Queer Joy
A curated booklist by your favorite SPL librarians!
June 2023
Fiction | Nonfiction | Graphic Novels
Fiction
Book Boyfriend by Kris Ripper
In this queer friends-to-lovers romance, writer Preston “PK” Kingsley has been lovesick over best friend Art ever since they shared a drunken kiss in college. Five years post-kiss, PK writes a book under a pen name about himself and Art. But when Art finds out the truth, they’re less than pleased. Can PK win them back, or has he lost his best friend and any chance at love? |
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Boys Come First by Aaron Foley
Following an abrupt layoff and harsh break up, Dominick flees to the safety of his Detroit hometown to lick his wounds. There, he bonds with Troy and Remy as the three test the bounds of friendship while finding their place as Black, queer individuals in their ever changing city. |
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Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
The worlds of three women– both transgender and cisgender– converge when one of them faces an unexpected pregnancy. As they confront their inner truths around gender, motherhood, and sex, they also must decide if they can raise the baby together as an unconventional, found family. A witty and heartwarming award-winning story. |
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Less by Andrew Sean Greer
Approaching his fiftieth birthday, author Arthur Less books gigs all around the globe to avoid attending the wedding of his ex-boyfriend. In his travels, he encounters love, nostalgia, and mishaps of comic proportions. Critically acclaimed and highly awarded, Book List Review calls Less a “wondrous achievement” in their starred review. |
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Love and Other Disasters by Anita Kelly
Looking for a fresh start, newly divorced Dahlia Woodson decides to compete in a popular reality cooking show. Soon she and fellow contestant, London, the show’s first openly nonbinary competitor, are falling hard for each other. Emotions reach a boiling point when the show’s producers cook up some drama and place Dahlia and London in the center of it. |
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Milk Fed by Melissa Broder
A young Jewish woman finds freedom from years of restrictive eating after meeting a food-loving Orthodox Jewish woman. While taking a therapist-recommended 90 day detox from her mother, Rachel gets drawn in by Miriam, a yogurt shop employee who insists on filling Rachel’s cup to the brim. Through their impassioned affair, Rachel finds her inner peace. |
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Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett
A darkly humorous, offbeat story about family, grief, and taxidermy. After her dad unalives himself in the family’s taxidermy shop, Jessa-Lynn Morton takes over the failing business while her family grieves. As Jessa-Lynn seeks illegal ways to revive the business and pines for her brother’s wife, her mother gets carried away making lewd art for the shop, pushing the Mortons to the brink. |
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Rainbow Rainbow by Lydia Conklin
These 10 moving, authentic short stories showcase queer, trans, and gender-nonconforming characters in their quests for love and human connection. In “Laramie Time,” partners Leigh and Maggie decide to move from the city and start a family. In “Sunny Talks,” a closeted nonbinary person accompanies their openly trans nephew to a convention for trans vloggers. |
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Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Alexis Hall
Bisexual single mom Rosaline is trying her best to keep her finances afloat, but fees from her daughter’s school threaten to put her in the red. Luckily, Rosaline gets chosen to compete for top prize in the nation’s hottest baking competition. Charming Alain and down-to-earth Harry vying for Rosaline’s affection also steam up the competition! |
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Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall
A whimsical and witty banter-filled queer Regency romance. When Valentine, Duke of Malvern, gets jilted by fiancée Arabella Tarleton, Arabella’s outraged–and delightfully over the top– twin brother, Bonaventure, drags Valentine along to search for the runaway bride. Hijinks and tropes unfold as the Duke realizes he’s been chasing after the wrong twin. |
Nonfiction
All the Things They Said We Couldn’t Have: Stories of Trans Joy by Tash Oakes-Monger
This series of hopeful, uplifting personal stories shares seasons of joy in the life of trans, nonbinary author T. C. Oakes-Monger. Acknowledging that the media and pop culture often inject fear and dysphoria into the trans narrative, Oakes-Monger portrays a softer, joyful tale of love, acceptance, and personal triumph. |
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The Book of Non-Binary Joy: Embracing the Power of You by Ben Pechey
With warmth, humor, and love, this helpful, hopeful guide by nonbinary writer Ben Pechey offers insight, compassion, and vulnerability as they share personal anecdotes, words of wisdom, and more on topics from mental health and pleasure to fashion and self-expression for nonbinary folks. |
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The Book of Pride: LGBTQ Heroes Who Changed the World by Mason Funk
Encapsulating the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement from the 1960s to present day, this inspiring collection of interviews preserves the history of the leaders, activists, and ordinary individuals who’ve fought for freedom and equality despite threats of violence and persecution. |
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Boyslut: A Memoir and Manifesto by Zachary Zane
In this highly anticipated book of 2023, sex and relationship columnist Zachary Zane, who is bisexual and polyamorous, shares a candid and witty selection of personal essays from coming-of-age and coming out to embracing and expressing his true self unabashedly. |
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Brace for Impact by Gabe Montesanti
Growing up in an abusive, conservative environment left author Gabe Montesanti with trust issues, an eating disorder, and constant fear. But after entering graduate school, and vowing to move past childhood trauma, Montesanti joins one of the country’s top ranking roller derby teams, and discovers community, safety, belonging, and acceptance of her queer identity. |
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Burning My Roti: Breaking Barriers as a Queer Indian Woman by Sharan Dhaliwal
From sexual and cultural identity to body hair, colorism, mental health, and the debilitating beauty standards placed on South Asian women, author Sharan Dhaliwal speaks openly about life as a queer woman of color. Part memoir, part guide, this powerful and personal book is an encouraging and uplifting read that will resonate with many. |
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¡Hola Papi!: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons by John Paul Brammer
Popular writer and LGBTQ+ advice columnist John Paul Brammer offers a selection of riotous and inspiring personal essays on everything from his closeted childhood and growing up biracial in America’s heartland, to finding his voice and place in the world while working as an advice columnist in Brooklyn. |
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Save Yourself by Cameron Esposito
Heartwarming and honest, queer comic, writer, and actor Cameron Esposito shares her token self-deprecating humor along with more somber moments of wisdom in reflections on gender, sexuality, religion, and social power dynamics. |
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Tasty Pride: 75 Recipes and Stories From the Queer Food Community by Jesse Szewczyk
This collection of 75 recipes from prominent LGBTQ+ cooks and foodies offers heartwarming dishes and stories, with personal tales of love, pride, and acceptance. In addition to stories about the important role of food in connecting communities, you’ll also find delicious recipes that are accessible for all levels of cooking. |
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The 2000s Made Me Gay: Essays on Pop Culture by Grace Perry
This laugh-out-loud collection of essays by regular Reductress and The Onion contributor, Grace Perry, serves a heaping scoop of nostalgia to the millennial masses. In this blend of memoir and cultural criticism, Perry touches on topics like “The Gospel According to Mean Girls,” and “Taylor Swift Made Me a U-Haul Dyke.” |
Graphic Novels
The Art of Drag by Jake Hall
A charming, accessible graphic novel showcasing the history of drag, celebrating it as the cheeky, glamorous, subversive art form that it is. From its ancient roots in mime and traditional theater to the present day, this book’s inset text and full-page illustrations covers everything from Shakespeare’s use of all male casts to modern day’s thriving New York ballroom scene. |
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Fungirl by Elizabeth Pich
Off-beat and racy with perfectly timed slapstick gags, this colorful, cartoony graphic novel about a queer, flaming hot mess of an adulting woman you can’t help but love is as funny as it is transgressive. Like the people she encounters in her daily disasters, Fungirl will burrow her way right into your heart. |
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How to Be Ace: A Memoir of Growing Up Asexual by Rebecca Burgess
Rebecca is navigating asexuality and mental health in a sex-obsessed world; while their peers obsess over crushes, Rebecca gets their thrills in the form of comic books. From being bullied to trying to fit in, Rebecca fights to find their own path as they try to manage their obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety. A brave, charming, and empowering tale. |
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Shadow Life by Hiromi Goto and Ann Xu
A smart, clever and magical award-winning graphic novel. Kumiko, an elderly bisexual woman, flees her assisted living facility for a secret bachelor pad where she hides out from family, indulging in small, daily pleasures. But Kumiko discovers that Death’s shadow has followed her to her hide-out. As she fist-fights Death, she wonders, is there any way to escape fate? |
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Thirsty Mermaids by Kat Leyh
A queer, colorful, fantasy full of hilarity and high jinx. Merfolks Tooth, Pearl, and Eez drink a potion that transforms their tails into legs and allows them to exist on dry land where they form a chosen family with Vivi, a bartender and trans woman of color, who schools them on everything from pop culture and breakfast foods to the horrors of capitalism. |