Book Recommendations: When Art Becomes Identity: Finding Yourself in When I Picture You and Lou with the Band

Some stories aren’t just about falling in love; they’re about finding the language to tell the world who you are. When I Picture You by Sasha Laurens and Lou with the Band by Alexandra Leigh Young both capture that moment when art stops being a hobby and starts becoming the truest part of you.

Together, When I Picture You and Lou with the Band celebrate the messy, beautiful process of becoming: how art can save you, expose you, and, most importantly, help you recognize yourself when you finally step into the frame. Check them both out below – they’re both out now!

When I Picture You

by Sasha Laurens
Published by: Avon
Genres: Adult, Contemporary Romance
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A big-hearted and sexy queer rom-com celebrating the kind of sweeping romance that inspires our favorite love songs.

Renee Feldman is desperate for a fresh start. She’d hoped to rediscover her creative spark by taking time off from her MFA in documentary film. Instead, she’s stalled. Barista-ing doesn’t chip away at her debt, her thesis project is nonexistent, and if she doesn’t re-enroll next semester, she’ll be out of the program.
Pop star Lola Gray is supposed to be the songwriter of her generation—but she hardly feels like it anymore. It’s been a year since her secret relationship imploded, simultaneously breaking Lola’s heart, annihilating her plan to come out, and plummeting her into writer’s block.

But when Lola sees Renee at her sister’s wedding, all that stress comes to a grinding halt. Lola’s teenage crush on the fearless lesbian next door was so overwhelming, it secretly inspired her debut album. Lola and Renee haven’t crossed paths in a decade, but that night sparks fly.

Renee is still processing the hottest—and most unexpected—one-night stand of her life when Lola surprises her again. Her team is producing a documentary alongside her next album, but the director they hired is a creep. Lola needs Renee to replace him…and filming starts in a week. With her thesis deadline approaching, Renee knows this is her only ticket to graduation.

As Lola and Renee reconnect, there’s no denying the feelings they have for each other or the renewed creativity it inspires. But neither realizes how hard it will be to tell their love story in an industry that sets a narrative of its own.

In Sasha’s When I Picture You, film and photography frame a romance between two young artists learning how creation and vulnerability go hand in hand. Every photo, every performance, becomes a way to say what words can’t: desire, ambition, fear, hope. It’s a story where queerness and creativity overlap so naturally that love itself feels like art in motion, messy, luminous, and fleeting.

Alexandra’s Lou with the Band hums in a different key but plays the same emotional chords. Lou’s impromptu journey on tour with a band is more than a road trip; it’s a reckoning. Between the roar of crowds and the quiet of empty stages, Lou starts to peel back layers of expectation to discover a version of herself she’s never seen before. The music gives her permission to try, fail, and reinvent, a reminder that art doesn’t just express identity, it shapes it.

Both stories understand the vulnerability of creating something honest, especially when you’re still figuring out who you are. They honor the spaces where performance meets truth, behind the camera, under the spotlight, or in the silence after the applause fades.

Pick these up if you’ve ever:

• turned up a song to drown out doubt
• caught a glimpse of yourself in a reflection and didn’t look away
• believed that art might just be the most honest way to say I’m here

Lou with the Band

by Alexandra Leigh Young
Published by: Walker Books US
on October 7, 2025
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Young Adult
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From the acclaimed author of the delicious Idol Gossip comes a new music-themed novel with an irresistible backbeat and a thoughtful read on friendship and identity.

When Lou enlists her best friend, Molly, to shave her head, it’s partly so she doesn’t have to deal with washing her hair all the time while on tour—and partly because she’s ready to be a new person. No stranger to reinventing herself, restless Lou is a Cuban-American girl who’s never left Texas, let alone the country. But the “New Lou” has deferred her first semester at Texas State to work for a celebrity musician on tour. She’s bound for China, Japan, half of Europe, and everywhere in between, though it means getting intimately acquainted with the band’s dirty laundry. Even with her road crew uncle on alert, it will be the summer of a lifetime, full of underground parties, disco spas, and gelato. When Lou falls for a tattooed guitar prodigy who makes her feel achingly alive, it doesn’t cross her mind to doubt him or—as life on the road tightens its hold—her course. Will Molly know her when she returns, if she returns? Who is the “New Lou” really? Pulsing with energy and authentic detail, this story of self-discovery ushers readers backstage on a sensational world tour.