Pride Month is a month-long observance in June of celebrating LGBTQ+ pride. Though officially starting in 1999, its roots go back to the Stonewall Riots of 1969. During this month, 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. The ability for readers to feel validated in their identity through reading about characters just like them is the 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 in a multi-POV style. In the East, Tané dreams of becoming a dragon rider, yet 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. This sparks an unbreakable bond in the face of evil that will alter the balance of the whole world.
Euro-centric, 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 make the genre popular amongst the LGBTQ+ community—it’s one of my favorites!
The Priory of the Orange Tree includes several well-written queer characters, including Sabran and Ead. Their slow-burn relationship as people from two completely different lands makes it so addictive to read! They’re one of my favorite fictional couples and are certainly 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 and transforms 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. This is rooted in Sackville-West’s gender fluidity and English aristocratic status. All of Woolf’s body of work contains themes of sexuality and gender, specifically through a feminist lens.
The subversion of gender roles and exploration of gender fluidity is groundbreaking in literature of this time period. Rather than demonizing Orlando as “unnatural,” Woolf writes the character as free from traditional social constraints. The book playfully subverts social conservative values through hints of queer subtext, making it a fun yet multifaceted reading experience to enjoy during Pride Month.
Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx
Although it’s a short story published in 1997 in Annie Proulx’s 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, due to societal pressures, they are forced into an affair full of yearning and heartbreak.
This short story possesses a powerful punch of emotions. Its depiction of a gay relationship deviates from mainstream misconceptions, displaying humanizing internal struggles and desire for love. Proulx masterfully writes about internalized homophobia as Jack and Ennis navigate their affair through a prejudiced society.
As the short story was adapted into a critically acclaimed film in 2005, it sparked conversations about shifting harmful narratives around queer stories and including more LGBTQ+ representation in media. If you’re a fan of the film, take a few minutes out of your day to check out 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 reflects on his past relationships with men. Specifically, he recounts 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 in creating conversations about the intersectionality of race, sexuality, and gender are still significant to modern society. His powerful 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 these characters to life, making the story that much more heartbreaking. If you’re ready to shed a couple of tears this summer, 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 is the object of their obsession. The story follows their history of love, examining how the emotional and physical relationship with Louise impacts the way they see desire’s effects on the body.
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 includes many signs pointing to a specific gender for the narrator as a way to challenge norms and play with stereotypes. This 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 grapples with thriving in 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.
The sapphic relationship between Louise and Karina is central to this dark academia story. Their connection subverts the traditional artist-muse bond as the women take active roles in their artistic passions. Antonia Angress utilizes a queer female gaze to explore capitalism in the world of art, creating an tension between class and sexuality that will make you not want to put down the book.
Keep the celebration going
Many LGBTQ+ authors and queer stories influence modern society, creating the building blocks of pop culture we all know and love. Let these Pride Month recommendations act as a basis to exploring more LGBTQ+ books and appreciating the literary efforts of queer people.
Although Pride Month is just 30 days, don’t forget to celebrate all year long by including queer writers and books on your must-read list!
