LGBTQIA+ Pride Month

June is LGBTQIA+ Pride Month! Celebrate the history and literary contributions of LGBTQIA+ communities with these library titles.

This list was compiled by South Pasadena Public Library staff and members of the South Pasadena Public Library Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Committee.

Updated June 3, 2025
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Fun home : a family tragicomic
Bechdel, Alison
Paper Book
CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED, NATIONAL BESTSELLER  ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY Time Magazine #1 Book of the Year * National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist  Winner of the Stonewall Book Award * Double finalist for...
Manhunt
Felker-Martin, Gretchen
Paper Book
"By far the best book I've read this year." --Roxane Gay #1 Best Book of 2022 (Vulture) * A Best Horror Novel of All Time (Cosmopolitan) * One of the Best Horror Novels of 2022 (Esquire, Library Journal, Paste, and CrimeReads...
The pink line : journeys across the world's queer frontiers
Gevisser, Mark
Paper Book
One of TIME's 100 Must-Read Books of 2020. Longlisted for the 2021 Rathbones Folio Prize. "[Mark] Gevisser is clear-eyed and wise enough to have a sharp sense of how tough the struggle has been, and how hard it will be now for those who have not succeeded in finding...
A psalm for the wild-built
Chambers, Becky
Paper Book
Winner of the Hugo Award! In A Psalm for the Wild-Built, bestselling Becky Chambers's delightful new Monk and Robot series, gives us hope for the future. It's been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools;...
Cantoras
De Robertis, Carolina
Paper Book
"Cantoras is a stunning lullaby to revolution--and each woman in this novel sings it with a deep ferocity. Again and again, I was lifted, then gently set down again--either through tears, rage, or laughter. Days later, I am still inside this song of a story." --Jacqueline Woodson, National...
Last night at the Telegraph Club
Lo, Malinda
Paper Book
Winner of the National Book Award A New York Times Bestseller A Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of the Century "The queer romance we've been waiting for."--Ms. Magazine Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can't remember exactly when the...
Oye : a novel
Mogollon, Melissa
Paper Book
A coming-of-age comedy. A telenovela-worthy drama. A moving family saga. All in a phone call you won't want to hang up on. "A portrait of love, heartache, and hilarity that transcends its medium."--Elle (The Best Literary Fiction Books of 2024, So Far) "Brilliant...
The guncle : a novel
Rowley, Steven
Paper Book
Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, for short), has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. That is, he loves spending time with them when they come out to Palm Springs for weeklong visits. However, tragedy strikes and Patrick suddenly finds himself taking on the role of primary guardian....
Greta & Valdin
Reilly, Rebecca K.
Paper Book
A TIME MUST-READ BOOK OF THE YEAR * A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE * AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR "A heartfelt portrait of a complex family." --People * "Laugh-out-loud-funny." --Harper's Bazaar *...
Maurice
Forster, E. M.
Paper Book
Maurice Hall is a young man who grows up confident in his privileged status and well aware of his role in society. Modest and generally conformist, he nevertheless finds himself increasingly attracted to his own sex. Through Clive, whom he encounters at Cambridge, and through Alec, the gamekeeper on...
Giovanni's room
Baldwin, James
Paper Book
From one of the most brilliant and provocative literary figures of the past century comes a groundbreaking novel set among the bohemian bars and nightclubs of 1950s Paris, about love and the fear of love--"a book that belongs in the top rank of fiction" (The Atlantic). ...
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...
The color purple
Walker, Alice
Paper Book
A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick Winner of the Pulitzer Prize * Winner of the National Book Award   Published to unprecedented acclaim,The Color Purple established Alice Walker as a major voice in...
The price of salt
Highsmith, Patricia
Paper Book
"A great American writer...Highsmith's writing is wicked...it puts a spell on you." --Entertainment Weekly Patricia Highsmith's story of romantic obsession may be one of the most important, but still largely unrecognized, novels of the twentieth century. First published in...
The picture of Dorian Gray
Wilde, Oscar
Paper Book
Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait...
Better living through birding : notes from a Black man in the natural world
Cooper, Christian
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMESBESTSELLER . Central Park birder Christian Cooper takes us beyond the viral video that shocked a nation and into a world of avian adventures, global excursions, and the unexpected lessons you can learn from a life spent looking up. "Wondrous . . ....
How far the light reaches : a life in ten sea creatures
Imbler, Sabrina
Paper Book
A fascinating tour of creatures from the surface to the deepest ocean floor: this "miraculous, transcendental book" invites us to envision wilder, grander, and more abundant possibilities for the way we live (Ed Yong, author of An Immense World). A queer, mixed race...
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...
Reclaiming two-spirits : sexuality, spiritual renewal, & sovereignty in Native America
Smithers, Gregory D.
Paper Book
Winner of the 2023 Prose Award in Cultural Anthropology and SociologyFinalist for the 2023 Publishing Triangle Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction A sweeping history of Indigenous traditions of gender, sexuality, and resistance that reveals how, despite centuries of colonialism,...
Ace : what asexuality reveals about desire, society, and the meaning of sex
Chen, Angela
Paper Book
An engaging exploration of what it means to be asexual in a world that's obsessed with sexual attraction, and what the ace perspective can teach all of us about desire and identity. What exactly is sexual attraction and what is it like to go through life not experiencing it? What...
Gay bar : why we went out
Lin, Jeremy Atherton
Paper Book
National Book Critics Circle Award Winner NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY: The New York Times * NPR * Vogue * Gay Times * Artforum * "Gay Bar is an absolute tour de force." -Maggie Nelson ...
Cemetery boys
Thomas, Aiden
Paper Book
Longlisted for the National Book Award! A New York Times Bestseller! A YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Top Ten pick! "Goundbreaking." -Entertainment Weekly A trans boy determined to prove his gender to his traditional Latinx family...
Loveless
Oseman, Alice
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE YA BOOK PRIZE 2021 LONGLISTED FOR THE POLARI CHILDREN'S & YA BOOK PRIZE 2022 A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The fourth novel from the phenomenally talented Alice Oseman, author of Solitaire and the graphic novel series Heartstopper - now a major Netflix series. ...
Lark & Kasim start a revolution
Callender, Kacen
Paper Book
From National Book Award-winner Kacen Callender, Lark & Kasim Start a Revolution is a contemporary YA that follows Lark's journey to speak the truth and discover how their own self-love can be a revolution. "A hilarious and bold love story...
Be gay, do comics! : queer history, memoir, and satire from The Nib
Bors, Matt
Paper Book
The dream of a queer separatist town. The life of a gay and Jewish Nazi-fighter. A gender reveal party that tears apart reality. These are the just some of the comics you'll find in this massive queer comics anthology from The Nib. Be Gay, Do Comics is filled with...
Detransition, baby : a novel
Peters, Torrey
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * The lives of three women--transgender and cisgender--collide after an unexpected pregnancy forces them to confront their deepest desires in "one of the most celebrated novels of the year" (Time) "Reading this novel is like holding a live...
Beyond the gender binary
Vaid-Menon, Alok
Paper Book
Winner of the 2021 In The Margins Award "When reading this book, all I feel is kindness."-- Sam Smith, Grammy and Oscar award-winning singer and songwriter "Thank God we have Alok. And I'm learning a thing or two myself."--Billy Porter, Emmy award-winning actor,...
Felix ever after
Callender, Kacen
Paper Book
A Stonewall Honor Book * A Time Magazine Best YA Book of All Time From Stonewall and Lambda Award-winning author Kacen Callender comes a revelatory YA novel about a transgender teen grappling with identity and self-discovery while falling in love for the first time. Felix Love has...
We the animals
Torres, Justin.
Paper Book
ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY The critically acclaimed debut from the National Book Award-winning author of Blackouts. In this award-winning, groundbreaking novel, Justin Torres plunges us into the chaotic heart of one family, the intense bonds of...
Call me by your name
Aciman, André.
Paper Book
Now a Major Motion Picture from Director Luca Guadagnino, Starring Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet, and Written by Three-Time Oscar(tm) Nominee James Ivory The Basis of the Oscar-Winning Best Adapted Screenplay A New York Times Bestseller A...

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