June is Pride Month, a time to not only commemorate the Stonewall uprising that helped launch the LGBTQ+ movement in June 1969 but to celebrate and recognize LGBTQ+ communities.
In honor of the month, we’ve rounded up 41 books, including new releases and classics, memoirs and fiction, journalistic accounts and collections of essays. From bestselling memoirs to Pulitzer Prize-winning novels to historical accounts, these Pride Month-themed selections offer insight into the LGBTQ+ experience.
Read on for essential books to add to your TBR pile during Pride Month and beyond.
With a third season coming soon, catch up on Alice Oseman’s series of books that inspired the heartwarming Netflix show “Heartstopper.” Fall in love with rugby star Nick and shy, soft-hearted Charlie over this four-book series of graphic novels suitable for ages 12 and up. You can also grab the fifth and latest book in this much-loved series to complete the set.
A few years after moving from his small town to London, Danny’s boyfriend and career have become stagnant. But after a series of unfortunate events lands him in a new part of town with new roommates and social circles, Danny ventures into territory — queer life, work, therapy, dating and more — that he’s never explored before. Henry Fry’s novel shows us that even when we’re down on our luck, we can stumble into new life-altering possibilities.
“The Skin and Its Girl” follows Betty, a queer Palestinian-American girl who, amid her own personal dilemma, returns to the gravesite of her aunt looking for guidance. Through old notebooks, she uncovers secrets of her aunt's sexuality and struggle to immigrate to the United States. Acclaimed for its original and imaginative story, Cypher’s novel touches on how our desires and identities shape our decisions and the grand tales of lore that come to shape us.
Follow author Jacob Tobia as they recount their formative moments, from their childhood in North Carolina where they dealt with dirt, being labeled a “sissy” and bullying, to their journey through college, up to the United Nations and the White House. This David Sedaris-type memoir is deeply personal, navigating gender constructs, self-acceptance and healing, all with a touch of humor.
Poignant and beautifully written, “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” follows Vuong’s Little Dog as he deals with his complicated immigrant family history, rooted in Vietnam, and issues of class, race and masculinity while coming of age in Connecticut. In under 250 pages, Vuong constructs complex relationships with family, friends and the world in a stunning debut novel.
The son of Iranian immigrants in the US, K has always felt different from others. He struggles with conventions of being a man, teachings at his mosque and finding a sense of belonging. Khabushani uses personal anguish to paint a tender portrait of how it looks to growing up queer and Muslim.
Hear stories from fashion icon André Leon Talley as they recount 50 years of personal experience in the fashion industry. From friendships with influential designers to earning a spot at the top of Vogue to personal struggles amid rumors and racism in a cutthroat industry. This compelling read will take you behind the scenes of the dazzling runways and deep into the chiffon trenches.
In the wake of the passing of their nonbinary friend, Carl Siciliano set out on a mission to ensure that queer teens could live safely and confidently. Siciliano echoes the stories of queer teens and the realities of homelessness they face across the nation, weaving in personal insights and calling us to offer them greater protection.
Curious about the “A” of LGBTQIA? Angela Chen outlines her personal journey with asexuality and explores the cultural stigmas that surround it. Chen’s writing and reporting will have you considering new norms of sexuality, queerness and acceptance.
In 1998, Matthew Shepard, a young gay man was found beaten, tortured and left to die tied onto a fence in Laramie, Wyoming. In the wake of this tragedy and national talks about gay intolerance, Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie to interview townspeople, crafting a play to showcase life in town following the murder. This book includes two plays: the original one written after Shepard‘s death and one written when the theater troupe returned 10 years later to see how the town was still dealing with its grim legacy.
Sci-fi fans can dive into a world that blends the backdrop of Medieval China with futuristic features like giant transforming robots in “Iron Widow.” Suitable for a young adult audience, read along as protagonist Wu Zetian fights against a world of misogyny, hunts for power and gets her own personal vengeance in this novel described as “‘Pacific Rim’ meets ‘Handmaid’s Tale.’”
For some queer children’s literature, you can pick up “Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World,” which is great for ages 8 to 12. Follow Ivy, whose family has been displaced following a tornado, as she struggles with finding a new sense of normal and develops a crush on one of her female classmates.
Full of swashbuckling adventure, romance and magic on the high seas, “The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea” will delight teens and adults alike. Join pirate Florian and noble Lady Evelyn as they connect and decide to live life on their own terms, despite other forces trying to pull them apart at every turn.
Considered a queer science-fiction classic, Le Guin’s 1969 novel explores what happens when a lone human is sent on an expedition to a icy planet where the inhabitants are gender fluid and live without any sexual prejudice. Immerse yourself in an imaginative world full of nuanced subtleties that, even after 50 years, still offers readers timeless wisdom and thought-provoking insights.
Machado recounts her experience in an abusive relationship and grapples with how it has come to shape her in this 2019 memoir. In addition to her personal anecdotes, she considers topics like lesbian relationship stereotypes, the realties of abuse in queer partnerships and iconic staples of pop culture in a witty, critical voice.
Set against the backdrops of 1980s Chicago and Paris in the 2010s, “The Great Believers” tells two interwoven stories about people trying to heal in the wake of the AIDS epidemic. Despite heartbreak, tumultuous relationships and professional loss, characters Yale and Fiona try to find a way to survive in this emotional and ambitious novel by Rebecca Makkai.
Craving some vampire-led historical fiction? Considered an instant lesbian classic upon its publishing in 1991, “The Gilda Stories” follows a unnamed runaway slave protagonist as she stumbles into a vampire brothel, learning lessons of life and womanhood, coming of age over the course of 200 years of America’s most formative history.
Discover the tender love story at the heart of “The Song of Achilles,” a reimagined retelling of Homer’s “The Iliad” popularized by book lovers on social media. Readers will journey with some of mythology’s most famed characters, like Achilles, Patroclus, Thetis and more, all the way to the book’s climatic moments in the heat of the Trojan War.
In a small Ohio farm town, two childhood friends rekindle their relationship and discover that it might be more than just platonic. But as memories from the past haunt them in the present, Barzak’s characters wade through family secrets, awkward moments and anger to find out just who they really are in this supernatural-filled novel.
From the writer of “Red, White & Royal Blue” comes another queer romance set in the bustle of New York City. After a chance meeting on the Q train, August finds herself with a new crush, but her new feelings aren’t the only mystical forces at play. McQuiston will have you gripped by this story of magical time slips, finding family and finding love.
Now a Showtime miniseries, Mallon’s 2007 book is set in 1950s Washington, D.C., where, in the McCarthy era, a campaign has been launched to uncover “sexual subversives” working in the government. Part romance, part political drama and part hero’s journey, “Fellow Travelers” reconciles both personal convictions and societal pressures to deliver an all-too-real story about an America not too far behind us.
Jones’ bestselling debut novel features the lyrical story of Isaiah and Samuel, two enslaved men on a plantation in Mississippi who find refuge in their love for each other in the face of violence and unimaginable cruelty.
Written over a 20-year span and involving 200-plus interviews, Schulman’s book chronicles the achievements, conflicts and legacy of ACT UP New York, an AIDS activism coalition that confronted the AIDS crisis head-on. At nearly 700 pages, it’s a historical account that offers an oral history straight from the activists involved.
In this bestselling novel that explores the idea of family, Reese, a trans woman, splits with Amy, who is detransitioning and becomes Ames. Reese wants a baby and when Ames impregnates his new lover, Katrina, who may not want to keep the child, Ames proposes the three raise the baby together.
In this coming-of-age memoir, Talusan writes of her extraordinary life — from being raised in the Philippines with albinism to immigrating to America, being seen as white, attending Harvard and transitioning to a woman. Gender, race, identity, love, art … It’s no wonder Talusan’s book was a finalist for the 2021 Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Nonfiction.
Mock’s 2014 bestselling memoir offers an inspirational and honest look at her story of growing up transgender, poor and multiracial. The advocate, writer and TV host shares her story of coping with a drug-addicted father, sexual abuse and prostitution, as well as her transition and the family and friends who not only accepted her but embraced her and the woman she was becoming.
Set in 1950s Paris, Baldwin’s controversial 1956 novel follows American expat David who begins a relationship with Italian bartender Giovanni while his fiancée, Hella, is away. Sexuality, identity, masculinity and concealment are all themes that make this a gay literature classic.
A compilation of first-person accounts and diary entries from activists and participants, along with news articles, essays and more, this work tells the story of events that surrounded the 1969 Stonewall riots, largely seen as the start of the nation’s LGBTQ+ civil rights movement.
The basis for the Academy Award-winning film, Aciman’s novel traces the relationship between Elio, 17, a teenage musician, and Oliver, the 24-year-old summer houseguest of Elio’s professor dad. Set along the Italian Riviera, it’s passionate, romantic, complicated, tender, painful, erotic, melancholy — everything you want from a beautifully written love story.
A number-one New York Times bestseller, Doyle’s candid 2020 memoir explores her divorce, parenting, falling in love with soccer star Abby Wambach, body image, feminism and learning to love herself. Need a boost of female empowerment? Here it is.
Bechdel’s bestselling graphic memoir surrounds her relationship with her father, a high school teacher who also runs a funeral home (which her family called the “fun home”) in their rural Pennsylvania town. After coming out as a lesbian in college, she finds her dad is also gay — but he dies from an apparant suicide soon after she learns this, leaving unanswered questions. Adapted for the stage, the Broadway production of “Fun Home” won the Tony for Best Musical in 2015.
“Harvey dreamed that everyone — even gay people — would have equality. He dreamed that he and his friends would be treated like everyone else.” So states this children’s book that tells the history of the rainbow gay pride flag, a symbol created by social activist and openly gay politician Harvey Milk, who collaborated with designer Gilbert Baker to create the enduring symbol in 1978.
Highsmith’s 1952 novel of forbidden love focuses on two women — a 30-something suburban housewife and mother who is getting divorced and a 19-year-old sales clerk. Turned into the Oscar-nominated movie “Carol,” the story has endured as a lesbian cult classic.
Journalist Issenberg’s exploration of the history of the conflict and controversy over same-sex marriage covers the debate that eventually led to two landmark US Supreme Court decisions that legalized the right for gay couples to wed. Part political history, civil rights struggle and legal drama, it’s a comprehensive narrative on the LGBTQ+ rights battle.
Greer’s smart, hilarious Pulitzer Prize-winning 2017 novel follows Arthur Less, a middle-aged failed author who decides to travel the world to various (and questionable) literary events rather than accept an invitation to attend his ex-boyfriend’s wedding. What and who he encounters along the way will have you doubled over with laughter.
One of tennis’s greatest legends, King’s memoir recounts not only her rise to the top-ranked women’s player in the world, her “Battle of the Sexes” defeat of Bobby Riggs and whopping 20 Wimbledon wins but being outed, her public acknowledgment of her sexual identity when she was 51 and her activism in the LGBTQ+ movement.
The basis for the Nicole Kidman/Russell Crowe movie of the same name, Conley’s 2016 bestselling memoir follows the life of the son of a Baptist preacher living in rural Arkansas who is conflicted about his sexuality. After being outed to his parents at 19, Conley was forced to attend a conversion therapy program or lose his family and friends. It’s a brave account of faith, love and identity that will keep you engaged from beginning to end.
Music writer and biographer Bullock’s encyclopedic look at LGBTQ+ musicians covers everyone from Ma Rainey to Little Richard to Dusty Springfield to Freddie Mercury to Boy George to, of course, the Thin White Duke himself.
Following the death of their mother and a health crisis affecting their father, Maise and Grant’s “Gay Uncle Patrick” suddenly finds himself as primary guardian of two young children. “Guncle Rules” aside, he must learn what it means to be a parent in this funny and heartwarming beach read.
The founder of QueerBible.com has released this beautifully illustrated collection of essays in which queer authors write about their own heroes and inspirations in the LGBTQ+ community: Think Elton John on Divine, skier Gus Kenworthy on figure skater Adam Rippon, TV star Tan France on “Queer Eye” or comedian Mae Martin on Tim Curry.
Before she became America’s first openly transgender state senator, McBride wrote this powerful 2018 memoir, chronicling her struggles with coming out and identity, her work as a transgender activist and advocate, finding love with a trans man and more.