be that decibel that corresponded so precisely to his pleasure."-Shastri Akella, The Sea Elephants
"Once upon a time, the gods took away the first ancestor of the sea elephants, coveting him for his exceptional beauty— tusks blue, body ivory. The trauma of that original separation haunts every sea elephant thereafter and even when they sing, their songs contain five notes or fewer, the full octave missing from their music."-Shastri Akella, The Sea Elephants
"Time...is a rocking horse. When Krishna was a child, he pulled its ear, released it, and walked away, laughing. It creaked, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Noisy nonstop. We worship Krishna in the child form because we want him to come and grab that Time Horse by its tail; when he does, the horse’s grinning face will come to a halt and silence will descend. Peace, at last, from the noise of time. Isn’t that the need at the heart of our every prayer, whatever our material demands, whatever words we choose? Peace from the noise of time."-Shastri Akella, The Sea Elephants
If you liked the queer plot in The Sea Elephants by Shastri Akella , here is a list of 14 books like this:
1. Let Us Descend
By: Jesmyn Ward
3.70
Format: 320 pages, Hardcover
From Jesmyn Ward—the two-time National Book Award winner, youngest winner of the Library of Congres… read more
Want to Read $ 14.99Similar categories in Jesmyn Ward's Let Us Descend book and Shastri Akella's The Sea Elephants
- literary fiction
- historical
- fiction
- historical fiction
- adult
"You must leap. You must do as your people did. You must sink in order to rise."-Jesmyn Ward, Let Us Descend
2. The Emperor and the Endless Palace
By: Justinian Huang
3.52
Format: 312 pages, Hardcover
“What if I told you that the feeling we call love is actually the feeling of metaphysical recogniti… read more
Want to Read $ 14.99Similar categories in Justinian Huang's The Emperor and the Endless Palace book and Shastri Akella's The Sea Elephants
- lgbt
- historical
- fiction
- historical fiction
- adult
- queer
"Despair not. History is carved by men who did not have their fathers' favor."-Justinian Huang, The Emperor and the Endless Palace
"You mean like a past life?' Calvin says. Garden snorts. 'Are you for real?' 'Excuse me, this is a "yes and" environment, G,' Calvin replies, 'and billions of people around the world believe in reinca…"-Justinian Huang, The Emperor and the Endless Palace
"[River] 'Maybe he was just trying to shake me off. I mean, why would he want to be with me?' Without warning, Calvin bonks me on the side of my head, not hard, though it startles me, and some wine sp…"-Justinian Huang, The Emperor and the Endless Palace
3. Henry Henry
By: Allen Bratton
3.65
Format: 336 pages, Hardcover
Henry Henry is a queer reimagining of Shakespeare's Henriad, transposing the legend of Henry V's wa… read more
Want to Read $ 1.99Similar categories in Allen Bratton's Henry Henry book and Shastri Akella's The Sea Elephants
- literary fiction
- lgbt
- fiction
- adult
- queer
"Make life, make life, make life. What sort of life? We can prune and water and weed ourselves, but we can't stop the rot once it gets in."-Allen Bratton, Henry Henry
4. Family Meal
By: Bryan Washington
3.56
Format: 320 pages, Hardcover
From the bestselling, award-winning author of Memorial and Lot, an irresistible, intimate novel abo… read more
Want to Read $ 13.99Similar categories in Bryan Washington's Family Meal book and Shastri Akella's The Sea Elephants
- literary fiction
- lgbt
- fiction
- adult
- queer
5. Wandering Stars
By: Tommy Orange
3.89
Format: 315 pages, Hardcover
The eagerly awaited follow-up to Pulitzer Prize-finalist Tommy Orange’s breakout best seller There … read more
Want to Read $ 14.99Similar categories in Tommy Orange's Wandering Stars book and Shastri Akella's The Sea Elephants
- literary fiction
- historical
- fiction
- historical fiction
- adult
"And in the year 1924 Indian citizenship will have been granted, even though they will mean to dissolve tribes by giving citizenship, dissolve being another word for disappearance, a kind of chemical …"-Tommy Orange, Wandering Stars
6. Martyr!
By: Kaveh Akbar
4.24
Format: 352 pages, Hardcover
Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr! is a paean to how we spend our lives seeking meaning—in faith, art, ourselves… read more
Want to Read $ 14.99Similar categories in Kaveh Akbar's Martyr! book and Shastri Akella's The Sea Elephants
- literary fiction
- queer
- fiction
- lgbt
7. Swim Home to the Vanished
By: Brendan Shay Basham
3.35
Format: 232 pages, Hardcover
When the river swallowed Kai, Damien’s little brother didn’t die so much as vanish. As the unbea… read more
Want to Read $ 12.99Similar categories in Brendan Shay Basham's Swim Home to the Vanished book and Shastri Akella's The Sea Elephants
- literary fiction
- adult
- fiction
8. Blackouts
By: Justin Torres
3.77
Format: 306 pages, Hardcover
From the bestselling author of We the Animals, Blackouts mines lost histories--personal and collect… read more
Want to Read $ 14.99Similar categories in Justin Torres's Blackouts book and Shastri Akella's The Sea Elephants
- literary fiction
- lgbt
- historical
- fiction
- historical fiction
- queer
9. Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea
By: Rita Chang-Eppig
3.49
Format: 281 pages, Hardcover
For readers of Outlawed, Piranesi, and The Night Tiger, a riveting, roaring adventure novel about a… read more
Want to Read $ 9.99Similar categories in Rita Chang-Eppig's Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea book and Shastri Akella's The Sea Elephants
- historical
- adult
- fiction
- historical fiction
10. Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style
By: Paul Rudnick
4.07
Format: 368 pages, Hardcover
From the acclaimed writer Paul Rudnick, a riotously funny, perceptive, and life-affirming novel fol… read more
Want to Read $ 13.99Similar categories in Paul Rudnick's Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style book and Shastri Akella's The Sea Elephants
- lgbt
- historical
- fiction
- historical fiction
- queer
"If all the world's a stage, gay people are often expected to understudy themselves, reinterpreting the truth of their performances, depending on who's out front, and who's paying their salary."-Paul Rudnick, Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style
11. Maddalena and the Dark
By: Julia Fine
3.38
Format: 304 pages, Hardcover
A novel set in 18th-century Venice at a prestigious music school, about two girls drawn together by… read more
Want to Read $ 11.99Similar categories in Julia Fine's Maddalena and the Dark book and Shastri Akella's The Sea Elephants
- lgbt
- historical
- fiction
- historical fiction
- queer
12. All the World Beside
By: Garrard Conley
3.75
Format: 352 pages, Hardcover
An electrifying, deeply moving novel about the love story between two men in Puritan New England … read more
Want to Read $ 14.99Similar categories in Garrard Conley's All the World Beside book and Shastri Akella's The Sea Elephants
- lgbt
- historical
- fiction
- historical fiction
- adult
- queer
13. The Sea Elephants
By: Shastri Akella
3.78
Format: 384 pages, Hardcover
For fans of Shuggie Bain and A Burning, a queer coming-of-age novel set in 1990s India, about a you… read more
Want to Read $ 14.99Similar categories in Shastri Akella's The Sea Elephants book and Shastri Akella's The Sea Elephants
- literary fiction
- lgbt
- coming of age
- historical
- asia
- india
- fiction
- historical fiction
- adult
- queer
"He sat down on the porch, chuckling, and I wanted to be that sound in his throat, to be that decibel that corresponded so precisely to his pleasure."-Shastri Akella, The Sea Elephants
"Once upon a time, the gods took away the first ancestor of the sea elephants, coveting him for his exceptional beauty— tusks blue, body ivory. The trauma of that original separation haunts every sea …"-Shastri Akella, The Sea Elephants
"Time...is a rocking horse. When Krishna was a child, he pulled its ear, released it, and walked away, laughing. It creaked, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Noisy nonstop. We worship K…"-Shastri Akella, The Sea Elephants
14. Every Rising Sun
By: Jamila Ahmed
3.94
Format: 432 pages, Hardcover
In this riveting take on One Thousand and One Nights , Shaherazade, at the center of her own story,… read more
Want to Read $ 12.99Similar categories in Jamila Ahmed's Every Rising Sun book and Shastri Akella's The Sea Elephants
- literary fiction
- historical
- fiction
- historical fiction
- adult
"Men and women before you have been betrayed. Men and women after you will be betrayed. But to be betrayed is not to be broken. And to be broken is not be become a killer."-Jamila Ahmed, Every Rising Sun
15. The Lookback Window
By: Kyle Dillon Hertz
3.75
Format: 288 pages, Hardcover
A fearless debut novel of resilience, transcendence, and the elusive promise of justice. Growing… read more
Want to Read $ 13.99Similar categories in Kyle Dillon Hertz's The Lookback Window book and Shastri Akella's The Sea Elephants
- literary fiction
- lgbt
- fiction
- adult
- queer
"The great shame of your life is that you weren't raised Catholic," James said to me. "You've got suffering, but you don't have the aesthetic."-Kyle Dillon Hertz, The Lookback Window
"Some people talk about their PTSD as if it's a badge of honor, and I roll my fucking eyes. I'm not trying to be the PDST-esy of them all. I ignored it for a really long time. I overdosed at seventeen…"-Kyle Dillon Hertz, The Lookback Window
16. In Tongues
By: Thomas Grattan
4.04
Format: 288 pages, Hardcover
A young gay man upends the lives of a powerful art-world couple in this steamy novel of self-discov… read more
Want to Read $ 14.99Similar categories in Thomas Grattan's In Tongues book and Shastri Akella's The Sea Elephants
- literary fiction
- lgbt
- fiction
- historical fiction
- adult
- queer
17. Where There Was Fire
By: John Manuel Arias
3.49
Format: 288 pages, Hardcover
A lush and lyrical debut novel about a Costa Rican family wrestling with a deadly secret, from risi… read more
Want to Read $ 14.99Similar categories in John Manuel Arias's Where There Was Fire book and Shastri Akella's The Sea Elephants
- historical
- fiction
- historical fiction
18. The Male Gazed
By: Manuel Betancourt
3.52
Format: 208 pages, Hardcover
Featuring deep dives into thirst traps, drag queens, Antonio Banderas, and telenovelas—all in the s… read more
Want to Read $ 12.99Similar categories in Manuel Betancourt's The Male Gazed book and Shastri Akella's The Sea Elephants
- adult
- queer
- lgbt
19. Red Clay Suzie
By: Jeffrey Dale Lofton
4.25
Format: 369 pages, Kindle Edition
Longlisted for the Center for Fiction 2023 First Novel Prize A novel inspired by true events The … read more
Want to Read $ 14.99Similar categories in Jeffrey Dale Lofton's Red Clay Suzie book and Shastri Akella's The Sea Elephants
- lgbt
- coming of age
- fiction
- historical fiction
- adult
20. The Sons of El Rey
By: Alex Espinoza
3.90
Format: 384 pages, Hardcover
From the American Book Award–winning author comes a multi-generational epic spanning 1960s Mexico … read more
Want to Read $ 14.99Similar categories in Alex Espinoza's The Sons of El Rey book and Shastri Akella's The Sea Elephants
- literary fiction
- lgbt
- fiction
- historical fiction
- adult
- queer
21. Hombrecito
By: Santiago Jose Sanchez
3.95
Format: 336 pages, Hardcover
A novel by a brilliant new voice, Hombrecito is a queer coming-of-age story about a young immigrant… read more
Want to Read $ 14.99Similar categories in Santiago Jose Sanchez's Hombrecito book and Shastri Akella's The Sea Elephants
- literary fiction
- queer
- fiction
- lgbt
