LGBTQ+ Books To Add To Your Reading List

01. 100 Boyfriends by Brontez Purnell (2021)

Genre: Fiction

Page Count: 192

Brontez Purnell is a gay dancer, musician, and writer of several award fiction novels. 100 Boyfriends is a collection of short stories that follow the lives of queer, Black men in the United States. It has been praised for its tenderness, sensuality, wit, and vulnerability in describing the obstacles that the characters face in regards to their race and sexuality.

02. Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen (2020)

Genre: Nonfiction

Page Count: 224

Angela Chen is an asexual writer and journalist who uses her own journey of self-discovery to explore what it means to be asexual in a sex-obsessed world.

03. Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan (2005)

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Page Count: 240

Boy Meets Boy is a high school love story between the protagonist, Paul, and Noah. Like many high school love stories, its cast must overcome obstacles like heartbreak, broken friendships, and coming to terms with their identity.

04. Cactus Country by Zoë Bossiere (2024)

Genre: Nonfiction | Memoir

Page Count: 272

Cactus Country follows eleven year old Zoë, a transgender boy in rural Arizona, whose desire for self-exploration is met with sexism and gender binary.

05. Confessions of the Fox by Jordy Rosenberg (2018)

Genre: Embedded Narrative | Historical Fiction

Page Count: 352

Confessions of the Fox takes place in eighteenth century London, and follows the life of Jack Sheppard, a transgender jail-breaker and thief. Doctor Voth, a present day academic, discovers a manuscript said to be written by Sheppard, documenting his life as a trans man and the criminal escapades he engages in with his lover.

06. Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters (2021)

Genre: Literary fiction

Page Count: 352

Reese is a trans woman and ex partner of Ames, a detransitioned trans woman now living life as a man. Ames longs to return to Reese, as his choice to detransition led to the unravelling of their relationship. When his new lover confesses her pregnancy to him, Ames wonder if he and the two women can become an unconventional family.

07. Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan (2020)

Genre: Contemporary fiction

Page Count: 240

Exciting Times follows Ava, an Irish immigrant in Hong Kong, whose relationship with Julian hits turbulence when she becomes attracted to Edith. Ava must confront her identity, beginning a journey of self-exploration that puts her relationships to the test.

08. Fiebre Tropical by Juliàn Delgado Lopera (2020)

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Page Count: 240

Julian Delgado Lopera is a queer writer and performer from Colombia. Fiebre Tropical is a bilingual coming of age novel about identity, lust, and mental health. It tells the story of a teenager named Francisca, a Colombian immigrant in Miami, who must choose between religion and same-sex love.

09. Helen House by Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya (2022)

Genre: LGBT Horror

Page Count: 74

The narrator of Helen's House discovers a secret about her girlfriend right before meeting her parents for the first time. At the quaint home of the girlfriend's parents, their first meeting begins awkwardly and spirals into a terrifying nightmare of death and mourning rituals.

10. High-Risk Homosexual by Edgar Gomez (2022)

Genre: Memoir

Page Count: 304

Edgar Gomez is a gay, Latinx man whose journey of discovery and resilience is highlighted in his memoir. A winner of two literary awards, High Risk Homosexual uses vulnerability and wit to speak about expressing the parts of ourselves we are taught to keep hidden.

11. Honor Girl by Maggie Thrash (2015)

Genre: Graphic Novel

Page Count: 267

Honor Girl is a graphic novel about author Maggie Thrash's first crush, at a conservative summer camp for girls.

12. I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver (2020)

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Page Count: 336

When protagonist Ben comes out to their parents, they are kicked out of the home, forced to move in with their estranged older sister and her husband. During their senior year, Ben attempts to keep a low profile, but things change when they're noticed by fellow student Nathan.

13. Idlewild by James Frankie Thomas (2023)

Genre: Fiction

Page Count: 4oo

Idelwild is a story of Fay and Nell, whose intense teenage friendship drifted apart with age. As they look back on their high school years, Fay and Nell discuss the sexual escapades, mistakes, and miscommunications that spelled the end for their friendship.

14. Memorial by Bryan Washington (2020)

Genre: Literary Fiction

Page Count: 320

As two men in Houston question why they're still a couple, one learns the fate of his dying father in Japan, encouraging him to travel across the world and embark on a journey that transforms him.

15. No Ashes in the Fire by Darnell Moore (2019)

Genre: Memoir

Page Count: 256

No Ashes in the Fire follows author Darnell Moore's life growing up in poverty as a Black, queer man in America. It dives into bullying, discrimination, identity, and sexuality, and talks about the events that inspired Darnell to share his story.

16. Passing Strange by Ellen Klages (2017)

Genre: Historical Fantasy

Page Count: 224

Passing Strange is a tale of magic and forbidden love: a tale of six women whose lives intersect in the most unusual and unconventional ways.

17. Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn (2020)

Genre: Fiction

Page Count: 432

A winner of two literary awards, Patsy is the story of a Jamaican woman, whose fire and passion encourages her to follow a lifelong friend to New York. As an undocumented immigrant, Patsy works as a nanny, bravely taking the chance to love freely and put herself first.

18. Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (2019)

Genre: LGBT Fiction | Young Adult

Page Count: 421

A son of the United States president, Alex Diaz accompanies his family to the wedding of the British royal family. After an altercation with the groom's brother, whom Alex hates, the two must learn to be civil in order to prevent a diplomatic crisis. However, their feigned civility soon blossoms into something more: a relationship that must remain a secret.

19. Redefining Realness by Janet Mock (2014)

Genre: Memoir

Page Count: 263

Redefining Realness is a memoir by trans writer and activist Janet Mock, who describes her experiences growing up in Hawaii.

20. Something Wild & Wonderful by Anita Kelly (2023)

Genre: Fiction

Page Count: 384

A hike on the Pacific Crest Trail begins with a rattlesnake, and unravels into an emotional adventure between two young men.

21. Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski (2021)

Genre: Literary fiction

Page Count: 224

In 1980s Poland, two young men meet at a summer camp. Their initial dreamlike romance becomes influenced by politics and religion, and the two are forced to fight for their relationship in a society determined to draw them apart.