Held in June to honor the 1969 Stonewall uprising, Pride Month celebrates and affirms the worth and vitality of the LGBTQ community. Titles in this collection include notable fiction and nonfiction works by LGBTQ authors and those writing about LGBTQ topics, including Audre Lorde, Douglas Stuart, and Amy Ellis Nutt.
Publication year 1998
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Gender, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Identity: Race, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Music, Identity: Sexuality
Tags Historical Fiction, LGBTQ, Music, Grief / Death, Race / Racism, Love / Sexuality, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Identity: Sexuality
Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction
Publication year 2005
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Society: Community, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Sexuality
Tags Fantasy, Romance, Action / Adventure, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Religion / Spirituality
Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer, is a young adult adventure-romance about a teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire. Her struggle to build a relationship in a world filled with suspicion and danger helped make the book a number-one New York Times bestseller. The novel launched the Twilight book series including New Moon (2006), Breaking Dawn (2008), and Midnight Sun (2020), which has sold more than 100 million copies and received multiple young reader... Read Twilight Summary
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Family, Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger
Tags Romance, New Adult, Fairy Tale / Folklore, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Fantasy
Publication year 2013
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: The Past, Relationships: Family
Tags Realistic Fiction, LGBTQ, Depression / Suicide, Love / Sexuality, Parenting, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance
David Levithan’s 2013 young adult novel Two Boys Kissing is narrated from the perspective of the gay men who died during the 1980s HIV/AIDS epidemic. This chorus, resembling that of ancient Greek theater, observes the novel’s present-day characters—several gay teenage boys in neighboring American small towns—as they explore love, relationship, and identity. The central narrative follows two boys, Harry and Craig, who attempt to break the Guinness World Record for longest continuous kiss by kissing... Read Two Boys Kissing Summary
Publication year 1995
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Sexuality, Relationships: Family, Identity: Gender, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Self Discovery
Tags LGBTQ, Gender / Feminism, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Love / Sexuality, Biography
Two or Three Things I Know for Sure is a 1995 memoir by American author and activist Dorothy Allison, a native of Greenville, South Carolina. A coming-of-age story that examines feminism and lesbian identity in the context of the patriarchal norms of the South, the book uses both narrative and photographs to tell the stories of the women in Allison’s family and their complex relationships with the men who both loved and abused them. Her... Read Two or Three Things I Know for Sure Summary
Publication year 2015
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Sexuality
Tags LGBTQ, History: World, Historical Fiction
Published in 2015, Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta is historical fiction set during and after the Nigerian Civil War, written in a style of literary realism that incorporates elements of Nigerian folklore. Under the Udala Trees can is also categorized as LGBT+ literature—it won “Best Lesbian Fiction” in the 2016 Lambda Literary Awards.Plot SummaryOur first-person narrator Ijeoma is a young Igbo girl living in Ojoto during the Nigerian Civil War. After her father... Read Under the Udala Trees Summary
Publication year 2004
Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Femininity, Identity: Gender, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Sexuality
Tags Gender / Feminism, Sociology, LGBTQ, Philosophy, Philosophy
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Gender, Identity: Sexuality, Relationships: Family, Society: Class, Identity: Mental Health
Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Historical Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Trauma / Abuse / Violence
Publication year 2020
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Gender, Identity: Sexuality, Identity: Femininity, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt
Tags Gender / Feminism, LGBTQ, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Self Help, Biography
Published in 2020, Glennon Doyle’s Untamed is her third memoir. An accomplished writer, philanthropist, and activist, Doyle documents her lifelong journey of self-discovery and uses personal experiences to encourage women on their own respective journeys towards freedom. Through the intersections of gender, sexuality, religion, and race, Doyle unpacks the social conditioning that affects the lives of all humans, particularly women. Ultimately, Doyle offers a reflective guide to navigating life by looking internally and honoring one’s... Read Untamed Summary
Publication year 1870
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Femininity, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Sexuality, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed
Tags Love / Sexuality, Psychology, Psychology, Romance, Classic Fiction
Venus in Furs (1870) is a novella by Austrian writer Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, first published as part of his proposed collection of short stories, The Legacy of Cain. Sacher-Masoch planned for the collection to detail his worldview, but he only completed the first two sections. The novella follows Severin von Kusiemski’s time with Wanda von Dunajew, a widow he meets at a health resort, and explores The Exploration of Sexual Power Dynamics, The Psychological Negotiation... Read Venus in Furs Summary
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Joy, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: The Future, Life/Time: The Past, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Mothers, Self Discovery, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Fate, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt
Tags Fantasy, Romance
Publication year 1997
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Race, Identity: Gender, Identity: Sexuality
Tags Race / Racism, Gender / Feminism, LGBTQ, History: U.S., Class, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), History: World, Social Justice
Publication year 2016
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Sexuality, Relationships: Friendship, Life/Time: Mortality & Death
Tags Magical Realism, LGBTQ, Mental Illness, Bullying, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Depression / Suicide, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Fantasy, Romance
We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson is a young adult science fiction novel that follows the coming-of-age story of Henry, a teenager whose life is in shambles. Hutchinson uses the first-person point-of-view of his protagonist to explore themes of family, grief, universal unknowns, and the development of identity. Published in 2016, Hutchinson’s novel questions the value of human life while incorporating science fiction elements to portray the smallness of human existence in the... Read We Are the Ants Summary
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Mental Health, Identity: Race, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Grandparents, Self Discovery, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, LGBTQ, Romance, Realistic Fiction, Race / Racism
Publication year 2019
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Sexuality, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Identity: Gender, Society: Community, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Family, Self Discovery, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Society: Immigration
Tags Gender / Feminism, LGBTQ, Immigration / Refugee, Religion / Spirituality, Biography
Publication year 1968
Genre Short Story, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Gender, Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: The Future, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Equality
Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Satire, Love / Sexuality, Post Modernism
“Welcome to the Monkey House” is a short story written by Kurt Vonnegut that was originally published in Playboy Magazine in 1968. It was republished in a short story collection entitled Welcome to the Monkey House that same year. Set in a not-too-distant dystopian future, Vonnegut uses science fiction to darkly satirize the moral restrictions on birth control in 1968. The characters of Nancy McLuhan, a suicide hostess responsible for administering lethal injections, and Billy... Read Welcome to the Monkey House Summary
Publication year 1932
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Identity: Sexuality, Natural World: Nurture v. Nature
Tags Lyric Poem, Animals, Love / Sexuality, British Literature
Publication year 2000
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Identity: Gender, Identity: Sexuality
Tags Lyric Poem, Gender / Feminism, Relationships, Love / Sexuality
Publication year 1966
Genre Short Story, Fiction
Themes Identity: Gender, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Coming of Age
Tags Classic Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Psychological Fiction, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Gender / Feminism, Parenting, American Literature, Post-War Era, Education, Education, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction