Carla's Queer Reads

Hello! I feel grateful and so excited for the opportunity to be in this space and in conversation with all of you. My name is Carla Baricz, and I’m a member of the LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group. This year, I’m also a member of the organizing committee for New Haven Pride 2026. In my day job, I am the Librarian for Literature in English, Italian, and Comparative Literature at Yale Library. You might have seen some of my work if you’ve browsed for reads in the L&B Reading Room in Sterling Library, checked out a book from Bass Undergraduate Library, spent time in the stacks, or flipped through a library graphic novel.

I was so glad when Erica and Jury, our wonderful co-chairs, asked if I’d be willing to contribute a book recommendation column to the monthly newsletter. One of the things I’ve found most meaningful both on my work and in my personal life has been reading about the experiences of other queer folks. It has brought me so much joy. It has made me feel less alone. On occasion, it has righted the world.

Over the years, I’ve assembled an idiosyncratic collection of queer reads that have changed the way I think. James Baldwin famously said that you read for the epiphany, for the realization that other people have had the same experiences you have had, when you think no one can possibly have gone through what you have gone through. In slightly different terms, bell hooks frequently emphasized the possibility of reading for a “life-transforming idea,” an idea that was not originally your own, but that became your own through the process of reading. I have read and read in both of these ways and in many others. There are as many ways of reading as there are of relating. There isn’t one approach.

Some of these books have traveled with me through different parts of the world, from Bucharest, to Prague, to Jerusalem, to New York, and New Haven, and to other migratory and transitory places in between. Others I have discovered on the job here, letting myself be open to chance encounters and wonder. I have gifted them, schlepped them, left them behind, advocated for them, fought with them, loved them, and experienced real head-scratching as a result of reading some of them. I hope you’ll find at least some as engaging as I did.

Beginning next month, I’ll plan to share a title each month along with some thoughts about it. I’d love for this column to be a place of conversation and to hear what you think, too, and what struck you, whether you’ve read the book or not. Please email me your comments! Feel free to also send me suggestions and requests to cover titles. My email is carla.baricz@yale.edu .

I should not forget to say that if you would like a copy of the monthly read, as a librarian, I would be more than happy to help you find a copy. Just let me know.

In book joy,
Carla