With a fresh start of the year, comes the time to refresh your to-be-read list. Whether you love fantasy, contemporary, or horror, we’ve gathered the perfect list of LGBTQ+ books across a range of genres to add to your library.
The sapphic YA novel sends readers to the elite summer camp, Camp Rockaway, where protagonist Arlee Gold’s mother had been a camper years prior. As Arlee grapples with her mother’s mysterious legacy, she is brought into a secret sisterhood, but is soon caught between protecting them or her camp crush. Julia Lynn Rubin pulls on readers’ hearts and fears in this twisted summertime nightmare.
If you’re actively awaiting the return of Heartstopper for its season two release, then the graphic comic is a must purchase. Exploring authentic queer love, trans visibility, and the importance of community, the Heartstopper comics embody the heart of the show, and even better, give spoilers and teasers of what to expect in the lives of the Truham students that we have come to love.
Following her mother’s stroke and uncle’s disappearance, pianist Mariana Estela González returns to her hometown in Ayotlan, Mexico. After having lived in the States, Maria discovers that like herself, her town, too, has changed—Money-hungry developers seeking tourism have damaged its environment and culture. Estela González’s debut shines lights on the intersections between environmental justice, Indigenous culture, and queerness.
Set on a remote Pacific Northwest island, Patricia Wants to Cuddle follows a group of women competing on a reality dating show, but most are not searching for love. Whether for an adventure, to build a social media following, or even to spread the gospel, the eclectic group of contestants quickly discover nothing is as it seems on the island known for the disappearances of previous visitors. Samantha Allen’s sapphic novel will leave readers on the edge of their seats, simultaneously horrified by the pop-culture obsession of some of the contestants, and the danger lurking in the shadows.
To Canadian teenager, Lou, her summer looks like it will be complicated between having to work with her newly ex-boyfriend at her family’s ice cream shack and reuniting with her friend, King, who disappeared three years prior. The summer only grows more complex when her biological father is released from prison and reaches out. Lou knows she cannot see him and finds herself battling to hold onto her secrets and protect her family business. Exploring the complexities of coming-of-age through the lens of a Métis girl, Ferguson crafts a faceted story of community, identity, and love.
Poet Arisa White explores themes of family, sexuality, and home in her genre-bending narrative poems. White dives into the pain of an absent father, forming a lyrical and utterly present prose that travels through universal familial issues. Poetry lovers will find themselves enamored by the pensive and striking hybrid memoir.
Fantasy fans will enjoy S.T. Gibson’s tale of Dracula’s first bride, Constanta. After nearly dying, Constanta goes from a peasant to Dracula’s bride. As Dracula’s façade is peeled back to reveal traits Constanta had never known, she is forced to choose between love and freedom. With strong polyamorous and bisexual characters at the forefront, the reimagining of Dracula pulls readers into its world of desire and horror.
