queer indie and self-published books to read during pride month ; part one
It’s the end of May, which means Pride Month is quickly approaching and because of this many creators are sharing queer book lists. Don’t get me wrong, I always love and appreciate people sharing queer books, but I have to admit that it upsets me a little that most people only share a few books, and it’s always the same popular (and traditionally published) ones.
The indie and self-published community offers a great range of identities and diversification that you often can’t find in traditionally published books, but because of people’s prejudice against these books, or because of their laziness in trying to find them, indie books often go unnoticed.
So here I am, asking you to consider indie and self-published books for your reading during Pride Month (and every other month of the year).
Brace yourself, because I’m about to give you a long list of books, divided by identities.
disclaimer: sharing the link to this article, or my posts on social media is okay, but reposting my slides without asking and without giving credits is not allowed.
1. Books with trans and nonbinary sapphics:
- Valerin the Fair by Rien Gray
- She Who Brought the Storm by Vaela Denarr & Micah Iannandrea (also polyam)
- The Grace of Sorcerers by Maria Ying
- Fake It by Lily Seabrooke
- Our Monsters by Jemma Topaz (also polyam)
- Catnip by Vyria Durav
- Pack of Her Own by Elena Abbott
- Junker Seven by Olive J. Kelley (t4t, autism rep)
2. Books with lesbians:
- Tell Me How It Ends by Quinton Li (autism rep, nonbinary adhd aroace secondary mc)
- Paragon Seven by Phoenix Ning (asexual)
- The Binding of Bloom Mountain by Siggy Chambers (autism rep)
- To Hold a Flower by Caroline Sophia Hamel (mental health, autism & adhd rep)
- I Think of You Often by Sienna Eggler (nonbinary, polaym rep)
- Can’t Resist Her by Kianna Alexander
- Mangos and Mistletoe by Adriana Herrera
- Unwieldy Creatures by Addie Brook Tsai
3. Books with trans and nonbinary achilleans:
- Welcome, Caller by M. Dean Wright (autism & adhd rep)
- The Orchid and the Lion by Gabriel Hargrave
- The Fox and the Dryad by Kellen Graves
- Hyacinth by Elle Porter
- How Not to Date a Dragon by Lana Kole
- Warrior Of Hearts by Beau Van Dalen
- By Pain of Death by Suzanne Clay
- All Roads Lead to This by Kay Claire (anxiety rep)
4. Books with gays:
- Alpha of Mortal Flesh by Ben Alderson
- Angels Before Man by rafael nicolás (trans but… it’s complicated)
- Phantom and Rook: When An Immortal Falls In Love With A Witch by Aelina Isaacs
- Reforged by Seth Haddon
- Of Feathers and Thorns by Kit Vincent
- Odder Still by D.N. Bryn (mental health and disability rep)
- Fella Enchanted by S.O. Callahan
- From the Match by Adrian Tkaczyk (mental health rep and lesbian secondary mc)
5. Books with bi and pan characters:
- How to Bite Your Neighbor and Win a Wager by D.N. Bryn (achillean)
- The Tide That Binds Us by Alexis C. Maness (sapphic)
- Tears in the Water by Margherita Scialla (nonbinary, t4t)
- Merry & Wright by K. Sterling (achillean)
- Chemistry Lessons by Jae (sapphic)
- Scoreless Game by Anna Zabo and L.A. Witt (achillean, asexual)
- Revenge by Dani Hoots
- A Milky Way Home by Hsinju Chen (transmasc, asexual)
6. Books with asexual characters:
- This Doesn’t Mean Anything by Sarah Whalen (m/f relationship)
- Let’s Bake a Deal by J.D. Cadmon (m/f relationship)
- Little Black Bird by Anna Kirchner
- Do You Ship Us? by Claire Rosalind (achillean)
- The Thirteenth Key by Cara Nox (m/f relationship)
- Bloody Spade by Brittany M. Willows (m/f relationship)
- Mirror Monster On My Wall by Tam M. Nicnevin (trans, polyam and autism rep)
- WildWood by K. Ramsuer
7. Books with aromantic characters:
- They Call Him Lucius by L.B. Shimaira (aroace)
- By Your Side: A Queerplatonic Short Story by Margherita Scialla (aro)
- The Dragon of Ynys by Minerva Cerridwen (aroace)
- City of Strife by Claudie Arseneault (demi & aroace)
- A Veil of Gods and Kings by Nicole Bailey (aro)
- Sincerely, Confusingly, Yours by Hailey Gonzales (aro)
- Bleeding Heart by Brittany M. Willows (demi & aro)
- Two Dark Moons by Avi Silver (aro)
8. Books with polyamory:
- The Thread That Binds by Cedar McCloud
- Shake Things Up by Skye Kilaen
- Failure to Communicate by Kaia Sønderby (autism rep)
- Their Troublesome Crush by Xan West (autism & disability rep)
- Moonlight Love and Witchcraft by Vaela Denarr & Micah Iannandrea (sapphic, nonbinary, asexual)
- Always Be Your Baby by illustraice
- A Flame in the Night by Morgan Dante
- The Companion by E.E. Ottoman (trans)
I hope you were able to find something that caught your attention and that you’ll consider trying out at least a few of these amazing indie and self-published books.
Support indie and self-published books and authors!
Check out the next part of this list here.
GLOSSARY:
sapphic: term to describe non-men who are attracted to other non-men (basically wlw but inclusive of nonbinary and gender nonconforming people as well)
achillean: basically mlm but inclusive of nonbinary and gender nonconforming people as well
t4t: when both people in the relationship are trans (or under the trans umbrella)
m/f: when it’s a relationship between a man and a woman
― ❀ ― ❀ ― ❀ ― ❀ ― ❀ ― ❀ ― ❀ ― ❀ ―
Check out the GoFundMe to help my uncle with his flooded house!
Follow me on social media: instagram | twitter | tiktok |
You can also read my reviews on: goodreads | thestorygraph
You can support me on Ko-Fi.
