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Books to Celebrate Pride Month |
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Delilah Green doesn't care
by Ashley Herring Blake
Pressured into photographing her estranged step-sister’s wedding, Delilah Green reluctantly returns home to Bright Falls where she finds herself falling for one of the stuck-up bridesmaids after the pair are forced together during party preparations.
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Don't Cry for Me
by Daniel Black
On his deathbed, a dying black man writes a letter to his estranged, gay son and shares with him the truth that lives in heart and tries to create a place where the pair can find peace.
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All the Things We Don't Talk About
by Amy Feltman
A “big-hearted, lively, and expansive portrait of a family” that follows a neurodivergent father, his nonbinary teenager, and the sudden, catastrophic reappearance of the woman who abandoned them (Claire Lombardo, New York Times bestselling author).
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Queerly Beloved
by Susie Dumond
ONE OF BUZZFEED’S MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022 • “A delightful debut, perfect for any person who’s ever created their own place to belong.”—Casey McQuiston, bestselling author of Red, White & Royal Blue and One Last Stop.
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Giovanni's room
by James Baldwin
"The groundbreaking novel by one of the most important twentieth-century American writers--now in an Everyman's Library Contemporary Classics hardcover edition. Giovanni's Room is set in the Paris of the 1950s, where a young American expatriate finds himself caught between his repressed desires and conventional morality. David has just proposed marriage to his American girlfriend, but while she is away on a trip he becomes involved in a doomed affair with a bartender named Giovanni. With sharp, probing insight, James Baldwin's classic narrative delves into the mystery of love and tells an impassioned, deeply moving story that reveals the unspoken complexities of the human heart. Introduction by Colm Toibin"
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Rainbow Rainbow : Stories
by Lydia Conklin
A fearless collection of stories that celebrate the humor, darkness, and depth of emotion of the queer and trans experience that's not typically represented: liminal or uncertain identities, queer conception, and queer joy.
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Exalted
by Anna Dorn
"A depressed Millennial astrologist, a self-hating lesbian with a rage (and drinking) problem, and profound questions of connection and destiny make Exalted an unforgettable read. Clear your schedule and consult your horoscope because Anna Dorn's novel will make you cackle and gasp, and you won't be able to put it down."
—Edan Lepucki
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And Then the Gray Heaven
by RE Katz
Delving into what it means to try to be alive to your own pain and the pain of others under late capitalism, And Then the Gray Heaven explores the themes of queer grief and affection, queer failure, burial as hero’s journey, and the grotesqueries of artistic determination within and beyond the institutions that define our lives.
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Margaret and the mystery of the missing body
by Megan Milks
"In MARGARET AND THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING BODY, twelve-year-old Margaret Worms is the head detective of her friends' mystery club, Girls Can Solve Anything, but by high school the club has disbanded and Margaret has developed an eating disorder that sends her to a treatment center. Once there, Margaret goes on a quest of recovery and self-discovery that combines nineties girl group series and choose-your-own-adventures with a queer and trans coming-of-age narrative"
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Boys Come First
by Aaron Foley
Full of unforgettable characters, Boys Come First is about the trials and tribulations of real friendship, but also about the highlights and hiccups —late nights at the wine bar, awkward Grindr hookups, workplace microaggressions, situationships, frenemies, family drama, and of course, the group chat — that define Black, gay, millennial life in today’s Detroit.
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Summer fun
by Jeanne Thornton
"Gala, a young trans woman, works at a hostel in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. She is obsessed with the Get Happies, the quintessential 1960s Californian band, helmed by its resident genius, B----. Why did the band stop making music? Why did they never release their rumored album, Summer Fun? Gala writes letters to B---- that shed light not only on the Get Happies, but paint an extraordinary portrait of Gala. The parallel narratives of B---- and Gala form a dialogue about creation-of music, identity, self, culture, and counterculture. Summer Fun is an epic and magical work of trans literature that marks Thornton as one of our most exciting and original novelists"
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The guncle : a novel
by Steven Rowley
When Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP) for short, takes on the role of primary guardian for his young niece and nephew, he sets “Guncle Rules,” but soon learns that parenting isn’t solved with treats or jokes as his eyes are opened to a new sense of responsibility.
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Find Me
by André Aciman
In this much anticipated sequel to the worldwide bestseller Call Me by Your Name, Elio’s father Samuel arrives in Rome to visit his son, who has become a gifted classical pianist, while Oliver, now a New England college professor with a family, contemplates a return trip across the Atlantic. Original. 100,000 first printing.
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An ordinary wonder : a novel
by Buki Papillon
"Oto leaves for boarding school with one plan: excel and escape his cruel home. Falling in love with his roommate was certainly not on the agenda, but fear and shame force him to hide his love and true self. Back home, weighed down by the expectations oftheir wealthy and powerful family, the love of Oto's twin sister wavers and, as their world begins to crumble around them, Oto must make drastic choices that will alter the family's lives for ever. Richly imagined with art, proverbs and folk tales, this moving and modern novel follows Oto through life at home and at boarding school in Nigeria, through the heartbreak of living as a boy despite their profound belief they are a girl, and through a hunger for freedom that only a new life in the United Statescan offer"
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Young Mungo : a novel
by Douglas Stuart
In Glasgow, Mungo and James, who should be enemies due to their religious beliefs, fall in love, dreaming of finding somewhere they belong, while Mungo works hard to hide his true self from all those around him to protect them both from the danger their relationship brings.
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A previous life : another posthumous novel
by Edmund White
A married couple who originally agreed to not speak of their past, failed prior relationships alternate reading from the memoirs they’ve written about their lives in a new novel that explores polyamory, bisexuality, ageing and love.
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To paradise
by Hanya Yanagihara
Spanning three centuries and three different versions of the American experiment, an unforgettable cast of characters are united by their reckonings with the qualities that make us human—fear, love, shame, need and loneliness.
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Here comes the sun : a novel
by Nicole Dennis-Benn
Working as a prostitute near the beaches of Jamaica to pay for a younger sister's education, Margot hopes that a new hotel that is reshaping her home will give her financial independence and allow her to pursue a forbidden affair with another woman.
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D'Vaughn and Kris plan a wedding
by Chencia C. Higgins
To elevate her brand, a closeted social media influencer goes on a reality tv show where she must convince her family and friends she’s getting married to the love of her life in 6 weeks.
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The town of Babylon : a novel
by Alejandro Varela
Returning to his hometown to care for his ailing father, Andres, a gay Latinx professor, decides to attend his 20-year high school reunion where he encounters the long-lost characters of his youth and must confront these relationships to better understand his own life.
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The kingdom of sand : a novel
by Andrew Holleran
"Andrew Holleran's unique literary voice is on full display in this poignant story of lust, dread, and desire-the first novel in thirteen years from one the most acclaimed gay authors of our time"
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The memory librarian : and other stories of dirty computer
by Janelle Monáe
"Whoever controls our memories controls the future. Janelle Monáe and an incredible array of talented collaborating creators have written a collection of tales comprising the bold vision and powerful themes that have made Monáe such a compelling and celebrated storyteller. Dirty Computer introduced a world in which thoughts-as a means of self-conception-could be controlled or erased by a select few. And whether human, A.I., or other, your life and sentience was dictated by those who'd convinced themselves they had the right to decide your fate. That was until Jane 57821 decided to remember and break free. Expanding from that mythos, these stories fully explore what it's like to live in such a totalitarian existence...and what it takes to get out of it.Building off the traditions of speculative writers such as Octavia Butler, Ted Chiang, Becky Chambers, and Nnedi Okorafor-and filled with the artistic genius and powerful themes that have made Monáe a worldwide icon in the first place-The Memory Librarian serves readers tales grounded in the human trials of identity expression, technology, and love, but also reaching through to the worlds of memory and time within, and the stakes and power that exists there"
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Last Exit
by Max Gladstone
Zelda, her girlfriend Sal, and their friends used to go on epic adventures, until Sal got lost in another reality. Ten years later, they’ve all moved on, except for Zelda — until she gets proof that Sal is still alive, and gets the band back together to rescue her (and fight back the rot that threatens to devour all the realities).
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Greenland : a novel
by David Santos Donaldson
"A dazzling literary debut novel-within-a-novel, in the vein of The Prophets, about a young author writing about the forbidden love affair between E.M. Forster and Mohammed el Adl - in which Mohammed's story collides with his own, blending fact and fiction"
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The World Cannot Give
by Tara Isabella Burton
Arriving at St. Dunstan’s Academy in Maine, shy, sensitive Laura Stearns falls under the spell of charismatic, neurotic overachiever Virginia, who gives her purpose until the new school chaplain challenges Virginia, forcing Laura to decide how far she will let her devotion to Virginia go.
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High-risk homosexual : a memoir
by Edgar Gomez
The Florida-born writer presents a memoir tracing his hard-won path to taking pride in himself as a gay Latinx man despite the culture of machismo surrounding him, including his uncle’s cockfighting ring in Nicaragua.
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Girls can kiss now : essays
by Jill Gutowitz
This collection of personal essays from the New Jersey-based writer looks at queerness, relationships, pop culture, the internet and identity as well as the mainstreaming of lesbian culture.
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Time Is a Mother
by Ocean Vuong
The highly anticipated collection of poems from an award-winning writer.
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Burning Butch
by R. B. Mertz
"The Trans Memoir We've Always Needed." —Autostraddle
"This blistering memoir is the book I didn’t know I needed... I’m so grateful they had the courage to share their experience in such a transparent, authentic way." —One of BuzzFeed's Most Anticipated Books of 2022
• One of The Millions' Most Anticipated Books of the Month • One of Ms. Magazine's Most Anticipated Reads of 2022 • One of BookRiot's LGBTQ Books You Need to Read • Book Annotation
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Virology : Essays for the Living, the Dead, and the Small Things in Between
by Joseph Osmundson
For many queer people, the beginning of the pandemic brought with it the eerie and surreal sense of repeating history—the arguably botched, heavily politicized response to COVID-19 reminiscent of the AIDS crisis, the way the marginalized are always hardest hit. We are tasked, writes Osmundson, now as ever, “to sacrifice, in the face of a virus, to care for one another, and yet to never lose sight of pleasure, even when both the present and the future seem impossible.” In this scrupulous and impassioned manifesto, Osmundson, a microbiologist and activist (and podcaster!), looks at the nature of disease—and its impact on individuals and communities—through a distinctly queer lens.
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The Women's House of Detention : A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison
by Hugh Ryan
The Women’s House of Detention, a landmark that ushered in the modern era of women’s imprisonment, is now largely forgotten. But when it stood in New York City’s Greenwich Village, from 1929 to 1974, it was a nexus for the tens of thousands of women, transgender men, and gender-nonconforming people who inhabited its crowded cells. Some of these inmates—Angela Davis, Andrea Dworkin, Afeni Shakur—were famous, but the vast majority were incarcerated for the crimes of being poor and improperly feminine. Today, approximately 40 percent of the people in women’s prisons identify as queer; in earlier decades, that percentage was almost certainly higher.
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I was better last night : a memoir
by Harvey Fierstein
This autobiography from the cultural icon, gay rights activist and four-time Tony Award–winning actor and playwright looks back on his legendary career, from community theater in Brooklyn to the excesses of Hollywood. Illustrations.
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Ten Steps to Nanette : A Memoir Situation
by Hannah Gadsby
A multi-award-winning comedian takes readers through the defining moments in her life that led to the creation of Nanette and her powerful decision to tell the truth—no matter the cost. Illustrations.
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Love That Story : Observations from a Gorgeously Queer Life
by Jonathan Van Ness
In a candid and curious essay collection, a Queer Eye star takes a thoughtful, in-depth look at timely topics through the lens of his own personal experience—instances that have required him to learn, grow, and find a better understanding of the world around him
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Magic Season : A Son's Story
by Wade Rouse
Before his success in public relations, his loving marriage and his storied writing career, Wade Rouse was simply Ted Rouse's son. A queer kid in a conservative Ozarks community, Wade struggled at a young age to garner his father's approval and find his voice. For his part, Ted was a hard-lined engineer, offering little emotional support or encouragement. But Wade and Ted had one thing in common: an undying love of the St. Louis Cardinals.
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Mouths of rain : an anthology of Black lesbian thought
by Briona Simone Jones
This companion anthology to Beverly Guy-Sheftall’s classic Words of Fire traces the long history of intellectual thought produced by Black Lesbian writers, from the 19th century through the 21st century.
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The other mothers : two women's journey to find the family that was always theirs
by Jennifer Berney
"When Jenn Berney and her wife decided they wanted to have children, they took the next logical step: they went to a fertility clinic. Intrauterine insemination is a simple medical procedure that has been available since the 1950s, but doctors were baffled by Jenn's situation. With no man factoring into her relationship, she was disparaged by doctors, given an inaccurate diagnosis, and her medical needs were overlooked. Berney decided to step outside of the system, and, looking into the history of fertility and her own community, she realized queer women have a long history of being disregarded by a patriarchal medical community, and have worked around it to build families on their own terms. In The Other Mothers, Berney reflects on the odds that were stacked against her because of her sexual orientation and envisions a bright future worth fighting for. Writing with clarity, determination, and hope, Berney gives us a wonderful glimpse of what America can be"
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Start without me : (I'll be there in a minute)
by Gary Janetti
"Gary Janetti is bothered. By a lot of things. And thank God he's here to tell us. He's bothered that he has to play football in high school gym when he'd rather be in the guidance counselor's office, faking sick and dishing about the latest dramas on his beloved soap operas. He's annoyed when, as a kid growing up in Queens, New York, there's a serial killer loose in his neighborhood, but Carole Burnett is on tv and he really doesn't want to miss it. And don't get him started on how a perfectly planned vacation can be ruined by a bad hotel room. Start Without Me is for anyone who has ever felt like they don't quite fit in. For all of us that have thought, just maybe, those small, petty slights that life flings at us, over and over, are worth getting our feathers ruffled over. A book for any of us that have felt the joy in holding a lifelong grudge. Which is to really say, Start Without Me is for all of us. Janetti turns his acid tongue, and secretly beating heart, to the moments and times that defined him, when, as he writes, "most everything was wonderful. It was only tiny, little things," that stuck like a sharp pebble in a shoe. Deeply poignant, savagely funny, and slyly tender, Start Without Me will have readers wishing it would never end"
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Fine : a comic about gender
by Rhea Ewing
"Graphic artist Rhea Ewing celebrates the incredible diversity of experiences within the transgender community with this vibrant and revealing debut. For fans of Alison Bechdel's Fun Home and Meg-John Barker's Queer, Fine is an essential graphic memoir about the intricacies of gender identity and expression. As Rhea Ewing neared college graduation in 2012, they became consumed by the question: What is gender? This obsession sparked a quest in their quiet Midwest town, where they anxiously approached bothfriends and strangers for interviews to turn into comics. A decade later, their project has exploded into a fantastical and informative portrait of a surprisingly vast community spread across the country. Questions such as How do you identify? invited deep and honest accounts of adolescence, taking hormones, changing pronouns-and how these experiences can differ depending on culture, race, and religion. Amidst beautifully rendered scenes emerges Ewing's own visceral story growing up in rural Kentucky, grappling with their identity as a teenager, and ultimately finding themself through art-and by creating something this very fine"
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