Rainbow Reads for Adults

Recommended books by and about 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.

Updated March 25, 2024
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

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.

5

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.

6

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.

7

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.

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...

Also available in eBook format.

9

The hairdresser of Harare
Huchu, Tendai
Ebook
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
Tendai Huchu
Ebook
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

My government means to kill me
Newson, Rasheed
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER · 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...
Also available in eBook format.

12

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.

13

Juliet takes a breath
Rivera, Gabby
Paper Book
"F***ing outstanding."--Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author Juliet Milagros Palante is a self-proclaimed closeted Puerto Rican baby dyke from the Bronx. Only, she's not so closeted anymore. Not after coming out to her family the night before flying to Portland,...
Also available in eBook format.

14

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.

15

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.

16

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 * A...
Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

17

Un bref instant de splendeur : roman
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 * A...

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.

18

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

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author

19

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.

20

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...

21

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.

22

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.

23

Mamaskatch : a Cree coming of age
McLeod, Darrel J.
Ebook
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.

24

Mamaskatch
McLeod, Darrel J.
Ebook
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.

25

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.

26

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.

27

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

28

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...

Canadian author.


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