Pride Month is a celebration of LGBTQ+ pride that takes place in June. Though it officially started in 1999, its roots go back to the Stonewall Riots of 1969. The cultural contributions of the queer community are at the center of the celebrations. From parades to festivals, the community expresses its artistic and creative significance in all forms, including literature.
Books have always been a source of representation. Validating real experiences and identities is a core value of literature. Queer literature in particular challenges non-inclusive norms and inspires activism. LGBTQ+ books also provide some of the most binge-worthy reading experiences across all genres.
Now that Pride Month—and the first month of summer—has officially started, let these 6 queer books be your next summer reads.
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Book #1 of The Roots of Chaos series is a fantasy novel full of dragons told in a multi-POV style. In the East, Tané dreams of becoming a dragon rider, but one life-changing night puts her dream at risk. In the West, Queen Sabran the Ninth from the long-ruling House of Berethnet is pressured to conceive a daughter to protect the realm of Inys from its demise. Her lady-in-waiting, Ead, is a foreigner to the court and part of a secret magical sisterhood. Sworn to protect Sabran, Ead grows closer and closer to her queen. They forge an unbreakable bond in the face of evil that will alter the balance of the whole world.
Eurocentric, heteronormative ideals have long dominated the genre of fantasy. Yet, the genre offers so much more than conservative narratives. The unlimited possibilities and escapist quality have made the genre popular amongst the LGBTQ+ community.
The Priory of the Orange Tree features several well-written queer characters, including Sabran and Ead. Their slow-burn relationship is so addictive to read! They’re one of my favorite fictional couples and my favorite part of the book.
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Published in 1928, Orlando spans three centuries to tell the tale of Orlando, an English nobleman who ages only 36 years before transforming into a woman overnight in the middle of the book. As England moves from the Elizabethan to the Edwardian era, Orlando’s mysterious change of sex allows them to experience the societal differences of gender roles firsthand.
Virginia Woolf is a notable queer writer. She’s also one of my personal favorite authors. Her love affair with fellow writer Vita Sackville-West inspired the creation of Orlando through Sackville-West’s gender fluidity and English aristocratic status. All of Woolf’s works convey themes of sexuality and gender through a feminist lens.
Her subversion of gender roles was groundbreaking for the literature of the time period. Rather than demonizing Orlando as “unnatural,” Woolf writes the character to be free from traditional social constraints. The book playfully challenges conservative values with hints of queer subtext, making it a fun yet multifaceted reading experience for Pride Month.
Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx
Although it’s a short story published in Annie Proulx’s 1997 collection Close Range: Wyoming Stories, Brokeback Mountain feels like a novel. Jack Twist and Ennis del Mar are teenagers from poor ranches in Wyoming who sign on to become sheep herders. They spend the summer on Brokeback Mountain, starting a friendship that slowly turns into a romance. Over the next 20 years, they are forced into an affair full of yearning and heartbreak due to societal pressures.
The short story packs a powerful emotional punch. Its depiction of a gay relationship deviates from mainstream misconceptions, displaying a deeply human desire for love. Proulx masterfully writes about internalized homophobia as Jack and Ennis navigate their relationship within a prejudiced society.
After the short story was adapted into a critically acclaimed film in 2005, it prompted conversations about changing harmful narratives around queer stories and improving LGBTQ+ representation in media. If you’re a fan of the film, take a few minutes out of your day to read the brilliant short story.
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
This classic American novel centers on David, an American living in the south of France, who recounts his past relationships with men. Specifically, he details his connection to Giovanni, an Italian he met in Paris who is set to be executed in the morning. David’s retrospective narration examines the complex love triangle between Giovanni, David, and his fiancée Hella.
James Baldwin is one of the most influential queer writers. His literary efforts to foster discourse about the intersectionality of race, sexuality, and gender are still relevant in modern society. His advocacy is prolific, reaching new audiences even after his death in 1987.
Giovanni’s Room was published in 1956, making it one of the first widely released books to openly discuss queer relationships. Baldwin’s masterful way of writing dialogue brings the characters to life and renders the story that much more heartbreaking. If you’re ready to shed a couple of tears, I highly suggest putting this one on your Pride Month TBR.
Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson
Written on the Body is a groundbreaking novel that comes to terms with the fundamental question: What is love? The narrator, with no name and no clear gender, remembers their old lover, Louise, who remains the object of their obsession. The story chronicles their history of love, investigating the emotional and physical impact of the narrator’s relationship with Louise.
Jeannette Winterson draws upon her lesbian identity in many of her novels, including this one. Written on the Body harnesses its queer themes largely through the genderless narrator, bringing fluidity to the forefront. Winterson incorporates myriad gender indicators as a way to challenge norms and play with stereotypes. The novel’s portrayal of love is so unique that it’ll completely alter your brain chemistry.
Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress
The most recently published book on this list, Sirens & Muses, is a contemporary take on sapphic love in art school. The novel follows Louisa, a nineteen-year-old who transfers to the prestigious Wrynn College of Art. As a scholarship student, she must grapple with an environment that is dominated by upper-class colleagues, one of whom is her roommate Karina, the daughter of wealthy art collectors. The artistic bond between the two roommates slowly turns into something more as they’re inexplicably drawn to one another.
Their sapphic relationship is central to the dark academia story, and it subverts the traditional artist-muse bond, with the women taking active roles in their artistic passions. Antonia Angress utilizes a queer female gaze to dissect capitalism in the world of art, underscoring a tension between class and sexuality that will make you want to keep reading.
Don’t let the celebration end
Countless LGBTQ+ authors and queer stories influence modern society by constructing the building blocks of pop culture that we all know and love. Let these Pride Month recommendations push you to consume more LGBTQ+ books and appreciate the literary efforts of queer people.
Although Pride Month is just 30 days, you can celebrate all year long by including queer writers and books on your must-read list!
