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Today—March 5, 2020—is World Book Day, guys! What’s in your to be read list? I have plenty and sadly my books are starting to gather dust, perhaps today’s celebration is a timely reminder that I should go pick up a book. Here is my list of LGBTQ+ themed books to read and please, feel free to share yours in the comments section below:

Picture Us in the Light is the winner of the California Book Award and Stonewall Honor and according to Becky Albertalli—number 1 best-selling author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, she’s “madly in love with this moving, tender, unapologetically honest book.” 

Picture Us in the Light tells us the story of Danny Cheng who accidentally uncovered his parents’ secret. Whatever this secret is, it is huge enough that it “disturbs the foundations of his family history and the carefully constructed facade his parents have maintained begins to crumble.” While this summary doesn’t tell us much, Picture Us in the Light comes highly recommended by its readers  who describe the book as “deep and so viscerally real,” “beautifully written and sensitive,” etc. Prepare your hanky, you’ve been warned!

Who can ignore this book? It’s an “instant New York Times and USA Today bestseller,” it also won the Goodreads Choice Award Winner for Best Debut, and Best Romance of 2019, and it is the Best Book of the Year for Vogue, NPR, Vanity Fair, and many more. Needless to say, this book piqued my interest. 

Red, White & Royal Blue follows the story of Alex Claremont-Diaz, America’s First Son, and Henry, the Prince of Wales. What happens when they fall in love with each other? Read the reviews here. 

This series follows the story of Rafe, a normal teenager from Boulder, Colorado. To quote the blurb of the book, Rafe, “plays soccer. He’s won skiing prizes. He likes to write.” And he’s gay… and out since 8th grade. Fast forward to today, he transfers to an all-boys’ boarding school in New England, but he decides to keep his sexuality a secret. How is that going to work out for Rafe? Find out here and get the second installment (technically it’s 1.5 and a novella) for free on Amazon.

  • Start Here: Short stories of first encounters (2018)

Start Here is a collection of 10 LGBTQ+ short stories of first encounters. It’s a varied collection, according to reviews—from f/f, m/m, to f/nb—plus steamy sex and sex club, romance, passion for KPop, what’s not to love? Read reviews for Start Here here.

This book, said to have been based on true events, tells the story of Harry and Craig (both seventeen-year-olds), who are “about to participate in a 32-hour marathon of kissing to set a new Guinness World Record.” It’s a Stonewall Honor Book and a Lambda Literary Award Winner. Read reviews for Two Boys Kissing here.

PsyCop series has 11 books with many short stories in-between. The series tells the story of gay psychic medium Victor Bayne and his smokin’-hot boyfriend, Jacob Marks (a non-psychic, a “stiff”). They both work in the elite PsyCop unit of the Chicago Police department where they solve murders by talking to the dead! I’ve read the first few books and I really love it but I have a lot of catching up to do. I won’t mind starting all over again as this series is that great. Read the reviews for the PsyCop series here.

Happy reading!

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