Rainbow Reads for Adults

Recommended books by and about 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.

Updated March 25, 2024
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Winnipeg Public Library
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1

An Evening with Birdy O'Day
Kearney, Greg
Paper Book
A funny, boisterous, and deeply moving novel about aging hairstylist Roland's childhood friendship with Birdy O'Day, whose fevered quest for pop music glory drives them apart Roland Keener is an aging hairstylist who's lived and worked in Winnipeg all his life. He's more or...

Canadian author.

2

Our wives under the sea
Armfield, Julia
Paper Book
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR (NPR, The Washington Post, Lit Hub, The Telegraph, Goodreads, Tor.com, them, and more) A FINALIST for the LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD and GOODREADS CHOICE AWARD "A deeply strange and haunting novel in the best possible way...An...
Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

3

Hijab butch blues : a memoir
H, Lamya
Paper Book
A queer hijabi Muslim immigrant survives her coming-of-age by drawing strength and hope from stories in the Quran in this "raw and relatable memoir that challenges societal norms and expectations" (Linah Mohammad, NPR). "A masterful, must-read contribution to conversations on...
Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

4

Arrête Avec Tes Mensonges: Roman
Besson, Philippe
Paper Book

Quand j'etais enfant, ma mere ne cessait de me repeter : « Arrete avec tes mensonges. » J'inventais si bien les histoires, parait-il, qu'elle ne savait plus demeler le vrai du faux. J'ai fini par en faire un metier, je suis devenu romancier.. Aujourd'hui, voila que j'obeis enfin a ma mere : je dis la verite. Pour la premiere fois. Dans ce livre.. Autant prevenir d'emblee : pas de reglement de comptes, pas de violence, pas de nevrose familiale.. Mais un amour, quand meme.. Un amour immense et tenu secret.. Qui a fini par me rattraper..

Aussi disponible en formats numeriques.

5

Lie with me : a novel
Besson, Philippe
Paper Book
The Advocate's Best Gay Novel of 2019 A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice O, The Oprah Magazine's Best LGBTQ Books That'll Change the Literary Landscape in 2019 The Wall Street Journal's Ten Books You'll Want to Read this...

Also available in eBook format.

6

La fille d'elle-même
Boulianne-Tremblay, Gabrielle.
Paper Book

7

Tu Reviendras
Metiba, Brahim
Paper Book

Le narrateur, qui vit a Paris, decide de retourner parmi les siens, a Skikda, apres dix ans d'absence. L'Algerie lui manque, la mort de son pere est imminente. Leurs relations sont rompues depuis l'annonce de son homosexualite. L'idee lui vient de consigner son voyage dans un journal. Ecrire dans un souffle l'histoire d'un retour, pour conjurer les tourments et ne rien oublier.

8

Theory
Brand, Dionne
Paper Book
A smart, sensual and witty novel about what happens when love and intellect are set on a collision course. This compact tour de force affirms Dionne Brand's place as one of Canada's most dazzling and influential artists. Theory begins as its narrator sets out, like many a...
Canadian author.

9

Rubyfruit jungle
Brown, Rita Mae.
Paper Book
"The rare work of fiction that has changed real life . . . If you don't yet know Molly Bolt-or Rita Mae Brown, who created her-I urge you to read and thank them both."-Gloria Steinem Winner of the Lambda Literary Pioneer Award | Winner of the Lee Lynch Classic Book Award...

10

A Sweet Sting of Salt: A Novel
Sutherland, Rose
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2025 KOBO EMERGING WRITER PRIZE When a young woman in 19th century Nova Scotia uncovers a magical secret about her neighbour, she'll have to fight to keep the truth--and the woman she loves--safe in this stunning queer reimagining of the classic folktale The...

Canadian author.

11

Householders
Cayley, Kate
Paper Book
A 2022 Firecracker Award for Fiction Finalist * A CBC Books and Quill & Quire Anticipated Fall Book * A Lambda Literary Most Anticipated LGBTQIA+ Title * A 49th Shelf Book of the Year 2021 Linked short stories about families, nascent queers, and self-deluded utopians...
Canadian author.

12

The book eaters
Dean, Sunyi
Paper Book
"I devoured this."--V. E. Schwab, New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue An International Bestseller An NPR Best Sci Fi, Fantasy, & Speculative Fiction Book of 2022 A Book Riot Best Book...
Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

13

Transitions : Journal D'Anne Marbot
Elodie Durand
Paper Book
La vie d'Anne bascule, le jour ou, au cours d'un entretien avec la psychologue du planning familial, elle apprend que sa fille est un garcon. Elle accompagne son enfant dans son changement de genre.

14

Gods of want : stories
Chang, K-Ming
Paper Book
Startling stories center the bodies, memories, myths, and relationships of Asian American women in "a voracious, probing collection, proof of how exhilarating the short story can be" (The New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice)--from the National Book Award "5 Under 35"...
Also available in eBook format.

15

A history of my brief body
Belcourt, Billy-Ray
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE HUBERT EVANS NON-FICTION PRIZE FINALIST FOR THE JIM DEVA PRIZE FOR WRITING THAT PROVOKES FINALIST FOR THE GOVERNOR GENERAL'S LITERARY AWARD FOR NON-FICTION FINALIST FOR THE LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FOR GAY MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY NATIONAL BESTSELLER ...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

16

Transitions : a mother's journey
Durand, Élodie
Paper Book
When Anne learns that her 19-year-old is a transgender man, she struggles to understand her son's new identity. A new landmark in nonfiction comics, Transitions is a sympathetic, informative, and moving story of a family's journey to acceptance. "I thought I was open...

Also available in eBook format.

17

Girl, woman, other
Evaristo, Bernardine
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE "A must-read about modern Britain and womanhood . . . An impressive, fierce novel about the lives of black British families, their struggles, pains, laughter, longings and loves . . . Her style is passionate, razor-sharp, brimming with...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats, and as a Book Club Kit.

18

Written in the stars : a novel
Bellefleur, Alexandria
Paper Book
"I was hooked from the very first page!" - Christina Lauren, New York Times bestselling author of In a Holidaze "This book is a delight." - New York Times Book Review A National Bestseller and winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Romance!...
Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

19

Girl, Woman, Other
Bernardine Evaristo
Paper Book

Anima, Dominique, Yazz, Shirley, Carole, Bummi, LaTisha, Morgan, Hattie, Penelope, Winsome, Grace.. La plus jeune a dix-neuf ans, la plus agee, quatre-vingt-treize. Elles sont douze femmes puissantes, apotres du feminisme et de la liberte, chacune a sa maniere, d'un bout de siecle a l'autre. Leurs vies s'epaulent, s'opposent et font la ronde. Chacune est en quete, de place, de classe, d'un avenir, d'une identite, du bonheur. Elles sont un choeur, un tableau vibrant et foisonnant, une ode a la différence et a la soif « d'etre ensemble ».

20

Je suis Sofia
Céline Gandner
Paper Book

En 1996, Celine est fille au pair dans une famille catholique de Rome, chez qui elle s'occupe d'Edoardo, 5 ans, et d'Amedeo, 18 mois. Vingt et un ans plus tard, a l'aeroport, alors qu'elle se rejouit de retrouver cette famille, Sofia lui est presentee, sous les traits de laquelle elle reconnait Edoardo. En 2019, apres une operation de transition de genre en Thailande, Sofia se confie enfin.

Aussi disponible en format numerique.

21

The hairdresser of Harare
Huchu, Tendai
Paper Book
In this delicious and devastating first novel, which The Guardian named one of its ten best contemporary African books, Caine Prize finalist Tendai Huchu (The Maestro, the Magistrate, and the Mathematician) portrays the heart of contemporary Zimbabwean society with humor and grace...

22

The Hairdresser of Harare
Tendai Huchu
Book

Vimbai est la meilleure coiffeuse du Zimbabwe, jusqu'a ce que Dumi arrive. Personne n'a jamais vu un homme coiffer les femmes, mais il s'avere surdoue pour la coiffure. Il s'installe en colocation avec Vimbai qui tombe amoureuse de lui. Dumi cache cependant un lourd secret, il est homosexuel.

23

The tiger flu : a novel
Lai, Larissa
Paper Book
Kirilow is a doctor apprentice whose lover Peristrophe is a 'starfish,' a woman who can regenerate her own limbs and organs, which she uses to help her clone sisters whose own organs are failing. But when a denizen from Salt Water City suffering from a mysterious flu comes into their midst,...

Also available in eBook format.

Canadian author.

24

J'ai des idĂŠes pour dĂŠtruire ton egoAlbane LinĂżer
LinĂżer, Albane, author
Paper Book

Leonie, 27 ans, a le flegme pragmatique. Elle travaille chez McDo pendant la journee, garde la petite Eulalie le soir et se laisse porter par la vie. C'est souvent l'image d'Angela qui lui vient quand elle ferme les yeux et se laisse aller a une douce reverie ou a des fantasmes plus crus - car Leonie a souvent la dalle. Le jour ou elle se retrouve avec Eulalie sur les bras, elle met les voiles, direction le sud de la France ou, croit-elle, Angela, se languit depuis dix ans.... Avec J'ai des idees pour detruire ton ego, Albane Linyer nous offre un premier roman troublant sur le desir et ses limites. Quand la colere et la vengeance se substituent a l'amour, ne restent plus que les idees pour detruire l'ego de l'autre et la fuite en avant pour oublier.

Aussi disponible en format numerique.

25

Polar vortex
Mootoo, Shani
Paper Book
Finalist for the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize Some secrets never die... Priya and Alexandra have moved from the city to a picturesque countryside town. What Alex doesn't know is that in moving, Priya is running from her past--from a fraught relationship with an old...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

26

My government means to kill me
Newson, Rasheed
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER · A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK · A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITOR'S CHOICE · 2023 LAMBDA LITERARY PRIZE FOR GAY FICTION FINALIST The debut novel from television WRITER/PRODUCER OF THE CHI, NARCOS, and...
Also available in eBook format.

27

We have always been here : a queer Muslim memoir
Habib, Samra
Paper Book
Samra Habib has spent most of her life searching for the safety to be herself. The men in her life wanted to police her, the women had only shown her the example of pious obedience, and her body was a problem to be solved. A triumphant memoir of forgiveness and family, both chosen and not, We Have...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

28

A dream of a woman : stories
Plett, Casey
Paper Book
Centering transgender women seeking stable, adult lives, A Dream of a Woman finds quiet truths in prairie high-rises and New York warehouses, in freezing Canadian winters and drizzly Oregon days. In 'Hazel & Christopher,' two childhood friends reconnect as adults after one of them has...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

29

The Foghorn Echoes
Ramadan, Danny
Paper Book
*WINNER OF A 2022 LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD* *SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 BC AND YUKON ETHEL WILSON PRIZE* *SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 VANCOUVER BOOK AWARD* "A sweeping and mesmerizing story that spans time and mortal space so expertly and elegantly." --Alan...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

30

Juliet takes a breath
Rivera, Gabby
Paper Book
"F***ing outstanding."--Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author Juliet Milagros Palante is a self-proclaimed closeted Puerto Rican baby dyke from the Bronx. Only, she's not so closeted anymore. Not after coming out to her family the night before flying to Portland,...
Also available in eBook format.

31

Lavender House
Rosen, Lev AC
Paper Book
A "Best Of" Book From: Amazon * Buzzfeed * Rainbow Reading * Library Journal * CrimeReads * BookPage * Book Riot * Autostraddle A delicious story from a new voice in suspense, Lev AC Rosen's Lavender House is Knives Out with a queer historical twist.<...
Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

32

Tell me I'm worthless
Rumfitt, Alison
Paper Book
Alison Rumfitt's Tell Me I'm Worthless is a dark, unflinching haunted house story that confronts both supernatural and real-world horrors through the lens of the modern-day trans experience. "Alison is like the twisted daughter of Clive Barker and Shirley Jackson...
Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

33

The subtweet : a novel
Shraya, Vivek
Paper Book
When Neela Devaki's song is covered by internet-famous artist Rukmini, the two musicians meet and a transformative friendship begins. But as Rukmini's star rises and Neela's stagnates, jealousy and self-doubt creep in. With a single tweet, their friendship implodes, one career is destroyed, and the...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

34

The dawnhounds
Stronach, Sascha
Paper Book
Gideon the Ninth meets Black Sun in this queer, Māori-inspired debut fantasy about a police officer who is murdered, brought back to life with a mysterious new power, and tasked with protecting her city from an insidious evil threatening to destroy it....
Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

35

On earth we're briefly gorgeous : a novel
Vuong, Ocean
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller * Nominated for the National Book Award for Fiction * Ocean Vuong's debut novel is a shattering portrait of a family, a first love, and the redemptive power of storytelling New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century ...
Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

36

Un bref instant de splendeur : roman
Vuong, Ocean
Paper Book

Un fils ecrit une lettre a sa mere analphabete. Il y evoque la schizophrenie de sa grand-mere traumatisee par les bombes au Vietnam, les coups violents de sa mere, son homosexualite mais aussi le pouvoir redempteur de l'ecriture.

Aussi disponible en formats numerique et large vision.

37

Love after the end : an anthology of Two-spirit & Indigiqueer speculative fiction
Whitehead, Joshua (Writer)
Paper Book
This exciting and groundbreaking fiction anthology showcases a number of new and emerging 2SQ (Two-Spirit and queer Indigenous) writers from across Turtle Island. These visionary authors show how queer Indigenous communities can bloom and thrive through utopian narratives that detail the vivacity...
Also available in eBook format.

38

Amour aux temps d'après (L')
Whitehead, Joshua.
Paper Book

Sous la direction de Joshua Whitehead, etoile montante de la litterature indigiqueer, L'amour aux temps d'apres est un projet collectif unique en son genre, au confluent de la science-fiction, de la culture queer et de la tradition autochtone. Neuf auteur·es des Premieres Nations y imaginent des personnages LGBTQ2S+ dans un monde post-apocalyptique, mais sous l'angle de l'utopie, de l'espoir et de la solidarite.

39

Jonny Appleseed : a novel
Whitehead, Joshua (Writer)
Paper Book
'You're gonna need a rock and a whole lotta medicine' is a mantra that Jonny Appleseed, a young Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer, repeats to himself in this vivid and utterly compelling novel. Off the reserve and trying to find ways to live and love in the big city, Jonny becomes a cybersex worker who...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author

40

Jonny Appleseed
Whitehead, Joshua (Writer)
Paper Book

Travailleur du cybersexe, Jonny doit rentrer a la reserve dans une semaine pour assister aux funerailles de son beau-pere. Pendant ces sept jours, Jonny se raconte : enfance, amitie, amour, sexe, alcool, maquillage, musique, fantomes, espoirs. Le fil des liens familiaux se retisse avec sa mere, sa kokum, ses tantes et oncles. Surgit tout un monde de tendresse.

Aussi disponible en format numerique.

Auteur canadien.

41

Orlando
Woolf, Virginia
Paper Book
Orlando has always been an outsider . . . His longing for passion, adventure and fulfilment takes him out of his own time. Chasing a dream through the centuries, he bounds from Elizabethan England amd imperial Turkey to the modern world. Will he find happiness with the...
Also available in eBook format.

42

The Tensorate series
Yang, Neon
Paper Book
The Tensorate Series, which has been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Locus, and Lambda Literary Awards, is an incomparable treasure of modern epic fantasy. Across four novellas, Neon Yang established themself as a fantasist in bold defiance of the limitations of...

43

Funny boy : the Richard Hunt biography
Stein, Jessica Max
Paper Book
"The most sensational, perpetual teenager in the world." --Jim Henson "To know him was to love him, and we do." --Mark Hamill   Funny Boy: The Richard Hunt Biography tells the life story of a gifted performer whose gleeful irreverence, sharp wit and generous...

44

The gospel of breaking
Christmas, Jillian
Paper Book
Winner, Writers' Trust of Canada Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ Emerging Writers Shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award and the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award In The Gospel of Breaking, Jillian Christmas confirms what followers of her performance and artistic...
Canadian author.

45

Rebent sinner
Coyote, Ivan E.
Paper Book
Ivan Coyote is one of North America's preeminent storytellers and performers. In their latest, Ivan takes on the patriarchy and the political, as well as the intimate and the personal in these beguiling and revealing stories of what it means to be trans and non-binary today, at a time in their life...

Also available in eBook format.

Canadian author.

46

My art is killing me, and other poems
Dawn, Amber
Paper Book
In this, her second poetry collection, Amber Dawn takes stock of the costs of coming out on the page in a heartrendingly honest and intimate investigation of the toll that artmaking takes on artists. These long poems offer difficult truths within their intricate narratives that are alternately...
Canadian author.

47

Stonewall : the definitive story of the LGBTQ rights uprising that changed America
Duberman, Martin B.
Paper Book
On June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York's Greenwich Village, was raided by police. But instead of responding with the routine compliance the NYPD expected, patrons and a growing crowd decided to fight back. The five days of rioting that ensued changed forever the face of gay and...
Also available in eBook format.

48

I'm so (not) over you
Jackson, Kosoko
Paper Book
It's been months since aspiring journalist Kian Andrews has heard from his ex-boyfriend, Hudson Rivers, but an urgent text has them meeting at a cafe. Hudson has a favour to ask - he wants Kian to pretend to be his boyfriend while his parents are in town, and Kian reluctantly agrees. The dinner...

49

Trans bodies, trans selves : a resource by and for transgender communities
Erickson-Schroth, Laura
Paper Book
There is no one way to be transgender. Trans Bodies, Trans Selves is a revolutionary resource--a comprehensive, reader-friendly guide for transgender people, with each chapter written by transgender and gender expansive authors. Inspired by Our Bodies, Ourselves, the classic and...

50

Gender queer : a memoir
Kobabe, Maia
Paper Book
In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns,thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographicalcomic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortablewith strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia's...
Also available in eBook format.

51

Genre queer une autobiographie non binaire
Kobabe, Maia
Paper Book

L'auteure relate son parcours, son coming out aupres de ses proches ainsi que le cheminement qui lui a permis de s'identifier comme une personne non binaire et asexuelle.

Aussi disponible en format numerique.

52

Prairie fairies : a history of queer communities and people in western Canada, 1930-1985
Korinek, Valerie J.
Paper Book
Prairie Fairiesdraws upon a wealth of oral, archival, and cultural histories to recover the experiences of queer urban and rural people in the prairies. Focusing on five major urban centres, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, Edmonton, and Calgary, Prairie Fairiesexplores the regional...
Canadian author.

53

Mamaskatch : a Cree coming of age
McLeod, Darrel J.
Paper Book
As a small boy in remote Alberta, Darrel J. McLeod is immersed in his Cree family's history, passed down in the stories of his mother, Bertha. There he is surrounded by her tales of joy and horror--of the strong men in their family, of her love for Darrel, and of the cruelty she and her sisters...

Also available in DAISY and eBook formats.

Canadian author.

54

Mamaskatch
McLeod, Darrel J.
Paper Book

Dans les aromes de la tisane a la menthe sauvage et du ragoot d'orignal, Bertha, la mere de Darrel J. McLeod, lui transmet la fierte de la culture et du mysticisme de leurs ancetres cris. Elle lui legue aussi une part du lourd fardeau des traumatismes de sa jeunesse, passee dans les pensionnats catholiques d'Alberta ou on l'avait envoyee de force.

Aussi disponible en format numerique.

Auteur canadien.

55

Nîtisânak
Morgan, Jas M.
Paper Book
Lindsay Nixon's nitisanak honours blood and chosen kin with equal care. A groundbreaking memoir spanning nations, prairie punk scenes, and queer love stories, it is woven around grief over the loss of their mother. It also explores despair and healing through community and family, and being torn...
Canadian author.

56

High school
Quin, Sara
Paper Book
First loves, first songs, and the drugs and reckless high school exploits that fueled them--meet music icons Tegan and Sara as you've never known them before in this intimate and raw account of their formative years. High School is the revelatory and unique coming-of-age...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian authors.

57

You're that bitch : & other cute lessons about being unapologetically yourself : a gay Cinderella story
Rock, Bretman
Paper Book
"This book is hilarious and that bitch made me laugh out loud."--Chelsea Handler A chaotically joyous collection of essays from one of the original influencers and the internet's sweetheart, Bretman "The Baddest" Rock. Hilarious and earnest, this collection of essays, and never...

Also available in eAudiobook format.

58

This one looks like a boy : my gender journey to life as a man
Shenher, Lorimer
Paper Book
Inspiring and honest, this unique memoir of gender transition and coming-of-age proves it's never too late to find your true identity. Since he was a small child, Lorimer Shenher knew something for certain: he was a boy. The problem was, he was growing up in a girl's body. In this...
Also available in eAudiobook format.

59

I'm afraid of men
Shraya, Vivek
Paper Book
Toxic masculinity takes many insidious forms, from misogyny and sexual harassment to homophobia, transphobia, and bullying. Vivek Shraya has first-hand experience with nearly all of them. As a transwomen she grew up experiencing aggression for displaying femininity, and is haunted by the violence of...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author

60

I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together: A Memoir
Vellekoop, Maurice
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE TORONTO BOOK AWARD "An utter treat among graphic novels. This beautiful, honest coming-of-age tale is a standout in its quality.... One of the best books so far this year." --Toronto Star For fans of Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, I'm So Glad...

Canadian author.

61

On n'a que deux vies: Journal d'un transboy
Adel Tincelin
Paper Book

L'auteur relate son parcours de transition, les transformations liees a son identite de genre, le rapport aux mots, au monde, a la sexualite et a la parentalite. Il evoque le deconditionnement et la desidentification qu'il a traverses.

62

Disintegrate/dissociate : poems
Twist, Arielle
Paper Book
In her powerful debut collection of poetry, Arielle Twist unravels the complexities of human relationships after death and metamorphosis. In these spare yet powerful poems, she explores, with both rage and tenderness, the parameters of grief, trauma, displacement, and identity. Weaving together a...
Canadian author.

63

To Be A Trans Man: Our Stories of Transition, Acceptance and Joy
Woodger, Ezra.
Paper Book
Men in all stages of transition have come and gone from my life, and each one has been entirely different. It's difficult to feel as if you fail at being a man when you know there isn't a singular 'right' way to be one. In this illuminating and radically honest book, Ezra...

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