Your Fall 2019 LGBTQ Reading List

10 must-read LGBTQ memoirs, history books, fiction and poetry available on shelves this fall…
 
As the weather cools and you spend more time inside, reaching for a new book can be the perfect antidote for the post-summer blues. Here, we’ve rounded up 10 must-reads, ranging from personal and moving memoirs, to educational tomes on sexuality and queer history, to creative fiction and poetry, so there is sure to be something here for every reader.
 
High School
By Tegan and Sara Quin
Written in alternating chapters from the perspectives of each of the twin sisters that make up the musical duo Tegan and Sara, this memoir charts their coming of age story, growing up in the ‘90s as they face academic and familial struggles and going through the process of sorting through their identity and sexuality.
Buy it here: Amazon | Indigo
 
A Year Without a Name
By Cyrus Grace Dunham
In this powerful memoir, the younger sibling of Lena Dunham, Cyrus Grace Dunham, explores their feelings of uncertainty and isolation as they questioned their gender identity, fluctuating between the names Cyrus (their chosen name) and Grace (their birth name).
Buy it here: Amazon | Indigo
 
Sontag: Her Life and Work
By Benjamin Moser
In this biography, the life and work of twentieth-century writer and cosmopolitan icon Susan Sontag is laid out for readers. Referring to Sontag’s restricted archives and personal interviews with people who knew her, this book provides the inside scoop into her life of art, drugs, sex, feminism, and political involvement.
Buy it here: Amazon | Indigo
 
Beautiful on the Outside
By Adam Rippon
In this memoir, competitive figure skater and LGBTQ icon Adam Rippon walks readers through his journey from a homeschooled kid to an international celebrity and Olympic medalist.
Buy it here: Amazon | Indigo
 
How We Fight for our Lives
By Saeed Jones
In this powerful and emotional memoir, Saeed Jones recounts growing up as a young black gay man from the American south. As an award-winning poet, Jones brings a particular poignancy to his prose that makes this even more heart-rending.
Buy it here: Amazon | Indigo
 
Juliet Takes a Breath
By Gabby Rivera
Deemed “f***ing outstanding” by feminist writer Roxane Gay, this new YA novel is a must-read for people of all ages. It tells the coming-out story of a Puerto Rican teenage girl from the Bronx, exploring themes of sexuality, identity, and race.
Buy it here: Amazon | Indigo
 
The Vagina Bible: The Vulva and the Vagina–Separating the Myth from the Medicine
By Jen Gunter
At the time I’m writing this OB/GYN Dr. Jen Gunter’s The Vagina Bible is listed as Amazon’s #1 best seller in women’s studies. It is a comprehensive guide to all things women’s health, from learning to put a tampon in for the first time to navigating sex as a transwoman.
Buy it here: Amazon | Indigo
 
NDN Coping Mechanisms: Notes from the Field
By Billy-Ray Belcourt
If you’re looking for poetry rather than prose, this new collection is for you. In these short poems, Billy-Ray Belcourt meditates on life as a queer Indigenous person.
Buy it here: Amazon | Indigo
 
Frankissstein: A Love Story
By Jeanette Winterson
In this novel, Jeanette Winterson invents a near-future rendition of the classic Frankenstein story, in which artificial intelligence and transhumanism are realized. The cast includes a young transgender doctor, a sex doll inventer, and a facility full of dead bodies in the process of being revived.
Buy it here: Amazon | Indigo
 
The Queeriodic Table: A Celebration of LGBTQ+ Culture
By Harriet Dyer
This hardcover tome, designed as a spin-off of the scientific periodic table, celebrates and educates readers on various aspects of queer history, icons, and activism.
Buy it here: Amazon | Indigo