Celebrate Pride with LGBTQ+ writers’ books! Every June, the LGBTQ+ culture, including its artists, producers, and authors, receives a lot of attention. This increased prominence during Pride month, though, shouldn’t be limited to one month — it’s an opportunity to diversify our media consumption all year.
These works by gay authors and LGBTQ+ writers, as well as wonderful reads with characters who identify as part of the rainbow of identities encompassed by the acronym, demonstrate that our literary worlds can (and should!) be as beautifully diverse as the one we live in.
Here are 10 of our favorite books–some pulled from IndieReader’s prodigious list of self, hybrid and small press published books–and some traditionally published, with LGBTQIA+ protagonists and stories.
The Cypress Club by Jeff Wiemiller
The second place winner for fiction of the 2022 IndieReader Discovery Awards.
A weekend-long celebration slowly unravels in this nuanced, expertly paced family drama. THE CYPRESS CLUB balances complicated emotions and toxic family dynamics with witty observational comedy in a page-turning narrative style. Big personalities, a seemingly idyllic retirement community rife with gossip, and heart-wrenching third act twists make it an unputdownable read.
The One Woman by Laura May
Julie, a graphic designer, manipulates what the eye cannot see in this debut novel by Laura May. Julie’s life and her relationship with her partner Mark remain ordinary no matter how she looks at it. That is, until she meets Ann. Ann is a career woman who also happens to be gorgeous and supportive. Julie can’t deny that they had chemistry during their chance meeting. The spark is uncontrollable as their past and present collide once more in Barcelona. When tragedy strikes, Julie must choose between her love for Ann and her loyalty to Mark. Is it possible for pure love to survive when the timing is off?
Rode by J. Adams
RODE is, by turns, an affecting and frustrating novel, one that feels truthful while withholding from readers—or, for that matter, its protagonist—simple answers or conventional resolutions to the struggle for a coherent sense of self. It’s a difficult trick to pull off, but J. Adams brings to the novel a confident and engaging voice that makes RODE a compelling journey.
Girls Can Kiss Now: Essays by Jill Gutowitz
Jill Gutowitz’s life has always been on a collision course with pop culture, for better or worse. There was that time the FBI showed up at her home because of a Game of Thrones tweet she made. The pop songs that have served as the soundtrack to her life’s darkest periods. And, of course, the important day when Orange Is the New Black premiered on television, shattering Jill’s own sexuality barrier. Jill explores possibly the most major cultural upheaval of our lifetimes: the mainstreaming of lesbian society in these candid analyses of identity, desire, and self-worth. She investigates how pop culture functions as a fun house mirror reflecting our ideals, bringing up personal traumas and artifacts from her not-so-distant past.
A Collision in Quebec by Michael Hartwig
Fans of LGBTQ fiction will likely relish every last moment of Michael Hartwig’s A COLLISION IN QUEBEC, but the story’s themes of cultural identity and self-discovery will resonate with readers from all walks of life.
A Previous Life by Edmund White
Edmund White’s audacious, category-defying, and viciously funny novel about polyamory and bisexuality, ageing, and love addresses polyamory and bisexuality, ageing, and love.
Ruggero, a Sicilian aristocrat and pianist, and his younger American wife, Constance, resolve to write their Confessions and break their marital silence. They had previously been forbidden from discussing their previous marriages due to the fact that transparency had destroyed their previous unions. Constance exposes her repeated marriages to older men, while Ruggero details the affairs he’s had with men and women throughout his life—most notably his passionate affair with the author Edmund White—as the two alternate reading their autobiographies about their lives.
A Little Rain By Bill VanPatten
Family miscommunication and unhealthy obsessions lead to tragedy in Bill VanPatten’s thrilling novel A LITTLE RAIN. Set in a courtroom and composed of flashbacks told through three perspectives, the book tells the story of Alexander Chance, an intelligent and anxious sixteen-year-old, who falls in love with his classmate Timothy.
Let’s Not Do That Again by Grant Ginder
Nancy Harrison is running for Senate, and she has a good chance of winning. She’s said everything that needs to be said. All of the necessary laws was passed. There’s only one issue: her adult children.
Greta and Nick Harrison have lost their way. Nick is having trouble writing a musical based on the biography of Joan Didion. Then there’s Greta, his younger sister. Smart, attractive, and absolutely uninspired, she lets life pass her by like the customers at the Apple store where she works. The world awakens one morning to find Nancy’s daughter, Greta, making headlines. Nancy and Nick must find Greta before it’s too late to save her campaign, let alone her daughter.
Here We Go Loop De Loop By William Jack Sibley
With a cast of eccentric, funny Texas characters trying to make sense of their crazy lives, William Jack Sibley’s HERE WE GO LOOP DE LOOP is a surprisingly sweet family saga and a delightful dive into the intricacies of family annoyances and affections and the complications that ensue when brave, passionate people fight for themselves and each other.
We Do What We Do in the Dark by Michelle Hart
Mallory is a student in college, still hurting from the death of her mother, when she meets the woman. She initially sees her at the university’s gym and is immediately enthralled. They meet soon after, drawn together by an electric tension and shared past scars; soon after, they start sleeping together in secret. The woman is everything Mallory desires…and wants to be: self-assured, successful, bright, and aloof. Mallory withdraws from the rest of the world, desiring not only the woman but also the concept of who she is when they’re together. Mallory must decide as an adult whether to remain secure in her seclusion or to confront what the lady meant to her and how their connection changed her.
Do you have a book recommendation for Pride Month? In the comments section below, please share it with your fellow readers!
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Jane Hurst is a tech writer and editor. Find her on Twitter!