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

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

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.

6

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.

7

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.

8

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.

9

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.

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...

11

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.

12

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.

13

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.

14

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.

15

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.

16

Orlando : a biography
Woolf, Virginia
Paper Book
Begun as a "joke," Orlando is Virginia Woolf's fantastical biography of a poet who first appears as a sixteen-year-old boy at the court of Elizabeth I, and is left at the novel's end a married woman in the year 1928. Part love letter to Vita Sackville-West, part exploration of the art of biography,...
Also available in eBook format.

17

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.

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...

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.

19

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.

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...

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.

21

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.

22

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.

23

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...

24

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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