Happy Pride Month! Every year during June, we celebrate LGBTQIA+ Pride, paying tribute to the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan. Through this, we acknowledge the achievements of the LGBTQIA+ community and recognize the ongoing challenges faced by many worldwide in their pursuit to live authentically. Moreover, as a diverse and vibrant community, its movement for identity, acceptance, equality, and love for all is important and continues to inspire change.

The book community is no exception when it comes to celebrating and promoting inclusivity and acceptance. With carefully curated lists of books by, about, and for the LGBTQIA+ community, the literary world plays a significant role in uplifting queer voices and stories. Additionally, libraries, bookstores, and online creators all take a moment to highlight works that reflect the experiences and histories of LGBTQIA+ voices.

Our team has curated a list of books promoting the LGBTQIA+ experience, representation of queer characters, and championing queer authors. From coming-out stories to historical same-sex romances and inspiring tales for young readers, there’s a book for everybody! Take a look and find your next read.

Books for Pride Month

We Are Everywhere by Matthew Riemer and Leighton Brown A detailed photographic history of the Queer Liberation Movement. Released for the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin. James Baldwin’s groundbreaking novel explores love and the fear of love in the bohemian bars and nightclubs of 1950s Paris. Giovanni’s Room tells an impassioned, deeply moving story that reveals the unspoken complexities of the human heart.

Maurice by E.M. Forster. Maurice is a tale of unrequited love that opens the protagonist’s heart and mind to his own sexual identity, challenging society’s unspoken rules of class, wealth, and politics.

All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews. A brilliant new voice brings us an emotional novel of a young immigrant building a life for herself. A warm, dazzling saga of queer love, friendship, work, and precarity in twenty-first-century America.

But How Are You, Really by Ella Dawson. A burned-out bisexual woman confronts old demons, her estranged chosen family, and the ex she may have wrongly left behind when she attends her five-year college reunion.

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera. Juliet Milagros Palante navigates a summer in Portland, Oregon, filled with queer dance parties, a fling with a motorcycling librarian, and intense explorations of race and identity.

Rage by Lester Fabian Brathwaite. An incredible debut with a darkly comedic exploration of Blackness, queerness, and the American Dream, highlighting creative anger as a response to inequality.

The Prospects by KT Hoffman. Minor leagues. Major chemistry. This queer sports romance is a triumphant debut that follows two minor-league baseball rivals who realise they play much better together.

Heartstopper by Alice Osman. Heartstopper is an ongoing LGBTQIA+ young adult graphic novel and webcomic series by British author Alice Oseman. Follow Nick Nelson and Charlie Spring as they meet and fall in love.

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon. Samantha Shannon’s prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree takes readers into the lives of four women, revealing events that shaped their world for generations.

Queer creators to follow

If you haven’t yet stumbled upon bookish creators on TikTok and/or Instagram who uplift LGBTQIA+ voices, you’re missing out! Across the gender and sexuality spectrum, many influencers passionately use their platforms to champion queer stories and authors all year long! So, if you’re looking for more book recommendations, be sure to check out:

As we celebrate Pride Month, let’s take the opportunity to educate ourselves and raise awareness of the diverse experiences and challenges within the queer community. Together, we can create a world where everyone is embraced for who they are. Happy Pride Month, everyone! Let’s continue to spread love, acceptance, and equality every day.