LGBT+ Book Recommendations!

Hey hi hello friends, and happy pride month! 

To give a little history, Pride Month is to commemorate the Stonewall riots, which occured in June 1969. The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous protests by the queer community after New York Police raided the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village. Stonewall Inn was a gay bar--which was illegal in all states except Illinois at the time--and police arrested employees and confiscated the alcohol they were serving. After initial roughhousing and resist, the police barricaded themselves inside Stonewall Inn, before tear gassing the crowd that had formed outside. Stonewall became a gathering place for LGBT+ activists, and one year later after the initial raid, the very first Pride parade sets off from the bar. 

I recognize how lucky I am to live in today's world, where it's not illegal to be who I am and I have a huge support system to help me rise above the hatred I face for being queer. And I love that there are so many LGBT+ books out there, not only to help those who identify with them to find solace, but to help those who don't understand what it's like to be queer, and create allies out of them. 

I have an extensive list of those books here for you today. I want to start out with two authors who have written multiple books, so it's just easier to mention them as a whole, and then I will get into individual books or series. Some of these are #OwnVoices, and some are not. I will of course mention those that are if the information is available. 

Let's get into it!

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Casey McQuiston

Casey McQuiston is a non-binary author who writes LGBT+ romance. Their debut, Red White & Royal Blue, took the bookish side of the internet by storm. In an alternate universe of the USA where in the 2016 elections a democrat woman won the presidency, we follow the biracial First Son and the prince of England, as they navigate a tentative friendship-turned-relationship after a media scandal. Alex, the First Son, identifies as bisexual, and Henry, the prince, identifies as gay. This was one of my favorite books of 2019, and I've read it at least five times. I've never had a book make me laugh as much as this one did. 

On June 1st, Casey McQuiston's sophomore novel, One Last Stop, was released. It follows a Southern girl moving to New York and discovering her subway crush is actually stuck in a time-loop from the 1970s. Doesn't that sound amazing? Also, in case it wasn't clear, this is a wlw romance. I haven't had the chance to read it yet but you can bet that the next time I'm at a bookstore, I'm getting my hands on a copy of this book. If the writing is anything like Red White & Royal Blue, I see a new five-star read in my future. 

Jaye Robin Brown

 

One of my favorite authors, Jaye Robin Brown writes YA books about girls falling in love. I've read two of her three releases, Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit and The Meaning of Birds. She has said that she writes LGBT+ books for teens because she "wished I'd had those books when I was younger" (jayerobinbrown.com). And I am so glad that she does, because Georgia Peaches was the first book I had ever read where the main character was queer and Christian, and it wasn't a struggle of identity for her. As a queer Christian girl myself, it made me ugly cry to see myself represented that way in media. The Meaning of Birds is a hard-hitting contemporary following a high school student after her girlfriend has passed away. It's super sad but also hopeful. 

Her latest book, The Key to You and Me, was released in April of this year. 

Summer of Salt by Katrina Leno

This book has that perfect "gloomy-coastal-town" summer feel that I love. Summer of Salt takes place on a small island named By-the-Sea and follows the Fernweh family, whose women are known to have magic. Georgina and Mary are twins and the latest Fernweh girls. Mary's magic has already shown itself, but Georgina's is still dormant. When tourist season comes to By-the-Sea and a young bird-watcher catches Georgina's eye, she has to figure out what she wants out of life. I couldn't find anything on Katrina Leno being a part of the LGBT+ community. 

This book has trigger warnings for rape and sexual assault. 

Wicked As You Wish by Rin Chupeco

What if every fairy tale you've heard was true? What if the world lived with magic and creatures, alongside the internet and cell phones? That's what you get in Wicked As You Wish. Twelve years ago, the kingdom of Avalon was destroyed by the Snow Queen, and the young heir to the throne was whisked away to a place where he would be safe, a place without magic: Arizona. Now, on his eighteenth birthday, the symbol of Avalon's royal family has found him, and he along with his friends embark on a quest to take back his kingdom for good. 

I read this book last month and found it fascinating. It was a little hard to read at first because we just jump right in, no buildup, but I found my groove quickly and then I couldn't put it down. Even though they were surrounded by magic, the characters were so clearly modern-day teenagers that I couldn't help but laugh. I appreciated how real they all felt. There are characters that identify as gay and non-binary.

Rin Chupeco is pansexual and non-binary. They are of Chinese descent and live in the Philippines. 

Saga by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples

This comic series is rated M and is extremely graphic at times but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying it! (Unless you're under 18. Then don't read it.) Saga is the story of two worlds at war, and the love that forms from it. Told from the point of view of a child from an illegal union, her parents travel the universe as they try and find a planet that hasn't been affected by their warring worlds. There are all kinds of characters in this series, including a gay married couple and a transgender woman. I should mention that none of the characters are human, but they definitely have human problems. There are currently nine volumes out, and the series is still ongoing, but has been on hiatus since summer of 2018. 

I'm not sure if Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples are part of the LGBT+ community, I couldn't find anything in my search. 

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Okay, I couldn't not mention this book. Can you really blame me? This is one of my favorite books of all time! The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller is a retelling of The Iliad from Patroclus's point of view. Patroclus, in the original text, is Achilles's faithful companion through the ten years of the Trojan War. In The Song of Achilles, he still is, except he's also Achilles's lover. This book is pure poetry, the most purple prose you will ever read, and it's fantastic. I've read this book at least five times if not more (I've lost count, honestly) and it makes me cry every single time, without a doubt. If you have any interest in Ancient Greece and its stories and mythology, I would absolutely recommend you read this book. 

I couldn't find anything about Madeline Miller's identity other than using she/her pronouns. 

Wayward Children by Seanan McGuire

This series of novellas is one of my favorites! The Wayward Children series is currently six books long: Every Heart a Doorway, Down Among the Sticks and Bones, Beneath the Sugar Sky, In An Absent Dream, Come Tumbling Down, and Across the Green Grass Fields. The seventh book, Where the Drowned Girls Go, comes out next year. You can technically read them in any order, except book five is a direct sequel to book two. Personally, I read them in publication order, and I think that's easiest. This series is about a school called Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children. Every once in a while, a child will stumble across a door, which leads to another world, sometimes fantastical, sometimes not. And then, if they find themselves back in our world, they'll go to Eleanor's school, where they learn how to adapt being back in our world, and sometimes, find their way back to their doors. If you like Narnia or Alice in Wonderland, I think you would like this series. 

Each novella has a wide cast of characters, and they are almost always queer. Just off the top of my head, I can remember an asexual character, a trans boy, a lesbian in a f/f relationship, an intersex character, and a pansexual character. I'm sure there are more as well. 

Seanan McGuire identifies as pansexual and demisexual.

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Another book I read this year, The Mercies is a historical fiction following one of the worst tragedies in Norwegian history; the Vardø Witch Trials. After a storm in 1617 kills 40 men, nearly all the men on the island of Vardø, Commissioner John Cunningham accused over a hundred men and women of witchcraft and sentenced them to death. There is a beautiful memorial commemorating the ninety-one people murdered at Vardøhus, the fortress and the seat of power of the island. While Kiran Millwood Hargrave's characters are fictional, they were based on the real people of the time. The main character, Maren, finds a love in Ursa, the wife of the commissioner sent to oversee the village after the storm. This book really got to me, as this is my heritage as a Norwegian woman. Had I lived in this time, I would have probably been accused of witchcraft myself. It gives me chills thinking about how one of these women could be my ancestor. 

I can't find anything on Kiran Millwood Hargrave's sexual identity.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

This is an #OwnVoices novel. Cemetery Boys follows Yadriel, a trans boy looking to prove to his unsupportive family that he is truly a brujo. Yadriel's family protects a cemetery in Los Angeles, and keeps angry spirits from reigning havoc and chaos. When Yadriel's final test for magic goes wrong, he finds himself with the spirit of a boy from his high school attached to him. Now they only have a couple of hours to get Julian to cross over, something that becomes increasingly harder to do when they develop feelings for each other. 

Aiden Thomas is trans, non-binary, and queer. 

These Witches Don't Burn by Isabel Sterling

This duology follows Hannah, an elemental witch living in Salem. Hannah recently broke up with her girlfriend, who also happens to be in her coven of witches, and she is having trouble letting go. And it doesn't help that her coven seems to be being targeted by an unknown force. When Hannah meets new-girl Morgan, she gets caught up in a full-on war between covens, with Hunters being thrown into the mix as well. 

I'll be the first to admit that I don't typically like books centered around witches, because it usually feels cheap, as a witch myself. But I think the combination of this being a sapphic romance, along with the family and friendship dynamics sprinkled in, that I found myself really enjoying this series. This duology includes These Witches Don't Burn and This Coven Won't Break. 

Isabel Sterling is the program coordinator for her local LGBT+ center and lives with her wife. 

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

I guess I could put Alice Oseman as an author in this list, but I've only read Radio Silence and her Heartstopper graphic novels, so I figure it's just easier to talk about the one book. I've read Radio Silence three times I think, and I get something new out of it each time I read it. Radio Silence follows Francis, senior head girl at her school and a closeted nerd. At school, she is prim and proper, with excellent grades and a shy demeanor. At home, however, she is an artist with wacky leggings and an obsession with the podcast Universe City. When she's contacted by the creator of the podcast to do the official artwork, she ends up forming a deep friendship with the brother of girl she shared her first kiss with. 

There's a lot about Radio Silence that I didn't mention, because I really think you should go in with minimal knowledge about it. At its core, this book is about finding your people, and finding yourself. It's so good. Please read it. 

Alice Oseman is ace/aro, and uses she/they pronouns. 

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Alright, there you have it! Of course there are plenty other LGBT+ books out there, but if I listed all the ones I've read we would be here for hours. It already took me like two and a half hours to write this much. If you want a more extensive list, here is my Goodreads shelf for LGBT+ reads. This includes both my read and unread books. 

Have you read any of these books? Which one is your favorite? 

Until next time!