General Discussion

I've been getting back into reading lately and I've been wanting to read more about people like myself. I'm not fussed about the genre, id just love to read more about various LGBTQIA+ people
The only real requirement is that I can get it on the Kindle app as I mostly read on the go and books are unfortunately too cumbersome for me
I would especially like books with non binary characters but really, as long as the focus isn't on a cishet person I'll be happy

I've recommended this book in a few other threads, but one of my all-time favorites is The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula Le Guin. (She's the same author who wrote Earthsea.) It actually helped me figure out some things about my own identity.

It's a sci-fi novel about a planet where the local people never got into the whole "gender binary" concept, and an average cis man from Earth sent there on a diplomatic mission. The story alternates POVs, so we get to see the confusion on both sides of the culture clash, and it's alternately hilarious and poignant.

It's from 1969, and aside from one or two instances of Outdated Language, it's aged much better than you would expect. The worldbuilding is really outstanding, and the prose is gorgeous.

Le Guin's other sci-fi is also worth a try - most of it fits into a loosely interconnected universe. The Telling, which is about a planet where the government has suppressed traditional religious customs in the name of Progress, also has a queer main character (a lesbian of color), but her queerness isn't central to the main plot.

If you're up for reading a comic, I'd suggest Tiger, Tiger. It's a very bisexual tale of science and adventure on the high seas, and I've stolen significant inspiration from it for my D&D characters and campaigns.

Not sure if they're available on the Kindle but! I've got a fair amount of queer fiction on my bookshelf.

I remember enjoying The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee, and Carry On by Rainbow Rowell is a favorite of mine! Becky Albertalli has also written some lovely queer romances--I think everyone knows about Simon vs the **** Sapiens Agenda, but Leah on the Offbeat is good too!

Unfortunately I can't say I've read many books with nonbinary characters. There's the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgar series by Rick Riordan (the character in question, Alex Fierro, is specifically genderfluid). There's also Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin, which has a genderfluid protagonist, but it's been a few years since I read it and I don't remember it very well.

@Halkiierid
I'm so pleased to see that you brought up The Left Hand of Darkness, and I think it is an excellent recommendation. I read this book for the first time last year and it affected me profoundly. Le Guin's concept of a society without gender was very radical at the time when this book came out, and I feel like it's very relevant again today with the increased visibility of the LGBT+ community in our world. I also agree that Le Guin's writing style is beautiful and powerful. She was the kind of writer who is able to say a lot without using very many words.

Another novel you may find interesting, MaliCat, is Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. It's sort of a coming-of-age story about an intersex man of Greek descent. I will admit that it has been quite a few years since I read this as a teenager, so I don't have the best memory of it, but at the time I found it incredibly moving and sensitive, and I was fascinated by the evolution of the protagonist's gender identity. Eugenides' prose is more verbose and flowery in comparison to Le Guin, so the two books have very different styles.

I hope you find something you enjoy!

Anything by TJ Klune - House in the Cerulean Sea, Under the Whispering Door, etc

House is one of my all time faves. One review calls it "like a warm gay hug" and it is SO accurate. Gay mc working a boring job is sent to evaluate a foster home for magical children. Found family to the MAX.

Door made me sob like a baby at one point... it's such a beautiful tale of love and life and death


I will always push Patrick Ness as he's my all time favorite author - Burn, Release, The Rest of Us Just Live Here - all of those have main queer characters. His other books do tend to have gay subtext or bg characters as he is queer himself :)

If you enjoy faeries and the like Prince of the Sorrows is a good book written by a nonbinary person and featuring quite a few nb characters! Warning, the love interest does start out rather callous/selfish in the beginning, but softens up through the course of the story.

I second the recommendation of TJ Klune, his books feel so warm and welcoming, very comfy.