Recommendations List

The Lesbrary has been around since 2010, so we’ve covered a lot of books here! It can be overwhelming. You can browse by genre, rating, and representation, but if you’re looking for a shorter list, here are a few of my personal favorites by genre. These are just my (Danika’s) picks, so be sure to browse the site for all the other Lesbrarians’ favorite books!

Fiction:

• Nevada by Imogen Binnie (review)
• The Very Nice Box by Laura Blackett and Eve Gleichman (review)
• Milk Fed by Melissa Broder (review)
• Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown
• My Education by Susan Choi (review)
• Missed Her by Ivan Coyote (review)
• Significant Others by Zoe Eisenberg (review)
• Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi (review)
• The Sentence by Louise Erdrich (review)
• Drag King Dreams by Leslie Feinberg (review)
• Just Girls by Rachel Gold (review)
• Painting Their Portraits in Winter by Myriam Gurba (review)
• The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall (review)
• Stray City by Chelsey Johnson (review)
• When Fox is a Thousand by Larissa Lai (review)
• The Collection edited by Tom Leger and Riley Macleod (review)

• Lost Boi by Sassafras Lowrey (review)
• Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado (review)
• All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews (review)
• The Summer We Got Free by Mia McKenzie (review)
• Hero Worship by Rebekah Matthews (review)
• Tauhou by Kōtuku Titihuia Nuttall (review)
• A Dream of a Woman: Stories by Casey Plett (review)
• A Safe Girl to Love by Casey Plett (review)
• Lizzy & Annie by Casey Plett (review)
• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (review)
• Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera (review)
• (You) Set Me On Fire by Mariko Tamaki (review)
• The Color Purple by Alice Walker (review)
• Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson
• Fresh by Margot Wood (review) (New Adult)

Historical Fiction:

• The Last Nude by Ellis Avery (review)
• Miss Timmins’ School for Girls by Nayana Currimbhoy (review)
• The Heiress: The Revelations of Anne de Bourgh by Molly Greeley (review)
• Silhouette of a Sparrow by Molly Beth Griffin (review) (YA)
• Prairie Ostrich by Tamai Kobayashi (review)
• All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages edited by Saundra Mitchell (review) (YA)
• Pulp by Robin Talley (review) [YA]
• Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters
• The Passion by Jeanette Winterson

Science Fiction:

• Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (review)
• Finna by Nino Cipri (review)
• An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green (review)
• Meanwhile, Elsewhere edited by Cat Fitzpatrick and Casey Plett (review)
• The Little Homo Sapiens Scientist by S.L. Huang (review)
• The All-Consuming World by Cassandra Khaw (review)
• Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi (review)
• The Seep by Chana Porter (review)
• The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling (review)
• Love after the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit & Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction edited by Joshua Whitehead (review)

Fantasy:

• Legends & Lattes (review) and Bookshops & Bonedust (review) by Travis Baldree
• Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey (review)
• The Unbroken (review) and The Faithless (review) by C. L. Clark
• The Narrows by m. craig (review)
• The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean (review)
• Indigo Springs by A.M. Dellamonica (review)
• Kissing the Witch by Emma Donoghue
• Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History edited by Rose Fox and Daniel José Older (review)
• The Second Mango by Shira Glassman (review)
• “The Freedom of the Shifting Sea” by Jaymee Goh from New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color edited by Nisi Shawl (review)
• Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant (review)
• Spear by Nicola Griffith (review)

• The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson (review)
• Falling In Love With Hominids by Nalo Hopkinson (review)
• Sister Mine by Nalo Hopkinson (review)
• The Worldbreaker Saga by Kameron Hurley (review)
• Bearly a Lady by Cassandra Khaw (review)
• The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey (review)
• Fire Logic by Laurie J. Marks (review)
• A Lake of Feathers and Moonbeams by Dax Murray (review)
• Everfair by Nisi Shawl (review)
• The Dawnhounds (Against the Quiet #1) by Sascha Stronach (review)
• A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland (review)
• Hellebore & Rue edited by JoSelle Vanderhooft and Catherine Lundoff (review)
• The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo (review)
• Buffalo is the New Buffalo by Chelsea Vowel (review)

Horror/Zombies/Vampires:

• Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield (review)
• Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth (review)
• Fist of the Spider Woman edited by Amber Dawn (review)
• Alice Isn’t Dead by Joseph Fink
• A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson (review)
• An Education in Malice by S. T. Gibson (review)
• The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez (review)
• Gnarled Hollow by Charlotte Greene
• A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand (review)
• Eat Your Heart Out by Dayna Ingram (review)
• The Haunting Of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (review)
• We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer (review)
• Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, edited by Carmen Maria Machado (review)
• Green Fuse Burning by Tiffany Morris (review)
• Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt (review)
• Model Home by Rivers Solomon (review) (Nonbinary main character)
• Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle (review)

Romance and Erotica:

• Triple Sec by T.J. Alexander (review) [F/F/NB]
• Rescued Heart by Georgia Beers (review)
• Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake (review)
• Here We Go Again by Alison Cochrun (review)
• My Lady’s Choosing: An Interactive Romance Novel by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris (review)
• Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings (review)
• A Pirate’s Heart by Catherine Friend (review)
• Knit One, Girl Two by Shira Glassman (review)
• Season of Love by Helena Greer (review)
• An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera (review)
• The Pairing by Casey McQuiston (review) [Bi4Bi M/NB romance]
• Cash Delgado Is Living the Dream by Tehlor Kay Mejia (review)
• One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston (review)
• A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone (review) [Bi4Bi M/F romance]
• Roller Girl by Vanessa North (review)
• The Long Way Home by Rachel Spangler (review)
• Macho Sluts by Patrick Califia (review)
• Say Please: Lesbian BDSM Erotica edited by Sinclair Sexsmith (review)

Comics/Graphic Novels:

• Stone Fruit by Lee Lai (review)
• Matchmaker by Cam Marshall (review)
• Sugar Town by Hazel Newlevant (review)

SFF Graphic Novels:

• Heathen, Volume 1 by Natasha Alterici (review)
• Motor Crush Vol 1 by Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart, and Babs Tarr (review)
• That Full Moon Feeling by Ashley Robin Franklin (review)
• Kim Reaper: Grim Beginnings and Vampire Island by Sarah Graley (review)
• The One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg (review)
• America Volume 1 and Volume 2 by Gabby Rivera
• Darlin’ It’s Betta Down Where It’s Wetta by Ro Salarian (review)

Horror Graphic Novels:

• A Guest in the House by E.M. Carroll (review)
• When I Arrived at the Castle by E.M. Carroll (review)
• Eat the Rich by Sarah Gailey, Pius Bak, and Roman Titov (review)
• Boys Weekend by Mattie Lubchansky (review)

Manga:

• I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up by Naoko Kodama (review)
• Girl Friends: The Complete Collection by Milk Morinaga (review of volume 1, review of volume 2)
• My Cute Little Kitten Vol. 1 by Milk Morinaga (review)
• My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Kabi Nagata
• Revolutionary Girl Utena manga by Chiho Saito (review)
• Whisper Me a Love Song Vol. 1-4 by Eku Takeshima (review)
• How Do We Relationship? Volumes 1 & 2 by Tamifull (review)
• Citrus, Vols 1-3 by Saburo Uta (review)

Young Adult Contemporary:

• Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo (review)
• Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler (review)
• Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli (review)
• This is What it Feels Like by Rebecca Barrow (review)
• Starting From Here by Lisa Jenn Bigelow (review)
• Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake (review)
• How to Make a Wish by Ashley Herring Blake (review)
• The Heartbreak Bakery by A.R. Capetta (review) [agender main character/genderfluid love interest]
• Fat Angie: Rebel Girl Revolution by e.E. Charlton-Trujillo (review)
• Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert (review)
• The Miseducation of Cameron Post by emily m. danforth (review)
• Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan (review)
• Verona Comics by Jennifer Dugan (review) [Bisexual M/F, Bi LI)

• Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett (review) [Bisexual M/F]
• The Difference Between You and Me by Madeleine George (review)
• In the Silences by Rachel Gold (review)
• Silhouette of a Sparrow by Molly Beth Griffin (review) [Historical]
• Zara Hossain Is Here by Sabina Khan (review)
• You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan (review)
• Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo (review) [Historical]
• A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo (review)
• Indestructible Object by Mary McCoy (review)
• Out of Character by Jenna Miller (review)
• Middletown by Sarah Moon (review)
• Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy (review) [Bisexual M/F]
• Radio Silence by Alice Oseman (review)

• The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus (review)
• Late to the Party by Kelly Quindlen (review)
• Noteworthy by Riley Redgate (review) [Bisexual M/F]
• Empress of the World by Sara Ryan
• The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe (review) [Thriller]
• Under Threat by Robin Stevenson
• As I Descended by Robin Talley (review)
• Pulp by Robin Talley (review)
• Follow Your Arrow by Jessica Verdi (review) [Bisexual M/F]
• The Brightsiders by Jen Wilde (review)
• Going Off Script by Jen Wilde (review)
• Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde (review)
• Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything by Justine Pucella Winans (review) [Thriller]
• The House You Pass On the Way by Jacqueline Woodson (review)

YA Romance:

• Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler (review)
• Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler
• Wish You Weren’t Here by Erin Baldwin (review)
• Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins (review)
• Forget Me Not by Alyson Derrick (review)
• Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar (review)
• The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar (review)
• She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick (review)
• I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston (review)
• She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen (review)

YA Anthologies:

• All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages edited by Saundra Mitchell (review)
• Fools In Love: Fresh Twists on Romantic Tales edited by Rebecca Podos and Ashley Herring Blake (review)

Young Adult SFF

• Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust (review)
• The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow (review)
• The Lost Coast by Amy Rose Capetta (review)
• Once and Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy (review)
• Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova (review)
• Of Fire and Stars (review) and Of Ice and Shadows (review) by Audrey Coulthurst
• Dreadnought by April Daniels (review) and Sovereign (Dreadnought #2) by April Daniels (review)
• Time and Time Again by Chatham Greenfield (review)
• Hocus Pocus and the All-New Sequel by A. W. Jantha
• Adaptation (review), Inheritance (review), and Natural Selection (Adaptation 1.5) (review) by Malinda Lo
• Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce (review)
• Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft edited by Tess Sharpe (review)
• Sweet & Bitter Magic by Adrienne Tooley (review)

YA Horror

• The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould (review)
• The Girls Are Never Gone by Sarah Glenn Marsh (review)
• The Narrow by Kate Alice Marshall (review)
• I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me by Jamison Shea (review)

YA Graphic Novels:

• As the Crow Flies by Melanie Gillman (review)
• Stage Dreams by Melanie Gillman (review)
• Goldie Vance Vol. 1 by Hope Larson (Author) and Brittney Williams (illustrator) (review) (as well as Vol 2 and Vol 3)
• Slip written by Marika McCoola and illustrated by Aatmaja Pandya (review)
• Jem and the Holograms by Kelly Thompson and Sophia Campbell
• Heavy Vinyl, Volume 1 by Carly Usdin and Nina Vakueva (review)

YA SFF and Horror Graphic Novels:

• Cooking With Monsters by Jordan Alsaqa & Vivian Truong (review)
• The Baker and the Bard by Fern Haught (review)
• Specter Inspectors by Bowen McCurdy and, Kaitlyn Musto (review)
• The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Ostertag (review)
• Supermutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki (review)
• Hollow by Shannon Watters, Branden Boyer-White, and Berenice Nelle (review) (Horror)
• Princeless: Raven the Pirate Princess Vols. 1-3 by Jeremy Whitley (review)

Middle Grade:

• Drum Roll, Please by Lisa Jenn Bigelow (review)
• Hazel’s Theory of Evolution by Lisa Jenn Bigelow (review) [Two moms]
• Hurricane Child by Kheryn Callender (review)
• Star-Crossed by Barbara Dee (review)
• P. S. I Miss You by Jen Petro-Roy (review)
• Goldie Vance: The Hocus Pocus Hoax by Lilliam Rivera (review)
• Kenzie Kickstarts a Team (The Derby Daredevils #1) by Kit Rosewater, illustrated by Sophie Escabasse (review)

Middle Grade Graphic Novels:

• The Pale Queen by Ethan M. Aldridge (review)
• The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars by Michael Dante DiMartino
• Other Ever Afters: New Queer Fairy Tales by Melanie Gillman (review)
• The Legend of Auntie Po by Shing Yin Khor (review)
• Aquicorn Cove by Katie O’Neill (review)
• The Girl from the Sea by Molly Ostertag (review)
• Space Battle Lunchtime Volumes 1 & 2 by Natalie Riess (Vol 1 & 2 review) (Vol 3 review)
• Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, and Shannon Watters (review)

Memoirs and Biographies:

• Two or Three Things I Know for Sure by Dorothy Allison (review)
• The Life and Times of Butch Dykes by Eloisa Aquino (review)
• The Family Tooth by Ellis Avery (review)
• When We Were Outlaws by Jeanne Cordova (review)
• Tomboy Survival Guide by Ivan Coyote (review) [Nonbinary]
• Hunger by Roxane Gay (review)
• The Black Period by Hafizah Augustus Geter (review)
• Prairie Silence by Melanie Hoffert (review)
• How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler (review) [Nonbinary]
• Love is an Ex-Country by Randa Jarrar (review)
• Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk by Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe (review)
• Thunder Song: Essays by Sasha taqwšəblu LaPointe (review)
• Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde (review)
• In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (review)
• First Spring Grass Fire by Rae Spoon (review) [Nonbinary]
• Gender Failure by Rae Spoon & Ivan E. Coyote (review) [Nonbinary]
• Before the Rain: A Memoir of Love & Revolution by Luisita Lopez Torregrosa (review)
• Licking the Spoon: A Memoir of Food, Family and Identity by Candace Walsh (review)

Nonfiction:

• Queer: A Graphic History by Meg-John Barker, illustrated by Julia Scheele (review)
• Moby Dyke: An Obsessive Quest To Track Down The Last Remaining Lesbian Bars In America by Krista Burton (review)
• Care of: Letters, Connections, and Cures by Ivan Coyote (review)
• Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme edited by Ivan Coyote and Zena Sharman (review)
• Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women’s Love and Desire by Lisa M. Diamond (review)
• Inseparable: Desire Between Women In Literature by Emma Donoghue (review)
• Queers Dig Time Lords edited by Sigrid Ellis and Michael Damian Thomas (review)
• Aimée & Jaguar: A Love Story, Berlin 1943 by Erica Fischer
• The ABCs of LGBT+ by Ash Hardell (review)
• Crip Kinship: The Disability Justice & Art Activism of Sins Invalid by Shayda Kafai (review)
• Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (review)
• Kicked Out edited by Sassafras Lowrey (review)
• Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller (review)
• The Whole Lesbian Sex Book by Felice Newman (review)
• The Women’s House of Detention by Hugh Ryan (review)
• Dear John, I Love Jane edited by Candace Walsh and Laura Andre (review)

Poetry:

• Sisterhood by Julie R. Enszer (review)
• Bodymap by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (review)
• When I Was Straight by Julie Marie Wade (review)
• If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho edited by Anne Carson

Nonfiction Comics & Graphic Memoirs:

• Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (review)
• I’m a Wild Seed: My Graphic Memoir on Queerness and Decolonizing the World by Sharon Lee De La Cruz (review)
• Be Gay, Do Comics!: Queer History, Memoir, and Satire from the Nib (review)
• Kimiko Does Cancer: A Graphic Memoir by Kimiko Tobimatsu, illustrated by Keet Geniza (review)
• War of Streets and Houses by Sophie Yanow (review)

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