silence = death
an HIV/AIDs reading list
created by alexandriaslibrary
last updated December, 2025
Comments
i would highly recommend Keith Haring's Journals as a possible addition to this list! It documents a long span of Haring's life, including time before his diagnosis, but is an eye opening and tender reflection on his art (which a piece of his work is the inspiration for the title of this list im assuming) and what he witnessed real time during the AIDS crisis, his friends and their diagnoses, and his own.
a very important list. i suggest “howl and other poems” as well
such an important topic - thank you for this.
Disco Witches of Fire Island could also be a fit
if i’m remembering correctly tell the wolves i’m home by carol rifka brunt would fit here!
Thank you for this list, I haven't read any of these but they were mentioned in my favorite podcast "This Podcast Will Kill You" episode about HIV/AIDs. I fully recommend listening to the episode it's EP 122 HIV/AIDS: Apathy Will Kill You
- The Origins of AIDS by Jacques Pepin
- Chimp & the River: How AIDS Emerged from an African Forest by David Quammen
- And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts
- How to Survive a Plague: The Story of How Activists and Scientists Tamed AIDS by David France
- Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors by Susan Sontag
the book “it was vulgar and it was beautiful: how aids activists used art to fight a pandemic” just came into my store and i immediately thought of this list!
Would Angels in America fit this list?
love this! holding the man is a gorgeous aussie memoir that’s been adapted for the stage/screen that’d be great for this! and if anyone wants a tv rec, it’s a sin is wonderful and devastating
