LGBTQIA+ Reading Recommendations!
Author/Contact: Tyler Hill, Library Research Assistant | tyler.hill@usu.edu
Celebrate and explore the vibrant voices of LGBTQIA+ authors with our carefully curated reading recommendations. These powerful stories offer perspectives that inspire, educate, and celebrate the diverse experiences within our community.
Nevada by Imogen Binnie
One of the most beloved cult novels of our time and a landmark of trans literature, Imogen Binnie's Nevada is a blistering, heartfelt, and evergreen coming-of-age story, and a punk-smeared excavation of marginalized life under capitalism. Guided by an instantly memorable, terminally self-aware protagonist and back in print featuring a new afterword by the author, Nevada is the great American road novel flipped on its head for a new generation.
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
With stunning urgency and grace, Ocean Vuong writes of people caught between disparate worlds, and asks how we heal and rescue one another without forsaking who we are. The son of an American soldier and a Vietnamese woman, Vuong writes the immigrant experience as both deeply personal and profoundly universal. A shattering portrait of family, trauma, and literature's redemptive power.
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
In the Dream House is Carmen Maria Machado's engrossing and wildly innovative account of a relationship gone bad, and a bold dissection of the mechanisms and cultural representations of psychological abuse. Tracing the full arc of a harrowing relationship with a charismatic but volatile woman, Machado struggles to make sense of how what happened to her shaped the person she became.
Print available from USU Libraries
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The Slip by Lucas Schaefer
For readers of Jonathan Franzen and Nathan Hill comes a haymaker of an American novel about a missing woman, a reeling family, and the brutal ways we try to control the narratives of our lives. A profound meditation on love, loss, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive, exploring themes of identity, masculinity, and the complex dynamics of family relationships.
Print available from USU Libraries
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
From the New York Times bestselling author of Atmosphere and Daisy Jones & the Six, an entrancing and unforgettable novel about a reclusive Hollywood icon finally ready to tell her story. Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself.
Some Strange Music Draws Me In by Griffin Hansbury
From an award-winning author, this provocative novel tells an emotionally gripping story about friendship, love, identity, and the complexities of being transgender in America. Set against the backdrop of New York City's underground music scene, this powerful debut explores themes of self-discovery, chosen family, and the courage it takes to live authentically in a world that doesn't always understand.
Print available from USU Libraries
The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports by Michael Waters
In The Other Olympians, Michael Waters uncovers, for the first time, the gripping true stories of LGBTQ+ athletes who competed in the Olympics during the rise of fascism. Through meticulous research and compelling storytelling, Waters reveals how these brave individuals navigated persecution, discrimination, and political upheaval while pursuing their athletic dreams on the world's biggest stage.
Print available from USU Libraries
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
Orphan Sue Trinder joins an elaborate con to seduce naive gentlewoman Maud Lilly and steal her inheritance. But Sue finds herself genuinely attracted to Maud, and the con becomes increasingly complex as unexpected feelings develop. Set in Victorian London, this gripping tale of love, betrayal, and deception showcases Waters' masterful storytelling and her ability to bring LGBTQ+ characters to vivid life in historical settings.
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Four college friends move to New York chasing dreams, their friendship deepening over decades. At the center is Jude, brilliant but deeply scarred by a traumatic past he won't reveal. As the friends navigate love, success, addiction, and pride, they discover the limits and redemptive power of human connection. A devastating and beautiful exploration of trauma, friendship, and the complexities of love in all its forms.
Nepantla: An Anthology for Queer Poets of Color by Christopher Soto
The first major literary anthology for queer poets of color in the United States. In 2014, Christopher Soto began curating and editing this groundbreaking collection, bringing together voices that have been historically marginalized. These powerful poems explore identity, love, resistance, and joy, creating a vital contribution to contemporary American literature that celebrates the intersection of queerness and racial identity.