Rainbow Reads for Adults

Recommended books by and about 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.

Updated May 8, 2025
W
Winnipeg Public Library
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

Arrête Avec Tes Mensonges: Roman
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

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

6

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.

7

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.

8

Transitions : Journal D'Anne Marbot
Elodie Durand
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
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.

13

The tiger flu : a novel
Lai, Larissa
Paper Book
WINNER, Lambda Literary Award In this visionary novel by Larissa Lai -- her first in sixteen years -- a community of parthenogenic women, sent into exile by patriarchal and corporate Salt Water City, go to war against disease, technology, and an economic system that threatens them...

Also available in eBook format.

Canadian author.

14

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 friend, Prakash,...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

15

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.

16

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.

17

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.

18

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.

19

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.

20

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.

21

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

22

Jonny Appleseed
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.

23

Orlando
Woolf, Virginia
Paper Book
'I feel the need of an escapade after these serious poetic experimental books...I want to kick up my heels & be off.' Orlando tells the tale of an extraordinary individual who lives through centuries of English history, first as a man, then as a woman; of his/her encounters with queens,...
Also available in eBook format.

24

The gospel of breaking
Christmas, Jillian
Paper Book
In The Gospel of Breaking, Jillian Christmas confirms what followers of her performance and artistic curation have long known: there is magic in her words. Befitting someone who "speaks things into being," Christmas extracts from family history, queer lineage, and the political landscape of a...
Canadian author.

25

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.

26

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...

27

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.

28

Genre queer une autobiographie non binaire
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.

29

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.

30

Mamaskatch : a Cree coming of age
McLeod, Darrel J.
Paper Book
Growing up in the tiny village of Smith, Alberta, Darrel J. McLeod was surrounded by his Cree family's history. In shifting and unpredictable stories, his mother, Bertha, shared narratives of their culture, their family and the cruelty that she and her sisters endured in residential school....

Also available in DAISY and eBook formats.

Canadian author.

31

Mamaskatch
McLeod, Darrel J.
Paper Book
Growing up in the tiny village of Smith, Alberta, Darrel J. McLeod was surrounded by his Cree family's history. In shifting and unpredictable stories, his mother, Bertha, shared narratives of their culture, their family and the cruelty that she and her sisters endured in residential school....

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.

32

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.

33

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.

34

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.

35

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.

36

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...

Also available in eBook format.

Canadian author.

37

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...

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