Did you know there is a master list of all my (Danika’s) queer women book recommendations? It’s just been updated! In this post, the newest additions are bolded. Most will have my review linked, though some have reviews in the works, and others were before I started reviewing or are titles that slipped through the cracks. These are not all the bi & lesbian books I’ve read–it’s only the ones I would freely recommend! (These were all 4-5 star reads for me.)
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!
- Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown
- The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall (review)
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker (review)
- Orlando by Virginia Woolf (review)
- Double Dog Dare by E.J. Cochrane
- A Whisper of Bones (A Jane Lawless Mystery) by Ellen Hart
- The Locket by Gerri Hill
- Secrets of the Last Castle by A. Rose Mathieu
- A Study in Honor by Claire O’Dell
- Stolen by Linda J. Wright
- Nevada by Imogen Binnie (review)
- My Education by Susan Choi (review)
- Missed Her by Ivan Coyote (review)
- Drag King Dreams by Leslie Feinberg (review)
- Just Girls by Rachel Gold (review)
- Painting Their Portraits in Winter by Myriam Gurba (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)
- The Summer We Got Free by Mia McKenzie (review)
- Hero Worship by Rebekah Matthews (review)
- Hymnal for Dirty Girls by Rebekah Matthews (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)
- Marriage of a Thousand Lies by S.J. Sindu (review)
- (You) Set Me On Fire by Mariko Tamaki (review)
- Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson
- The Last Nude by Ellis Avery (review)
- Miss Timmins’ School for Girls by Nayana Currimbhoy (review)
- Prairie Ostrich by Tamai Kobayashi (review)
- Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters
- The Passion by Jeanette Winterson
- Sisterhood by Julie R. Enszer (review)
- Bodymap by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (review)
- A Place Called No Homeland by Kai Cheng Thom
- When I Was Straight by Julie Marie Wade (review)
- If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho edited by Anne Carson
- Drum Roll, Please by Lisa Jenn Bigelow (review) [children’s/middle grade]
- 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)
- Hurricane Child by Kheryn Callender (review) [children’s/middle grade]
- Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert (review)
- The Miseducation of Cameron Post by emily m. danforth (review)
- Star-Crossed by Barbara Dee (review) [children’s/middle grade]
- Down to the Bone by Mayra Lazara Dole (review)
- Honey Girl by Lisa Freeman (review)
- The Difference Between You and Me by Madeleine George (review)
- Silhouette of a Sparrow by Molly Beth Griffin (review)
- You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan (review)
- All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages edited by Saundra Mitchell (review)
- Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy (review) [Bisexual M/F]
- Radio Silence by Alice Oseman (review)
- P. S. I Miss You by Jen Petro-Roy (review) [children’s/middle grade]
- Noteworthy by Riley Redgate (review) [Bisexual M/F]
- Empress of the World by Sara Ryan
- Under Threat by Robin Stevenson
- As I Descended by Robin Talley (review)
- The Brightsiders by Jen Wilde (review)
- Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde (review)
- The House You Pass On the Way by Jacqueline Woodson (review)
SFF Young Adult:
- Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust (review)
- Love In the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block (review) [Bisexual M/F]
- The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow (review)
- Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova (review)
- Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst (review)
- Dreadnought by April Daniels (review) and Sovereign (Dreadnought #2) by April Daniels (review)
- All Good Children by Dayna Ingram (review)
- Hocus Pocus and the All-New Sequel by A. W. Jantha
- Adaptation (review) and Inheritance by Malinda Lo (review)
- Natural Selection (Adaptation 1.5) by Malinda Lo (review)
- Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce (review)
- Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft edited by Tess Sharpe (review)
- Ice Massacre by Tiana Warner (review)
- Tierra Del Fuego, Colony Ship: Parting Shots by Caron Cro (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)
- Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi (review)
- Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey (review)
- The Narrows by m. craig (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)
- Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant (review)
- The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson (review)
- Falling In Love With Hominids by Nalo Hopkinson (review)
- Sister Mine by Nalo Hopkinson (review)
- Bearly a Lady by Cassandra Khaw (review)
- Fire Logic by Laurie J. Marks (review)
- A Lake of Feathers and Moonbeams by Dax Murray (review)
- Everfair by Nisi Shawl (review)
- Hellebore & Rue edited by JoSelle Vanderhooft and Catherine Lundoff (review)
- Fist of the Spider Woman edited by Amber Dawn (review)
- Alice Isn’t Dead by Joseph Fink
- The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez (review)
- Gnarled Hollow by Charlotte Greene
- Eat Your Heart Out by Dayna Ingram (review)
- The Haunting Of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (review)
- Daughters of Darkness: Lesbian Vampire Stories by Pam Kesey
- The Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan (review)
- Better Off Red by Rebekah Weatherspoon (review)
- Rescued Heart by Georgia Beers (review)
- My Lady’s Choosing: An Interactive Romance Novel by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris (review)
- A Pirate’s Heart by Catherine Friend (review)
- Knit One, Girl Two by Shira Glassman (review)
- 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)
- Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (review)
- The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars by Michael Dante DiMartino
- Motor Crush Vol 1 by Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart, and Babs Tarr (review)
- Darlin’ It’s Betta Down Where It’s Wetta by Megan Rose Gedris (review)
- Spectacle Vol. 1 by Megan Rose Gedris
- As the Crow Flies by Melanie Gillman (review)
- Kim Reaper: Grim Beginnings by Sarah Graley (review)
- The One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg (review)
- Goldie Vance Vol. 1 by Hope Larson (Author) and Brittney Williams (illustrator) (review) (as well as Vol 2 and Vol 3)
- 100 Crushes by Elisha Lim (review)
- Girl Friends: The Complete Collection by Milk Morinaga (review of volume 1, review of volume 2)
- My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Kabi Nagata
- Sugar Town by Hazel Newlevant (review)
- On Loving Women by Diane Obomsawin (review)
- Space Battle Lunchtime Volumes 1 & 2 by Natalie Riess (review)
- America Volume 1 and Volume 2 by Gabby Rivera
- Revolutionary Girl Utena manga by Chiho Saito (review)
- Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, and Shannon Watters (review)
- Supermutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki (review)
- Jem and the Holograms by Kelly Thompson and Sophia Campbell
- Heavy Vinyl, Volume 1 by Carly Usdin and Nina Vakueva (review)
- Citrus, Vols 1-3 by Saburo Uta (review)
- Charm School Book One: Magical Witch Girl Bunny by Elizabeth Watasin (review)
- War of Streets and Houses by Sophie Yanow (review)
Memoirs and Biographies:
- Two or Three Things I Know for Sure by Dorothy Allison (review)
- The Family Tooth by Ellis Avery (review)
- When We Were Outlaws by Jeanne Cordova (review)
- Tomboy Survival Guide by Ivan Coyote (review)
- Hunger by Roxane Gay (review)
- Prairie Silence by Melanie Hoffert (review)
- First Spring Grass Fire by Rae Spoon (review)
- Gender Failure by Rae Spoon & Ivan E. Coyote (review)
- 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)
- Queer: A Graphic History by Meg-John Barker, illustrated by Julia Scheele (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)
- Kicked Out edited by Sassafras Lowrey (review)
- The Whole Lesbian Sex Book by Felice Newman (review)
- Dear John, I Love Jane edited by Candace Walsh and Laura Andre (review)