The Ultimate Pride Month Reading List
130+ cross-genre book recommendations featuring gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, nonbinary, intersex, asexual, or aromantic characters
Happy Pride Month!
While we all know that we should be reading queer all year, June is still a pretty good excuse to round up some of the best LGBTQIA+ fiction out there and share it with friends.
I’ve tried to put together a (nearly!) comprehensive list across genres and identities, including the big hits, cult classics, buzzy new releases, and a few upcoming titles worth keeping on your radar.
I did not include Heated Rivalry. I assume you’re aware of that one.
A quick note on organization: I’ve divided the list by queer identity, but there’s also a cross-category set of foundational texts at the top. These are books that have had a lasting presence in queer literary history and continue to be referenced, adapted, and discussed.
Additionally, queer identity and representation can get a little gray, especially across genres, time periods, and books with multiple queer characters. I did my best to place each book where it seemed to fit most clearly, but if something feels wildly mislabeled, please let me know.
Foundational Texts
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin (Gay, 1956)
An American man in Paris begins a relationship with an Italian bartender while trying to deny what he wants and what it will cost him.
Maurice by E.M. Forster (Gay, 1971)
A young Englishman comes to terms with his homosexuality in a society built to make that almost impossible.
Angels in America by Tony Kushner (Gay, 1991)
Several interconnected characters in 1980s New York move through illness, politics, religion, and desire during the AIDS crisis.
A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood (Gay, 1964)
A gay British professor in Los Angeles moves through a single day while carrying the grief of his dead partner.
A Boy’s Own Story by Edmund White (Gay, 1982)
A young man comes of age in mid-century America while trying to understand his desire, shame, and sense of self.
Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu (Lesbian, 1872)
A young woman becomes fascinated by her mysterious female houseguest as illness, secrecy, and supernatural suspicion close in around them.
The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith (Lesbian, 1952)
A young shopgirl in 1950s New York becomes drawn to an older married woman, forcing both women to confront what they want and what it may cost them.
Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown (Lesbian, 1973)
Molly Bolt grows up poor, gay, and unwilling to shrink herself for anyone as she pushes toward a life beyond the one prescribed for her.
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson (Lesbian, 1985)
A girl raised in a strict evangelical household begins to understand that her faith and her desire for women cannot easily coexist.
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters (Lesbian, 2002)
A pickpocket and a sheltered heiress are pulled into an elaborate con that keeps changing shape around them.
Orlando by Virginia Woolf (Transgender, 1928)
A young Elizabethan nobleman wakes as a woman and lives across centuries, moving through gender, history, and identity.
Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg (Transgender, 1993)
Jess Goldberg moves through working-class America, police violence, labor struggles, and life outside legible gender.
Nevada by Imogen Binnie (Transgender, 2013)
A trans woman in New York steals her girlfriend’s car and drives west, hoping distance might clarify what transition has and hasn’t changed.
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (Asexual/Aromantic, 2016)
Children who returned from portal worlds attend a school meant to help them readjust, until someone starts killing them.
Loveless by Alice Oseman (Asexual/Aromantic, 2020)
Georgia arrives at university expecting romance and instead begins to understand that she is aromantic and asexual.
Gay
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (literary fiction, 2011)
Patroclus tells the story of his life with Achilles, from boyhood to the Trojan War.
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (literary fiction, 2015)
Four friends build lives in New York while one of them carries a past that continues to shape every relationship he has.
Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman (literary fiction, 2007)
Seventeen-year-old Elio spends a summer in the Italian countryside falling for Oliver, his father’s graduate student.
Less by Andrew Sean Greer (literary fiction, 2017)
Arthur Less accepts a string of literary invitations around the world to avoid attending his ex-boyfriend’s wedding.
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong (literary fiction, 2019)
A son writes a letter to his mother about his childhood, his Vietnamese heritage, his first love, and the violence that shaped him.
Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart (literary fiction, 2022)
Two boys in Glasgow fall in love across sectarian lines while Mungo’s home life grows increasingly dangerous.
Blackouts by Justin Torres (literary fiction, 2023)
A narrator keeps vigil beside a dying man as they piece together fragments of queer history, memory, and erasure.
In Memoriam by Alice Winn (literary fiction, 2023)
Two schoolboys fall in love before and during World War I as the violence around them closes in.
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar (literary fiction, 2024)
A young Iranian-American poet in recovery becomes fixated on martyrdom, art, and the question of what makes a death meaningful.
The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong (literary fiction, 2025)
A young man in a struggling New England town becomes a caretaker for an elderly woman with dementia.
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (romance, 2012)
Two teenage boys in 1980s El Paso form a friendship that slowly becomes something neither of them knows how to name.
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (romance, 2015)
A closeted teenager falls for an anonymous classmate online while someone at school threatens to out him.
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (romance, 2019)
The son of the U.S. president and a British prince go from public enemies to a secret relationship.
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall (romance, 2020)
A celebrity-adjacent mess agrees to fake-date a very proper barrister for mutual PR reasons.
The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun (romance, 2021)
A producer on a Bachelor-style reality show falls for the anxious lead he is supposed to be helping date women on camera.
The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by K.J. Charles (romance, 2023)
A London dandy and a Kent smuggler become entangled in danger, secrets, and a romance neither of them can neatly control.
We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian (romance, 2023)
Two newspaper reporters in 1950s New York become close friends while slowly realizing the relationship has become something else.
Star Shipped by Cat Sebastian (romance, 2026)
Two longtime costars on a sci-fi TV show stage a public friendship after years of tension, only for the fake truce to start turning into something real.
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune (science fiction/fantasy, 2020)
A case worker for magical children is sent to inspect an orphanage whose residents may be more dangerous than anyone expects.
Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune (science fiction/fantasy, 2021)
A recently dead workaholic arrives at a tea shop that serves as a waystation between life and what comes next.
A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske (science fiction/fantasy, 2021)
A man accidentally assigned to a magical government post joins forces with a reluctant liaison to investigate a conspiracy.
The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay (horror, 2018)
A family vacationing at a remote cabin is taken hostage by strangers who believe an impossible sacrifice can stop the apocalypse.
Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo (horror, 2021)
A graduate student arrives in Nashville to take up his dead best friend’s research and find out what really happened to him.
Nothing Tastes as Good by Luke Dumas (horror, 2026)
A lonely man tries a miracle weight-loss cure and begins losing time as his cravings grow more frightening.
Fabulous Bodies by Chuck Tingle (horror, 2026)
An aspiring fashion influencer who moonlights as a grave robber is hired to retrieve the body of a dead rock star, but the job goes sideways when he wakes up.
Lesbian
The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth (literary fiction, 2012)
After her parents die, Cameron is sent to a Christian conversion camp in Montana because of her relationship with another girl.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo (literary fiction, 2021)
A Chinese-American teenager in 1950s San Francisco discovers a lesbian bar and begins to imagine a life beyond the expectations placed on her.
Milk Fed by Melissa Broder (literary fiction, 2021)
A semi-observant Jewish woman in Los Angeles becomes consumed by her desire for an Orthodox Jewish woman who works at a frozen yogurt shop.
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield (literary fiction, 2022)
Miri’s wife returns changed after a deep-sea research mission goes wrong.
I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston (literary fiction, 2022)
A high-achieving student at an evangelical high school follows a trail of clues after her rival kisses her and disappears.
Chlorine by Jade Song (literary fiction, 2023)
A competitive swimmer becomes increasingly convinced that she is meant to transform into a mermaid.
Big Swiss by Jen Beagin (literary fiction, 2023)
A transcriptionist for a sex therapist becomes fixated on one of his patients after listening to her sessions.
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden (literary fiction, 2024)
A Dutch woman’s ordered life is disrupted when her brother’s girlfriend comes to stay in the family home.
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid (literary fiction, 2025)
A physics professor joins NASA’s Space Shuttle program in the 1980s and finds her life reshaped by the people training beside her.
Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner (romance, 2020)
A showrunner and her assistant are rumored to be dating after appearing together on a red carpet.
Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake (romance, 2022)
A photographer returns to her hometown for her stepsister’s wedding and reconnects with the maid of honor.
Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings (romance, 2024)
A woman with ADHD unexpectedly inherits a flower farm and clashes with the woman already living and working there.
Here We Go Again by Alison Cochrun (romance, 2024)
Two women who have hated each other for years are forced into a cross-country road trip together.
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (science fiction/fantasy, 2019)
A swordswoman is dragged into a deadly competition among necromancers in a crumbling imperial mansion.
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (science fiction/fantasy, 2019)
A queen, a hidden mage, and a dragonrider become part of a larger conflict involving power, religion, and ancient threats.
The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri (science fiction/fantasy, 2021)
A captive princess and a maidservant with forbidden magic become entangled in a plan to challenge an empire.
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree (science fiction/fantasy, 2022)
A retired orc warrior opens a coffee shop and tries to build a quieter life.
Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove (science fiction/fantasy, 2025)
A spaceship named Demeter tries to solve the paranormal murders killing her passengers between Earth and Alpha Centauri.
Wilder Girls by Rory Power (horror, 2019)
Students at a quarantined island school begin changing after a strange disease overtakes their bodies.
Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen (horror, 2022)
A reality dating show films on a remote island where something in the woods is watching the contestants.
House of Beth by Kerry Cullen (horror, 2025)
A woman returns to a childhood home that still holds the memory of what happened there.
Hungerstone by Kat Dunn (horror, 2025)
A Victorian woman retreats to the moors and becomes entangled with another woman whose presence grows increasingly dangerous.
Decomposition Book by Sara Van Os (horror, 2026)
Savannah retreats to her parents’ empty lake house after a falling-out with her best friend and wakes up in the woods beside a dead body.
Muñeca by Cynthia Gómez (horror, 2026)
In 1968 Oakland, a working-class witch becomes caretaker to a wealthy heiress she believes has been cursed.
Spoiled Milk by Avery Curran (horror, 2026)
After a student dies at an isolated girls’ boarding school, supernatural events begin exposing repression, desire, and buried secrets.
Bisexual
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (literary fiction, 2017)
A reclusive Hollywood icon tells the story of her career, marriages, and the woman she loved.
Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney (literary fiction, 2017)
Two Dublin college students become involved with a married couple, complicating friendship, sex, and emotional loyalty.
Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier (literary fiction, 2020)
A pregnant teenage pizza delivery driver becomes obsessed with a woman on her route.
Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan (literary fiction, 2020)
A young Irish woman in Hong Kong becomes involved with a wealthy man and a Hong Kong lawyer.
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi (literary fiction, 2022)
A young widow begins to want a new life while getting pulled into a complicated romantic situation.
Acts of Service by Lillian Fishman (literary fiction, 2022)
A young woman in a relationship with another woman enters a sexual arrangement with a man and his girlfriend.
Old Enough by Haley Jakobson (literary fiction, 2023)
A college student tries to build a new life while processing a childhood assault and her first relationship with a woman.
Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli (romance, 2018)
Leah navigates senior year, friendship, and her feelings for a girl in her friend group.
The Pairing by Casey McQuiston (romance, 2024)
Two exes end up on the same European food-and-wine tour and try to prove they are over each other.
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson (science fiction/fantasy, 2020)
A multiverse traveler can only visit worlds where her alternate self is already dead.
Those Beyond the Wall by Micaiah Johnson (science fiction/fantasy, 2024)
A city where reality can be controlled becomes the center of a conflict over power, survival, and who gets protected.
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh (science fiction/fantasy, 2023)
A young woman raised in a militarized cult begins to question everything she was taught about humanity’s destruction.
Lady Eve’s Last Con by Rebecca Fraimow (science fiction/fantasy, 2024)
A con artist in a space colony targets a wealthy mark and becomes tangled with his sister instead.
The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton (science fiction/fantasy, 2024)
A crew of women accidentally launches into deep space and encounters the mystery left behind by an earlier mission.
Transgender
Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor (literary fiction, 2017)
Paul shapeshifts between genders while moving through queer scenes in early 1990s America.
Little Fish by Casey Plett (literary fiction, 2018)
A trans woman in Winnipeg learns that her late Mennonite grandfather may also have been trans.
The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar (literary fiction, 2020)
A young Syrian-American trans man investigates the disappearance of a Lebanese American artist while grieving his mother.
The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi (literary fiction, 2020)
A family in Nigeria tries to understand the life and death of Vivek after his body is left at their door.
Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi (literary fiction, 2024)
A breakup sets off a weekend of sex, corruption, violence, and desperation in Lagos.
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters (literary fiction, 2021)
A trans woman, her detransitioned ex, and his pregnant girlfriend consider an unconventional co-parenting arrangement.
Stag Dance by Torrey Peters (literary fiction, 2025)
A novel and three stories move through different settings where gender, performance, and desire become unstable.
Wild Geese by Soula Emmanuel (literary fiction, 2023)
A trans woman’s life is unsettled when someone from her past arrives and forces old questions back into view.
Idlewild by James Frankie Thomas (literary fiction, 2023)
Two theater-obsessed teenagers at a Manhattan arts high school form an intense friendship that is reconstructed years later.
Bellies by Nicola Dinan (literary fiction, 2023)
A relationship changes after one partner begins to transition, forcing both people to reconsider who they are to each other.
Woodworking by Emily St. James (literary fiction, 2025)
A trans high school teacher in small-town South Dakota befriends the only other trans woman she knows.
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas (romance, 2020)
A young Latinx brujo tries to prove himself by summoning his murdered cousin’s ghost, but summons Julian Diaz instead.
Herculine by Grace Byron (literary fiction, 2025)
A young trans woman in New York reconnects with an ex-girlfriend who has started an all-trans girl commune in rural Indiana.
Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee (romance, 2021)
A trans teen who runs a blog of fictional love stories tries to create a real relationship to prove the stories are true.
Chef’s Kiss by T.J. Alexander (romance, 2022)
A chef at a food magazine begins a relationship while both partners navigate work, identity, and change.
Second Chances in New Port Stephen by T.J. Alexander (romance, 2023)
A man returns to his Florida hometown and reconnects with the person he once knew before she transitioned.
The Prospects by KT Hoffman (romance, 2024)
A trans man on a minor league baseball team falls into a complicated relationship with a teammate.
Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (science fiction/fantasy, 2021)
A trans violin prodigy becomes connected to a teacher who made a deal with a demon and an alien running a donut shop.
Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon (science fiction/fantasy, 2021)
A woman flees a religious compound with her children and begins transforming in ways she does not understand.
Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson (science fiction/fantasy, 2022)
A coven of witches is divided by a prophecy involving a powerful trans girl.
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin (horror, 2022)
Trans women try to survive a post-apocalyptic New England where a virus has transformed men into predators.
Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker-Martin (horror, 2024)
A group of teenagers at a wilderness therapy camp realizes that the place is more dangerous than it first appears.
Black Flame by Gretchen Felker-Martin (horror, 2025)
A novelist is followed by something that resembles her worst self.
Model Home by Rivers Solomon (horror, 2024)
A family moves into a house where the horror is tied to history, memory, and the violence built into the place itself.
You Weren’t Meant to Be Human by Andrew Joseph White (horror, 2025)
A trans teenager at a prestigious school discovers that its traditions hide something monstrous.
Nonbinary
Endpapers by Jennifer Savran Kelly (literary fiction, 2021)
A bookbinder in 1980s New York finds a hidden manuscript and becomes obsessed with tracing its origins.
Puck by Samantha Allen (literary fiction, 2024)
A nonbinary person returns to their Southern hometown after a decade away.
Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly (romance, 2022)
Two contestants on a cooking competition begin to fall for each other under pressure.
The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis (science fiction/fantasy, 2020)
A voiceless comfort woman on a spaceship and a soldier questioning their loyalty navigate a solar system at war.
All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O’Donoghue (science fiction/fantasy, 2021)
A teenage girl discovers a tarot deck at school and pulls a card for a classmate who then disappears.
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers (science fiction/fantasy, 2021)
A tea monk searching for a new purpose meets a robot who has never encountered a human before.
In the Watchful City by S. Qiouyi Lu (science fiction/fantasy, 2021)
A surveillance node in a living city trades stories with a mysterious traveler.
Translation State by Ann Leckie (science fiction/fantasy, 2023)
Three storylines converge around a treaty negotiation with an alien species that does not fit human categories of gender or personhood.
Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey (horror, 2022)
A woman returns to the house where her father committed his murders to care for her dying mother.
The Trees Grew Because I Bled There by Eric LaRocca (horror, 2023)
A horror collection follows characters dealing with grief, obsession, bodily transformation, and violence.
Intersex
Annabel by Kathleen Winter (literary fiction, 2010)
In a remote Labrador community, Wayne is raised as a boy while his family carries the weight of a truth they are not sure how to name.
Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin (literary fiction, 2013)
Max Walker’s carefully managed life changes after an assault forces his family to confront what they have hidden.
Rough Paradise by Alec Butler (literary fiction, 2014)
Alec Butler’s novel follows a character moving through queer community while searching for language that fits their experience.
Double Exposure by Bridget Birdsall (literary fiction, 2014)
A teenager moves to a new city after a trauma and tries to start over on a girls’ basketball team.
None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio (literary fiction, 2015)
A homecoming queen learns she is intersex and has to deal with the fallout at school and at home.
An Ordinary Wonder by Buki Papillon (literary fiction, 2021)
A Nigerian teenager moves between family expectations, secrecy, and self-discovery across two timelines.
Pantomime by Laura Lam (science fiction/fantasy, 2013)
A young person runs away from home to join a circus in a fantasy world built on performance and concealment.
An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon (science fiction/fantasy, 2017)
A healer on a generation ship uncovers the brutality and lies built into its social order.
The Deep by Rivers Solomon (science fiction/fantasy, 2019)
The descendants of pregnant African women thrown from slave ships live underwater and carry the memory of that history.
Just Ash by Sol Santana (science fiction/fantasy, 2021)
Ash navigates first love, family expectations, and the process of understanding himself.
Queen by J.S. Fields (science fiction/fantasy, 2022)
A science fiction world where intersex people hold political power becomes the setting for questions about bodies and authority.
Icarus by K. Ancrum (science fiction/fantasy, 2024)
A young art thief becomes entangled with the son of the man he has been stealing from.
Asexual / Aromantic
The Romantic Agenda by Claire Kann (literary fiction, 2022)
An aromantic asexual woman joins a group trip to help her best friend with his crush and meets someone she did not expect.
Portalmania by Debbie Urbanski (literary fiction, 2023)
A speculative story collection follows women who disappear into other worlds.
Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino (literary fiction, 2024)
A woman who believes she was sent to Earth to observe humanity reports back to an alien civilization through a fax machine.
Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann (romance, 2018)
A Black bisexual asexual college student navigates a breakup, a new job, and an unexpected crush.
Planning Perfect by Haley Neil (romance, 2022)
An aromantic teenager and her best friend make a pact to get their dream school acceptances.
Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun (romance, 2022)
A woman agrees to fake-date her landlord, then discovers his sister is the woman she fell for the previous Christmas.
The Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red by Martha Wells (science fiction/fantasy, 2017)
A self-aware security android hacks its own governor module and would rather watch entertainment feeds than deal with humans.
Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys (science fiction/fantasy, 2017)
The last survivor of a government raid on her ocean-people community is asked by the FBI to investigate Soviet interest in Miskatonic University.
Common Bonds: An Aromantic Speculative Anthology by Claudie Arseneault (science fiction/fantasy, 2021)
A speculative fiction anthology centers aromantic characters across different worlds and relationship structures.
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel (science fiction/fantasy, 2022)
A mythological retelling follows Kaikeyi as she tells her own version of the story from the Ramayana.
Firebreak by Nicole Kornher-Stace (science fiction/fantasy, 2022)
A gamer in a climate-ravaged future livestreams combat games and is pulled into a corporate conspiracy.
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ok this list is amazing! cannot wait to keep referencing it for my tbr list
Hey, thanks for sharing! Great list, so impressive.
On that note, you may be interested in my queer protagonist, Soft King Arcturus Pendragon (a real cinnamon roll hero!) in my new character art reveal post:
http://feliciasalber.substack.com/p/he-doesnt-lose-his-temper-thats-the