The fourth season of Netflix's Queer Eye just dropped on TV, but fans who have already marathoned their way through new episodes may be on the lookout for more entertainment approved by Antoni, Bobby, Jonathan, Karamo, and Tan. You can let your favorite Queer Eye star determine your next book using the short list of books below. Each title has been pre-approved by the Fab Five, so what are you waiting for? Get reading!
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was history-making TV when it landed on Bravo in 2003. At the time, sexual contact between people of similar genders had only just been decriminalized across the country in Lawrence v. Texas, and many TV and movies were still incredibly, openly homophobic. To suggest, in 2003, that straight men should look to queer guys for advice on all aspects of their social lives was nothing short of revolutionary.
The original Queer Eye lasted five seasons, until 2007. In 2018, Netflix rebooted the series with an all-new Fab Five, and the show has enjoyed four fantastic seasons thus far, with the most recent block of episodes landing on streaming platform on July 19.
Check out the books your favorite Queer Eye stars have recommended below:
If Bobby Berk is your favorite, read 'Failure is an Option' by H. Jon Benjamin
Bob's Burgers star H. Jon Benjamin brings his signature wit to Failure Is an Option, which Bobby Berk recommended in an interview with Read It Forward. The book focuses on methods of increasing kindness and understanding toward our fellow human beings, and let's face it: we could all use more of that these days.
If Karamo Brown is your favorite, read 'I Must Resist: Bayard Rustin's Life in Letters,' edited by Michael G. Long
A leader in both the Civil Rights and Gay Liberation Movements, Bayard Rustin has been a major inspiration to Queer Eye star Karamo Brown, who promoted Rustin's autobiography in a #BookPride video for Barnes & Noble. You can read about Rustin's life, in his own words, in I Must Resist.
If Tan France is your favorite, read 'Mirage' by Soheir Khashoggi
Naturally Tan author Tan France recommended this novel in an interview with USA Today, calling Soheir Khashoggi's Mirage a "beautiful" novel that he re-reads often. The book centers on Amira, a young woman who flees repression in her Middle Eastern homeland to start a new life in the U.S.
If Antoni Porowski is your favorite, read 'A Little Life' by Hanya Yanagihara
Antoni has worn a T-shirt featuring the names of A Little Life's main characters on air before, and he even did an entire interview about the novel with Variety. Known for being a gut-wrenching read, Hanya Yanagihara's lauded novel received the following praise from Porowski, who said that "there were some days where I found myself so uncomfortable [reading A Little Life] but I still had to watch, kind of like an eclipse."
If Jonathan Van Ness is your favorite, read 'Bridget Jones's Diary' by Helen Fielding
I love Bridget Jones's Diary, and so does Fab Five stylist Jonathan Van Ness, who told Entertainment Weekly that Helen Fielding's chubby heroine was the "literary character [he] identif[ied] with most." If you've never read all of Bridget's trials and tribulations, now's the perfect time to pick up a copy of this laugh-out-loud comedy to read.
