Rainbow Reads for Adults

Recommended books by and about 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.

Updated March 25, 2024
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.

1

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.

2

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...

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.

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

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.

5

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 format.

6

Rubyfruit jungle
Brown, Rita Mae.
Paper Book
Rubyfruit Jungle is the first milestone novel in the extraordinary career of one of this country's most distinctive writers. Bawdy and moving, the ultimate word-of-mouth bestseller, Rubyfruit Jungle is about growing up a lesbian in America – and living happily ever after. ...

7

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...

Canadian author.

8

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...
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.

9

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.

10

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.

11

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.

12

A history of my brief body
Belcourt, Billy-Ray
Paper Book
Lambda Literary Award, Finalist / "A Best Book of 2020" --Kirkus Reviews, Book Riot, CBC, Globe and Mail, Largehearted Boy. "Stunning... Happiness, this beautiful book says, is the ultimate act of resistance." --Michelle Hart, O, The Oprah Magazine The youngest ever winner of...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

13

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.

14

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.

15

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...

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 ».

16

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...

17

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...

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.

18

The tiger flu : a novel
Lai, Larissa
Ebook
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.

19

Polar vortex
Mootoo, Shani
Paper Book
It seemed like a good idea to both Priya and Alex to cement their newish, later-in-life relationship by leaving the past behind to create a new life together. But there's leaving the past behind - and then there's running away from awkward histories. Priya seems totally committed to her relationship...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

20

My government means to kill me
Newson, Rasheed
Paper Book
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 BEL-AIR tells a fierce and...
Also available in eBook format.

21

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.

22

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.

23

The foghorn echoes
Ramadan, Ahmad Danny
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FOR GAY FICTION Hussam and Wassim are teenage boys living in Syria during America's 2003 invasion of Iraq. When a surprise discovery results in tragedy, their lives, and those of their families, are shattered. Wassim promises Hussam his protection, but ten years...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

24

Juliet takes a breath
Rivera, Gabby
Paper Book
Juliet Milagros Palante is leaving the Bronx and headed to Portland, Oregon. She just came out to her family and isn't sure if her mom will ever speak to her again. But Juliet has a plan, sort of, one that's going to help her figure out this whole "Puerto Rican lesbian" thing. She's interning with...
Also available in eBook format.

25

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.

26

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.

27

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.

28

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.

29

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 ...

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.

30

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.

31

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

32

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...

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.

33

Orlando : a biography
Woolf, Virginia
Paper Book
"Come, come! I'm sick to death of this particular self. I want another." As his tale begins, Orlando is a passionate sixteen-year-old nobleman whose days are spent in rowdy revelry, filled with the colorful delights of Queen Elizabeth I's court. By the close,...
Also available in eBook format.

34

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...

35

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.

36

Stonewall
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.

37

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...

38

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 powerful compendium...

39

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.

40

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.

41

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.

42

High school
Quin, Sara
Paper Book
NOW AN 8-EPISODE FREEVEE TELEVISION SERIES! -- From the iconic musicians Tegan and Sara comes a memoir about high school, detailing their first loves and first songs in a compelling look back at their humble beginnings. High School is the revelatory and...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian authors.

43

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.

44

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

45

I'm so glad we had this time together
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...

Canadian author.

46

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.

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.