I’m excited to finally get to talk about books for Scribe Mag. There are a ton of great LGBTQ+ books out there, but here are just a handful that I really enjoy. They range from breezy to serious and cover a range of genres. I think I’ll cover them in the order I wrote them down, so here we go!
Nevada, Imogen Binnie, 2013
I still need to finish part of this one, but what I’ve read is more than enough to recommend it. A decade old now, this classic of the early 2010s got a notable reprinting last year so it’s very easy to find now. It’s an excellent novel showing how the dynamics of gender identity intersect with those of class.
The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller, 2012
Another one I still need to finish (I’m notorious for that), this an easy read, and very gay, slice of Greek mythology perfect for kids, like me, who grew up on Rick Riordan books. It’s pretty darn famous at this point so I’m not sure I have to say anything else.
Blankets, Craig Thompson, 2003
Okay, so Blankets is not exactly a queer book, but I have other queer friends that, like me, found a lot of power in it. It’s an early 2000s graphic novel fictionalizing Thompson’s experience with late 90s evangelicalism and his separation from this. Many queer people have a similar sense of trauma connected to the American church, and this book addresses that in a powerful way. Highly recommend this one for any time, especially in winter.
In the Margins, Shannon Kearns, 2022
Sticking with the topic of religion for a moment, this book is part memoir and part theology from one of the co-founders of QueerTheology.com. It’s a powerful examination of Shannon’s life, his struggles growing up, and his appreciation for queer-coded scriptures now that he’s grown. There’s still not that much out there attempting to take queer identities seriously in the context of Christian theology, so this resource is a must on that topic.
Patricia Wants to Cuddle, Samantha Allen, 2022
Please read this book. It’s hilarious and jarring, partly a satire of reality TV and also a horror tale about a lesbian bigfoot. I did a short-lived podcast episode on it (which you can find here), and it’s now out in paperback. It’s an absolute delight of a book with plenty to say said in a very unique and fun way. Read it.
Angels in America, Tony Kushner, 1993
Now thirty years old, there are a few aspects of Kushner’s gay fantasia stage-play opus that feel stuck in the 90s. But a lot of it is still very relevant today. It’s about queer identity and facing the apocalypse, whether that’s AIDS or the end of the world, or both. A lot of people have heard of it without reading it (because a lot of people don’t read plays), and that’s unfortunate because it’s a really interesting and essential work of 90s theater. Fun fact: I did a major project on this play a full 3 years before coming to any kind of grips with my own queerness. I was in such denial.
Less, Andrew Sean Greer, 2017
Along with Patricia, this is the most light-hearted book on this list. It’s a snappy little satire about a middle-aged gay man galivanting the world on a book tour and feeling bummed about it. There’s a sequel (out now in hardback and out on paperback at the end of June) that I can’t wait to read. Less was also one of the most awarded novels of the 2010s if you need more reason to check it out.
Fun Home, Alison Bechdel, 2006
You’ve probably heard of the Bechdel Test and maybe even know of Bechdel as a comics writer, but if you haven’t read her first tragicomic, you really need to. It’s an amazing examination of the many facets we all have as people, as well as a look at a very specific kind of mid-20th-century, closeted queerness. It’s chock full of literary references too (like hundreds of them) making it an endlessly rewarding book for literature fans of all kinds.
Ace, Angela Chen, 2020
This is quite literally the book on asexuality that exists to this point in time. If you are ace or think you might be, it’s an absolute must-read. If you aren’t ace, I still recommend it as it dismantles many myths about asexuality while charting a new course forward. Really it’s a book about how to culturally de-center a single heterosexual image of sex, something that will help all of us out.
The Transgender Issue, Shon Faye, 2021
A groundbreaking examination of trans culture especially from the British context, Faye’s book is really heavy (definitely to be read slowly for those most connected to transness) but essential. Written with a non-queer audience in mind, it’s a book that largely wants its readers to wake up and care about how the world is horrible for trans people. It’s become all the more sadly relevant in the two-ish years since it came out.
Can Everyone Please Calm Down, Mae Martin, 2019
Another lighter one, this book, told through a lot of diagrams and jokes, sees Mae Martin (of Feel Good fame, from the TV list) just try to make sense of stuff related to gender and sexuality. It’s not “insightful” but it’s fun and encouraging, a quick burst of queer positivity to make the rest of the world a little less terrible.
The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula Le Guin, 1969
There are a lot of queer science fiction books, many of them I haven’t read, and this is definitely a must-read among that canon. Le Guin’s masterwork imagines an alien society where gender roles truly don’t matter as everyone is genderfluid, changing their anatomy from time to time (I don’t remember the specifics). It’s a super interesting idea housed in what is also just a really good book. It’s a must-read.
Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers, Sady Doyle, 2019
I close the list out with a wonderful book that’s sort of about queerness and entirely about patriarchy. Patriarchy is, of course, the horrible system that orchestrates (and mandates) a gender binary with gender roles while also seeking to deny any queer people that don’t fit the system. Every fight for queer rights and queer liberation of any form is also a fight against patriarchy. This book names such forces in a succinct and compelling fashion, drawing on a wide swath of cultural folklore. It’s probably the best book I’ve read on understanding patriarchy (and I’ve read my fair share), and it’s essential for any form of patriarchy-disrupting endeavor.
Hopefully, this provided you with some good book ideas to pick up this month. This list represents a small share of the amazing canon of LGBTQ+ literature, limited further to what I’ve read and encountered. There’s so much more to read and discover, a lot of it very worthwhile. Happy reading!
