Pride Month is more than rainbow merch and glitter, it’s also the perfect excuse (as if we needed one) to cozy up with a stack of books by queer authors, about queer lives, and for our beautifully queer hearts. Whether you’re looking for sweet desserts, searing memoirs, historical deep dives, or a comfort read with a side of intergalactic feels, this list has you covered.
Below, we’ve rounded up standout LGBTQ+ reads that span genres and emotions (cookbooks, graphic novels, poetry collections, and more) that honor identity, love, and the joy of living authentically.
Dan in Green Gables: A Graphic Novel
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Title: Dan in Green Gables: A Graphic Novel
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Author: Rey Terciero
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Buy It: Link to purchase
Think Anne of Green Gables, but gayer and with more culture shock. Rey Terciero reimagines the beloved redhead as Dan Stewart-Álvarez, a queer teen thrown into the rural South after being ditched by his free-spirited mom. Between chicken coops, Southern Baptists, and some hard truths, Dan finds community, family, and maybe even himself. It’s poignant, it’s charming, and it has that “queer kid finds home where he least expects it” glow we all need.
Potluck Desserts
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Title: Potluck Desserts: Joyful Recipes to Share with Pride
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Author: Justin Burke (Photos by Brian Samuels)
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Buy It: Link to purchase
Queer community is built around many things: resilience, joy, dance floors (and dessert). In this sugar-laced love letter to queer potlucks, baker Justin Burke serves up nostalgic, crowd-pleasing recipes with heart (and probably a little glitter). From Hummingbird Blondies to Snickerdoodle Peach Cobbler, it’s a book that understands that potlucks are sacred, stories are baked in, and carbs are absolutely a love language.
Super Gay Poems
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Title: Super Gay Poems: LGBTQIA+ Poetry After Stonewall
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Editor: Stephanie Burt
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Buy It: Link to purchase
If your Pride flag flies in iambic pentameter, this one’s for you. This powerhouse anthology edited by Stephanie Burt features 51 poets who explore queer life, love, protest, and pleasure with razor-sharp lyricism. From Frank O’Hara to Chen Chen, the poems stretch across forms and decades but are united by the pulse of liberation and self-invention. Each work comes with a mini-essay that adds context, sass, and scholarship.
Dining Out
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Title: Dining Out: First Dates, Defiant Nights, and Last Call Disco Fries at America’s Gay Restaurants
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Author: Erik Piepenburg
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Buy It: Link to purchase
Before Grindr and brunch drag, there were diners, cafeterias, and queer cafés that became sanctuaries. Piepenburg’s deliciously researched deep-dive chronicles the unsung legacy of gay restaurants as places of romance, resistance, and refuge. It’s equal parts food history and cultural testimony, featuring Hamburger Mary’s, Florent, and yes, even that queer-coded Denny’s. Come for the fries, stay for the revolution.
I Shall Never Fall in Love
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Title: I Shall Never Fall in Love
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Author: Hari Conner
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Buy It: Link to purchase
If Jane Austen had been queer and had access to colored pencils, we’d already have this. In this warm, witty graphic novel, three friends navigate love, identity, and societal pressure in a small village where everyone knows everyone (and their business). It’s tender, introspective, and just the kind of queer period drama you’ll want to curl up with alongside a hot cup of tea and your deepest feelings.
Lunar Boy
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Title: Lunar Boy
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Authors: Jess & Cin Wibowo
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Buy It: Link to purchase
Tears. So many tears. But the good kind; the cathartic, soul-hugging kind. Lunar Boy follows Indu, a trans boy who moves from a cozy spaceship to the unfamiliar chaos of New Earth. It’s a story of transition in every sense, told with tenderness and illustrated in a dreamy, pastel-drenched palette. This graphic novel might break your heart a little, but it stitches it back up with warmth, family, and acceptance.
Revolution Is Love
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Title: Revolution Is Love: A Year of Black Trans Liberation
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Buy It: Link to purchase
A visual manifesto of resistance and resilience, this photography book captures the pulse of Black trans activism in NYC. Through vivid, raw images and moving commentary, it documents a movement grounded in joy, community, and the unrelenting pursuit of liberation. A must-have for anyone who believes in the power of both protest and portraiture.
Holding Space
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Title: Holding Space: Life and Love Through a Queer Lens
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Author: Ryan Pfluger
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Buy It: Link to purchase
A gorgeous collection of portraits showcasing queer, interracial couples in all their nuanced, tender glory. Ryan Pfluger’s photographs offer intimacy and depth, accompanied by personal stories that reflect the complexities of love, identity, and connection in today’s world. It’s a celebration of modern queer love that will make your heart swell and your coffee table instantly cooler.
Save Yourself
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Title: Save Yourself
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Author: Cameron Esposito
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Buy It: Link to purchase
Imagine a memoir that’s equal parts hilarious, awkward, and ferociously honest. Now add a bowl cut, an eye patch, and Catholic guilt, and you’ve got Esposito’s journey from wanna-be priest to queer comedy powerhouse. She skips the tragic tropes and instead gives us a coming-of-queer-age story packed with circus acts, period sex in Rome, and hard-won self-love. It’s messy, beautiful, and exactly what your inner weird kid needs.
How We Fight for Our Lives
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Title: How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir
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Author: Saeed Jones
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Buy It: Link to purchase
A searing, poetic memoir by one of the most important queer voices of our time. Saeed Jones’ coming-of-age story is filled with desire, grief, identity, and the sharp ache of growing up Black and gay in the American South. Every page is like a blade and a balm: haunting, beautiful, and unforgettable.
Queer Lit Is Thriving, Now Go Fill Your Shelf!
Whether you’re baking your feelings, revisiting a queer take on classic literature, or confronting the realities of identity through poetry and memoir, LGBTQ+ books are thriving, necessary, and not going anywhere. Support these authors, gift these stories, and let them remind you: your story matters too.
