Add These LGBTQ+ Books to Your Library Now and Enjoy Them This Pride Month and Beyond

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We may very well be living in the golden age of LGBTQ+ books. Spanning across genres and cultures, these reads continue to pave the way for more visibility within and beyond the queer community.

This Pride Month, we recognize that we can't take this inclusive celebration of love and identity for granted. These books explain why that is, as many of them grapple with living in a society that does not validate the equality of all people — they are a complex reflection of our current times.

One crucial example of this is the discriminatory “Don’t Say Gay” bill signed into law in Florida last year (now spreading to other states) that restricts discussion of gender identity, sexuality, and LGBTQ+ issues in school, which harms LGBTQ+ youth by eliminating the classroom as a safe space to openly talk about topics that are important to their lives and mental health. As the push to spread "Don't Say Gay" bills and anti-drag legislation accelerates, The Human Rights Campaign has declared a national state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people.

To extend your support of the LGBTQ+ community during Pride Month and well beyond, we suggest buying these books from a local or queer-owned bookstore and donating to an organization that is fighting for the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ people, such as The Marsha P. Johnson Institute, The Trevor Project, and The Ali Forney Center.

While this is by no means an exhaustive list, these 20 critically acclaimed LGBTQ+ books, both new and enduring fiction favorites, beautifully illustrate the joys and pains of the human experience in their own unique ways.

‘Loveless’ by Alice Oseman

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This LGBTQ+ book and YA novel will give you all the feels, no matter what age you are.

Its protagonist, Georgia, is asexual/aromantic and is having a hard time wrapping her head around the ways her friends are changing. Everyone is talking endlessly about their crushes, makeouts, and hookups — meanwhile, Georgia is trying to make sense of what it means to have none of these inclinations, craving a different kind of connection altogether.

Her story shows that it's not easy making sense of yourself when the path ahead feels largely uncharted, but it's still a very worthwhile journey.

Reviewers of this novel who identify as aro and/or ace call this book “validating,” “deeply relatable,” and “an important read.”

More: The Best Pride Merch to Celebrate the LGBTQIA+ Community

'Patsy: A Novel' by Nicole Dennis-Benn

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This multifaceted LGBTQ+ book by Nicole Dennis-Benn follows the eponymous Patsy. She is an immigrant to the United States who makes the choice to leave her daughter in her native Jamaica in order to pursue a different, freer life in New York, in which she can more fully embody her queer identity.

'Lot: Stories' by Bryan Washington

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Named one of President Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019, Lot is a powerful debut collection of stories that take place in Houston. Some are connected, some are not. It centers around the exploration of boundaries between community and chosen family.

'Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian)' by Hazel Jane Plante

This experimental LGBTQ+ book is a love letter from a trans woman to her deceased dear friend. Among its eclectic entries, there are collections of small joys, expressions of grief and pleasure, and even encyclopedia entries about the lost friend's favorite TV show.

'The Miseducation of Cameron Post' by Emily M. Danforth

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This 480-page LGBTQ+ book may seem like an insurmountable story to get through, but we think its premise is enough to hook you in for the long haul.

The titular character of The Miseducation of Cameron Post is sent to live with ultra-conservative relatives after the death of her parents, and while she struggles in secret with her gay identity, she ends up falling for her best friend, with whom she seeks comfort in this dark time.

When her aunt discovers that Cameron is a lesbian, she sends her to a religious conversion camp as punishment. Cameron's reckoning with her identity in the face of harsh, abusive adversity is incredibly powerful.

'Her Body and Other Parties: Stories' by Carmen Maria Machado

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Carmen Maria Machado's celebrated literary debut is a sublimely queer story collection, tinged throughout with paranormal themes. Each of the eight stories features protagonists and characters at varying points on the sexuality spectrum, dealing with the myriad traumas in their lives as a result of their female-presenting identities.

All-powerful and thought-provoking, the book's first story, The Husband Stitch, is one of the most chilling and artfully rendered in the collection, a retelling of the children's horror tale The Green Ribbon.

'Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe' by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

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As one reviewer puts it, this coming-of-age LGBTQ+ book is a "YA masterpiece." It follows Aristotle, an angry and depressed teenager who feels utterly alone, and Dante, a boy his age who befriends him and enlightens him on how beautiful and wondrous the world can be, in spite of all of its darkness.

Amidst the growing pains of teenage life and Ari's struggle with his mental health, the boys' close friendship is a steadfast beacon through the good times and bad.

‘You Exist Too Much: A Novel’ by Zaina Arafat

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This debut novel is about the subtle ways the trauma of growing up in a patriarchal society can manifest as unexplainable loss and longing later in life.

Illustrated in a series of vignettes, it traces the early life of a bisexual Palestinian American woman as she navigates the push and pull of her desires alongside cultural expectations.

‘Fiebre Tropical: A Novel’ by Julián Delgado Lopera

There is a unique tension in having a church-centric upbringing while discovering your own queerness.

This witty, irreverent, and bilingual read follows Francisca, who’s recently immigrated from Colombia to Miami, as she falls for the pastor’s daughter, Carmen. This book deftly balances the grief and lightness of life in such a vivid way.

‘The Thirty Names of Night: A Novel’ by Zeyn Joukhadar

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A story of rare birds, a mysterious ancestral link, and a new name, this gorgeously written book is about a trans artist who uncovers a hidden world within the pages of a journal. His discovery of the journal provides essential clues to solve not just the mystery of its author's disappearance but also of his mother's tragic death.

‘Neotenica’ by Joon Oluchi Lee

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Set in San Francisco in the early 2000s, this kaleidoscopic, experimental novel is about the marriage of Young Ae and her husband (who is never named) and their many casual affairs.

Rather than centering on plot, Neotenica's dreamlike examination of femininity, race, and family is altogether off-kilter with its metaphorical language that defines things by what they are not.

'Detransition, Baby: A Novel' by Torrey Peters

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One of the buzziest books of 2021, Detransistion, Baby is the queer person's answer to Sex and the City. It follows Reese and Amy, a Brooklyn-based trans couple whose opposing priorities in life, mainly involving Reese's deep longing for a child, is tearing them apart.

After they break up, Reese salves her loneliness by sleeping with married men, while Amy detransitions to become Ames. When Ames gets his lover and boss, Katrina, unexpectedly pregnant, he realizes there might just be a chance to bring everyone in this love triangle together to raise the baby.

‘Exquisite Mariposa: A Novel’ by Fiona Alison Duncan

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If you feel as though your thumbs are too attuned to the endless scroll and your mind is now programmed to think in terms of captions and soundbites, Exquisite Mariposa is the LGBTQ+ book that needs to be your next read.

Examining the surreality of a media-saturated world, this wildly entertaining and philosophical novel explores a 30-year-old woman's journey into The Real, a state of living that questions both the authenticity and fabrications of existence.

'The Grief Keeper' by Alexandra Villasante

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This otherworldly YA novel and LGBTQ+ book is a gripping story following Marisol, a Salvadoran girl beset with grief and terror following the murder of her brother. In order to keep her sister from the same fate, they flee together to the United States.

The only way they can live safely as undocumented citizens is by Marisol taking part in an experimental procedure in which she absorbs the grief of another to keep inside of her own body.

'Girl, Woman, Other: A Novel' by Bernardine Evaristo

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The convention-defying Girl, Woman, Other follows 12 Black British women and nonbinary people, all with their own fascinating intersections in terms of race, sexuality, age, and class.

Nearly impossible to succinctly describe, the universe within this text is vivid, insightful, and richly descriptive.

‘On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel’ by Ocean Vuong

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A story about giving a voice to the silenced and writing your own narrative in the absence of seeing yourself in the world, Ocean Vuong's luminous debut On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who can't read. It is thoughtful, tender, raw, and speaks with clarity about the naming and healing of trauma.

'Less: A Novel' by Andrew Sean Greer

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This comedic, lyrical LGBTQ+ book follows Arthur Less, a novelist, in the midst of a midlife crisis when he receives an invitation to his ex-partner's wedding.

To avoid coming to terms with reality, he accepts the invitations to a number of far-flung literary events that'll take him all over the world. Even still, in the midst of his travels, he still can't escape the long-overdue conversations that need to be had.

'If I Was Your Girl' by Meredith Russo

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If I Was Your Girl is a heart-opening and tender novel following Amanda Hardy, the new girl in a small-town Tennessee high school. Anxious and shy, she wants so badly to make friends and fit in, as well as open up to her crush, Grant.

Her transgender identity is a secret, and she fears losing the connections she's made in letting the people around her actually meet the real her. This beautifully written and honest story is a celebration of teenagehood in all of its complications and joy.

'Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda' by Becky Albertalli

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Wholesome and honest, this of-the-moment LGBTQ+ book (on which the movie Love, Simon was based) is sure to melt your heart. Protagonist, Simon Spier, is a 16-year-old high school student who's on the cusp of coming out when he strikes up an anonymous friendship online with a classmate and feels comfortable enough to confide in him.

The plot thickens as Simon's correspondence falls into the wrong hands, sending him spiraling on whether or not he's ready for everyone to know that he's gay.

Comic, endearing, and "adorkable" (says one reviewer), don't be surprised if you speed-read the whole thing through one sitting.

'When the Moon Was Ours' by Anna-Marie McLemore

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Abundant with darkly whimsical fairy tale elements, this novel is a treat for any fantasy reader, and it also happens to be a beautiful LGBTQ+ love story as well. Miel and Sam are each other's closest friend and comfort, as they're both misunderstood by the greater community in different ways. Sam is coming to terms with a gender identity that wasn't assigned to him at birth, while Miel has the unusual, mystical ability to grow roses from her wrist.

These roses are a source of great intrigue to the manipulative Bonner sisters, who want to use Miel's powers for their own gain. With its atmospheric, evocative prose, this novel (loosely inspired by "La Llorona" in Mexican folklore) is one to really savor.

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