Jarrett Melendez, Danica Brine
[isbn]
Utterly adorable. Ben's finished college and now he's the only one of his friend group who hasn't been able to land a job in his field (definitely relatable..). Deciding he just cannot move back in with his parents, Ben applies for a job at a restaurant. He immediately develops a crush on Liam, one of the chefs, and adorably awkward moments ensue. This story is so sweet and cute. I loved it.
Recommended by Rose H.
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Samantha Shannon
[isbn]
In this quasi-medieval world, East and West are at odds — the East reveres their water dragons and their dragon riders, while the West hates all dragons after one of the wretched, fire-breathing ones nearly destroyed the world. There’s a large cast of endearing characters, but the hearts of the story are Ead, lady-in-waiting to the queen, and Tané, dragon-rider in training, both harboring dangerous secrets. The Priory of the Orange Tree... (read more)
Recommended by Carly J.
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Becky Chambers
[isbn]
If you like a healthy dose of hope with your science fiction, there’s no better place to start than with Becky Chambers. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet gives us the gift of a found-family ragtag crew of adventurers, genuinely fascinating alien races, and super cool technology (their spaceship runs on algae!). This book, and the rest of the Wayfarers series, builds its foundation on character-driven kindness: that a better,... (read more)
Recommended by Anna B.
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E M Forster
[isbn]
Maurice is groundbreaking for its earnest and heartfelt depiction of a gay man who gets a happy ending — something that was essentially forbidden and almost unheard of in its time. Written 100 years ago (but only published after his death in 1971), Forster dedicated this book to a happier year: it's a touching glimpse at how far we've come and how far we still need to go.
Recommended by Nicole S
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Joe Vallese, Carmen Maria Machado, Bruce Owens Grimm
[isbn]
Required reading for any queer horror enthusiasts. I can remember feeling very lonely in my adoration of horror as a queer man growing up. Sure, I had friends who loved horror movies like me.But when we'd reflect on our viewing experience, I couldn't help but feel a distinct sense of othering. It Came from the Closet holds the conversations I wish I'd had then. Haven't screamed, "YES, EXACTLY!" this many times in my whole life.
Recommended by Stacy W.
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Gavin Grimm and Kyle Lukoff and J Yang
[isbn]
If You’re a Kid Like Gavin is a tale of true courage told with a humble sensibility that really conveys to readers the idea that standing up to injustice may be daunting, but it is what dignity requires.
Recommended by Keith M.
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Eric Cervini
[isbn]
An incredibly moving and inspirational story about a veteran and government employee who was fired after being outed as gay. Follow Frank Kameny on his painstaking journey for justice as he fights for the rights of the marginalized. I really appreciated experiencing the Stonewall Uprising and legalization of gay marriage from this unique perspective.
Recommended by Parker W.
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Timothy Janovsky
[isbn]
The perfect summer romance read. This book is heartwarming and full of charm and a great read for any fans of queer romance, movies (particularly horror), and the summer drive-in. A journey of self discovery and how you will never forget your first love.
Recommended by Lauren M
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Sierra Simone
[isbn]
Have you ever wanted an erotic romance to make you question your own spirituality? Did you *really* enjoy the second season of Fleabag? I went into this book expecting some spicy scenes with not much substance and instead found a romance that was both tender and exciting. The theological and philosophical conversations that take place in this novel are as important and memorable as the numerous extra spicy scenes.
Recommended by Lauren M
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New York Public Library, Edmund White
[isbn]
This anthology is so incredibly touching and inspiring. The New York Library has pulled together its extensive collection to bring us multiple first-hand accounts of what happened both inside and outside of the Stonewall, making you feel as if you were there. These are accounts of Stonewall that weren't a part of any documentaries that I'd seen, and I felt lucky to have stumbled upon all the different and unique points of view laid out in this... (read more)
Recommended by Parker W.
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Syan Rose
[isbn]
Open this book to any page and you’re immediately immersed in drawings and conversations that are personal and captivating. From Nube F. Cruz mourning the passing of their Ama, to Kid Cudi sharing people who’ve inspired them, you’ll be touched by their heartfelt words and Syan Rose’s gorgeous art.
Recommended by Marianne T
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David Trinidad
[isbn]
In his newest book, David Trinidad uses his well-established (and gossipy) poetic style to revisit his childhood in southern California, his family history, and his decades-long career as a poet. Digging to Wonderland is highly indebted to Joe Brainard's I Remember, and is a worthy heir to it.
Recommended by Adam P.
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Gretchen Felker-Martin
[isbn]
Both a brutal fist to the teeth and a tender cry, Manhunt is unlike anything I've ever read. Fran and Beth are an insurmountable duo and I was locked in from the very first word. This book is a carbon-fiber arrow to the shoulder — it sticks with you and it hurts like a mother.
Recommended by Stacy W.
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Andrea Lawlor
[isbn]
A loving serenade — with echoes of Jeanette Winterson — to queer sensuality, vulnerability, and freedom in its truest sense. Paul is thrust out onto the smoldering embers of the AIDS epidemic and dances on “flickering feet” from The Village to Boystown to P-Town to San Fran, like some kind of national gay tour of the 90s. He belongs nowhere, yet everywhere — a genderless chameleon dusted in rainbow glitter. He is a sensualist with a soul, a child... (read more)
Recommended by Sarah W
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Casey McQuiston
[isbn]
Beloved queer romance author McQuiston (Red, White & Royal Blue, One Last Stop) has penned their first YA novel. I can’t recommend it enough! Reminiscent of Green’s Paper Towns with a fem romance twist, Chloe is on the hunt for answers when popular girl Shara kisses her and then vanishes.
Recommended by Madeline S.
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Carl Phillips
[isbn]
Every new collection from Carl Phillips is a reason to celebrate! Then the War is a hybrid book: both a complete collection of new poems, and selections from the past fifteen years of his work, including the entirety of his chapbook, Star Map with Action Figures, and an extended prose piece called "Among the Trees." If you've never read Carl Phillips, this book is an excellent entry point, and if you're a fan, well, you already... (read more)
Recommended by Adam P.
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Ocean Vuong
[isbn]
Ocean Vuong’s new collection centers on loss and mourning, but it is also filled with playful experimentation and wry humor. The central thesis of Vuong’s work, I think, is that pain makes us more human, but it doesn’t define us. These poems pay homage to both sides of that coin.
Recommended by Keith M.
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Mark M Perry
[isbn]
There's a lot of story and depth packed into this small volume, striking an impeccable balance between a character-based coming-of-age story, a multicultural folklore exploration, and a dark fantasy. It also helps that this book is set in the Pacific Northwest, a region I live in and love, and is a perfect location, I'd imagine, for all kinds of fantastic happenings.
Deep within the woods, in a region called the Dark Divide (which is a... (read more)
Recommended by Nicholas Y.
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H Melt
[isbn]
What I adore about this book is that it centers trans joy with such fierce intentionality and love for trans communities. H. Melt’s poetry is a soothing balm that carves out space for and insists to trans folks, you are here, you are seen, you are wanted, and you are loved.
Recommended by Alexis B.
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Jasmine Mans
[isbn]
Black Girl, Call Home is an utterly gorgeous collection from acclaimed poet Jasmine Mans, whose poetic voice lingers on the heart and can't — you won’t want it to — be set down. It is a beacon for the lost and wandering and a warm envelopment of home, healing, and the clarity that each of those lends to the soul. One of my favorite contemporary collections of poetry for its warmth, honesty, and undeniable artistry.
Recommended by Alexis B.
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Frank O'Hara
[isbn]
Lines of this collection from Frank O'Hara bubble up into my brain almost daily as I make my way around the city, visiting record stores, riding the MAX, and finding other reasons to not totally regret life. I can't really imagine living without these poems, and I'm glad I don't have to.
Recommended by Adam P.
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Ashley Herring Blake
[isbn]
I didn't expect to love Delilah Green Doesn't Care as much as I did, but whew, much like Delilah and Claire eventually discover, love finds you at unexpected times. This may sound cliché, but while reading this romance novel, I laughed, I cried, and frankly, I grew as a person and as a reader. With Delilah Green Doesn't Care, Ashley Herring Blake asks the reader "How much of our core memories are actually true? Do we always... (read more)
Recommended by Katherine M.
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Ari North, Ariella Adler
[isbn]
Starry-eyed, pure, queer love that'll break your heart and then mend it back together. The animation is similar to popular web comic turned phenomenon, 'Lore Olympus,' and seems painted with strokes of heartache and passion. So, so, beautiful.
Recommended by Stacy W.
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Jackie Wang
[isbn]
Wang's remarkable debut poetry collection comprises a frothy mixture of poems, prose, and illustrations inspired by her dream journal. Their brief microcosms are mutable, haunted, Dali-esque and darkly playful (see poem ft. an Evil Noodle) — all of them striking in their oblique confrontations with carceral logics, race, class, family, and transgenerational trauma. While I think there's plenty here to meet any reader's interest in the... (read more)
Recommended by Alexa W.
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Adib Khorram
[isbn]
New YA from Adib Khorram? Sign me up! New YA from Adib Khorram about boy bands, the pressures of being queer in the public eye, complex and supportive friendships, and existing on your own terms even under a spotlight? Sign me up an extra time somehow! A dazzling and delightful read. Queue up a playlist of your favorite boy band tracks and buckle up, you won’t want to leave this tour bus.
Recommended by Sarah R.
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Everina Maxwell
[isbn]
Swoon-worthy queer sci-fi romance, perfect if you want to yell at your book "just kiss already!" This isn't your sweeping space opera, but has plenty of political intrigue, a murder mystery, and the arranged marriage trope at its finest. This story will grab you until the very end.
Recommended by Carly J.
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Trung Le Nguyen
[isbn]
Every page of The Magic Fish is a feast for the eyes and heart. Smart, powerful, and lovingly done.
Recommended by Hannah W.
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Carl Phillips
[isbn]
What is the color of memory? With characteristic depth and lucidity, Phillips's poems bend their light through the prism of this speculation, inviting us to approach its crucial, political implications and contingencies through a quantum field of knowing, awestruck presence.
Recommended by Alexa W.
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Nina LaCour
[isbn]
I’m a fan of Nina LaCour’s young adult fiction, so I was thrilled to learn that she has written her first novel for adults. I was not disappointed. The writing is beautiful and feels both dreamlike and matter of fact at the same time. This story follows Sara and Emilie and alternates between their two narratives. Exploring family dynamics, grief, and finding oneself, it is an ultimately hopeful love story.
Recommended by Jennifer H.
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Andrew Holleran
[isbn]
In his first book of fiction in 16 years, Andrew Holleran documents the life of an aging gay man, whom readers will recognize from his earlier novels. As the protagonist observes modern life continue around him, he imagines his future, and remembers his past. Holleran is a masterful novelist, and this book cements his place as one of the great writers of our time.
Recommended by Adam P.
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Maggie Tokuda Hall and Lisa Sterle
[isbn]
Clever as it is harrowing, Squad is a powerful, feminist thriller with enough bite to contend with adult works in the same genre. Though its tone bears some semblance to teen favorites Riverdale and Mean Girls, make no mistake. Squad is wholly unique and good-for-her horror at its best. Sink your teeth into this one!
Recommended by Stacy W.
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CA Conrad
[isbn]
Reading CAConrad’s poetry often feels like reading my way back into aliveness itself, and their latest collection, the eco-poetic AMANDA PARADISE: Resurrect Extinct Vibration, is no exception. Emanating from a series of (Soma)tic rituals based on the recorded sounds of extinct animals, its poems shape-shift in playful, creaturely forms, even as they broach complex (and interconnected) traumas, from state violence to the AIDS crisis. The... (read more)
Recommended by Alexa W.
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Brandon Taylor
[isbn]
Taking place over a hazy August weekend, Real Life is a pitch-perfect capture of so many things: a Midwestern university town, frustrations and uncertainty in academia, and emotionally charged 30-something dinner parties, to name a few. Biochem grad student Wallace takes a protective, guarded stance in his relationships, and the weekend holds multiple confrontations between and among his friends and labmates that challenge his ability to... (read more)
Recommended by Michelle C.
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Ruth Coker Burks, Kevin Carr OLeary
[isbn]
I had been looking forward to this memoir for ages, ever since I first heard the name Ruth Coker Burks. Yes, All the Young Men is about the AIDS epidemic, but it is also about kindness, compassion, and love for other people even when you're afraid or unsure of what it means to be afraid. This book is not for the faint of heart, but as Burks takes you on her journey as she cares for these young men — men exiled by their families — you... (read more)
Recommended by Katherine M.
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Torrey Peters
[isbn]
It's no surprise that there is a lack of diversity in publishing, which is why the #ownvoices movement is paramount in giving authors from underrepresented and marginalized groups a platform to stand on and, finally, some recognition. Enter Torrey Peters's debut novel Detransition, Baby, a beautiful and poignant book about identity, love, motherhood, and the heartbreaking realities of being trans. There is a reason this book is so... (read more)
Recommended by Michelle L.
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Becky Chambers
[isbn]
For days after I finished reading this, my heart was brimming with the gentle kindness Becky Chambers infuses into her stories. This little book about two very different souls has so much heart and humanity, and I recommend it to anyone who has ever felt a little lost.
Recommended by Anna B.
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Karelia Stetz-Waters
[isbn]
I’ve read a lot of romance books in the last two years. Like, embarrassingly a lot. Satisfaction Guaranteed is hands down my favorite. Equally steamy and sweet, it tells the story of Cade and Selena and the Portland, Oregon, sex toy shop they co-inherit. I loved it for how real the characters are, their incredible chemistry, and how local author Stetz-Waters makes Portland a tertiary character in this fun and very funny wlw romance.
Recommended by Deana R.
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Freya Marske
[isbn]
You know that feeling when you open a book and from page one you find yourself thinking: "Oh, we’re going to have FUN here"? Allow me to gesture wildly at this book. Whip-smart historical fantasy with one of the most unique and clever magic systems around. A centuries-old mystery threatening to unravel magical society and upset a deeply entrenched balance of power. A beautifully drawn and diverse supporting cast of friends and foes alike. And, as... (read more)
Recommended by Sarah R.
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K D Edwards
[isbn]
Hey, this is my favorite book. You should read it if you like queer urban fantasy, snark, characters who care very deeply about each other, cool magic systems, just dudes being bros, and good fight scenes.
Recommended by Anna B.
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Douglas Stuart
[isbn]
In Young Mungo, Douglas Stuart continues his project of documenting working-class Scottish life in the late 20th century. While alcoholism, homophobia, and violence are all very present in Mungo's world, so is the possibility of escape into a time and place where his developing attraction to other boys can be accepted. Young Mungo is suspenseful and heartbreaking, hopeful and tender, and a worthy follow-up to Shuggie... (read more)
Recommended by Adam P.
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Sang Young Park
[isbn]
We’re in a real renaissance of great Korean literature being translated into English. Sang Young Park has continued that trend, but opened up a window into a milieu I’ve never seen depicted before: contemporary queer life in Seoul. His book is revealing, moving, and beautiful.
Recommended by Keith M.
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Angela Chen
[isbn]
Angela Chen shares a set of feelings and experiences — her own and others' — that are under-expressed and under-explored, and that is a tremendously valuable project. It's truly above and beyond that she does it so smartly, making this book both delightful and essential.
Recommended by Keith M.
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Billy Porter
[isbn]
As satisfying as celebrity memoirs can get, Porter’s story of childhood trauma and struggle slowly evolving into a rewarding and much-decorated Broadway and TV career hits all the right notes.
Recommended by Moses M.
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Tj Klune
[isbn]
Wallace Price is a nasty, heartless workaholic who unexpectedly dies of a heart attack. Afterlife for him is neither heaven nor hell, but a tea shop called Charon's Crossing run by Hugo, who makes a kickass cup of tea, but also helps people to cross over. Under the Whispering Door is TJ Klune in fine form: tender, romantic, terrifying, and full of heart.
Recommended by Mary Jo S.
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Ryka Aoki
[isbn]
Refugees from another solar system running a donut shop, a violin teacher who needs one last soul to harvest for hell, and a young trans runaway violinist are all magnificently blended together in Ryka Aoki's superb and heartwarming Light From Uncommon Stars. The descriptions of food and music are especially good, and you'll certainly be craving donuts before the book ends.
Recommended by Mary Jo S.
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Lana Harper
[isbn]
Lana Harper's romance debut fairly shouts SPOOKY SEASON. Emmy returns to her hometown to arbitrate a magical tournament, but she is roped in by high school classmates Linden and Talia to defeat their shared enemy: cocky, clueless Gareth Blackmoore. Payback's a Witch delivers cozy, witchy, autumnal vibes on every page. It's sweet and sexy and perfect for fall reading.
Recommended by McKenzie W.
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Andrea Gibson
[isbn]
Gibson’s poetry of love, loss, light, and survival leaves me wordless and goose-bumped, and when I found out they had a new book of poetry coming out, I nearly broke my phone hitting the Preorder button so hard.
Recommended by Deana R.
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Anthony Veasna So
[isbn]
This collection of stories about the Cambodian American community in central California is funny, insightful, and exuberant. Anthony Veasna So was an author with an eye for both the precision of the telling detail and the generalized weight of history.
Recommended by Keith M.
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Pajtim Statovci, David Hackston
[isbn]
Pajtim Statovci’s Bolla is a moving and often difficult novel about the forces of war, within and without. Set in Kosovo, before and after the war, the forces of ethnic sectarianism and homophobia both lead to societal and individual breakdown, and drive people to commit unforgivable acts. Bolla is not without hope, but it makes clear that hope can only come after one faces the hardest questions.
Recommended by Keith M.
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Kacen Callender
[isbn]
Finally! The book demigender folk have been waiting for!
Felix Love is a demiboy who is going through interpersonal turmoil at school, at home, and online.
While Felix's story touches on subjects such as being Black, queer, and trans, it also involves a love triangle, school bullies, and online drama.
I highly recommend this book for everyone, but especially demigender folks and trans young adults who have been waiting for a young adult fiction... (read more)
Recommended by Rin S.
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Emily Austin
[isbn]
Gilda is an extremely anxious 20-something with a fear of dying. In Austin’s debut novel, she brings us deep into Gilda’s world through her internal dialogue, a continuous expressionless prose, through which we experience her intricate relationships and an unexpected mystery.
Recommended by Kim S.
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Rainbow Rowell
[isbn]
I am so, so excited for the conclusion to Rainbow Rowell’s Simon Snow trilogy! And I know that I’m going to be so, so satisfyingly sad when I finish it.
Recommended by Matt K.
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Jennifer Finney Boylan
[isbn]
Not only was Jennifer Finney Boylan’s story groundbreaking — one of the first works to put the transgender experience on the page and on the world stage — her writing is beautiful, honest, irreverent, and very funny to boot. When She’s Not There debuted in 2003, Boylan’s candor, determination, and outrageous wit were the perfect combination to open hearts and inspire a generation of trans folks. And now, as half our country continues to... (read more)
Recommended by Gigi L.
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Jeanette Winterson
[isbn]
Trusting that truth was better than fiction, I first picked up Winterson’s memoir, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? It’s wonderful, but Winterson’s wry take on her Pentecostal childhood made me eager to reencounter the same themes and characters in novel form, where she could play outside the dictates of lived experience. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit didn’t disappoint. It’s rich and playful, blending autobiography with... (read more)
Recommended by Rhianna W.
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Timothy Arliss OBrien
[isbn]
Most of my favorite poetry books are those with a strong concept, and this book is an exceptional example of that. Through a blend of traditional poems, and those based on memories, stories, and other forms, Happy LGBTQ Wrath Month lays out the inspiring journey of a queer person struggling with accepting themselves. The author has an effervescent magical touch in his free approach to structure and in his handling of numerous personal... (read more)
Recommended by Nicholas Y.
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Casey McQuiston
[isbn]
If you haven’t read Casey McQuiston’s debut, Red, White, and Royal Blue, then stop what you’re doing and go read that book. It’s a beautiful, hilarious, sexy, coming-of-age romance and it’s easily one of my favorite reads of all time. But now Casey McQuiston has a new book coming out in June that is arguably EVEN BETTER than RW&RB. The love story of August — a 23-year-old cynic — and Jane — a ’70s punk who is stuck in modern day... (read more)
Recommended by McKenzie W.
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Alison Bechdel
[isbn]
At first glance, Alison Bechdel’s new graphic novel may appear to be a whimsical tour of recent exercise fads, but The Secret to Superhuman Strength is actually a richly observed and philosophical memoir about self-realization, full of Bechdel’s masterful storytelling and, yes, whimsy.
Recommended by Keith M.
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Charlie Jane Anders
[isbn]
Tina's been waiting for years for the aliens (who left her on Earth as a baby) to deliver her to her destiny. But there's more to "destiny" than getting to leave the miseries of high school behind: entire species are counting on her to end an intergalactic war. Don't miss this beloved sci-fi author's YA debut!
Recommended by Madeline S.
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Helen Oyeyemi
[isbn]
Peaces is an engrossing book with stunning twists and turns, not unlike the sparsely populated, luxurious train where the many mysteries unfold. It's also, somehow, about how your past shapes you and your relationships, and what it means to be seen and known. We're so lucky Helen Oyeyemi gifted us with this dazzling, surrealist gem of a novel.
Recommended by Michelle C.
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Lee Lai
[isbn]
Lee Lai’s Stone Fruit is a full-length graphic novel, but gave me the same sense of satisfaction as a truly exquisite short story, with its small cast and contained physical universe. The emotional universe, however, is vast in the most subtle and satisfying ways.
Recommended by Keith M.
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Tj Klune
[isbn]
I loved this book! While the adult characters, Linus and Arthur, are wonderful, it's the magical youth that really stand out. By the end, you'll be rooting for every one of them to reach their dreams. This book was an absolute delight.
Recommended by Bethany O.
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Erin Morgenstern
[isbn]
In an underground labyrinth of books reminiscent of the Neitherlands library in Lev Grossman's The Magicians trilogy, Zachary Ezra Rawlins sifts through story after story, searching for his own. After stumbling across an odd anecdote from his childhood in an authorless book, Zachary seeks answers in the subterranean library, through painted doors and overlapping realities. There, he finds stories barely contained by their pages, riddles of Fate... (read more)
Recommended by Alice G.
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Alexis Hall
[isbn]
Luc and Oliver are absolutely charming as we follow their fake dating antics, and the side characters all truly stand out with hilarious banter that make every part of this romance feel real. I still think about jokes and moments from this book months later, and I can't wait for others to fall for it as much as I did. If you liked Red, White, and Royal Blue, you will love Boyfriend Material!
Recommended by Bethany O.
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Kiran Millwood Hargrave
[isbn]
The storm that wipes out nearly all of the men from their small coastal fishing town doesn’t defeat Maren or the other women who must make do in time to survive winter conditions, leaving no time for the luxury of grief. This same gritty industriousness that pulled them through, however, will threaten to undo them when a new commissioner arrives in town, interpreting the women’s independence as dangerous, and ungodly. Gloriously stark, the... (read more)
Recommended by Aubrey W.
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Carmen Maria Machado
[isbn]
Devastatingly beautiful, In the Dream House is a work of traumatized text, made up of stunning vignettes and fragmented stories of one queer woman’s experience with an abusive lesbian relationship. It’s intermixed with literary theory and poignant observations about the nature and history of LGBTQ relationships and abuse.
Recommended by Alice G.
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Robert Jones Jr.
[isbn]
Winning comparisons to Baldwin and sharing the Southern-inflected lyricism of Faulkner and Jesmyn Ward, Jones Jr.’s debut novel evokes one plantation community with striking clarity and emotional depth. Jones Jr.’s fascinating ensemble cast, grounded in its women and the central love story, and his riveting style combine to make this novel unmissable.
Recommended by Rhianna W.
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Cameron Awkward-Rich
[isbn]
These poems shine light on the realities of racial and gendered American violence both past and present, asking how to thrive as marginalized people, to flourish and fight back against the violence from the oppressors that threatens to consume the narrative. At once both loving and powerful.
Recommended by Cosima C.
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Trungles
[isbn]
This has become my new favorite deck. I love the ethereal, magical illustrations. Tarot decks are becoming more inclusive in their representation and this deck does it beautifully. I love that the creator included 4 different versions of the Lovers card so you can choose the one that resonates with you. Gorgeous art, an easy to read guidebook, and a cute storage box.
Recommended by Rose H.
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Jonathan Hill
[isbn]
Award-winning cartoonist Jonathan Hill contrasts surprising humor with the desolation of a ruined landscape and the longing of three Vietnamese American siblings searching across the country for their missing mother, eight years after the big Cascadia earthquake. With themes of violence, environmentalism, and family, Odessa is much more than a page-turner — but what a page-turner!
Recommended by Gigi L.
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Aiden Thomas
[isbn]
Aiden Thomas’s magical YA debut is an ode to honoring your truth as it follows Yadriel, a trans Latinx teenage boy, as he tries to prove that he is a brujo to his conservative family and to himself. Cemetery Boys is the queer story I’ve been trying to summon this whole year and will return to for years to come.
Recommended by Rachel M.
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Alison Bechdel
[isbn]
Before Fun Home and Are You My Mother?, this brilliant creator brought us the long-running, hilarious, insightful, and heartbreaking comic strip, "Dykes to Watch Out For." My all-time favorite soap opera in cartoon form.
Recommended by Doug C.
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Jennifer Finney Boylan
[isbn]
Accompanying Jennifer on her journey of self-discovery through reflecting on dogs’ predominant traits — honesty, loyalty, and determination, to name just a few — we are granted insights and lessons on a life crafted alongside these experiences. That we maybe aren’t so different from our canine friends is just another rewarding takeaway from this lovely and edifying memoir.
Recommended by Lucinda G.
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Kai Cheng Thom
[isbn]
Instead of focusing outward at the society that harms us, Kai Cheng Thom excavates the ways trans and queer folks reenact our traumas on each other and confronts the troublesome questions needed to forge a better path. How do we learn from the past when our foremothers have disappeared? What do we do when the revolution hasn't happened yet but babies do? How do we liberate our liberation from the cold heart of neoliberalism? What does it mean to... (read more)
Recommended by Cosima C.
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Casey Plett
[isbn]
Little Fish is a story centered around Wendy — a trans woman who, after a family death, begins to suspect her late Mennonite grandparent may have been trans too. While tackling the complexities of sex work, suicide, relationships, and harassment, author Casey Plett doesn't shy away from the fact that people and identity are messy, or that to be trans is to exist in conflicting modalities with the worlds we inhabit and the time that... (read more)
Recommended by Cosima C.
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Kai Cheng Thom
[isbn]
Author Kai Cheng Thom has a problem with the easily consumable trans narratives that cis people love so much, wherein trans people suffer through the trials and tribulations society inflicts like angelic sacrificial lambs. In her stunning Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars, she delivers us the cure. It's a memoir/not-memoir, featuring pantheons of trans goddesses as deeply complex as they are beautiful, knife fights in the name of fallen... (read more)
Recommended by Cosima C.
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John Elizabeth Stintzi
[isbn]
Vanishing Monuments follows Alani, a nonbinary artist, as they visit their childhood home in Winnipeg because their mother’s dementia worsens. Stintzi explores themes of love and distance, art and memory, and examines why we can take extreme measures to escape our birthplaces and birth families, how we can be pulled back to our roots, and what we may discover about ourselves should we decide to return.
Recommended by Adam P.
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Miranda July
[isbn]
The single word to describe The First Bad Man is unforgettable. Nobody writes characters like Miranda July. Nobody. Prepare to fall in love (and fall over laughing/crying). But seriously, just read the plot description! I'm dying all over again. How do you even come up with this stuff?! And not only that, how do you write it WELL? Okay, I'm going to go read it again now, bye.
Recommended by Adie B.
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Wayne Koestenbaum
[isbn]
Wayne Koestenbaum’s deep and wide knowledge of art and literature, his respect for sentences and punctuation, and his passion for ambiguity of form and function make these febrile essays a joy to read. With the exercises he suggests, and using his ecstatic influence as a guide, we can puzzle through our need for answers in writing, and find a new consciousness — like seeing our hometowns from above for the first time.
Recommended by Adam P.
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Molly Wizenberg
[isbn]
Memoirist and food writer Molly Wizenberg has been married to the same man for nearly a decade, and has always thought of herself as a straight person, when a chance encounter at jury duty (of all places) develops into a crush. Deeper feelings soon emerge — feelings she is unwilling to dismiss and unable to ignore. This insightful memoir follows Molly as she realizes that gender, sexuality, and love are much more fluid and expansive than she’d... (read more)
Recommended by Adam P.
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Sam Lansky
[isbn]
It sounds too good to be true: a healer who can fix everything that’s wrong with you in just three days. But for Sam — a young writer struggling with intimacy, sobriety, physical health, and an unforgiving inner monologue — it’s an intriguing prospect. Broken People drew me in so completely I didn’t realize until Sam emerged from his three-day journey, changed, that something within me had shifted as well. This is a candid, deeply human... (read more)
Recommended by Tove H.
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Edouard Louis, Michael Lucey
[isbn]
At face value, The End of Eddy is a gripping autobiographical novel set in an impoverished village in France that recounts the childhood of the author, Edouard Louis. But it is much more than a coming-of-age story. As readers become acquainted with the horrors of growing up poor and gay in a conservative and macho-obsessed society, they come to realize the power of Louis's story. Edouard exerts himself to be a "tough guy" throughout the... (read more)
Recommended by Alex Y.
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Danez Smith
[isbn]
Danez Smith's new book of poems is a banger. It's like if Rihanna was your best friend and she did a song about one of your inside jokes that was actually about the most painful moment of your life but you had to find a way to laugh about it, and so she made it dance. It's that ridiculously good.
Recommended by Thomas L.
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Cameron Esposito
[isbn]
Save Yourself is a brave trek down a sometimes twisting, sometimes downright treacherous memory lane. Readers familiar with Esposito's stand-up will recognize some of these stories and be grateful for the deeper dive; those unfamiliar will delight in making her acquaintance; and all will have their hearts warmed by her missive of acceptance and kindness to her younger self. A frank, funny, and affecting read.
Recommended by Tove H.
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Douglas Stuart
[isbn]
Set in working-class Glasgow in the 1980s, Shuggie Bain tells the story of Agnes Bain and her three children. In it, we watch closely as a loving family is shattered by poverty and addiction over the course of a decade. I cared deeply about these characters, in particular her youngest son, Shuggie, whose burgeoning sexuality is an additional barrier to acceptance by an uncaring government. Douglas Stuart has written an incredible debut... (read more)
Recommended by Adam P.
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T Fleischmann
[isbn]
"Fun and pleasure are productive places to start building resilience," Fleischmann writes, "which is good because the work of resisting should feel good when it can." They're talking here about kink culture, but the same could be said of this book: its transgressions of form and content are a radical refusal, and yes, it feels good. Ostensibly an essay about the work of conceptual artist Felix Gonzales-Torres, woven through are thoughtful... (read more)
Recommended by Thomas L.
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Carter Sickels
[isbn]
In 1982, 18-year-old Brian left his Appalachian Ohio home, and moved to New York City, where he found community, friendship, and love. Six years later, Brian's new community has been thrown into crisis by the AIDS epidemic. After Brian's own diagnosis, and the death of many of his friends and his lover, Brian moves back home in hopes of reconciling with his family. Both Brian's mother and his younger sister help narrate this novel of a rural... (read more)
Recommended by Adam P.
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Douglas Crase
[isbn]
Thanks to this long overdue reissue from Nightboat Books (perhaps my current favorite publisher), I read more books by Douglas Crase than any other author in 2019. Enthusiasts of John Ashbery and Lorine Niedecker, take note: this book is not to be missed!
Recommended by Adam P.
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James Baldwin
[isbn]
A brightly burning story of a love triangle in 1950s Paris. Wonderfully written and poetically absorbing, this classic novel features great dialogue too. Must have been amazing for gay and bisexual readers to find this book in bookstores in 1956.
Recommended by Kevin S.
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Paul Lisicky
[isbn]
Paul Lisicky’s memoir of his time on a writing fellowship in Provincetown during the height of the (initial stage of the ongoing) AIDS crisis does more in one paragraph than many books accomplish in their entireties; the richness of insight is evident in every passage.
Recommended by Keith M.
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Garth Greenwell
[isbn]
Cleanness is a powerful, musical book, and Greenwell's themes of sex, shame, and self-acceptance develop across its nine sections. Each sentence is carefully crafted; each punctuation mark is perfectly placed. Cleanness shines like a gem, and cuts like one too.
Recommended by Adam P.
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Jeanette Winterson
[isbn]
Taking place at the time of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein while simultaneously set in the near future, Jeanette Winterson's Frankissstein is a delightfully bizarre philosophical story of what makes us human and how human beings confront the ubiquitous threat of death. Genre-bending and impossible to put or pin down, Frankissstein is a crash course in the intricacies and horrors of artificial intelligence.
Recommended by Alex Y.
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Chana Porter
[isbn]
Gorgeous, hypnotic writing accompanies this futuristic story of the costs of what we become when we abandon our tangible identities. Without any moralistic presumptions, author Chana Porter explores this theme with an air of whim and genuine curiosity. Who are we without imposed constraints, and can we really be understood and loved when all known boundaries are removed?
Recommended by Aubrey W.
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Kathy Acker
[isbn]
While this may not be as good of an entry point as Blood and Guts in High School, this is truly Acker's masterwork: a captivating collage of sex, violence, love, and heartbreak, topped off with a provocative dollop of post-structural literary theory... think William Burroughs if he became a radical feminist.
Recommended by Cade M.
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Casey McQuiston
[isbn]
Casey McQuiston’s debut novel is electrifying. I fell in love with Alex and Henry (those emails!), but I was completely overwhelmed by the sweetness, the humor, and the absolute hopefulness of Red, White, and Royal Blue. I’m still piecing my heart back together.
Recommended by McKenzie W.
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Lou Sullivan and Zach Ozma and Ellis Martin
[isbn]
I love everything about this book, from the meticulous research, to the beautiful cover, to the stunning revelations it holds. Martin and Ozma have compiled a thoughtful, hilarious, sexy collection of Lou Sullivan’s personal diaries. Do you not know about Lou Sullivan yet? A trans icon if there ever was one, he paved the way for gay trans men, who had previously been barred from medical transition. This collection covers myriad topics: Sullivan’s... (read more)
Recommended by Kyan F.
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Kimberly King Parsons
[isbn]
A debut that entertains, stuns, and dazzles at every risk-taking turn. This is short story as art and it's mind-boggling that the two best stories, “Glow Hunter” (a sensory trip) and “Starlite” (a seedy hotel masterpiece), were not published before this book's release, making your purchase of this collection mandatory. Parsons is a force and her perfect blend of humor, longing, propulsive style, and humid southern atmospherics makes Black... (read more)
Recommended by Kevin S.
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Hannah Templer
[isbn]
Cosmoknights is one of those books I wish I had read in high school when a million questions about sexuality were floating around in my head. The normalcy of queerness is a breath of fresh air and the story is even more so, aside from being fantastic. Templer does a wonderful job bringing her characters to life via her illustrations and the colors she uses are out of this world (pun intended). While I wait with bated breath for the... (read more)
Recommended by Rachel M.
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Saeed Jones
[isbn]
How We Fight for Our Lives might be one of the best memoirs that I've ever read, and as someone who reads a lot of memoirs, I don't say that lightly. It's obvious after reading this memoir that Jones is a poet. Each sentence appears carefully selected, poised and brimming with emotion. I would read a few pages at a time, not noticing that I was holding my breath the entire time until I exhaled. Jones is a rare talent: he is both funny... (read more)
Recommended by Katherine M.
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Jericho Brown
[isbn]
I don't have words for how amazing this collection of poetry is, except to say that every word in it is a revelation. I read these poems again and again, and the best thing I can say is that it refreshed my heart and made me feel less alone, which is maybe the most important thing we can ask language to do.
Recommended by Tim B.
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Kai Cheng Thom and Wai-Yant Li and Kai Yun Ching
[isbn]
No matter how Miu Lan changes or who they become, their mother always loves them unconditionally! This fantastical and beautifully illustrated story is perfect for nonbinary and gender-nonconforming kids and their loved ones.
Recommended by Leanna M.
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