I was looking at the brilliant set of books with a LGBTQ+ theme that I wrote about for Pride last year, and musing that I’ve been reading some really great new books published within the last year. So in a mini-celebration of Pride 2021, in the spirit of virtual celebrations, here’s my top 10 LGBTQ+ books published since last Pride month. In no particular order, here we go:
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
This is quirky, entirely unusual book that is equally about bureaucracy and about being different and making a good life and chosen families. It brims with optimism and love and joy – and quite a lot of wit. I suppose you’d put it in the fantasy genre because the protagonist is a very proper, staid Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, and it’s very much about the bureaucratic inspection of a magical children’s home. But really, it’s sort of about the blossoming of our Case Worker – a mid-life coming of age of a repressed bureaucrat. And about overcoming prejudice. It’s hard to categorise this book, but I tore through the pages and it left me feeling happy.
The Outrage by William Hussey
It took this book to make me realise: in all the many young adult speculative dystopia novels I have read, none of them have explicitly been about worlds in which LGBTQ+ people are the specific targets of victimisation, which in retrospect seems like an odd omission from the genre. This novel, set in a totalitarian Britain of the near future, extends the Section 28 concept in a way that felt chilling to me because it reminds us of the fragility of recently-won rights and freedoms. It’s also an exciting, gripping thriller of a read, with the LGBTQ+ teenage protagonists well-drawn and complex, sweet romance and friendships, interesting adult characters, and a really satisfactory way of ending it.
Murder Most Unladylike series by Robin Stevens
The final in this 9-part series was published last summer, and it somehow caught my attention. It’s essentially a children’s murder mystery series set in a British boarding school (and in a few other places, like Hong Kong, and on a train) in the 1930s. And even though I don’t usually like murder mysteries, and it’s probably aimed at a younger demographic than I’d usually read… it came at exactly the right stage of the pandemic when I really needed light, gripping entertainment – and these books perfectly fit the bill. I’m not ashamed to confess that despite technically being a grown-up, I bought the entire series and enjoyed every one of them. It’s very Agatha Christie meets Enid Blyton, with two brilliant best friend protagonists, and when one of them turns out to be LGBTQ+, long after you’ve got to know her, it is such a charming part of the story. It’s a funny, light, young read with a really pleasing tone and voice.
All the Young Men by Ruth Coker Burks
This is an amazing true story – a memoir about how one woman randomly encountered a young gay man dying of AIDS when she was visiting a friend in hospital in Hot Springs, Arkansas in the very early days of the AIDS pandemic in the 80s. Where everyone else was repelled, she felt compelled to help – and in the end found herself helping hundred of gay men over many years. This story is truly remarkable – it gave me faith in humanity, even as I wept for why her actions were so necessary. It sounds like this book might be miserable, and of course most of its themes are incredibly sad. But it’s also a funny book, full of love and hope and chosen family, and it jaunts along at a surprisingly entertaining pace. It’s an important read because this is history that must never be forgotten. It’s also timely to read this during another pandemic, and instructive to note the differences in approach.
Permafrost by Eva Baltasar (translated: Julia Sanches)
This is an unusual novella by a Catalan poet with an intriguing lesbian protagonist. The book’s poetic format feels like a bit of a triumph for the translator. The book pulls us inside the protagonist’s head and her body as she explores possibilities, rebels against perceptions and expectations of the norm and of the exotic that are thrust upon her, contemplates suicide, and tries to understand who she is and how to be, and her place in the world. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s an unusual, visceral, passionate experience.
The Heartbreak Boys by Simon James Green
I wonder when I’ll stop being charmed by the mere existence of a cheery young adult romance that features a same sex couple. Apparently that day hasn’t come yet. Heartbreak Boys is about two boys who are dumped by their boyfriends – and when these exes get together and start being smug on Instagram, the two spurned boys go on an English family roadtrip together and fake a social media feed suggesting they are having an even better time. And of course they recover from their heartbreak along the way. It’s silly and cheery and an enjoyable read.
The Split by Laura Kay
Another very welcome new read coming at an apt moment of the pandemic, this book is about a lesbian breakup, and is one of those coming-home-to-come-of-age books, where after an unexpected break-up, our protagonist is forced to leave her allegedly cool life in London (kidnapping her ex’s cat along the way) to return to the family home in Sheffield – finding herself along the way through joining a running club, bonding with her gay friend from high school, flirting, . It is funny and charming and light and all too relatable.
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
I had no idea this book would have LGBTQ+ themes when I started reading. It’s an epic read, about a fictional early female aviator, with a parallel story of the actress playing her in a present day Hollywood movie. This is indisputably a slow read and at times I felt irritated at how long it took to get to the point, but I loved the unexpected depiction of her LGBTQ+ relationships. And also the exploration of strong independent women in the first half of the 20th century, and the impact that men had on their lives. This is a big book, in all sorts of ways.
One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
After loving Red, White and Royal Blue with all my heart, I had Casey McQuiston’s next book on my pre-order list for months. Honestly, I’m still not quite sure what I made of it. It’s a book about a lesbian relationship between a young woman trying to make a life in New York, and a woman of apparently similar age who has… been trapped in some kind of time pause where she’s been stuck on the Q line of the New York underground for 40 years. I still don’t know what I made of the premise, and the book is improbably long… but having finished it, I think I enjoyed it! (But not as much as Red, White and Royal Blue).
The Miseducation of Evie Epworth by Matson Taylor
The brilliant 16 year old protagonist of this rollicking novel set in the 1960s shines as being sane and practical in a ridiculous world of problematic adult relationships. The smallness of her world on her Yorkshire farm is widened by her neighbour’s exotic tastes and glamorous lesbian daughter. This is a funny, wry, gentle, silly, feel-good book full of quirky characters, celebrating the power of love and family, and full of optimism.
Happy reading!
Reading Shoes 