Celebrating Book Lover's Day with some LGBTQ+ Books!

Happy Book Lover’s Day!

[Image depicts a row of standing books of various sizes and colours arranged in rainbow order]

As it’s Book Lover’s Day today, I thought I would write up a post where we could talk about LGBTQ+ books, primarily LGBTQ+ fiction. I’ve personally found that books with the LGBTQ+ fiction label often range from mentioning the word gay two or three times in the whole book in reference to some secondary character, to hypersexualized tales where a character is reduced solely to their sexuality or gender identity, to something a bit more balanced and normalizing, that remembers that LGBTQ+ people are more than their LGBTQ+ labels, and don’t all fit into stereotypes.

Some of my favourite books are where, while the main character is LGBTQ+ and this detail isn’t simply mentioned in passing, the main plot and focus of the story is not about their experiences of being LGBTQ+. It’s included much in the way a cis-het character’s love interests, gender expression and experiences are included, as a part of the story, but not the only story. I enjoy these as I find them the most normalizing, where acceptance is in some way assumed, and the fact that the character isn’t cis-het isn’t news.

Other books I have enjoyed do deal more with the struggles one faces as part of the LGBTQ+ community but are done so in a respectful way that is careful to avoid simply reinforcing stereotypes. I find these are great when we are needing to feel someone understands our experiences and struggles.

[Image depicts a fanned book with rainbow coloured pages]

I did a quick survey about some of the LGBTQ+ books people have enjoyed and have compiled it here, perhaps you’ll want to read one of them, or add your own suggestions to our list?

LGBTQ+ Non-fiction:

• “Untamed” by Glennon Doyle

• “On Being Different: What It Means to Be a Homosexual” by Merle Miller

LGBTQ+ Fiction:

• “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda”, “The Upside of Unrequited” and “Leah on the Offbeat” by Becky Albertalli

• “Red, White & Royal Blue” by Casey McQuiston

• “Two Boys Kissing” by David Levithan

• “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” by Benjamin Alire Saenz

• “Bluebird” by Ciel Pierlot

Question time!

1. So, do you seek out LGBTQ+ books? Why or why not?

2. What do you look for when you read a book with LGBTQ+ characters?

3. If you could give authors of LGBTQ+ books feedback, what would you want them to know?

4. Any LGBTQ+ books you would, or maybe wouldn’t recommend?

Love to read? Check out this post to continue the celebration!

After participating, please submit THIS FORM to track your participation towards a seasonal badge!


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