48 LGBT Books to Read in 2023

What happens when a detransitioned man discovers that he’s expecting a baby with his girlfriend (who also happens to be his boss)? He recruits his trans ex-girlfriend to help them raise the baby as an unconventional family unit, of course—and that’s exactly what happens in this laugh-out-loud debut.

Here Comes the Sun follows two sisters in Jamaica, the older one of the two hustling at an opulent resort in Montego Bay while hiding her secret preference for women and the younger one sent to school and surviving on her older sister’s profits.

In this v charming debut, high schooler Ben comes out to their parents as non-binary…and they respond by forcing Ben to move in with their estranged sister and transfer high schools halfway through senior year. Luckily, a charismatic guy named Nathan befriends Ben, and it isn’t long before sparks are flying.

This book-turned-film (featuring everyone’s fave, Timothée Chalamet) is a beautiful love story centered around the blossoming relationship between young Elio and his father’s graduate student assistant, Oliver. With the northern Italian countryside as a backdrop to their summer romance, it’s hard not to feel the butterflies.

Like a Love Story takes place in 1989 New York City, following three teens—a closeted Iranian immigrant, an aspiring fashion designer, and an openly gay photographer—who find themselves in a love triangle that threatens all their bonds.

In Amy Feltman’s second novel, a neurodivergent single father and his non-binary teen find their routine turned upside down when Morgan’s mysterious, magnetic mother—who left them years earlier—suddenly reappears in their life after being dumped by her girlfriend.

David Santos Donaldson’s debut is a quirky novel-within-a-novel following a young queer writer in Brooklyn as he attempts to finish his masterpiece—which tells the story of Mohammed el Adl, the young Egyptian lover of British author E. M. Forster—before his publisher’s deadline.

The Color Purple is a classic. Told through a series of painfully honest letters, the story follows Celie, a woman who lives in poverty and has experienced physical and sexual abuse at the hand of her father, and later her husband, all while exploring her sexuality.

In poetic prose, Ocean Vuong writes a letter to his mother who cannot read. He paints a portrait of his family with roots in Vietnam and war, talks through his feelings about being the son of Vietnamese immigrants, and shares intimate stories about his first love and heartbreaking losses.

If you’re a sucker for star-crossed lovers, then you’ll be destroyed by this tearjerker, which follows the forbidden romance between two teenage girls in Iran and the lengths they go to in order to stay together after an arranged marriage threatens to tear them apart.

Felix Ever After tells the sweet and moving story of a transgender teen coming to terms with self-discovery while also falling in love for the first time. Ya, you’ll wanna keep the tissues handy for this one.

Amy Bloom’s White Houses is a fictionalized retelling of the romantic relationship developed (and hidden) between Eleanor Roosevelt and “First Friend” Lorena Hickok, an openly gay reporter who took a job in the Roosevelt administration.

With his mother as President of the United States of America, Alex Claremont-Diaz also becomes a notable public figure. But with all eyes on him, his feud and physical altercation with British Prince Henry becomes a scandal that doesn’t exactly bode well for their countries’ relations. Both parties settle on a staged truce, which unfolds as an Instagrammable friendship…and then way more than that.

Inspired by Nigerian folk tales, Under the Udala Trees tells the story of a young woman who comes of age during the Nigerian Civil War, understanding at once that she is attracted to women and that she will more than likely have to hide this fact of her identity as Nigeria recovers from the effects of war.

Southermost explores the aftermath of a destructive flood in a small Tennessee town and the evangelical priest who opens his home to two gay men, forcing him to question his past, his prejudices, and everything he once held true.

Emme Lund’s magical, allegorical debut is all about Owen, a boy who spends his life hidden away due to the chatty bird named Gail living in his chest. But when he’s forced to flee home to live with his uncle and cousin, he finds a family who not only accepts the bird in his chest but embraces every part of him fully. There, Owen learns how to live fully and openly.

Set in 1954 Chinatown, Last Night at the Telegraph Club follows queer teen Lily as she discovers a lesbian bar where anything seem possible, even while Red Scare paranoia threatens her family and everything she holds dear.