june 2022 – good to read

Elyas Stephens
The Book of Psychedelics begins by establishing a fundamental knowledge of how psychedelics are used in a safe and effective manner, then embarks on an in-depth examination of DMT, psilocybin, ibogaine, and LSD – those substances with the most medical potential and historical relevance. It includes unreleased data collected in an original study with over 1,000 participants. This data is organized into graphs to illustrate the effect that dose, set, and setting have on the psychedelic experience at a previously unseen level of detail. The Book of Psychedelics illuminates the true nature and power of mind-revealing compounds.
Self-published | January 22

Frank Reteguez
Psychedelic horror is a genre we haven’t seen in a while! Alice Persephone, a once successful corporate executive, is now in prison for her role in the death of thousands of people. Serving a controversial lite sentence, Alice seeks to have it reduced by taking part in a mind-altering experiment at a prestigious medical university. Using an archaic ritual and psychedelics accompanied by modern medicine, Alice embarks on a journey within her psyche, where she finds a hellish nightmare waiting for her. She must race against the clock to fight her inner demons and find a way out before real demons possess her.
Indy Pub | May 22

Diana Goetschv
“How can you spend your life face-to-face with an essential fact about yourself and still not see it?” This is a question that Goetsch, an award-winning poet and essayist, addresses. She brings us into her childhood, her time as a dynamic and beloved teacher at New York City’s Stuyvesant High School, and her plunge into the city’s crossdressing subculture in the 1980s and ’90s. Under cover of night, crossdressers risked their jobs and their safety to give expression to urges they could neither control nor understand. Many would become late transitioners, the Cinderellas of the trans community largely ignored by history. Goetsch has written not a transition memoir, but rather a full account of a trans life, one both unusually public and closeted.
Strauss, Girard Farroux | May 22

Andrew Joseph White
Sixteen-year-old trans boy Benji is on the run from the cult that raised him — the fundamentalist sect that unleashed Armageddon and decimated the world’s population. Desperately, he searches for a place where the cult can’t get their hands on him, or on the bioweapon they infected him with. When cornered by monsters born from the destruction, Benji is rescued by a group of teens from the local Acheson LGBTQ+ Center. Nick, their leader, offers Benji shelter among his ragtag group of queer teens, as long as Benji can control the monster and use its power to defend the ALC. Eager to belong, Benji accepts Nick’s terms until he discovers the ALC’s mysterious leader has a hidden agenda.
Peachtree Teen | June 22

Valerie Ouida
The Japanese art of Reiki can reduce stress, aid relaxation, enhance energy, and promote healing. Expert teacher Valerie Oula introduces you to this profoundly beneficial hands-on practice, providing a history of Reiki and an overview of how it works. She includes exercises and meditations to help you tune into reiki energy, shows you where to go to experience a session and what to do to become a Reiki practitioner.
Newsouth Books | June 22