This article was published on January 17th, 2023

The winter months are cold, and the days are short. This is the perfect time to slip on your luxury slides, brew up some hot tea and cuddle up with a nice book. Here’s a list of ten books to read that will keep you warm this winter, including heartwarming tales, endearing stories of perseverance, and messy gays looking for love!

1. All Boys aren’t Blue – George M Johnson  

George M. Johnson, a journalist and LGBTQ+ activist, shares a collection of personal essays about their experiences growing up as a queer Black person in Virginia and New Jersey. It becomes a heartwarming story of self-discovery and growth. This is an excellent book to read for younger members of the queer community and allies who are looking to further educate themselves on the various experiences within the culture.

2. Spear – Nicola Griffith

This novel is an excellent retelling of lesser-known parts of the King Arthur legends. It follows the story of a young woman who breaks away from her remote cave home after visions come to her in her sleep. It’s a beautiful tale of magic, adventure, and romance that features polyamorous relationships and a sapphic heroine.

3. Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place – Neema Avashia

Neema shares her experiences growing up in the Appalachian Mountains as a queer desi woman and how that shaped her growing up. It gives a very narrow lens to a small and underrepresented demographic of North American culture. Spend your cold winter afternoon in the mountains with Neema as she shares her story.

4. Sing for the Coming of the Longest Night – Katherine Fabian & Iona Datt Sharma

This next book on the list is a quick read and a happy and humorous one. Featuring queer polyamorous relationships and magical shenanigans, two metamours that don’t fully get along are forced to work together to find their missing boyfriend after a magical mishap gone wrong. Perfect for your winter solstice reading. 

5. Blood, Marriage, Wine & Glitter – S. Bear Bergman

If you’re looking for a non-fiction queer story with an uplifting ending, this is your book! Bergman gives us the story of life as a queer trans person, and details the “extended family,” drag sisters, and polyamorous relationships. There is a focus on the found family, which is something that many in the LGBTQ+ community are familiar with.

6. I’m Not Hungry But I Could Eat – Christopher Gonzalez

In another collection of essays and flash fiction, Gonzalez gives a very real and often humorous look into the lives of gay and bisexual Puerto Rican men. It’s a quick read and a perfect pick-me-up for those quiet winter mornings!

7. This is How You Lose the Time War – Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

Rivals to Lovers? Science fiction fantasy? What better read for the cold winter months? This story follows two rival agents on opposite ends of the war as they exchange communication back and forth, “taunting” one another. But at what point does it stop being a threat? It’s a creative and romantic story with a literary and poetic approach to the prose. Perfect for the time-hopping sapphic in your life.

8. Orlando – Virginia Woolf

This next novel comes from the classic literature shelf, making it a denser read compared to the others. However, if you are a fan of Virginia Woolf and want something different from her, this is your choice. Written for her “close friend” Vita Sackville-West, it follows a man who, one day, wakes as a woman and must now face the new gender expectations that come with that change. There’s a touch on gender neutrality and the spectrum of gender identity.

9. Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender – Kit Heyam

This book is an outstanding look at the history of gender identity and how that has manifested and changed throughout time. Defying the gender binary is far from a new concept, despite what some may think, and this book gives an amazing look at that. This book is perfect for those exploring their own gender identity, and allies looking for more information and perspectives.

10. Greedy: Notes from a Bisexual Who Wants Too Much – Jen Winston

Jen’s collection of stories gives us a funny and witty look into what it’s like to be a bisexual woman and the emotions and experiences that come with that. She discusses the tired stereotypes that tend to revolve around bisexual women, and how she embodies them all anyway. It’s a very personal book that reads in the author’s own voice, so if you like that style of writing, this is a wonderful and relaxed winter read.

What are your favourite LGBTQ+ books that you are recommending others to read? We’d love to hear your suggestions in the comments section below.