5 LGBT+ Books You Need to Read This Pride Month
Wishing everyone a very happy June, or as we prefer to call it, Pride month!
Pride month is the time to celebrate all things LGBTQIA+, and the ongoing movement for rights worldwide. We’ve made good progress: LGBT+ representation in Western fiction has shot up in the last few years, both in characters and in their creators. Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda was made into the heartwarming rom-com Love, Simon, and trans stories like Meet Cute Diary and Felix Ever After are gaining strong online audiences. More children’s books with LGBT+ narratives are available than ever before, and it’s safe to say that queer teens benefit from seeing their own identities represented in stories like Heartstopper.
We can’t stop here; there’s still a long way to go in the fight for equality, and representation in fiction is one of them. We love queer characters, and we love a happy ending. Whether you’re LGBT+ or an ally, we think there’s no better way to celebrate Pride than by supporting queer authors and stories. Here are five of our favourites to get you started…
1. I Wish You All the Best
by Mason Deaver
This YA story with a nonbinary protagonist has received rave reviews across the internet, and it’s not without cause.
When Ben De Backer comes out to their parents as nonbinary, they're thrown out of their house and forced to move in with their estranged older sister, Hannah, and her husband, Thomas, whom Ben has never even met. Struggling with an anxiety disorder compounded by their parents' rejection, they come out only to Hannah, Thomas, and their therapist and try to keep a low profile in a new school.
But Ben's attempts to survive the last half of senior year unnoticed are thwarted when Nathan Allan, a funny and charismatic student, decides to take Ben under his wing. As Ben and Nathan's friendship grows, their feelings for each other begin to change, and what started as a disastrous turn of events looks like it might just be a chance to start a happier new life.
You can get I Wish You All The Best from Gay’s The Word Bookshop and follow Mason on Instagram.
2. Scent
by Isabel Costello
A novel exploring “older” female sexuality and complicated family relationships, from independent publisher Muswell Press.
When Clementine and Edouard’s last child leaves home, the cracks in their marriage become impossible to ignore. Her work as a perfumer is no longer providing solace and her sense of self is withering. Then, her former lover resurfaces, decades after the end of their bisexual affair, and her world tilts irreversibly.
Set in Paris and Provence, this is an intimate portrait of a woman navigating conflicting desires and a troubled past whilst dreaming of a fulfilling future.
You can buy Scent from Gay’s The Word Bookshop and Hive, and follow Isabel on Twitter.
3. Cemetery Boys
by Aiden Thomas (he/they)
Can a ghost story also be a queer rom-com? Yes, is the answer to that – Cemetery Boys.
Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.
When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.
However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie up some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.
Cemetery Boys is available from Hive and Amazon, and you can follow Aiden on Twitter.
4. 100 Boyfriends
by Brontez Purnell
The freshly-launched queer indie publisher Cipher Press brings this depiction of messy queer love to the UK.
Transgressive, foulmouthed, and wildly funny, Brontez Purnell's 100 Boyfriends is a filthy, unforgettable, and brutally profound ode to queer love in its most messy of variations. From one-night stands to recurring lovers, Purnell's characters sleep with their co-worker's husbands, expose themselves to racist neighbours, date Satanists, and drink their way out of trouble, all the while fighting - and often losing - the urge to self-sabotage.
You can get 100 Boyfriends (the book, not loads of boyfriends) from Cipher Press and from Gay’s The Word Bookshop, and follow Brontez on Instagram.
5. Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by
Adiba Jaigirdar (she/her)
Before reading: 🙄 Another fake dating romance story? 🙄
After reading: 😍 Another fake dating romance story! 😍
Everyone likes Humaira "Hani" Khan—she’s easy going and one of the most popular girls at school. But when she comes out to her friends as bisexual, they invalidate her identity, saying she can’t be bi if she’s only dated guys. Panicked, Hani blurts out that she’s in a relationship…with a girl her friends absolutely hate—Ishita "Ishu" Dey.
Ishu is the complete opposite of Hani. She’s an academic overachiever who hopes that becoming head girl will set her on the right track for college. But Ishita agrees to help Hani, if Hani will help her become more popular so that she stands a chance of being elected head girl.
Despite their mutually beneficial pact, they start developing real feelings for each other. But relationships are complicated, and some people will do anything to stop two Bengali girls from achieving happily ever after.
Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating is available from Gay’s The Word Bookshop and Hive, and you can follow Adiba on Twitter.
Bonus Book: Other People’s Butterflies
By Cora Ruskin (she/her)
From independent publisher Art Over Chaos, this story with an aromantic asexual protagonist is dropping June 22nd.
Gwen Foster has never been kissed. But when she gets the chance to finally see what all the hype is about, it’s with her best friend’s crush. Embroiled in relationship drama she doesn’t understand, and ostracized from her friend group, Gwen escapes the angst by using her favorite femme fatale as a role model… and makes snooping on her classmates her new pastime.
Gwen’s detective work appears to be going well, until an unknown social media account starts spilling all the scandalous personal details she’s uncovered. Now this wannabe spy must stop whoever is behind it before everyone’s dirty laundry is aired, and Gwen is forced to finish high school without any friends.
Other People’s Butterflies is a coming-of-age contemporary mystery about not needing to find your first love – but yourself – and how to mend the relationships that matter to you.
You can preorder Other People’s Butterflies as an eBook from Amazon (paperback available from June 22nd) and you can follow Cora on Twitter.
Hope you got some new titles for your bookshelves! We at The Book Network wish you all a safe and happy Pride.