Rainbow Reads for Adults

Recommended books by and about 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.

Updated March 25, 2024
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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
Besson, Philippe
Paper Book
"I remember the movement of his hips pressing against the pinball machine. This one sentence had me in its grip until the end. Two young men find each other, always fearing that life itself might be the villain standing in their way. A stunning and heart-gripping tale." --André Aciman,...

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
Besson, Philippe
Paper Book
"I remember the movement of his hips pressing against the pinball machine. This one sentence had me in its grip until the end. Two young men find each other, always fearing that life itself might be the villain standing in their way. A stunning and heart-gripping tale." --André Aciman,...

Also available in eBook format.

5

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.

6

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.

7

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.

8

Rubyfruit jungle.
Brown, Rita Mae
Paper Book
Rubyfruit Jungleis 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 Jungleis about growing up a lesbian in America – and living happily ever after. Born a bastard, Molly...

9

A Sweet Sting of Salt: A Novel
Sutherland, Rose
Paper Book
In 19th century Nova Scotia, village midwife Jean Langille's first love ended in a quiet scandal: her childhood sweetheart married to a man on the far side of the colony, Jean's reputation in tatters. Now, all she wants is to be left alone in her cottage by the shore, to do her work and try to...

Canadian author.

10

Transitions : A Mother's Journey.
NULL
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.

11

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.

12

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.

13

A history of my brief body : a memoir /
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.

14

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.

15

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.

16

Girl, woman, other.
Evaristo, Bernardine, 1959-
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 ».

17

The tiger flu : a novel
Lai, Larissa
Paper Book
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.

18

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...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

19

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.

20

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.

21

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.

22

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.

23

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.

24

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.

25

The subtweet : a novel
Shraya, Vivek
Paper Book
2021 Dublin Literary Award Finalist 2021 Lambda Literary Awards Finalist for Transgender Fiction 2020 Toronto Book Awards Finalist "The Subtweet is affecting, unnerving, empowering, and often truly LOL." -- Foreword Reviews, starred review ...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

26

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.

27

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.

28

On earth we're briefly gorgeous.
Vuong, Ocean, 1988-
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.

29

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.

30

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

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...

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.

32

Orlando.
Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941
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.

33

The gospel of breaking
Christmas, Jillian
Paper Book
Winner, Writers' Trust of Canada Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ Emerging Writers Shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award and the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award In The Gospel of Breaking, Jillian Christmas confirms what followers of her performance and artistic...
Canadian author.

34

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.

35

My art is killing me, and other poems
Dawn, Amber
Paper Book
In this, her second poetry collection, Amber Dawn takes stock of the costs of coming out on the page in a heartrendingly honest and intimate investigation of the toll that artmaking takes on artists. These long poems offer difficult truths within their intricate narratives that are alternately...
Canadian author.

36

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...

37

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...

38

Gender queer
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.

39

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.

40

Mamaskatch
McLeod, Darrel J.
Paper Book

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.

41

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.

42

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.

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: A Memoir
Vellekoop, Maurice
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE TORONTO BOOK AWARD "An utter treat among graphic novels. This beautiful, honest coming-of-age tale is a standout in its quality.... One of the best books so far this year." --Toronto Star For fans of Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, I'm So Glad...

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.

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