LGBTQ+

2017 · John Boyne · 592 pages · Literary Fiction

John Boyne's sprawling, emotionally devastating novel follows Cyril Avery from his birth in 1945 to an adopted mother's shame in a small Irish parish through seven decades of Irish life. It's funny, angry, tender, and occasionally melodramatic, but the melodrama is earned by the depth of investment Boyne creates in Cyril's struggle to live honestly in a country that spent decades making honesty impossible for people like him. The coincidences pile up more than some readers can accept, but the emotional payoff is so substantial that most forgive the contrivances that get them there. This is a big, old-fashioned novel with a modern heart, and it's one of the best Irish novels of the 21st century.

2022 · 3 Seasons · HBO · Comedy-Drama

Somebody Somewhere is one of the most emotionally honest shows HBO has ever produced, a three-season portrait of grief, friendship, and finding your people in the last place you expected. Bridget Everett anchors the whole thing with a performance that never reaches for sentiment it hasn't earned, and her chemistry with Jeff Hiller as Joel gives the show its beating heart. The deliberate pace and low-stakes storytelling won't work for everyone, and a few plotlines across the run feel undercooked. But for anyone who has ever felt stuck, out of place, or uncertain about where they belong, this show lands with quiet, lasting force.

2015 · 6 Seasons · CBC / Pop TV · Comedy

Schitt's Creek asks for patience and rewards it with one of the most satisfying character journeys in modern comedy. The Rose family starts as a group of shallow, entitled people you'd cross the street to avoid, and by the finale they've become characters you're devastated to leave behind. That transformation is the show's greatest trick, and it works because the writing earns every emotional beat through humor rather than sentimentality. The first season is a hurdle that loses some viewers, and the comedy never reaches the joke density of faster-paced sitcoms. But what it does instead, building a world where acceptance is the default and growth happens through connection, is rarer and more valuable than another show competing for laughs per minute.

2020 · TJ Klune · 396 pages · Fantasy

TJ Klune's 2020 fantasy novel about a lonely caseworker sent to evaluate an orphanage of magical children on a remote island is the literary equivalent of a warm blanket. It's gentle, affirming, frequently funny, and utterly committed to the idea that love and acceptance can overcome fear and prejudice. The found-family dynamics are beautifully handled, the characters are endearing, and the romance at the center is tender without being saccharine. It doesn't challenge readers much, and critics of cozy fantasy will find it too sweet. But for the audience it's written for, and that audience is enormous, it delivers exactly what it promises: hope, warmth, and the conviction that different doesn't mean dangerous.

2022 · 3 Seasons · Netflix · Coming-of-Age Romance

Heartstopper is television made with radical kindness, a show that believes queer teenagers deserve love stories as joyful and uncomplicated as any straight romance on screen. Kit Connor and Joe Locke have chemistry that lights up every scene they share, and the animated flourishes add a unique visual charm. The third season matures thoughtfully into more difficult territory, and while the show's gentleness occasionally limits its dramatic range, that gentleness is precisely what makes it so valuable to its audience.

2018 · 3 Seasons · FX · Drama

Pose brought New York's ballroom scene to television with a cast that made history and performances that demand attention, most notably from Billy Porter and Michaela Ja Rodriguez. The show's emotional ambition runs high, and when it connects, it delivers moments of genuine power that few series from its era can match. Ryan Murphy's tendency toward grand emotional gestures occasionally tips into heavy-handed territory, and the storytelling can lean on dramatic shortcuts when subtlety would have served better. Those flaws never overshadow what Pose accomplished: a three-season run that expanded who gets to be at the center of a prestige drama, told with warmth, fury, and a deep love for its characters.

2017 · Andrew Rowe · 623 pages · Progression Fantasy

Sufficiently Advanced Magic builds one of the most intricate magic systems in modern fantasy and then hands it to a protagonist who wants to understand every single rule before using any of them. The result is a book that will fascinate readers who love systematic magic, puzzle-focused exploration, and protagonists who think their way through problems rather than fighting through them. It demands tolerance for extended internal analysis and world-mechanical exposition, and readers wanting fast-paced action may find themselves restless. But for its target audience, this is exactly the book they've been looking for.

2015 · 2 Seasons · Netflix · Sci-Fi, Drama

Sense8 is the Wachowskis' sprawling, emotionally generous celebration of human connection, following eight strangers across the globe who share a psychic link, delivering some of the most exhilarating and tender moments Netflix has produced.

2022 · 2 Seasons · Max · Romantic Comedy

Our Flag Means Death is a warm, funny, and genuinely sweet pirate comedy that found a passionate audience by combining historical absurdity with a love story the genre had never told before. Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi's chemistry carries the show through its rougher patches, and the ensemble is packed with memorable characters. The second season's uneven pacing and the show's abrupt cancellation leave the story incomplete, but what exists is a unique and lovable piece of television.

2017 · Andrew Sean Greer · 272 pages · Literary Fiction

A charming, light-footed comedy about a middle-aged writer running away from his problems that won the Pulitzer by being genuinely delightful rather than heavy.

2023 · Caroline O'Donoghue · 304 pages · Literary Fiction

A warm, sharp, and frequently hilarious novel about a young woman's intense friendship and messy romantic entanglements in recession-era Cork, Ireland. It nails the energy of being in your early twenties even when the plot runs out of places to go.

1998 · 11 Seasons · NBC · Comedy

Will & Grace broke ground as network television's first prime-time sitcom with gay lead characters and earned its audience through sharp writing and a comedic ensemble anchored by the dynamic between Eric McCormack and Debra Messing. Sean Hayes' Jack and Megan Mullally's Karen stole every scene they were in, becoming two of the most quoted characters of the era. The revival seasons (2017-2020) diluted the show's legacy, and the humor occasionally relies on stereotypes it's simultaneously attempting to normalize.