Film buffs will want to read Sleeping with Strangers, an analytical book that somehow maintains a dreamlike quality. Given the insanely messy connections between the sexual images we consume and our actual sex lives, all of us could probably use more time on the couch (this author included).

As Zeb Tortorici’s Sins Against Nature proves, the Catholic Church has meticulously investigated, documented, and largely kept silent on priestly sexual abuses for centuries.

Little did I grasp that I had stumbled upon one of the last remaining sites from a century-long history of queer life in Brooklyn. But that is one of the many things I learned in reading Hugh Ryan’s immensely absorbing .When Brooklyn Was Queer.

THIS NOVEL tells the story of the relationship between Tennessee Williams and his lover Frank Merlo. Set mainly during their time in Italy in 1953, Christopher Castellani’s Leading Men also offers glimpses of Frank’s future, suffering and dying from lung cancer.

THIS SUSPENSEFUL NOVEL by John Boyne tells a tale about a literary thief. Maurice Swift is an aspiring writer who befriends Eric Ackermann, an older, established author. Over the course of several months, Maurice charms Ackermann into revealing a disturbing secret story from his childhood …

What Killian does to New Narrative is to add charm and hilarity. This is how he describes himself at twenty: “In looks I resembled a slightly beefed up version of the Disney actress Hayley Mills—very androgynous in the spirit of the times.”

The Dark Eclipse’s structure as a series of essays and Barnes’ unencumbered language make this shortish book a breezy read. The subject matter, however—the exploration of death, family history, and the discovery of self—are not so easy; but they are necessary.