Books
Pride Month is finally upon us, and it's time to celebrate being a part of the LGBTQIA+ rainbow. I've got 26 new books for Pride Month, so no matter whether you're in the mood for poetry, romance, literary fiction, or nonfiction this month, you can find a fantastic new book here.
When some people think of Pride, they only think about young, white, able-bodied, cisgender gay men and lesbian women, but they represent a small fraction of the LGBTQIA+ community. We are bi, pan, demi, ace, and aro. We are trans, agender, and nonbinary. We are neurodiverse, mentally ill, and physically disabled. We are immigrants and indigenous people, members of religious minority groups, and of all different ethnicities. The LGBTQIA+ community is vast and diverse, and every identity it represents deserves to be visible, not just those of us who look like Abercrombie & Fitch models.
With that being said, it's impossible to cover every identity in 26 books. So please be sure to share your favorite books by and about LGBTQIA+ people — who are disabled, neurodiverse, immigrants, indigenous, elderly, or otherwise outside of that all too commonly represented group of young, white, able-bodied, cisgender gay men and lesbian women — with your friends, fellow readers, and on Twitter.
'The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali' by Sabina Khan
Rukhsana has spent 17 years feeling like a disappointment to her conservative family, but she just has a short while left to wait before she moves away to the freedoms college will offer. When her parents discover that she and Ariana are more than just friends, however, Rukhsana finds herself shipped off to Bangladesh, where her grandmother intends to arrange her marriage to an eligible bachelor.
'We Set the Dark on Fire' by Tehlor Kay Mejia
Daniela's parents have risked everything to send her to the Medio School for Girls, where she has trained to become one of a well-to-do young man's two brides to be. But when a rebel group wants her to spy on her new household for them, and when she finds herself falling for someone she's not allowed to love, Dani discovers that her life has become anything but easier.
'Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls' by T Kira Madden
This debut memoir explores growing up biracial and queer in Florida, where the author's parents lived with substance dependencies, and T Kira Madden found herself relying heavily on her friendships with the fatherless girls.
'Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story' by Jacob Tobia
Assigned male at birth, Raleigh, North Carolina native Jacob Tobia tells their story of coming into their gender identity in their new memoir, Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story.
'When Brooklyn Was Queer' by Hugh Ryan
A microhistory of Brooklyn's queer legacy, Hugh Ryan's When Brooklyn Was Queer resurrects the LGBTQIAP+ artists who have called the city home, from the 19th century to the present.
'A People's History of Heaven' by Mathangi Subramanian
Set in the titular Bangalore slum, A People's History of Heaven weaves its way around and through the stories of five best friends who must reckon with the politics of gender, sexuality, religion, and poverty in urban India.
'Naamah' by Sarah Blake
The life of Naamah, wife of the Biblical patriarch Noah, forms the central focus of Sarah Blake's latest novel, which finds its eponymous heroine mourning the lover she lost in the Flood.
'The Black Condition ft. Narcissus' by jayy dodd
This lyrical memoir from jayy dodd traces the concurrency of their transition and the transfer of power from the Obama to Trump administrations.
'Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl' by Andrea Lawlor
Set in the grunge era U.S., Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl follows a bartending shapeshifter as he moves through various figures and queer movements in the time of nascent Third Wave feminism.
'Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States' by Samantha Allen
Written by Mormon-missionary-turned-journalist Samantha Allen, Real Queer America examines the lives of LGBTQIAP+ Americans living in the heart of "fly-over" country, away from the coasts and big cities.
'Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me' by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero O'Connell
High-schooler Freddy is in love with Laura Dean, but their relationship isn't the best in the world. When a medium tells Freddy to break up with her girlfriend, she's left with her life in flux, as her girlfriend keeps coming and going, and even her longtime friends begin to leave her.
'We Are Everywhere: Protest, Power, and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation' by Matthew Reimer and Leighton Brown
From the creators of Instagram's @lgbt_history account, this photographic history of the ongoing fight for LGBTQIAP+ equality spans more than a century, from the late 19th century to the present.
'The Lost Coast' by Amy Rose Capetta
When Danny joins the Grays — a mysterious group of young, queer witches in her new hometown — she has no idea that they summoned her to Tempest, California to help them find their lost friend, Imogen, whose powers were greater than any other.
'Trans Mission: My Quest to a Beard' by Alex Bertie
From YouTuber Alex Bertie comes this memoir of transition, which doubles as a resource guide for any trans or questioning person and their allies.
'Birthday' by Meredith Russo
Born on the same day, Eric and Morgan have been best friends forever. But as Eric fears losing Morgan forever, Morgan wrestles with a much more difficult decision — when and how to tell Eric that she's not the guy he thinks she is.
'Zenobia July' by Lisa Bunker
After moving across the country to live with her aunts, transitioning hacker Zenobia has a lot on her plate — and that's before her new high school experiences an outbreak of digital hatred that only she can stop.
'I Wish You All the Best' by Mason Deaver
After coming out to their parents as nonbinary, Ben finds themself kicked out of the house. Their only hope is to live with their estranged sister and her husband, and enroll in a new school, where no one knows them. Back in the closet, Ben befriends Nathan, but as feelings beyond friendship begin to form, Ben's new life starts to feel more like home.
'These Witches Don't Burn' by Isabel Sterling
Even though she lives in Salem, real-life Elemental Witch Hannah can't risk using her powers in front of a non-witch. But when dark magic begins to work its influence over her hometown, Hannah must join forces with Veronica, her ex and fellow Elemental, in order to stop whomever is using it.
'The Deep' by Rivers Solomon (June 4)
Based on a song by Clipping, Rivers Solomon's The Deep imagines an underwater society of merpeople, descended from enslaved African women who were thrown from ships in the Atlantic, and who relegate the remembrance of their painful and traumatic past to their historian, Yetu.
'If It Makes You Happy' by Claire Kann (June 4)
Working in her Granny's diner, the recently graduated Winnie has the chance to stack money in preparation for college. When an unexpected turn as Misty Haven Summer Queen ties up Winnie's time with public engagements, she'll have to find a way to overcome her fears — which include literally everything about her newfound recognition.
'Like a Love Story' by Abdi Nazemian (June 4)
In 1989 New York City, the friendship between three teenagers brought together in the midst of the AIDS crisis is threatened when one of them, the closeted Reza, grows closer to his girlfriend's openly gay best friend.
'Naturally Tan' by Tan France (June 4)
Queer Eye star Tan France discusses growing up as a queer, Muslim person of color in the majority-white town of Doncaster, England in Naturally Tan, his first memoir.
'On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous' by Ocean Vuong (June 4)
This debut novel from celebrated poet Ocean Vuong centers on Little Dog, a young Vietnamese-American man whose life has been shaped by the conflict between his country of origin and the place he calls home.
'Patsy' by Nicole Dennis-Benn (June 4)
When she sets out to start a new and better life for herself in the U.S., Patsy leaves her five-year-old daughter Tru behind in Jamaica. As Patsy discovers that life in the U.S. is not as glamorous as she was once told, Tru forges a tenuous relationship with her father, and endeavors to understand why her mother left her behind.
'Mostly Dead Things' by Kristen Arnett (June 4)
In the wake of her father's suicide, Jessa-Lynn struggles to keep her family — and the family business — together. Her mother has begun making sexually suggestive art out of her late husband's taxidermied animals, her brother stops interacting with the rest of the world, and her sister-in-law — Jessa's only love — walks away from all of them.
'All of Us with Wings' by Michelle Ruiz Keil (June 18)
In this YA fantasy novel, 17-year-old Xochi becomes a live-in nanny to 12-year-old Pallas, the daughter of a rockstar. But when the two girls accidentally summon two powerful creatures bent on righting the wrongs of Xochi's childhood, their relationship may be destroyed forever.
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