Calling all Leos: have you got a burning desire for a great read? As a fire sign ruled by the sun, you’re bold, passionate and not one to shy away from a little (or a lot of) drama. Symbolised by the lion, you thrive as the centre of attention, spreading warmth, creativity and plenty of charisma around you. That’s why you’re the life and soul of the party.
It’s also why your perfect read is full of intensity and larger-than-life characters. Whether it’s bold women uniting against injustice, the simmering tension of a heatwave, gothic short stories that delight and disgust, or witty memoirs from magnetic personalities, Leo, you’re sure to find your literary twin flame here.
Flamboyance by Jack Parlett
Jack Parlett’s romp through the history of camp and queer culture is perfectly suited to fiery Leos. Flamboyance charts the origins of excessive displays of passion and campness, as well as its breadth of coverage and demonstrators including Oscar Wilde, Susan Sontag, Amy Winehouse, Lil Nas X and Chappell Roan, to name a few. Parlett considers flamboyancy and exuberance in his own life, reclaiming a word that has often been used pejoratively to describe something as ‘too much’ and ‘over-the-top’ – but that’s just another day in the life of an ever-the-performer Leo, who won’t be able to get enough of this read.
The Lion Women Of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
For the lion of the zodiac, The Lion Women Of Tehran is a fitting pick. This rich exploration of courage, identity and friendship follows the intertwined lives of two girls growing up amid the social and political turmoil of 1950s Iran. After the sudden death of her father, Ellie’s bourgeois life is shattered. At her new school in a poorer part of Tehran, she quickly becomes inseparable with Homa, united by their aspiration of becoming fearless “lion women”. Their friendship is tested by their privilege gap, and their paths diverge. Years later, when Homa unexpectedly reappears, the young women must reckon with the complexities of class and the friendship that shaped them.
Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Dream Count was basically made for Leos. It’s four interwoven tales: we meet Chiamaka, a sentimental travel writer, reflecting on her past loves in solitude during the pandemic; Zikora, a stoic lawyer navigating pregnancy and abandonment; Kadiatou, a Guinean housekeeper raising her daughter in America; and Omelogor, a high-flyer in Nigeria who begins to question what she knows about herself. Chimamanda proves she is a master in crafting fully realised characters and worlds.
Evenings And Weekends by Oisín McKenna
The theme: tension and miscommunication. Add in 30-degree temperatures and you’ve got Evenings And Weekends. If you’re a Londonee, you know that summer feeling – sweltering streets, restless nights and the desperate search for distraction. Oisín McKenna’s novel is a kaleidoscopic, high-drama tale of a sticky weekend of heatwave hedonism told through an ambitiously large cast of characters. All of them are living for the evenings and weekends, and they are all trying, and failing, to pin someone down long enough to say what truly matters. It’s packed with lots of sharply observed asides about city-dwellers – Leos will love the intensity and heat of this propulsive read.
A Sunny Place for Shady People by Mariana Enriquez
From the queen of the macabre comes a short story collection that delves into the lives of ordinary Argentine people who are confronted with the supernatural. This collection of gothic stories sees Mariana Enriquez turn her unflinching eye on the grimy, grotesque and haunting, blurring the lines between reality and nightmare. Here, women are transmorphed into birds, clothing has paranormal properties and bodies are laid bare in all their gruesome glory. It’s horror that burns slowly, and it hums with just the kind of unforgettable drama that a Leo can appreciate.
Simple Passion by Annie Ernaux
Short, but not necessarily sweet, this is 60 pages of pure obsession. In Simple Passion, Annie Ernaux is subsumed by a brutal, vivid two-year affair with a married man. She waits for her lover in raw agony and, when he arrives, is ecstatic for only the moments he is with her – until he inevitably must leave. She waits for his calls, rearranges her life and lives only for his presence. All the indignities of unrelenting passion and the erosion of the self in place of desire are laid bare by the author. It’s terribly French, and it’s Annie at her best. You’ll tear through it in the time it takes you to drink a black coffee in a café (chic), then give it to everyone you know. For the Leo who lives for intensity, drama and passion, this is an essential read.
Raven Smith’s Men by Raven Smith
This book is like grabbing mimosas with your chaotic friend the morning after a raucous night out. Exuding charisma and confidence, Raven Smith is at his most gregarious in this tell-all memoir. It details the various men that have shaped the writer’s life: lovers, friends, relatives, enemies. His trademark wordplay and wit are unmatched, and he dissects everything from heartbreak to self-esteem and queer identity. There are plenty of passages you’ll never forget (like the delightfully offensive text he sent to a guy who ghosted him). Beneath the one-liners, this memoir is also surprisingly emotional, but always obscenely fun and endlessly entertaining – it’s got Leo energy from page one.
