Queer books to read for Pride (and always, obviously)

Listen, we’re big advocates of not limiting yourself to celebrating Pride and LGBTQ+ stories for a single, well-advertised month. That said, there’s a reason to be viciously loud and proud about queer stories – queer love stories, coming-of-age stories, revenge and sci-fi stories – in a month where people are most attuned. Which is why we have ten new queer books that you should add immediately to your TBR pile.

With trans rights being cruelly ripped away as we speak there’s no better time – no more integral time – to celebrate stories by queer authors, for queer readers, in all of their many manifestations. From coming-of-age stories, to YA horror, dark fantasy and romance, here are ten queer books we’ve (myself and Kayla Chu) read or that are on our radar that should dominate the discussion next.

10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall

It was a toss-up on which Alexis Hall books to include here, and A Lady for A Duke came close. But then we listened to 10 Things That Never Happened , and its Richard Curtis-inspired dialogue and lovable, deeply flawed characters won us over. Not to mention the wonderful narration by voice actor Will Watt (a fundamental key feature in a good audiobook.) The ridiculous premise (a man feigns amnesia to avoid getting fired from his job) works due to the characters who bring this story to life. That, and Hall’s absurdly rich and laugh-out-loud hilarious dialogue. Better still is that the beloved “grumpy/sunshine” archetype between the two love interests is earned. The “grumpy” party isn’t magically a better person by the end, and the “sunshine” has his own inner demons to contend with, becoming happier because of the grump he’s been saddled with.

Hall is one of those writers who, no matter the ups and downs and the countless genres they dabble in, is a must-read. And this one, in particular, with its many personalities, is a winner. One of those books you wish you could read again with fresh eyes (or, rather, ears in this case.)

Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin

Whoever said that campy horror books were cringeworthy was wrong because Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin checks all of the boxes for me. This is very much a queer retelling of Little Shop of Horrors with two queer women and a carnivorous orchid named Baby who wants to consume one of the aforementioned queer women. This is a workplace romance that twists and turns, exploring the concept of dying malls, the horrifying job market millennials face, and the ever-present power our plants hold over us. The perspective switches between Baby and the other main character of the book, Shell, but their inner voices blur at times, so you’re sitting on the edge of your seat.

Masters of Death by Olivie Blake

While the focus of Masters of Death is on supernatural creators and Death, the queer relationship between two of the main characters plays an important role. The book starts with Fox D’Mora, a medium and godson of Death, and Brandt Solberg, a demi-god thief, as exes, but throughout the story, you learn that their relationship is much more complicated than that. Additionally, both of them are, at the very minimum, bisexual. It’s a rare bisexual representation that I haven’t quite seen in more mainstream books.

Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Leigh Allen

What do you get when you combine a knock-off of The Bachelor, compulsory heterosexuality, and the woods? You get Patricia Wants to Cuddle, a campy horror book that you can binge in one sitting. Patricia, a misunderstood local of the island where the dating show is filming, simply wants to know the girls on the show! The book features alternating points of view throughout, allowing readers to understand each character’s perspective, as well as their own struggles they’re working through while filming on the show. It’s a great book that takes real-life struggles and makes them digestible by tossing them into a horror setting, while also reminding us that maybe, just maybe, Bigfoot does exist and she’s a lesbian on an island in the Pacific Northwest.

Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One by Kristen Arnett

I don’t think there’s any other reason to tell you to read this book other than it’s about a lesbian clown who falls in love with a magician. Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One by Kristen Arnett asks the questions about art, community, and making jokes in this life that we all desire answers to, and delivers these answers through Cherry Hendricks. It’s a book that has many tricks up its sleeves that will surprise you when you least expect it. While the book might seem a little plotless at some points, it’s worth sticking through that to see what happens at the end.

Stag Dance by Torrey Peters

Stag Dance by Torrey Peters is all about pushing the envelope of trans writing. Split into one novel and three stories, Stag Dance focuses on a group of lumberjacks working in an illegal logging outfit who plan a dance, where some of the men are to dress as women. When the largest lumberjack offers to dress up as a woman, it sends the whole group hurtling toward the question of gender. The other three stories in the novel are “Infect Your Friends and Loved Ones,” about a gender apocalypse, “The Chaser,” about a secret romance at a Quaker school, and “The Masker,” about choosing between the thrilling unknown and the unglamorous known.

The Bones Beneath My Skin by T.J. Klune

The latest TJ Klune book, the brilliant, action-packed, and heartwarming The Bones Beneath My Skin, grabs us immediately. Adept at building believable, lovable characters who will tear the world down around them to protect their own, Klune’s latest (a reprint by a major publisher years after he was forced to self-publish) is vivid in its worldbuilding. We know, from the moment go, who these characters are, even if all three have barriers in place – human and extraterrestrial – to protect them from evils that might threaten their peace.

An action flick masquerading as a book, the cinematic adventure delivers emotionally potent connections amid all the earth-shaking spectacle. As Klune is well aware, the key to good science fiction and fantasy isn’t the concepts, but the characters. We care so deeply for Nate, Alex, and Art, and how their wounds heal through the found love for one another. Love that is easy and instinctual. Get ready to weep as they fight off militant powers and cults as they seek the freedom they have all long yearned for, in all of its varying iterations.

“We’re not alike. Not really. We’re separated by time and space. And yet, somehow, we’re all made of dust and stars. I think we’d forgotten that.”

The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K Ancrum

Heartachingly tender, The Corruption of Hollis Brown reinforces K Ancrum’s ability to wield her prose with lyrical profundity. Finding depth and heartache in the coming-of-age experience through a science-fiction lens, the book further cements Ancrum’s steadfast belief in the strength of teenagers and the compassion that they’re capable of wielding even when facing such inner devastation. A love story between a boy and the ghost possessing him, the prose wickedly immerses us in their strife. First, as they grapple for control and then as they contend with what it means to share a body – a home – built for the two of them.

The empathy pours from the page not just for the characters but for humanity and the intrinsic trust that there will always be those who see us for who we are and who we strive to be, even while we’re at our worst. Gorgeous stuff that makes you want to race to read everything Ancrum has written so far.

The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong

Like so many others, author and poet Ocean Vuong left an undeniable mark with his subtly thunderous On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. With his latest, The Emperor of Gladness, the author pivots to a more straightforward fictional narrative following Time is a Mother. A coming-of-age story about a 19-year-old who, on the verge of ending his life, is saved by an elderly woman in need of help, the novel taps into what makes Vuong such a formidable writer while allowing him to stretch his legs. The found family element is present and strong, a key feature in so many queer stories about chosen families and finding hope in community. Vuong knows just how to unmake us in his prose, delivering timeless heartache and triumph through self-discovery.

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

One of the more electrifying and dizzying additions to this list, The Spear Cuts Through Water is boundless in its ambition. The dark fantasy follows two warriors who must bring an ancient god across a broken land to end the tyrannical reign of a royal family. Epic in its world-building, the novel stuns with its complex characters and folklore roots.

Woodworking by Emily St. James

Culture critic and author Emily St. James makes her fiction novel debut with Woodworking. Clever, witty, and insightful, the book is a heartfelt story about a trans high school teacher in a small town in South Dakota who befriends the only other trans woman she knows: one of her students. It’s a staggering debut that sinks its teeth into character-driven moments, allowing readers to exercise their compassion. Humorous and expressive, joyful and honest, it’s refreshingly heartfelt and vital.

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What books are you reading for Pride this month and always?