Rainbow Reads for Adults

Recommended books by and about 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.

Updated May 8, 2025
W
Winnipeg Public Library
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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

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.

3

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...

4

SWEET STING OF SALT
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.

5

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.

6

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.

7

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.

8

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.

9

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...

10

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.

11

A dream of a woman : stories
Plett, Casey
Ebook

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

12

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.

13

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.

14

Jonny Appleseed : a novel
Whitehead, Joshua (Writer)
Ebook

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author

15

Jonny Appleseed
Whitehead, Joshua (Writer)
Ebook

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.

16

Orlando
Woolf, Virginia
Audiobook
Moving from one century into the next, oblivious to time and dimension, Orlando consorts with writers and monarchs, actors and gypsies, dropping one fashion and folly for another, and waking up at the end of a deep sleep, not only in a different age, but in a different gender. When it was published...
Also available in eBook format.

17

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.

18

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 and eaudiobook format.

19

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...

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.

20

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.

21

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.

22

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.

23

This one looks like a boy : my gender journey to life as a man
Shenher, Lorimer
Ebook
Also available in eAudiobook format.

24

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.

25

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)! A Locus Award Finalist! Misha knows that...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

26

Woodworking a novel
St. James, Emily.
Paper Book
"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 one of America's most...

27

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.


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