Happy Pride Month! In the past few years, there have been excellent new releases of LGBTQ books. I’ve compiled them in a list of all genres, including the classics! Some of these will be published later this year, but there are plenty more books to fill your time as you wait for them. This list mainly focuses on less popular books you may not have heard of before. There are many books here so I’m sure everyone can find something enjoyable! (P.S. Check trigger warnings for all the books before you read them! You can find them on booktriggerwarnings.com)
Adult Romance
Something Wild & Wonderful
ANITA KELLY
Alexei begins his journey on the Pacific Crest Trail, a 2,500-mile one, and there he meets Ben, a charismatic hiker that he just can’t stop running into. Though he’s wary to begin a relationship because of his past ones, Ben is beautiful and outgoing and Alexei can’t stop himself from falling in love with him. Together, they face their tumultuous pasts, process their traumas, and fall in love all at once.
Publication Date: March 7, 2023
Just As You Are
CAMILLE KELLOGG
Liz works at the Nether Fields, a queer magazine in New York. When the magazine is on the brink of collapse, two wealthy lesbians buy it. And while Liz is grateful to still have a job, minority investor Daria begins to annoy her more and more every day with every change she makes to the office. As they have to spend more time together, Liz is able to see a different, kinder side to Daria. Against all of her hatred toward her, Liz can’t help but fall in love.
Publication Date: April 25, 2023
Becoming Ted
MATT CAIN
This one is more of a contemporary, but it still deserves a mention! Ted works at his family’s ice cream business, a job he has never particularly enjoyed. When his husband, Giles, suddenly leaves him, Ted is forced to reckon with his identity, and with it, he goes through the struggles of love, friendship, and staying true to himself.
Publication Date: January 19, 2023
Cleat Cute
MERYL WILSNER
Grace is a talented soccer player on the US Women’s National Team until she is suddenly sidelined because of an injury. Enter Phoebe, a charismatic, new player who replaces Grace. For Grace, they are rivals and nothing more, but for Phoebe, they are friends — maybe more. After a kiss and a friends-with-benefits relationship, the two girls must reckon with their relationship and what they each value.
Publication Date: September 19, 2023
Always Be Your Baby
Illustraice
Alfie is a janitor at up and coming Silicon Valley tech company HELIOS. The company is run by a young pair of CEOS, Jasmine and Dean, who also happen to be a couple. When discussing the difficulties of having a ‘baby’ in their life, Alfie happily agrees to help them resolve their issue. And while he compiles lists of fertility tips, they are treating him to expensive dinners and romantic strolls. Suddenly, Alfie must face his new place on the center stage, rather than as a background character.
Publication Date: August 15, 2023
Fantasy
Gideon the Ninth (Book 1)
TAMSYN MUIR
One of the more well-known LGBTQ series, The Locked Tomb Series is set in a sci-fi and fantasy-heavy world. When the empire needs a necromancer, it calls on the heirs of the loyal houses. Gideon’s childhood nemesis, the Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House, has been called to action to participate in the Empire’s series of deadly trials. If she falls, the Ninth House will fall with her. So Gideon takes on the challenge, and the two form a deadly alliance.
Publication Date: September 10, 2019 [the fourth one will be published in 2024]
The Jasmine Throne (Book 1)
TASHA SURI
Another series, the Burning Kingdoms Series is a fantasy world inspired by Indian mythology and culture. Priya is a maidservant who works under the command of her kingdom, and who houses a deadly secret. Malini was the princess, and now she is a prisoner in the Hirana, an isolated, temple that once was the key to great power. As Priya cleans the Hirana, Malini accidentally witnesses Priya’s secret. Together, they must form an alliance to change the empire — and meanwhile, change each other.
Publication Date: June 8, 2021 [the third one will be published in 2024]
Godly Heathens
H.E. EDGMON
Gem is a nonbinary Seminole teen living in Georgia. Under their facade of charm, lives their anxiety over their recurring dreams which feature too-real visions of magic and violence. The new girl in town, Willa Mae, is the only other person who knows about Gem’s dreams. And when Gem is attacked by the Goddess of Death, and saved by Willa Mae, they realize they are more than they once believed.
Publication Date: November 28, 2023
The Death I Gave Him
EM X. LIU
In a locked room thriller retelling of Hamlet, Hayden finds his father murdered in their lab and all the logs erased. After finding a recording of his father with his dying wish to be avenged, Hayden sets off to find the killer. When the lab is on lockdown, he is locked with four other people, one of which must be the killer. His only ally is Horatio, the lab’s artificial intelligence, and with him, Hayden must uncover his father’s secrets and pursue revenge.
Publication Date: September 12, 2023
Literary Fiction
You Exist Too Much
ZAINA ARAFAT
Told through vignettes from place to place, an unnamed protagonist goes from a confused teenager to an aspiring writer. After coming out to her mother as queer, her mother tells her she exists too much, which only furthers her shame. After surpressed longings, her romantic impulses explode into a plethora of obsessions. She eventually finds herself in The Ledge, an unconventional treatment center where she reminisces about her past and all of the places that have made her who she is.
Publication Date: June 9, 2020
Swimming in the Dark
TOMASZ JEDROWSKI
In 1980s Poland, Ludwik meets carefree Janusz and is immediately infatuated. Soon they hurtle into an all-consuming romance in the countryside, only to be threatened by their oppressive regime. When they return to Warsaw, they fall into opposing roles: protestor and military officer. As their love is overtaken by their political differences, the two men struggle to survive and make their love persevere.
Publication Date: February 6, 2020
Concerning My Daughter
KIM HYE-JIN
When her mother invites her daughter Green to live with her, she wasn’t expecting her to bring a girlfriend. She is at once unwilling, confused, and ashamed. And as her daughter involves herself in a case of unfair dismissals of gay colleagues at the university in which she works, she dissproves even more. But when the care home where she works lowers their standard of care for an elderly patient who led an unconvential life of traveling and no family, she begins to question having a traditional life versus staying true to oneself.
Publication Date: April 14, 2022 (English translation)
Don’t Cry For Me
DANIEL BLACK
Told in letters from a dying man, Jacob seeks forgiveness from his son, Issac. He tells him of their ancestral past and their family’s secrets. Of what made him a father, and what formed his reaction to Issac’s coming out. Most of all, he tells them of their shared traumas, and hopes to one day find peace instead.
Publication Date: February 1, 2022
All-Night Pharmacy
RUTH MADIEVSKY
On the night of the narrator’s high school graduation, she follows her older sister Debbie into a bar and is the last time she sees her. Soon she gets a job as an emergency room secretary and meets Sasha, a self proclaimed psychic and the narrator’s personal spiritual guide. As their relationship evolves, she must decide whether to find her sister, or to begin a life away from her past.
Publication Date: July 11, 2023
People Collide
ISLE MCELROY
When Eli leaves his shared apartment with his wife, Elizabeth, he is shocked to find that the two of them have traded bodies. And Elizabeth, now in Eli’s body, has disappeared. As he goes to find her, and himself, he learns how to live as another and worries for the fate of their marriage.
Publication Date: September 19, 2023
Thriller/Mystery
The Bright Lands
JOHN FRAM
As a teenager, Joel was shamed out of Bentley for being gay. And while he fled to New York and began a new life, his younger brother Dylan calls him back to town in need of help. But when Joel returns, his brother goes missing and he’s faced with painful memories. Teaming up with an unexpected ally, Joel must uncover the town’s secrets and find his brother.
Publication Date: July 7, 2020
Tell Me I’m Worthless
ALISON RUMFITT
Three years ago, in an abandoned house, Alice, Ila, and Hannah spent a life changing night that resulted in Alice’s life spiraling. When Alice is dared to reenter the House and face her traumas again, she and Ila must confront their pasts. Told through the perspectives of Alice, a trans woman, Ila, a trans exclusionary radfem public figure, and the House itself, Tell Me I’m Worthless explore the figurative and literal horrors that haunt our lives.
Publication Date: October 28, 2021
The Wicked Unseen
GIGI GRIFFIS
When Audre moves to a new town, she is quickly made the odd one out. The entire town believes there’s a secret Satanic cult performing rituals in the nearby woods, but Audre is a skeptic. When her crush and the preacher’s daughter, Elle, goes missing, the town points fingers at Audre. But as Audre digs deeper to find her friend, she realizes the town might be covering up something more sinister.
Publication Date: June 20, 2023
The Body in the Back Garden
MARK WADDELL
When Luke’s aunt dies and leaves her entire estate to him, Luke moves to Crescent Cove with the plan of selling everything and going back to Toronto. But when a man makes bold claims about his aunt, and is found dead in the back the next day, Luke becomes the primary suspect. What’s worse is that the lead investigator is a handsome one and is also convinced Luke did it. To finally leave Crescent Cove, Luke must prove his innocence and cope with his own past.
Publication Date: August 20, 2023
How to Find a Missing Girl
VICTORIA WLOSOK
When Iris was 17, her older sister Stella disappeared without any trace. But when Iris did her own meddling, she was sternly warned against doing so and that when she turned 18, her sleuthing would earn her prison-level consequences. But a year later, when her ex-girlfriend Heather goes missing after releasing her last true crime episode about Stella, Iris can no longer sit still. With thirty days left until she turns 18, Iris teams up with an enemy-turned-friend-turned-something-more to uncover the case.
Publication Date: September 19, 2023
Young Adult
Chasing Pacquiao
ROD PULIDO
Bobby follows only one rule in high school: to keep his head down. As a queer teenager in a conservative Filipino community, he would not go unscathed if he came out. But when he is outted, he finds himself under the spotlight and forced to resort to violence to survive. His biggest inspiration is Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, but when he makes a public statement against queer people, Bobby’s confidence in himself is shattered.
Publication Date: May 2, 2023
The Dos and Donuts of Love
ADIBA JAIGIRDAR
Shireen has just been broken up with by her girlfriend Chris. But when she finds out she has been accepted as a contestant on the first ever Junior Irish Baking Show, her dream has come true. The only problem is Chris is also a contestant on the show, and she finds herself drawn to outgoing Niamh, another contestant on the show. Caught between the two of them, she must ignore everything in order to secure her victory.
Publication Date: June 6, 2023
Always the Almost
EDWARD UNDERHILL
When Miles came out as transgender to his then-boyfriend, Shane, he was quickly broken up with and is now being avoided. On New Years, he made a resolution to win back his boyfriend and to beat his arch-nemesis at Midwest’s largest piano competition. But when he meets Eric, a cartoonist from Seattle, he feels the most like himself. He doesn’t understand why Eric likes him so much, but he finds himself drawn to him in a way unlike anyone else.
Publication Date: February 14, 2023
In The Ring
SIERRA ISLEY
After her mother’s death, Rose faces frequent panic attacks and has become the target for the school’s vicious bullies. But after a violent incident involving a certain Elliot King, Rose realizes she needs to try out a sport for her anxiety, particularly boxing. As she joins Elliot’s boxing gym, their feelings for each other start to grow. She soon learns the gym doubles as an underground fight club, starring Elliot as its headliner. As her anxiety grows, she begins to spiral, and fears she will meet the same fate as her mother.
Publication Date: September 15, 2023
If I Can Give You That
MICHAEL GRAY BULLA
In this coming of age story, Gael is a reserved transgender teenager at a conservative high school in Tennessee. His best friend convinces him to attend a meeting of Plus, a support group for LGBTQ+ teens. Though he plans on keeping to himself, after meeting charming Declan, he is invited into a new group of friends with the chance of being able to finally be vulnerable. Caught in between his mother’s mental health issues and his estranged father trying to reconnect, Gael must choose between keeping his guard up or being able to finally open up to the people who love him.
Publication Date: February 28, 2023
Going Bicoastal
DAHLIA ADLER
Natalya has 24 hours to choose between staying in NYC with her dad and go for the girl she’s been crushing on, or move to LA with her estranged mother and attempt to fix their relationship. But, in Going Bicoastal, she doesn’t have to choose. The novel takes place in alternate timelines — one with the girl of her dreams, and one with a guy she never expected.
Publication Date: June 13, 2023
Memoir
Pageboy
ELLIOT PAGE
Written by actor Elliot Page, this memoir details his journey coming out as a trans man in the acting industry. We follow him through Hollywood and the trials he faced with gender, love, and mental health.
Publication Date: June 6, 2023
Lesbian Love Story
AMELIA POSSANZA
Told in a series of archives, this novel is a deep dive into lesbian stories from around the world. The author takes readers from place to place, detailing in particular seven stories. Through her journey, she adds her own love story to the records.
Publication Date: June 6, 2023
Horse Barbie
GEENA ROCERO
After reaching a high level of recognition as a trans pageant queen in the Phillippines, Geena moves to New York in search of more. Though granted more rights, in order to maintain her safety, she decides to go ‘stealth’ and hide her transgender identity. As her popularity as a model grows, she battles her desire to protect her career and to be her authentic self.
Publication Date: May 30, 2023
All Down Darkness Wide
SEÁN HEWITT
When Seán meets Elias, they are thrown into a headstrong romance. But, as Elias’ struggles with depression rise, they meet a crisis in their relationship. As a result, Seán delves deep into queer history and the queer figures that came before him. The novel is poetic and heartbreaking — a story about love and suffering.
Publication Date: July 12, 2022
A Trans Man Walks Into a Gay Bar
HARRY NICHOLAS
After a long relationship with a girlfriend, Harry realizes he is a transmasculine gay man. With his newfound identity comes his fears of his new identity: would the gay community accept him? Would he be able to find love again? In his memoir, we follow Harry through his journey through the contemporary gay world as a trans man and learn what it means to love.
Publication Date: May 18, 2023
Classics
Orlando
VIRGINIA WOOLF
One of the most influential novels on gender identity, Orlando follows the main character, Orlando, as he travels from place to place and body to body. He begins as a nobleman in Elizabeth’s England and recollects his first love. Then, he awakes to find himself in the body of a woman and must face the role he is now forced to take on. The novel critiques gender roles and questions gender identity in society.
Publication Date: October 11, 1928
Carmilla
J. SHERIDAN LE FANU
Credited as the first-ever vampire novel, Carmilla takes place in central Europe and features lesbian vampires. Laura, an isolated and lonely woman, meets Carmilla, an erratic, mysterious woman. As Laura’s health declines and Carmilla is further shrouded in mystery, Laura discovers within her something monstrous.
Publication Date: 1872
A Single Man
CHRISTOPHER ISHERWOOD
Taking place over a single day, a professor mourns the sudden death of his partner. Throughout the day, he reflects on his life and his love in a mix of emotions. This novel is short and straightforward; it is a look at loving life even through its hardships and struggles.
Publication Date: 1964
Notes of a Crocodile
QIU MIAOJIN
Though technically it can be considered more temporary, Notes of a Crocodile deserved a spot on this list, so I labeled it a classic. During the post-martial-law era in Taipei, the lesbian narrator nicknamed Lazi falls in love with an older woman. Set in Taiwan’s most prestigious university, she turns to her group of queer friends and learns to find herself in a society in which she is constantly restrained.
Publication Date: May 11, 1994
The Well of Loneliness
RADCLYFFE HALL
One of the most influential lesbian novels, The Well of Loneliness captures Stephen, a scholar, horseback rider, and child of aristocrats. Her only affliction is that she is a woman, and so are her lovers. And while Stephen is driven by her passions, society rejects her and she is forced to take on desperate actions to pursue what or who she wants. This novel discusses the relationship between gender identity and sexuality — and it is not a happy one.
Publication Date: 1928
What are some LGBTQ books you recommend?
need a depression section tbh
hi mia