Edward wrote: "who needs a month of gay ?
do i get a month cos Ive got jade curtains ?"

Looks like you definitely don't. Some other people might. Since it's not mandatory to go through the list and follow any of the suggestions, I guess you could just apply the very simple, common-sense rule of "everybody should just read whatever they please"? As in, you know, what other people read can in no way inconvenience you? Be kind is all...

Edward wrote: "who needs a month of gay ?
do i get a month cos Ive got jade curtains ?"

Your ignorance is showing. You should look to that.

I've been oddly interested in Cleanness lately. Sounds interesting.

Edward wrote: "who needs a month of gay ?
do i get a month cos Ive got jade curtains ?"

Frankly, that analogy is weak considering no one has ever faced discrimination because of whether or not they have jade curtains. The LGBTQ+ community has gone through so much and deserve to be proud of who they are. If you really want a month for jade curtains you're welcome to celebrate it, just don't come after communities that have suffered enough as it is.

Great list! Just some nitpicks, in the future, could you separate novels and poetry? I never read poetry so I usually skip right past it.

The Order of Nature, a novel by Josh Scheinert. Set in the Gambia, where it is illegal to be gay, the book portrays the struggles of two young men in love, when their love is a crime.

It is probably not as heartfelt - well it is - as some of the other books listed but Carry On is a fantastic book with self discovery, adventure and romance.

I was about to recommend Carry On then saw someone else had done! Totally agree, if I'd had that book to read as a teenager I would have died from happiness. A wonderful story!

I would add 'Hood' by Emma Donohue. A hearfelt book about berievement when the berieved person (and the one she is grieving) is gay, in a time and place where it is not easy to be 'out'. Donohue is, in the opinion of this straight guy, one of the best gay writers.

There are so many good ones out these days --some by gay and some by non-gay writers. Just a few:

Lot by Bryan Washington
Lie with Me by Philippe Besson
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
We Contain Multitudes by Sarah Henstra (YA)
The Heart's Invisible Furies (John Boyne)
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, Mackenzi Lee (YA)
For fun--The Will and Patrick series by Blake and Griffiths--wittier dialogue and more charming MCs than your usual MM romance
And an "oldie" but just one of those books everyone has to read: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

Thank you for the reminder that fear and ignorance are alive and well--not that we need more reminders in these terrible times. But why would you post this comment on a blog about books? Feel free to attack the books but please do not attack people--you have plenty of other forums for that.

Edward wrote: "who needs a month of gay ?
do i get a month cos Ive got jade curtains ?"

For the same reason people of color have Black History Month. They deserve it!

Edward wrote: "who needs a month of gay ?
do i get a month cos Ive got jade curtains ?"

Have you ever been oppressed for having jade curtains?

Well my TBR list just got even longer.

Edward wrote: "who needs a month of gay ?
do i get a month cos Ive got jade curtains ?"

ugh shut up

Any Alia Hess (cosy dystopian)readers? How about K C Luck(Billionaire Lesbian Club)? Katherine Bogle(clockwork Thief series)? Megan Kruse(Call Me Home)?

Fiebre Tropical was good! Samantha Irby owes me so much wine because of how many times I spit it out while listening to her audiobook.

Edward wrote: "who needs a month of gay ?
do i get a month cos Ive got jade curtains ?"

Shut the fuck up

Ryan wrote: "Edward wrote: "who needs a month of gay ?
do i get a month cos Ive got jade curtains ?"

Well, if you want sure; go ahead and do it. But as to "who" many apparently. I don't see any need though mys..."

Ryan, why do you feel you as an individual don't have any need to participate in Pride Month? Or are you saying that there's no need for anyone to mark this month?

Paul Mendez's RAINBOW MILK was published this year. I'm just gonna let Booker-winner Bernadine Evaristo sum it up:

"When did you last read a novel about a young, black, gay, Jehovah Witness man from Wolverhampton who flees his community to make his way in London as a prostitute?"

José wrote: "Edward wrote: "who needs a month of gay ?
do i get a month cos Ive got jade curtains ?"

Shut the fuck up"

Shut the fuck up

Are any of these book bi positive, because I'm tired of us bi people being treated like greedy interlopers.

Hi! One book that I would recommend and add to the list would be The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai!

Edward wrote: "who needs a month of gay ?
do i get a month cos Ive got jade curtains ?"

How can you read books and still be this ignorant?

Strongly agree!

Juliana wrote: "Hi! One book that I would recommend and add to the list would be The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai!"

Strongly agree. It's so good!

I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but the covers of...well, all of these books are sooo goooood! I want to read pretty much all of these.

Edward wrote: "who needs a month of gay ?
do i get a month cos Ive got jade curtains ?"

When you get told that you're going to Hell, or people explain in vivid detail how you deserve to die because you have jade curtains, maybe we'll consider. When you get kicked out of your house, disowned by your parents and beaten in the hallway at school because you have jade curtains, perhaps we'll think about giving you a month too. When people with jade curtains have been systematically oppressed for decades, maybe they'll get a celebration too.

Looks like an interesting spread! (Also, props for saying LGBTQ and not just q* as a blanket term -- it hurts like hell to see the slur get thrown around to the whole community whether they want it or not, esp by cishets, and it's nice to see book lists for everyone.)

Juliet wrote: "Are any of these book bi positive, because I'm tired of us bi people being treated like greedy interlopers."
Juliet, I've just published a long novel (a sequel) featuring one of the main characters who is bi. He doesn't engage in M/F sex within the context or time period covered in the book, but he alludes to it in the past. There is the suggestion to the reader that he is bi, even as he engages in M/M sex.
I hear you about the negativity directed toward some in the bi community, and it has to improve.

nothing wrong adding more Queer books to my bookshelf :D thanks Goodreads

Ryan wrote: "Jay wrote: "Looks like an interesting spread! (Also, props for saying LGBTQ and not just q* as a blanket term -- it hurts like hell to see the slur get thrown around to the whole community whether ..."

So you are uninterested in pride month and think it's unnecessary, yet keep returning to "42 New Books to Read this Pride Month" to argue with commenters. If you think that the majority of LGBT+ people live in a "friendly" or "neutral" area, then I really urge you to read some of the books on this list. Homophobia and transphobia are alive and well. You know what isn't? Heterophobia. You absolutely reserve the right to decide whether or not your sexuality should be celebrated. It is not up to you to decide what others think is appropriate to celebrate in order to make themselves feel more accepted within a community. You are going out of your way to argue with individuals about topics ranging from what they should find offensive to what they should bother celebrating.

There is a time and a place for everything. This is neither the time nor the place.

Edward wrote: "who needs a month of gay ?
do i get a month cos Ive got jade curtains ?"

Did the people meant to protect and love you send you to conversion therapy because you had jade curtains while all your friends, who also had jade curtains, slowly died of an easily preventable illness that the President would not even speak the name of?

Hi I'm new

I love "I Wish You All the Best" by Mason Deaver and "Two Boys Kissing" by David Levithan. "Drum Roll, Please" by Lisa Jenn Bigelow and "Starcrossed" by Barbara Dee are well written middle-grade LGBTQ+ books. Any age group can enjoy those books, of course.

Ryan wrote: "Well, for the first question; it's simple - I don't see any need to devout or mark a month, either in part or in whole, to my sexual attractions. Nor do I see any point as a whole, to set any amount of time to such a minor facet in the path of life. To me, it is a secondary concern to the overall picture. So what if I'm more homosexually inclined? I don't really see a need to concern about it all that much. Though, this is not to say, I neglect it altogether, but there are better things to put more up front and centre.

As to whether I think people shouldn't celebrate it at all or there's no need; whilst I may think there isn't for myself; I could honestly care less about whether you do it or not. If it's your thing, go ahead and be my guest; I won't go after you for it. Just don't expect me to partake in it, otherwise I'd imagine you'll be rather disappointed."

No, I don't expect you to partake in it; your reasons seem personal to you and you're free to do whatever you want. Not that you need anyone else to tell you that.

I just wanted to provide a different perspective. I think there is a good point to having Pride Month. Maybe where you live and where I live things are pretty peaceful, maybe even positive when it comes to attitudes about LGBTQ+ people. But that's not the case the world over. I think the key to changing attitudes and stopping prejudice is to take away fear of the unknown and educate, and to demonstrate that LGBTQ+ is accepted and celebrated. Even though I could easily say "well, I'm not part of the community so it's nothing to do with me, I'm not going to participate in this". The way I see it the fact that I was born cis-gendered and heterosexual was just random chance, and if I hadn't been it could so easily have been me on the receiving end of vitriol and hate. I think that no one should be discriminated against for something out of their control, and consider that I have a responsibility to stand up for that principle too, so that's why I think the month has a purpose and I choose to partake.

Jay wrote: "Looks like an interesting spread! (Also, props for saying LGBTQ and not just q* as a blanket term -- it hurts like hell to see the slur get thrown around to the whole community whether they want it..."

Did you have to be queerphobic? When we queers talk about our community we only include those who identify as queer, which obviously isn't the whole LGBT+ community. Unlike all those pedants who insist on utilizing gay to describe the whole community even though a lot of us aren't gay (aka. an MLM who is exclusively attracted romantically, sexually, or both to men).

Sarah Glenn Marsh's "Reign of the Fallen" Duology has a mixed race bisexual female protagonist, with supporting MLM, and WLW characters.

You're all making very good points. In fact, I have personally experienced homophobic slurs and hatred, even though I live in California, and my main character in the two novels also experiences it. He deals with negative comments and cruel actions from family members and especially from one of the supporting characters in the books. These kinds of things are still going on, sadly, and I tried to write the situations and the main character's experiences as accurately as possible.

I would recommend Radio Silence by Alice Oseman! Great representation there!

I can't read books which l said l wanted to read. What shall l do?

An Intricate Enigma: Chapter One

Check this one out for beautiful gay romance...a 7-page Single-Chapter Release

Cleanness, Real Life and Swimming in the Dark were all 5 star reads for me.

I see "I Have No Life Other Than Trolling On Goodreads" Ryan is carrying over from the Anti-Racist article. It's such a shame that this user is nothing more than a drain on this site and its resources. One wonders if this a phase, or if they were born this pointless.

Juliet wrote: "Did you have to be queerphobic? When we queers talk about our community we only include those who identify as queer, which obviously isn't the whole LGBT+ community. Unlike all those pedants who insist on utilizing gay to describe the whole community even though a lot of us aren't gay (aka. an MLM who is exclusively attracted romantically, sexually, or both to men)."

Right on.

Good day. My book titled: JUMPING OVER THE RAINBOW by Ronnie Van der Merwe was released in March.It is about my experience working as an au-pair in Germany.It deals with my sexuality.I came out of the closet after I returned home a year later.There is more information on my page.Regards

I don't see any ace books on this list, not that I'm surprised I've been snubbed more times than I can count (mostly from LGBT groups at that) but I still feel annoyed.
So I'll just mention Let's Talk About Love (Biromantic Ace) and Every Heart a Doorway (Heteroromantic Ace) both good and the aces are the main characters to boot.

Saying that we should hide our "disgusting sexuality" does make that person a bigot.

I'm so excited this exists!

Ryan wrote: "Just don't expect me to partake in it, otherwise I'd imagine you'll be rather disappointed."

Don't worry dude, literally no gay person wants you at Pride.

Ryan wrote: "Edward wrote: "who needs a month of gay ?
do i get a month cos Ive got jade curtains ?"

I can see where you’re coming from, and indeed I once had similar thoughts before I came to terms with aspects of my identity that I previously refused to entertain. I don’t think anyone needs a month of gay per se but it sure is nice to have one, especially for those who struggle with their sexualities/identities too much to give themselves the self-respect and self-love that they deserve. Furthermore, a month of pride to me is more than merely a month of gay. To me, pride month is a month to feel less inferior and downtrodden than I do the rest of the year. I hope a month of pride will give me the strength to come out to my conservative family members, like my mother. But honestly it might take more like a year of pride for that to happen.