Happy Pride Month! To celebrate, we’re sharing 15 LGBTQ+ releases from this year that deserve all the hype. These beautiful, memorable and inclusive books are great additions to your Pride TBR!
Detransition, Baby – Torrey Peters
The lives of three women—transgender and cisgender—collide after an unexpected pregnancy forces them to confront their deepest desires. (Penguin Random House). Karli and Mary Beth read this for their book club and it was a huge hit with lots of great conversation!
The Prophets -Robert Jones, Jr.
A singular and stunning debut novel about the forbidden union between two enslaved young men on a Deep South plantation, the refuge they find in each other, and a betrayal that threatens their existence. (Penguin Random House). “May this book cast its spell on all of us, restore to us some memory of our most warrior and softest selves.” —The New York Times Book Review
A Reese’s Book Club Pick! The Crucible meets True Grit in this riveting adventure story of a fugitive girl, a mysterious gang of robbers, and their dangerous mission to transform the Wild West. (Bloomsbury).
Black Boy Out of Time – Hari Ziyad
An eloquent, restless, and enlightening memoir by one of the most thought-provoking journalists today about growing up Black and queer in America, reuniting with the past, and coming of age their own way. (Amazon) “Black Boy Out of Time explores childhood, gender, race, trust—both built and broken—and how those wounds can be repaired through generations. Ziyad reframes their own coming-of-age story and investigates what it means to live outside of the constrictive narratives Black children are born into.” —The Root
A Most-Anticipated Selection by Vogue, Refinery29, Vulture, BuzzFeed, and more. A scathingly funny, wildly erotic, and fiercely imaginative story about food, sex, and god from the acclaimed author of The Pisces and So Sad Today. (Simon and Schuster)
Let’s Get Back to the Party – Zak Salih
One of Advocate’s “22 LGBTQ+ Books You Absolutely Need to Read This Year”! “An intimate saga that brims with necessary conversations about cultural identity.” —O, The Oprah Magazine, “32 LGBTQ Books That Will Change the Literary Landscape in 2021”. You can read more about this one in our case study!
The gripping true story, told here for the first time, of the Last Call Killer and the gay community of New York City that he preyed upon. (Celadon Books) “Last Call is not only a great book, nor a mere historical correction. It is an act of compassion…”- Boston Globe
Love and Other Natural Disasters – Misa Sugiura
This delightfully disastrous queer YA rom-com is a perfect read for fans of Jenny Han, Morgan Matson, and Sandhya Menon. (HarperCollins) “An adorable rom-com… [that] also digs into the intersection of race and queerness along with other topics like dementia, the fallout of divorce, and homophobia.” — School Library Journal
So this one technically didn’t come out this year, but we love it so much we had to include it! From “A is for Ally” to “F is for Family” to “Q is for Queer”, debut author M. L. Webb’s lively, inclusive poems delight in the beauty of embracing one’s truest self. (Quirk Books)
The Chosen and the Beautiful – Nghi Vo
“What if The Great Gatsby except sexy star golfer Jordan Baker is a queer Vietnamese adoptee? And there’s magic? You have our attention.”―USA Today. A Most Anticipated in 2021 Pick for Oprah Magazine, USA Today, Buzzfeed, Greatist, BookPage, and more!
The Darkness Outside Us – Eliot Schrefer
They Both Die at the End meets The Loneliest Girl in the Universe in this mind-bending sci-fi mystery and tender love story about two boys aboard a spaceship sent on a rescue mission, from two-time National Book Award finalist Eliot Schrefer. (HarperCollins)
Who’s Your Daddy – Arisa White
Winner of the Nautilus Book Award Gold Medal and Lambda Literary, finalist Arisa White has created a beautiful coming-of-age memoir featuring a queer, Black, Guyanese American woman who, while seeking to define her own place in the world, negotiates an estranged relationship with her father. (Amazon)
As Far as You’ll Take Me – Phil Stamper
The author of The Gravity of Us crafts another heartfelt coming-of-age story about finding the people who become your home–perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli (Bloomsbury) “A beautiful tribute to every queer kid who’s ever had to leave their home in order to find one.” – Leah Johnson, bestselling author of You Should See Me in a Crown.
Never Kiss Your Roommate – Philline Harms
Falling in love with your roommate is never a good idea, but when Evelyn has to share a room with the mysterious and alluring Noelle, tension soon turns into a dangerous attraction. (Wattpad) A perfect page turner for the beach!
Let us know if we missed any of your favorite titles so we can add them to our own TBRs for June!
