Rainbow Reads for Adults

Recommended books by and about 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.

Updated May 26, 2026
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1

Is this a cry for help?
Austin, Emily
Paper Book

Also available in eBook, eAudiobook, Large Print and Audiobook formats.

Canadian Author.

2

An Evening with Birdy O'Day
Kearney, Greg
Paper Book
Roland Keener is an aging hairstylist who's lived and worked in the same town all his life. He's more or less content with the quiet and predictable days he shares with his partner of twenty-five years, Tony. That is, until he hears that Birdy O'Day - washed-up music icon and Roland's childhood best...

Canadian author.

3

Leo Rising
Bongiovanni, Archie.
Paper Book
From the artist behind the hit A Quick and Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns, Archie Bongiovanni, an examination of the intersection of fame, identity, and sexuality in their latest audacious and genuine LGBTQIA+ graphic novel, Leo Rising Lesbian influencer....

Also available in eBook format.

4

Vera Bushwack
Burwash, Sig.
Paper Book
A uniquely thrilling and emotive fantasy ride along a sea-bordered highway The wondrous rustic landscape of Nova Scotia bursts from the page in Vera Bushwack, where reality gladly gives way to fantastical flights of fancy before gently coming back down to earth. A...

Canadian author.

5

A sweet sting of salt : a novel
Sutherland, Rose
Paper Book
A young woman uncovers a dark secret about her neighbor and his mysterious new wife. Now she'll have to fight to keep herself-and the woman she loves-safe. "A modern sapphic updating of the selkie wife folk tale that's already scoring with readers"-Parade (A Best Romance and...

Canadian author.

6

Bloom : a novel
Couch, Robbie
Paper Book
From the New York Times bestselling author of If I See You Again Tomorrow comes a delightful and heartwarming novel about family, love, grief, and one precocious houseplant, that reminds us of the beauty of living a life in full Bloom. Morris Warner is...

7

Be Gay, Do Crime
Llewellyn, Molly
Paper Book
"Chaotic, sexy, and binge-worthy as hell, Be Gay, Do Crime is an EVENT."--Ruth Madievsky, author of All Night Pharmacy A follow-up to their runaway success Peach Pit: Sixteen Stories of Unsavory Women, editors Molly Llewellyn and Kristel...

Also available in eBook format.

8

Aunt Tigress
Qin, Emily Yu-Hsuan
Paper Book
From debut author Emily Yu-Xuan Qin comes a snarky urban fantasy novel inspired by Chinese and First Nation mythology and bursting with wit, compelling characters, and LGBTQIA+ representation Readers of Seanan McGuire, Ilona Andrews, and Ben Aaronovitch will devour this gory story...

Canadian author.

9

Play you for it : a novel
Saldivar, Samantha
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * In this sizzling sapphic romance, sparks fly between a sports journalist and her latest source--the first woman to be named head coach of a Division 1 men's basketball team--but are they willing to risk their careers for a shot at love? When Jordan D'Amato...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook format.

10

Woodworking a novel
St. James, Emily.
Paper Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE 2025 'Big-hearted and hilarious, an ode to authenticity and a must-read in our current times.' -Shelby Van Pelt, New York Times bestselling author of Remarkably Bright Creatures. 'Writing a funny book is hard. Writing a convincing takedown of...

11

Bury your gays
Tingle, Chuck.
Paper Book
The instant USA Today bestseller by Chuck Tingle about what it takes to succeed in a world that wants you dead. Named one of the Best Horror Books of 2024 (Esquire, Parade, and Library Journal) * Winner of the Locus Award for Best Horror...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

12

Stonewall : the definitive story of the LGBTQ rights uprising that changed America
Duberman, Martin B.
Paper Book
"As scholars we should read Stonewall, and as teachers we should assign it. All of us will be challenged to build on it."-Michael Sherry, Northwestern Univ. "Both a fascinating account of the birth of gay liberation and a replay of the turbulent, society-changing 60s."-San Francisco Chronicle.
Also available in eBook format.

13

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.

14

Gender queer : a memoir
Kobabe, Maia
Paper Book
2020 ALA Alex Award Winner 2020 Stonewall -- Israel Fishman Non-fiction Award Honor Book In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was...

Also available in eBook and eaudiobook format.

15

Gender queer : a memoir
Kobabe, Maia
Paper Book
2020 ALA Alex Award Winner 2020 Stonewall -- Israel Fishman Non-fiction Award Honor Book In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was...

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.

16

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.

17

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...

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.

18

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.

19

I'm so glad we had this time together : a memoir
Vellekoop, Maurice
Paper Book
An astonishing, epic graphic memoir in the spirit of Fun Home by Alison Bechdel and Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe "I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together is that rarest of things- a book about coming out to a loving yet conservative family that is as heartrending to...

Also available in eBook format.

Canadian author.

20

Gay girl prayers poems
Austin, Emily (Emily R.)
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2025 ARCHIBALD LAMPMAN AWARD FOR POETRY A collection of poetry reclaiming Catholic prayers and biblical passages to empower girls, women, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. The extreme level of sass in Emily Austin's Gay Girl Prayers does...

Also available in eBook format.

Canadian author.

21

Transgender History, Third Edition: A Resource for Today's Struggle--And Tomorrow's
Stryker, Susan
Paper Book
The groundbreaking guide to trans history in America, revised and updated for a new political era. Transgender History is the modern classic on transgender life in America since the nineteenth century, encompassing the major movements, writings, and...

Also available in eBook format.

22

The idea of an entire life : poems
Belcourt, Billy-Ray
Paper Book
One of Time's 100 Must-Read Books of 2025 From award-winning Driftpile Cree poet Billy-Ray Belcourt, a dazzling exploration of love, anguish, queerness, and Indigenous resistance in the 21st century Queer Indigenous poet Billy-Ray Belcourt offers up a...

Canadian Author

23

A two-spirit journey : the autobiography of a lesbian Ojibwa-Cree elder
Chacaby, Ma-Nee
Paper Book
Winner of Canada Reads 2025 From her early, often harrowing memories of life and abuse in a remote Ojibwa community, Ma-Nee Chacaby's extraordinary story is one of enduring and ultimately overcoming the social and economic legacies of colonialism. As a child, Chacaby learned...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook format.

Canadian Author.


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