Summer Reading Suggestions

One of the unexpected consequences of hosting the Naked Men Talking podcast has been the emergence of a naked book club.

Each month, a group of men get together in my London flat, we strip off and we talk about the book that we've chosen to read.

I wanted to spend less time scrolling through social media feeds but was struggling to focus on reading a book, plus I was wanting to do more non-sexual naked stuff with guys. Having conversations with other men who also like to get naked, there seemed to be an appetite for in-person small-group events - there seemed to be limited opportunities for naked hang-outs that weren't sex-parties.

The result is the Naked Men Talking Book Club.

Our first Book Club hang-out was in February of 2024. We started with Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin - it’s a classic but also a story with plenty to talk about.

In recent months, we've been trying to focus on new releases from queer authors.

If you're in London, you're welcome to join us for a Book Club hang-out. Or if you're just looking for some suggestions to add to your reading list, here's five books that we've enjoyed reading and talking about.

John of John, by Douglas Stuart

Set within a tight-knit Free Presbyterian community of farmers, weavers and fishers in the 1990s, the narrative begins with the return of 22-year-old Cal to the island of Harris.

Cal has been summoned home by his father, to help with his ailing grandmother and the struggling farm. But the tensions between faith, family, and sexuality threaten to tear the close-knit community apart at the seams.

Mothers and Sons, by Adam Haslet

Peter, an asylum lawyer in New York City, is overworked and isolated, spending his days immersed in the struggles of immigrants only to return to an empty apartment and occasional detached hook-ups. But when the asylum case of a young gay man pierces Peter’s numbness, the catastrophic event that he has avoided facing for twenty years returns to haunt him.

Orange, by Curtis Garner

Cornwall, 2018. In the quiet fishing village of Portscatho, sixteen-year-old Daniel Orange form an unexpected connection with local boy Jago. What unfolds is transformative, particularly for Daniel, who for the first time feels truly seen.

Grow Where They Fall, by Michael Donkor

Bright and precocious ten-year-old Kwame Akromah knows how to behave. He knows the importance of good manners, how to stay at the top of the class and out of the way when his mother and father are angry with each other. But when his charismatic cousin Yaw arrives from Ghana to live with the family while he looks for work, the rules Kwame has learned about the world can no longer guide him.

A Room Above a Shop, by Anthony Shapland

Set in a mining village in the Welsh valleys in the 1980s, the narrative centres on two men - M and B. M is older, B is younger.

M owns the village hardware store. He employs B to work for him. They both live above the shop but the reality of their relationship is hidden from the rest of the world.

Naked Men Talking is a podcast for sex-positive men around the world. If you'd like to share your story, get in touch with Gareth Johnson - he's always eager to get naked and chat about naturism, exhibitionism, and intimacy.