It's Pride Month, and the Library has a new list of reading recommendations highlighting LGBTQ voices. Some books are recently published, some have been around for awhile; some are specifically about queerness, and for others queerness is just one part of the author’s intersectional identity. We hope that you'll find something here that resonates with you. All  of these titles are available through NYPL’s SimplyE App.

The Tradition by Jericho Brown

This poetry collection explores cultural threats on black bodies, resistance, and the interplay of desire and privilege in a dangerous era. Poems of fatherhood, legacy, blackness, queerness, worship, and trauma.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden

An epic graphic novel about a girl who travels to the ends of the universe to find a long lost love. It has coming-of-age friendships, young love, nonbinary gender, adult queer role models, oh, and spaceships.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez

Originally published in 1991, this is a black lesbian historical vampire novel where women escape from slavery and from the confines of mortality to create their own bonds of community and support.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Life by Brandon Taylor

A novel of startling intimacy, violence, and mercy among friends that features a Black, queer young man in a Midwestern college town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Naturally Tan by Tan France

The Queer Eye fashion expert and designer recounts his complicated early life as a closeted gay youth from a traditional South Asian family in England, sharing insights into his coming of age, emergence as an artist, and happy marriage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A sci-fi story of chosen family and survival from a trans novelist. A reluctant revolutionary survives exile by forging an unusual, world-changing bond with a family of ice creatures that live outside the human confines of their dying planet. 

When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele

A lyrical memoir by Khan-Cullors, a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, with author and activist bandele, that urges readers to understand the movement's position of love, humanity and justice, challenging perspectives that have negatively labeled the movement's activists while calling for essential political changes.

Fairest by Meredith Talusan

A coming-of-age memoir that describes Talusan's experiences as a Filipino boy with albinism, a white immigrant Harvard student, a transgender woman and an artist whose work reflects illusions in race, disability, and gender.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn

A beautifully layered portrait of motherhood, immigration, and the sacrifices we make in the name of love. After finally obtaining a temporary visa to America, Patsy leaves behind her family in Jamaica, only to discover that life as an undocumented immigrant is not what her best friend and former lover had described.

Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out by Ruth King

Drawing on her expertise as a meditation teacher and diversity consultant, King helps readers of all backgrounds examine with fresh eyes the complexity of racial identity and the dynamics of oppression. She offers guided instructions on how to work with our own role in the story of race and shows us how to cultivate a culture of care to come to a place of greater clarity and compassion.

 

 

 

 

 

A Wild and Precious Life by Edie Windsor

A selection in honor of the recent Supreme Court Title VII decision. The LGBT rights activist and lead plaintiff for the United States v. Windsor Supreme Court case chronicles decades of gay life in New York City while exploring her advocacy role in promoting marriage equality.

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Don't forget to "return" your e-books when you're done—the sooner you return them, the sooner someone else can use them.

Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend. And check out our Staff Picks browse tool for more recommendations!