LGBTQIA+ Reads
Ace and aro journeys : a guide to embracing your asexual or aromantic identity
The Ace and Aro Advocacy Project, author
2023
"What does it mean to be ace or aro? How should I approach the challenges that come with being ace or aro? How can I best support the ace and aro people in my life? Join the The Ace and Aro Advocacy Project (TAAAP) for a deep dive into the process of discovering and embracing your ace and aro identities. Empower yourself to explore the nuances of your identity, find and develop support networks, explore different kinds of partnership, come out to your communities and find real joy within. Combining a rigorous exploration of identity and sexuality models with hundreds of candid and poignant testimonials -- this companion vouches for your personal truth, wherever you lie on the aspec spectrum. You are not invisible! You are among friends."-- Provided by publisher.
And Don't F&%k It Up : An Oral History of RuPaul's Drag Race (The First Ten Years).
Fernandez, Maria Elena.
2023
A definitive history and celebration of the groundbreaking show RuPaul's Drag Race. Told over the first ten years, this book tells a cultural history through the stories of the people who lived it. It follows the growth and evolution of the show - and its queens - through a decade of gag-worthy seasons, serving up all kinds of behind-the-scenes realness. With a history as shady and funny as it is dramatic and inspiring, this book shows how RuPaul's Drag Race is a mirror reflecting the cultural and political mores of our time. Print run 60,000.
Behind the scenes
Stetz-Waters, Karelia, author.
2023
Business consultant Rose Josten might not have officially reached "pug lady" middle age, but she's already got the pugs-along with their little Gucci coats and trash-lovin' appetites. Still, life is good, with her work, her sisters, and a secret hobby creating incredibly tactile (if surprisingly sexy) mindfulness videos. So why does it feel like it's not quite enough? Which is exactly when Ash Stewart enters camera left, and Rose's world suddenly goes full technicolor . . . Ash never looks at anyone. Not since her ex ripped her heart from her chest in Spielberg-esque style, crushing Ash's reputation, dreams, and career in one brutal blow. But Rose is altogether different. She's curvy, beautiful, and just so damn put together. And her business expertise might be Ash's best bet for getting her last film-and her last chance-financed. Now if they can just keep their attraction under wraps, Ash's lost dream could finally come true. But are they creating the perfect pitch . . . or setting the stage for disaster?
Bisexual men exist : a handbook for bisexual, pansexual, and m-spec men
Mehta, Vaneet, author.
2023
Being a bisexual man isn't easy-- something Vaneet Mehta knows all too well. After spending more than a decade figuring out his identity, Vaneet's coming out was met with questioning, ridicule, and erasure. This experience inspired Vaneet to create the viral #BisexualMenExist campaign, combatting the hate and scepticism m-spec (multi-gender attracted spectrum) men encounter, and helping others who felt similarly alone and trapped. This powerful book is an extension of that fight. Navigating a range of topics, including coming out, dating, relationships, and health, Vaneet shares his own lived experience as well as personal stories from others in the community to help validate and uplift other bisexual men. Discussing the treatment of m-spec men in LGBTQ+ places, breaking down stereotypes, and highlighting the importance of representation and education, this empowering book is a rallying call for m-spec men everywhere.
Breaking the rainbow ceiling : how LGBTQ+ people can thrive and succeed at work
McCay, Layla, author
2024
There are currently only four LGBTQ+ CEOs across all Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 companies, and just 0.8% of Fortune 500 board positions are filled by LGBTQ+ people. This book explores the hidden differences that cause LGBTQ+ people to be underrepresented at the most senior levels of professional life. Combining data with personal insights from over 40 prominent LGBTQ+ trailblazers, Layla McCay reveals the challenges that LGBTQ+ people commonly encounter as they find their way in work environments, and provides the practical strategies that can help empower LGBTQ+ people to reach their full professional potential.
Can't spell treason without tea : a cozy fantasy steeped with love
Thorne, Rebecca, author
2024
"All Reyna and Kianthe want is to open a bookshop that serves tea. Worn wooden floors, plants on every table, firelight drifting between the rafters ... all complemented by love and good company. Thing is, Reyna works as one of the Queen's private guards, and Kianthe is the most powerful mage in existence. Leaving their lives isn't so easy. But after an assassin takes Reyna hostage, she decides she's thoroughly done risking her life for a self-centered queen. Meanwhile, Kianthe has been waiting for a chance to flee responsibly -- all the better that her girlfriend is on board. Together, they settle in Tawney, a town nestled in the icy tundra near dragon country, and open the shop of their dreams. What follows is a cozy tale of mishaps, mysteries, and a murderous queen throwing the realm's biggest temper tantrum. In a story brimming with hurt/comfort and quiet fireside conversations, these two women will discover just what they mean to each other ... and the world."--Back cover
The Celebrants
Rowley, Steven.
2023
It's been twenty-eight years since their graduation and Jordy, Naomi, Craig, and Marielle find themselves at the brink of a new decade, with all the responsibilities of adulthood, yet no closer to having their lives figured out. Over the years they've reunited - but this reunion is different. A deeply honest tribute to the growing pains of selfhood and the people who keep us going, this is a moving tale about the false invincibility of youth, and the beautiful ways in which friendship helps us celebrate our lives, even amid the deepest challenges of living. Author of "The Guncle." Print run 75,000.
Dykette : A Novel.
Davis, Jenny Fran.
2023
Sasha and Jesse are professionally creative, erotically adventurous, and passionately dysfunctional twentysomethings making a life together. When a pair of older, richer lesbians invites Sasha and Jesse to their country home for the holidays, they're quick to accept. Even if the trip includes a third couple - Jesse's best friend, Lou, and their cool-girl flame, Darcy. Unfolding over ten heady days, this novel is an unforgettable love story at the crossroads of queer nonconformity and seductive normativity while capturing the vagaries of desire and the many devastating places in which we seek recognition. Print run 80,000.
Fieldwork : a forager's memoir
Regan, Iliana, 1979- author.
2023
With her first book, Regan announced herself as a writer whose extravagant, unconventional talents matched her abilities as a lauded chef. In her follow-up, she digs even deeper to express the meaning and beauty we seek in the landscapes, and stories, that reveal the forces which inform, shape, and nurture our lives.
For her consideration
Spalding, Amy, author.
2023
When an aspiring L.A. scriptwriter falls head-over-heels for a bossy and beautiful movie star after a devastating break-up, the two take a risk on love and cast themselves as the leading ladies of their own star-struck romance in this sweet and spirited love story from critically-acclaimed writer Amy Spalding in her adult debut.
For Lamb
Cline-Ransome, Lesa, author.
2023
"An interracial friendship between two teenaged girls goes tragically wrong in this powerful historical novel set in the Jim Crow South. For Lamb follows a family striving to better their lives in the late 1930s Jackson, Mississippi. Lamb's mother is a hard-working, creative seamstress who cannot reveal she is a lesbian. Lamb's brother has a brilliant mind and has even earned a college scholarship for a black college up north- if only he could curb his impulsiveness and rebellious nature. Lamb herself is a quiet and studious girl. She is also naive. As she tentatively accepts the friendly overtures of a white girl who loans her a book she loves, she sets a off a calamitous series of events that pulls in her mother, charming hustler uncle, estranged father, and brother, and ends in a lynching."-- Publisher's website.
Go lightly : a novel
Lee-Kennedy, Brydie, author
2024
"Ada is 26 and having a grand time just trying to figure it all out. An Australian living in London, she ekes out a living as a poorly-paid cabaret performer and part-time temp. And yet she can't imagine wanting to be any other age. Ada's a seeker, a perpetually moving ball of excess. Every night is an opportunity to be thrilled and every morning a chance to recount it to her friends. So when Ada falls for Sadie and Stuart at the same time she doesn't see any reason not to pursue them both. But as the responsibilities of adult life begin to encroach--bills, family, more bills--and Sadie and Stuart find out about one another, the people around Ada start trying to root her in place. How long can she resist the inevitable? Spiky, hilarious, and painfully relatable, Go Lightly is a love letter to girls who say yes without fear and are always last to leave the party. Ada is a Holly Golightly for the age of DMs, reveling in her own youth and sexuality while reckoning with a serious case of main character syndrome. This is a remarkable debut from a boldly talented new voice"-- Provided by publisher.
Hijab butch blues : a memoir
H, Lamya, author
2023
"Fourteen years old and growing up in the Middle East, Lamya is an overachiever and a class clown, qualities that help her hide in plain sight when she realizes she has a crush on her teacher-her female teacher. She's also fourteen when she reads a passage in Quran class about Maryam, known as the Virgin Mary in the Christian Bible, that changes everything. Lamya learns that Maryam was untempted by an angelically handsome man, and later, when told she is pregnant, insists no man has touched her. Could Maryam be... like Lamya? Spanning childhood to an elite college in the US and early adult life in New York City, each essay places Lamya's struggles and triumphs in the context of some of the most famous stories in the Quran. She juxtaposes her coming out with Musa liberating his people from the Pharoah; asks if Allah, who is neither male nor female, might instead be nonbinary; and, drawing strength from the faith and hope of Nuh building his ark, begins to build a life of her own-all the while discovering that her identity as a queer, immigrant devout Muslim is, in fact, the answer to her quest for safety and belonging"-- Provided by publisher.
Homebodies : A Novel.
Denton-Hurst, Tembe.
2023
Mickey Hayward dreams of writing stories that matter. Overlooked and mistreated at work, Mickey fires back with a detailed letter outlining the racism and sexism she's endured as a Black woman in media. But when her letter is met with overwhelming silence, Mickey is sent into a tailspin of self-doubt. When a media scandal catapults Mickey's forgotten letter into the public zeitgeist, suddenly everyone wants to hear what Mickey has to say. It's what she's always wanted - isn't it? Print run 75,000.
Horse Barbie : A Memoir.
Rocero, Geena.
2023
As a young femme growing up in Manila in the 1990s, Geena Rocero endured shouts of "bakla, bakla!," a Filipino taunt aimed at her feminine sway. Eventually she found her place in trans pageants. By seventeen, she was the Philippines' most prominent and highest-earning trans pageant queen. When she moved to the United States, Geena became an in-demand model, appearing in music videos, billboards, and magazine campaigns, and was hailed as the epitome of feminine beauty. But as her star rose, her sense of self eroded. She realized that living her truth was the only way to step into her full power.
Open Throat : A Novel.
Hoke, Henry.
2023
A queer and dangerously hungry mountain lion lives in the drought-devastated land under the Hollywood sign. Lonely and fascinated by humanity's foibles, the lion spends their days protecting the welfare of a nearby homeless encampment. As the lion confronts a carousel of temptations and threats, they take us on a tour that spans the cruel inequalities of Los Angeles and the toll of climate grief, while scrambling to avoid earthquakes, floods, and the noise of their own conflicted psyche. Author of "The Groundhog Forever." Print run 50,000.
Pageboy : A Memoir.
Page, Elliot.
2023
A groundbreaking coming-of-age memoir from the Academy Award-nominated actor Elliot Page. A generation-defining actor and one of the most famous trans advocates of our time, Elliot will now be known as an uncommon literary talent, as he shares never-before-heard details and intimate interrogations on gender, love, mental health, relationships, and Hollywood. Hometown: Halifax, N.S.
Parenting with pride : unlearn bias and embrace, empower, and love your LGBTQ+ teen
Hester, Heather, author
2024
Heather Hester, coach, advocate, and host of podcast Just Breathe: Parenting Your LGBTQ Teen, combines an honest retelling of her own son's coming-out experience with wide-ranging research, conversations with dozens of professionals, and the unique experiences of other families to provide the ultimate guidebook for parents embarking on this journey. Hester provides parents and caregivers with four transformations that gently, but purposefully, walk them through the four pillars toward fully supporting and loving your LGBTQ+ child: Embrace, Educate (or Unlearn), Empower, Love.
Scorched grace
Douaihy, Margot, author.
2023
When Saint Sebastian's School becomes the target of a shocking arson spree, the Sisters of the Sublime Blood and their surrounding New Orleans community are thrust into chaos. Patience is a virtue, but punk rocker turned nun Sister Holiday isn't satisfied to just wait around for officials to return her home and sanctuary to its former peace, instead deciding to unveil the mysterious attacker herself. Her investigation leads her down a twisty path of suspicion and secrets, turning her against colleagues, students, and even fellow Sisters along the way.
The secret lives of country gentlemen
Charles, KJ, author.
2023
"Bridgerton meets Poldark in this sweeping Regency romance of smugglers, adventure, mystery, and life-changing love from celebrated author KJ Charles. Abandoned by his father, Gareth Inglis grew up lonely, prickly, and well-used to disappointment. Still,he longs for a connection. When he meets a charming man in a London molly house, he falls head over heels-until everything goes wrong and he's left alone again. Then Gareth's father dies, turning the shabby London clerk into Sir Gareth, with a grand houseon the remote Romney Marsh and a family he doesn't know. The Marsh is another world, a strange, empty place notorious for its ruthless gangs of smugglers. And one of them is dangerously familiar... Joss Doomsday has run the Doomsday smuggling clan sincehe was a boy. When the new baronet-his old lover-agrees to testify against Joss's sister, Joss acts fast to stop him. Their reunion is anything but happy, yet after the dust settles, neither can stay away. Soon, all Joss and Gareth want is the chance to be together. But the bleak, bare Marsh holds deadly secrets. And when Gareth finds himself threatened from every side, the gentleman and the smuggler must trust one another not just with their hearts, but with their lives"-- Provided by publisher.
Something wild & wonderful
Kelly, Anita (Romance author), author.
2023
"When Alexei Lebedev finally comes out to his conservative community, it does not go well. That's how he ended up on the rugged Pacific Crest Trail, hoping he can figure out a new life plan in the thousands of miles it'll take to walk the famed hike. He's prepared for rattlesnakes, blisters, and months of solitude. What he's not prepared for is the ray of sunshine named Ben Caravalho. Charismatic and outgoing, Ben's personality and infectious laughter is a stark opposite to Alexei's quiet, reserved demeanor. But no matter how determined Alexei is to hike the trail alone, it seems he and Ben can't avoid being drawn to each other. Through snow crossings and close calls with coyotes, Alexei inches closer to letting Ben in. As Alexei learns of Ben's loving family and supportive friends, he begins to get a taste of what found family and belonging could truly feel like. But just as Alexei starts to let down his defenses, a sudden change in plans reawakens his fears-and he must discover if he has the courage to face something even scarier than the trail less traveled: letting himself fall in love"-- Provided by publisher.
The T in LGBT : everything you need to know about being trans
Raines, Jamie, author.
2023
Explore and learn about topics surrounding gender identity: realising you're trans, starting hormones, considering surgery, and everything in between. Whether you're questioning your own identity and are looking for advice on certain stages of transition, or whether you're wanting to learn about the trans experience to support someone or understand allyship, this book can be a one-stop guide to everything trans related. Full of advice, tips, and the personal stories of a range of trans voices, because no one journey is the same.
Who does that bitch think she is? : Doris Fish and the rise of drag
Seligman, Craig.
2023
"In the 1970s, queer people were openly despised and drag queens scared the public; this was also the era when Doris Fish (born Philip Mills in 1952 in Australia) rose to drag queen stardom. He was a leader of the generation that prepared the world not just for drag queens on TV but for a society that is more tolerant and accepting of LGBTQ+ people. How did we get from there to here? Craig Seligman looks at Doris's life as a way to provide some answers while recounting this vivid era in LGBTQ+ history, giving needed insight to how drag has become the performance phenomenon we know today. From the rise of drag shows to the obsession with camp to the conservative backlash and the onset of AIDS, Seligman adds needed color and insight to this era in LGBTQ+ history, revealing the origins and evolution of drag. "-- Provided by publisher.
Your driver is waiting : a novel
Guns, Priya, author
2023
Damani is tired - living paycheck to paycheck in a basement, caring for her mom, and driving for an app that is constantly cutting her take. Then she gives a ride to Jolene. Jolene seems like she could be the perfect girlfriend - attentive, attractive, an ally - and their chemistry is off the charts. Just as their romance intensifies and Damani finally lets her guard down, Jolene does something unforgivable, setting off an explosive chain of events.