Final Bibliographies

Over the Rainbow Final Bibliography, 2025

By OTR Committee  |  2026/01/24 12:14 Posted in Final Bibliographies  |  Comments (0)

The following titles were selected for the Over the Rainbow Book List final bibliography:

Fiction

  1. The Keeper of Lonely Spirits by E.M. Anderson. Mira, 2025.
    Peter Shaugnessy is an immortal graveyard caretaker cursed to never return to his home of Ireland. He can also talk to plants and see ghosts, both of which come in handy as he dedicates himself to helping ghosts move on to the next life. When he moves to Harrington, he encounters a town full of vibrant characters. Peter’s character growth is the primary focus of the novel – he has lost his family and his husband to time, and he seeks to keep himself at arms length from developing any deeper feelings and relationships (platonic or romantic) to save himself from future pain. Harrington’s residents make that impossible, however. He grows close to Nevaeh, who runs the graveyard and has recently lost her father, David, a sweet, widowed museum caretaker, and Sayid and Samira, both spirited kids, and each of these relationships are built carefully and beautifully. This book is recommended for anyone interested in gentle, healing stories with light supernatural elements and happy endings.
  2. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab. Tor, 2025.
    This book follows the stories of three women, but also how in those stories they are more than three women. Maria, who becomes Sabine; Charlotte who becomes Lottie; Alice, who is drawn into the complex, morally gray world between them. Each of these women has a full, rich history, each are allowed to be vulnerable, powerful, manipulative, flawed, victorious — but in different ways that are true to their characters. Schwab’s writing shifts along with her characters, poetic and tender at times, cutting as steel and glass at others.
  3. A Gentleman’s Gentleman by T.J. Alexander. Vintage Books / Penguin Random House, 2025.
    In this classically-constructed, spicy romance novel, Christopher is a minor lord in England, and he must find a wife before his 26th birthday or risk losing his title, land, and money. But Christopher has a problem: he’s a gay trans man who has zero interest in having a wife or the life of the ton. As a part of this duty, he hires a valet, James, who helps Christopher enter polite London society. Fans of Downton Abbey and Bridgerton will like the queer take on this era.
  4. Hungerstone by Kat Dunn. Zando, 2025.
    “Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?” Hungerstone is a thrilling, gothic tale set against the backdrop of the Industrial Revolution about a woman taking control of her life and learning how to want. This is the story of Lenore – a woman married to a hungry steel magnate – and as the story unfolds, we learn why she obsesses over etiquette and being a proper wife. As we learn more about her past, how it plays into her present, and how Carmilla’s role here is a forced reckoning, Lenore is compelled to see the realities around her that are not polite or comforting. This Carmilla retelling is dark and dreamy, and will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.
  5. Blood on Her Tongue by Joanna van Veen. Poisoned Pen Press / Sourcebooks, 2025.
    Joanna van Veen delivers another gripping, Gothic tale, this time starring twin sisters in a tale that blends shades of Dracula, Victorian era natural sciences, and questioning of self. The book largely follows Lucy in a third person limited view, with occasional inclusions of journal entries and letters from her sister, Sarah. Lucy and Sarah are both great characters, fully fleshed out with strengths, weaknesses, and secrets. Sarah’s household – with all its interpersonal tensions – gives the book an interesting atmosphere.
  6. Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite. Tor, 2025.
    A short, cozy sci-fi mystery, this story follows Dorothy, a detective on a futuristic ship traveling through space. On the HMS Fairweather there is a library where the minds of everyone on board are stored, and once your body deteriorates, your mind is uploaded into a new body, essentially creating the potential for immortality. But when Dorothy discovers that bodies are being murdered and memories erased permanently she realizes something sinister is afoot. Cozy mystery and lesbian sci-fi fans will enjoy this read.
  7. Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert by Bob the Drag Queen. Gallery Books, 2025.
    This is book combines magical realism with historical figures, when Harriet Tubman reappears to give a concert about her life and that of four enslaved people she led to freedom following in the footsteps of Hamilton by Lin Manuel Miranda. She recruits Darnell Williams, a hip-hop musician who was outed as a gay man at an awards show, and this story also follows his personal struggle with his identity as a gay, Black musician in contemporary America. Together Harriet and Darnell attempt to write a Broadway caliber show while also confronting the challenges of both of their pasts.
  8. Sister Snake: A Novel by Amanda Lee Koe. Ecco / Harper Collins, 2024.
    Sister Snake is an interesting, modern take on the Legend of the White Snake that follows sisters Su and Emerald, exploring themes of passing, identity, and chosen family in a unique way. This story is beautifully told, but definitely dark at times.
  9. Rough Pages by Lev AC Rosen. Tor Forge, 2024.
    This is the third book in Rosen’s series of mysteries starring Detective Evander Mills, but it can be read as a standalone. This noir mystery follows Mills as he navigates the mystery of a murdered book seller, the fallout of being exposed as a gay man and being removed from the police force, and helping protect the formed family of the Lavender House, was all interesting. The focus on a time where queer literature was obscene material with a high risk of prosecution for sharing it (and worse for being queer) – mirroring, too painfully, many contemporary attacks on marginalized peoples and their literatures, including queer folks – makes this an even more engaging read.
  10. Wild/Hurt: Poems by Meg Ford. Button Publishing, 2025.
    This immersive, interactive poetry collection takes the reader on a journey through trauma and its many responses. Reading through this book can take many paths and forms, and the author includes common reading paths in the back of the book, allowing for comparison of one’s own journey through the poems to the more common paths.
  11. Murder in the Dressing Room by Holly Stars. Berkley Prime Crime, 2025.
    In this cozy mystery, the owner of a drag club is murdered in her own dressing room. Her protégé, Misty Devine (Joe by day), takes it upon herself to solve the mystery. It’s well-paced, and while some of the queens are a little one-dimensional, overall it’s an entertaining story.

Nonfiction

  1. Forest Euphoria by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian. Spiegel & Grau, 2025.
    Kaishian’s narrative is a wonderful look at the queerness inherent in nature while also being moving, personal, and reflective. There is wonderful information about fungi and slugs and snails, but that is not the primary focus of the book. Instead, these and other vignettes helped frame larger discussions: such as why certain fields, animals, and environments are not as studied, the continued struggle of underrepresented populations in science and other fields, and the importance of reconnecting and paying attention.
  2. Black, Queer, and Untold: A New Archive of Designers, Artists, and Trailblazers by Jon Key. Levine Querido, 2025.
    Jon Key was one of the few Black students in his graduating class at the Rhode Island School of Design, and his hunger to see himself reflected in his underrepresented fields led him to create this impressive feat of research that is also part memoir. Key’s work pays tribute to the incredible (and often forgotten) Black queer artists and designers who came before him, and chronicles a history of Black queer art from the 19th century to the present through personal narratives, archival documents, photos, and other documents. This book is beautifully designed and carefully considered, and Key relates so much important information without descending into textbook territory.
  3. Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson by Tourmaline. Tiny Reparations Books / Penguin Random House, 2025.
    Tourmaline’s biography of Marsha P. Johnson is excellently researched and clearly a labor of love. The book can be read either chronologically or through Marsha’s different lenses, whether as a care giver, an activist, an artist, and so forth. Tourmaline’s writing overall breathes life into Marsha; it is at times personal and at times analytical, but always honest and endearing, and most importantly, it is informative. The depiction of trans-exclusionist views and how they affected the queer community then (as, unfortunately, now) and the joy to be found in bars and with drag groups in which Marsha performed, were both equally well-rendered, which is no small feat.
  4. So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color by Caro de Roberts. Algonquin Books / Little, Brown, 2025.
    At a time where, globally and more overtly than ever in the United States, conservative groups are vilifying, policing, and denying the existence of trans and gender diverse people, this book offers a much needed light in the darkness. The book is the result of hours of interviews from 20 individuals. These narratives share valuable lived experiences, made all the more valuable in bringing people of color to the forefront. The book can be read chronologically or thematically, and either would produce a satisfying experience. While some sections are darker than others, throughout the work inspires hope, camaraderie, and love.
  5. It Rhymes with Takei by George Takei. IDW Publishing | Top Shelf Productions, 2025.
    This graphic memoir reveals Geoge Takei’s most personal story of all: his journey of coming out as a gay man at the age of 68. With beautiful illustrations by Harmony Becker, Takei explores – in his engaging sense of humor – his experiences with Japanese American internment, illustrious acting career as Hikaru Sulu on StarTrek, outspoken activism, and what it was like to live in the closet for most of his life. Takei’s passion for improving the world for others really shines through in this work.
  6. The Intermediaries: A Weimar Story by Brandy Schillace. W. W. Norton & Company, 2025.
    Schillace’s work offers both in depth research and a humanizing story as she describes Dr. Magnus Hirshfeld’s work at the Institute for Sexual Science (Institut für Sexualwissenschaft) and, specifically, one of its patients – a transwoman named Dora Richter. Schillace’s tying of historical events to the current environment, particularly in the United States, is achingly appropriate. Books like hers that record the historical reality of queer individuals to paper – to preserve and to spread it – are only more important in such times. This book is highly recommended this book for anyone interested in LGBTQ+ history, and especially for those interested in trans and non-binary history, as well as the history of fascism and totalitarianism and how such governments use attacks on “undesirables” to advance their agenda.
  7. Beyond Bananas and Condoms: The LGBTQIA+ Inclusive Sex Education You Never Got at School by Dee Whitnell. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2025.
    Whitnell provides an excellent and inclusive sexual education primer in Beyond Bananas and Condoms. While informational and instructive, it also makes good use of humor and addresses that any type of sex ed can be awkward. This is recommended for both teenagers and young adults, as well as someone entering a new gender or sexual identity at any age.
  8. Cleavage: Men, Women, and the Space Between Us by Jennifer Finney Boylan. Celadon Books, 2025.
    Boylan allows readers into both her experiences long before transition and those long after, showing folks what it’s like to be one person who has been perceived in many different ways throughout her life. Her humor throughout the book keeps the tone lighthearted, even through some tough discussion topics, like motherhood in transition, changing friendships, and discrimination. She uses her experiences and relationships to highlight that love can remain through transition, through loss, and through whatever major changes life brings our way.
  9. Shame-Sex Attraction: Survivors’ Stories of Conversion Therapy by Lucas Wilson. Jessican Kingsley Publishers, 2025.
    This powerful edited collection brings together the voices and experiences of those who have been subjected to queer conversion therapy. Wilson’s book is a heart-wrenching read. Each section has a different contributor, each of whom has gone through some form of conversion therapy. Some reads are harder than others, but all of the stories are, in their own way, painful. A must needed book to ensure that these stories are told and that these experiences will not happen to future generations.
  10. Boy from the Valleys: My Unexpected Journey by Luke Evans. Ebury Spotlight 2024.
    Boy From the Valleys is a sincere and sweet memoir that traces Luke Evans’s journey from a small Welsh town to international stardom. What stands out most is the humility that runs through the entire narrative – Evans never loses sight of where he came from, and his reflections on fame, identity, and staying true to himself feel honest and unfiltered. The early chapters about growing up in a strict Jehovah’s Witness household are particularly powerful, and his path through hardship to self-acceptance is both moving and inspiring. It’s a story of grit, perseverance, and grace, reminding readers that even under the Hollywood spotlight, humanity can shine through.
  11. Fluid: A Guide for People with Flexible Sexuality by Mark Cusak. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2025.
    Cusack’s work is an excellent primer for both those who may be fluid as well as those who wish to learn in more scholarly pursuits. The combination of interviews from individuals with their various, fluid identities, and the well-cited resources allow for both personal learning and following the citations.

Over the Rainbow Final Bibliography, 2024

By OTR Committee  |  2025/12/09 15:04 Posted in Final Bibliographies  |  Comments (0)

The following titles were selected for the Over the Rainbow Book List final bibliography:

  1. Who’s Afraid of Gender? by Judith Butler. Alfred A. Knopf, 2024. 
    Who’s Afraid of Gender sets out to examine how the fear of gender is used in the political sphere and calls out for solidarity from those affected by this fear. Written by Judith Butler, who is a legend in the sphere of gender studies, this book takes a topic that can leave people feeling powerless and instead takes the chance to offer hope, ideas, and a sense of community among those who are fighting an uphill battle against inequality.
  2. The T in LGBT: Everything You Need to Know About Being Trans, by Jamie Raines. Vermilion, 2023.     
    The T in LGBT is an informal and welcoming guide to becoming more comfortable in your own skin. Using wit and real life experiences the author offers heartfelt advice to both trans people and allies.
  3. Bury Your Gays, by Chuck Tingle. Nightfire, Tor Publishing Group.
    Bury Your Gays takes on the Bury Your Gays trope in this satirical, horror novel.  After years of trying to make it big in Hollywood, Misha finally has his moment, an Oscar nomination.  Instead of celebrating the gay characters that Misha has brought to life the “studio” wants him to kill them off.  When Misha refuses, that’s when it starts to get weird and deadly.  Tingle weaves an emotional roller coaster that is powerful, painful, and heartwarming.  Throughout it all it maintains an authentic and unabashedly queer perspective.
  4. Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune. Publishing Group, 2024.
    Somewhere Beyond the Sea is a unique combination of a spell-binding fantasy setting and the heartwarming themes found in the slice-of-life genre. This book explores the ideas of found family, prejudice, and societal acceptance in a fun-to-read way that leaves you feeling connected to the characters as well as invested in their fates. While it is a sequel, it reads well as a standalone and does a good job of showing the relationships that were established in the first book of the series.
  5. Rules for Ghosting, a Novel. by Shelly Jay Shore. Penguin Random House, 2024.
    The Friedmans’ family funeral business is complicated for protagonist Eli, who just happens to be able to see ghosts. Rules for Ghosting follows this young trans man as he navigates a new living situation, unexpectedly having to help with the family business, and figuring out how he can help the dearly departed. Part family drama and part romance, this well-written book provides insight into Jewish life (and death) and the very real struggles of a trans person as he works through new relationships, dysphoria, and the consequences of being the family fixer. 
  6. The Rainbow Age of Television: An Opinionated History of Queer TV by Shayna Maci Warner. Abrams Press, 2024.
    The strength of this book comes from exploring the (coded) earliest queer appearances on television. Entertaining and accessibly-written, Warner details queer milestones on TV and how representation has expanded over recent decades. This is a must-read for anyone interested in queer representation in pop culture or just in entertainment history in general. 
  7. Kissing Girls on Shabbat by Sara Glass. First Atria Books, 2024.
    Glass’s memoir is beautifully written and engaging. With its intertwining threads of fear stemming from oppression she faced from conservative Judaism as both a woman and lesbian and the impact of mental illness on her family, the book often touches on heavy content. However, the book is not bleak and offers glimmers of hope and triumph, including Glass’s pursuit of education and eventual custody of her children.
  8. Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar. Alfred A. Knopf, 2024.
    Martyr!, poet Kaveh Akbar’s first novel, collapses the personal and the historical with inventive form and lush prose. Amidst the loss of both his Iranian immigrant parents and a tenuous sobriety, writer Cyrus Shams struggles to find meaning in anything at all. An obsession with martyrs drives him from the Midwest to New York City, where a chance encounter with a painting throws into question everything he thought he knew about his mother—and himself. With wit and crushing sincerity, Akbar delivers a triumphant debut novel about grief, queer lineages, and art.
  9. Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree. Tor Publishing Group, 2023.
    This cozy fantasy prequel to Legends and Lattes find Viv, an orc who just wants to get her assigned fight with Varine the Pale completed, finds herself injured and suddenly the friend of bookseller Fern. The book is light and entertaining and follows Viv and Fern through an adventure involving a necromancer named Balthus and an enslaved skeleton named Satchel.
  10. Cactus Country: A Boyhood Memoir by Zoë Bossiere. Abrams Press, 2024.
    Cactus Country is a rich, powerful memoir. Bossiere’s work is moving not just due to their impeccable writing skills, but also due to their sincerity and empathy. They do not sugarcoat their darker experiences, but they evoke compassion for their earlier selves and their companions at different stages of life. Bossiere excels at sharing with others what it was like as a trans, nonbinary person at various stages of their life and their gender fluidity. They carefully lay out how actions, words, and appearance — even the same ones — are “different” to people depending on how they view your gender identity/expression. In showing not just how they moved between the worlds of masculine, androgynous, and feminine, but why they did so, they offer powerful insights and a means of understanding their lived experiences.

Over the Rainbow Short List 2022

By Nadia Orozco-Sahi  |  2023/01/23 12:48 Posted in Final Bibliographies  |  Comments Off on Over the Rainbow Short List 2022

The shortlist of titles considered for the Over the Rainbow final bibliography for books published in 2022 are the following:

All My Friends are Invisible. Jonathan Joly. Quercus Publishing, 2022. When Jonathan Joly has what might be described as a hallucination in a crowded airport, he is prompted to recall the world of imagination he escaped into as a child, a world in which he had a friend in the girl who lived inside of him, and his reasons for doing so. Joly does not interrogate his experiences, but rather relates them openly, and reveals that the world of his imagination, and his invisible friends, continue to be a part of his reality. 

All the Things We Dont Talk About. Amy Feltman. Grand Central Publishing, 2022. Feltman weaves a multiperspective story that is at once heartbreaking and heartwarming. The diverse cast of characters feel incredibly real as they tackle serious issues such as drug addiction, neurodivergence, gender, and sex. 

Asylum: A Memoir & Manifesto. Edafe Okporo. Simon & Schuster, 2022. Forced to flee his home in Nigeria after he is revealed to be a gay man, Edafe Okporo escapes to the United States and seeks asylum from persecution due to his sexual identity. What he encounters in the United States is a cell, and a system that does not work for the humane treatment and integration of immigrants and refugees. Asylum is the story of Okporos survival, but also a call to action, and a vision of a more compassionate system. 

Bi: Bisexual, Pansexual, Fluid, and Nonbinary Youth. Ritch C. Savin-Williams. NYU Press, 2022. In its examination of a queer population often misunderstood, this book answers questions that many readers may have about bisexuality. With real-world examples and historical backing, Savin-Williams weaves one of, if not the most, comprehensive guide on bisexuality currently available.

The Boy with a Bird in His Chest: A Novel. Emme Lund. Atria Books, 2022. Owen always knew he was different; after all, he was born with a bird in his chest. For so long his bird and his mother are Owens only companions. Then one day Owens mother leaves him with his uncle for his own protection and suddenly it seems like the whole wide world is open to him. Overwhelmed, afraid, and completely curious, Owen begins to explore. This allegorical tale of magical realism tells a story of Owens coming of age and coming out. Exploring themes of belonging, isolation, found family, sexuality, and identity, The Boy with a Bird in His Chest is both somber and delightful, unexpected and universal, without being clich. 

Burn the Page: A True Story of Torching Doubts, Blazing Trails, and Ignite Change. Danica Roem. Viking Publishing, 2022. As the first openly transgender member elected to the U.S. State Legislature, Roems memoir is part reflective and part manifesto. Roem describes herself as a transgender storyteller, and this memoir reads like a novel, entwining the stories of Roems childhood, transition, and political life. Striking a good balance between humor and politics, Burn the Page has a message that is ultimately hopeful, showing that while we all make mistakes, it is possible for an individual to change the world for the better by sharing their authentic self.

Burning My Roti: Breaking Barriers as a Queer Indian Woman. Sharan Dhaliwal. Hardie Grant, 2022. Burning My Roti is a visually stunning blended-genre book which looks at the experience of queer South Asian women through essays, interviews and illustrations. Part memoir, this is both a broad look at the issues queer South Asian women face, as well as Dhaliwals own reckoning with her role in confronting those systems.  

Boys Come First. Aaron Foley. Belt Publishing, 2022. Dominick, Tony, and Remy have been friends for years. Growing up gay and Black in Detroit, when you find your crew, you stick with them; even when it gets hard and even when you have to tell them about themselves. There aren’t many books that embrace and celebrate Black male friendship, discuss intimate partner abuse in gay relationships, and tackle neighborhood gentrification all at once. This book does all that and more, and does it well.

Dead collections. Isaac Fellman. Penguin Books, 2022. Being a transmasculine archivist and a vampire can leave Sol Katz feeling like life is stagnant and unchanging, forever frozen in the early days of transitioning and living in the archives surrounded by remnants of times gone by. When the widow Elsie enters his life, Sol finds himself seeing life in a whole new way. As the two work together unraveling Elsies wifes memorabilia, the two find themselves in a whirlwind romance, which may just be what they both need to heal their hearts. Delightfully humorous while being as real as a vampire novel can be, Dead Collections explores sexuality, gender, identity, and belonging in a way that is unexpectedly charming and heartfelt. 

Fine: A Comic about Gender. Rhea Ewing. Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2022. An honest look at how ones gender definition can be different from person to person depending on everything from personality, religion, culture, to upbringing. With a diverse mix of authentic perspectives, this book shows that there is an unlimited number of ways to define oneself.

Flung Out of Space: Inspired by the Indecent Adventures of Patricia Highsmith. Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer. Harry N. Abrams, 2022. Following the life of author Patrcia Highsmith as she navigates a world filled with sexism, homophobia, and her own self-doubt, this graphic novel is for all readers regardless if they know her work or not. Not only does it paint the picture of a hard-working and strong woman who made her way in the world and stood up for what she believed in, but it inspires others to do the same.

The Gender Identity Guide for Parents: Compassionate Advice to Help Your Child Be Their Most Authentic Self. Tavi Hawn. Rockridge Press, 2022.  Written by a licensed therapist, Hawn answers many of the questions potential parents may have about gender. The writing is compassionate and kind as it guides readers through scenarios they may encounter, stressing how no one individual has all the answers but that a willingness to listen and learn can go a long way. 

Girls Guide to Leaving. Laura Villareal. University of Wisconsin, 2022. Many struggle everyday with how to leave. Leave a relationship, leave home, leave family. How does one separate themselves from something that is harming them, especially when it is rooted in love? Girls Guide to Leaving is a collection of poems that tell the story of finding identity in culture, and community in identifying and letting go. It calls out abusive systems without shying away from the reality of trauma and connection, of loving what you fear and holding what you want to let go of.  

I’m So (Not) Over You. Kosoko Jackson. Berkeley, 2022. Kian Andrews is single and ready to mingle. Except, he’s really not. He’s still stinging from his breakup with his ex Hudson Rivers, who, conveniently, needs his help. Hudson’s old money parents are in town, and he needs Kian to pretend to still be his boyfriend. The next thing they know, Kian is invited to a Rivers family wedding, and neither man is ready for what forced proximity will do to their not-real-anymore relationship. A big-hearted second chance romantic comedy that reminds readers that what you want and what you need are often different things, and that asking for them is not a bad thing.

Like a House on Fire. Lauren McBrayer. GP Putnam’s Sons, 2022. Merit has been a dutiful wife and mother for twelve years, and now shes ready to jump into her career again. When her new boss Jane seems to see her as a whole person, in a way she hasnt been seen in years, Merit begins to be open to the possibility of a deeper relationship than shes known. This is a trope-heavy read with great character development, and a relationship experience that is not often explored.  

Love & Other Disasters. Anita Kelly. Forever, 2022. In this classic contemporary romance you follow two contestants on a cooking show competition. Dahlia just got out of a terrible marriage and put her hopes and dreams on this trip through reality TV. London is nonbinary and has to deal with the fallout of coming out on national TV while still trying to win the competition. Sparks fly between them, complicating matters even worse. Will they be able to figure out their relationship before the competition is over?  

Love in the Big City. Sang Young Park, translated by Anton Hur. Grove Press, 2021. A gay millennial experiences love and loneliness in Seoul. Told in four parts, the author explores topics of family, homophobia, sex, HIV status, and activism.

Ma and Me: A Memoir. Putsata Reang. MCD, Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2022. This beautifully written memoir alternates between the authors own story growing up in Oregon, coming out, and finding her way professionally as a journalist, and her mothers story of escaping genocidal war in Cambodia. The author describes her deep desire to please her mother, while struggling with living between two cultures and coming to terms with her own sexuality. 

Miss Memory Lane: A Memoir. Colton Hayes. Atria Books, 2022. Detailing his start as a small-town kid wanting more, to his time as a well-known television actor, this book reads like a confessional. Hayess writing is honest and full of heart as he tells what is like being a gay actor in Hollywood.

Monarch. Candace Wuehle. Soft Skull, 2022. An examination of what it means to be human and how even the hidden parts of ourselves can bring immense changes. Wuehle weaves an immersive and intricate story, covering a range of emotions from love and loss to hatred and uncertainty.

The Other Mother. Rachel M. Harper. Counterpoint, 2022. A family drama told from multiple perspectives. A lesbian couple in the 90s use a sperm donor to have a baby. After they split up the birth mother abandons the other mother and hides her existence from the child, Jenry. Jenry goes to college expecting to meet his estranged grandfather and learn about his dead father, but discovers more about his family than he could have ever expected. The novel eloquently poses the question: what makes someone family: blood or love?

Our Colors. Gengoroh Tagame. Pantheon, 2022. This tender graphic novel follows 16-year-old Sora Ikeda as he discovers the possibility of living as an out gay man. He sparks an unlikely friendship with an older coffee shop owner, who helps him understand that being out and proud comes with challenges, but it is much better than the alternative. Tagame’s precise lines still allow the story to sing, imbuing a dream-like quality to this gentle coming-of-age.

Our Wives Under the Sea. Julia Armfield. Flatiron Books, 2022.
Miri and Leah are in love and living a happily married life, until Leah leaves on a mysterious deep-sea journey and returns months later profoundly changed. Alternating between the perspectives of the two women, this hauntingly strange novel slowly reveals the bizarre story of what happened to Leah in the ocean depths, and what Miri must do to save the woman she loves. 

Queer Conception: The Complete Fertility Guide for Queer and Trans Parents-to-Be. Kristin L. Kali. Sasquatch Books, 2022. Comprehensive yet approachable title on fertility and conception for all of the LGBTQ+ community including trans* readers. Written by a queer midwife, topics range from making the decision to have a baby to dealing with issues of sperm donors, surrogacy, insemination, early pregnancy, and lactation.

A Quick and Easy Guide to Asexuality. Molly Muldoon and Will Hernandez. Limerence Press, 2022. This graphic novel covers a community that is often misunderstood and lost in todays sexual world. With humor and plenty of examples, this book breaks down misconceptions to foster understanding.

Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington. James Kirchick. Henry Holt and Company, 2022. A riveting look at gay Washington DC and the fight for equality from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Bill Clinton. Well documented.

Sedating Elaine. Dawn Winter. Knopf Publishing Group, 2022. Frances is in over her head, in more ways than one, and decides the best solution to her problems is to sedate her girlfriend while attempting to evade her drug dealer. Yes, this story is as ridiculous as it sounds, but it is also riotously funny, well-written, irreverent, and at times outright gruesome, with characters that jump off the page with almost no prompting.   

Sex is as Sex Does: Governing Transgender Identity. Paisley Currah. NYU Press, 2022. This comprehensive book is not weighed down by overly jargonized terminology or statistics as it discusses a serious issue for many transgender individuals: how the government regulates gender. Using real-world examples, Sex is as Sex Does details not only the history of gender regulations but also the why of it, all of which accumulates in a book that shows the process as the convoluted and often painful mess that it is.

Siren Queen. Nghi Vo. TorDotCom, 2022. Luli Wei knows what girls that look like her end up doing in the movies, and shes determined to be none of those things shes going to be a star. But becoming a star in a world that survives on the currency of the expendable masses reaching for glory requires more than a pretty face and a little luck. It will take allies, cunning, ruthless ambition and an iron fortitude. It will take a monster. Nghi Vo has crafted a world that is recognizable and utterly unfamiliar. This is a book that dwells somewhere between satire and horror, and situated firmly within queerness. It brings to mind questions about secrecy, about the price were willing to pay to live authentically, what were willing to do to be free, and what paying those prices will do to us.

Sirens & Muses. Antonia Angress. Ballantine Books, 2022. Young art students Louisa, Karina, and Preston plunge headfirst into the New York art world amidst Occupy Wall Street, while veteran artist Robert rejoins it. Tensions abound over talent, taste, romances, and capitalism in the art world.

The Third Person. Emma Grove. Drawn and Quarterly, 2022. A raw memoir of the authors mental health struggle through bad therapists and self-doubt. With authentic storytelling, this graphic novel addresses how harmful stigmatizing mental health can be as well as the potential damage gatekeeping can be during a transgender persons transition process.

Walk Me to the Corner. Anneli Furmark. Drawn and Quarterly, 2022. A late-in-life queer love story beautifully conveyed with fairly simple text and pictures, and sometimes no text at all. Furmark allows us to walk with these two women in their fifties as they fall in love, develop a passionate relationship, and navigate that passion with their lives as spouses and parents. It is an emotional journey related with compassion and realism.

You Better Be Lightning. Andrea Gibson. Button Poetry, 2022. You Better be Lightning is a collection of poetry that touches on the deeply personal while seeming to remain vast in scope. To say it is evocative fails to capture the experience of reading Gibson, which is akin to beginning to shake the hand of a friend only to have them pull you close in an enveloping hug.  

Young Mungo. Douglas Stuart. Grove Press, 2022. The story of Mungo, a teenager in early 1990s Glasgow, Scotland. The book flashes between the time when Mungo discovers his feelings for a boy, James and starts to explore that relationship and five months later to a disastrous camping trip to a loch in Western Scotland that his mother sends him on with two neighbors. Mungo faces challenges due to not only his sexuality, but his class, a gang leader brother, an absentee and alcoholic mother, and an undiagnosed facial tic. The book elegantly captures the complicated feelings of a teen boy in a terrible situation. CW: sexual violence. 

2021 Over the Rainbow Fiction and Poetry Longlist

By Jane Sandberg  |  2021/01/26 13:00 Posted in Final Bibliographies  |  Comments Off on 2021 Over the Rainbow Fiction and Poetry Longlist

After Rubn. Francisco Aragn. Red Hen Press, 2020. Poems and essays inspired by and in conversation with Nicaraguan writer Rubn Daro.

Amora: Stories. Natalia Borges Polesso, translated by Julia Sanches. Amazon Crossing, 2020. The translations in this book are about love between women in various types of relationships. The strength of these stories is in the everyday life writing, the capture of truths in daily moments.

Box Hill: A story of low self-esteem. Mars-Jones, Adam. New Directions, 2020. On his eighteenth birthday, awkward, clueless Colin literally stumbles upon the confident Ray, a motorcycle-riding “daddy,” 10 years his senior, and thus begins a transformative relationship. On the surface, Box Hill is a sexy gay-male romance about a dominant-submissive relationship, but told with a depth and humor that make it a unique and moving coming-of-age tale.

Cut to Bloom. Arhm Choi Wild. Write Bloody Publishing, 2020. This poem collection looks to explore identities, that of a Korean American and of a queer person. This collection dives into the devastation of trauma and the process by which one can recover and bloom from those same wounds.

The Death of Vivek Oji. Akwaeke Emezi. Riverhead Books, 2020. This novel told from multiple perspectives looks back on the events that lead up to the death of Vivek Oji. The book showcases the experiences of characters with various queer identities in modern day Nigeria and illustrates how efforts to protect can sometimes be as damaging as any threat.

Dispatch: Poems. Cameron Awkward-Rich. Persea, 2019. Poems offered through the lens of the poets that came before, to explore bodies and self navigating a world of violence and disruption.

The Foley Artist: Stories. Ricco Villanueva Siasoco. Gaudy Boy, 2020.  Nine short stories that explore the intersectional identities of the Filipino diaspora in America as they interrogate intimacy, foreignness, and silence in an absurd world.

The Gospel of Breaking. Christmas, Jillian. Arsenal Pulp Press, 2020. A deeply-felt, wide-ranging collection of poetry, taking on topics of racism, politics, love, and family history.  Fierce and funny, the book is a celebratory, revelatory word-fest.

Guillotine: Poems. Eduardo C. Corral. Graywolf Press, 2020. Poems exploring gay male life and the experiences of migrants trying to enter America.

Harrow the Ninth. Tamsyn Muir. Tor.com, 2020. Harrowhawk Nonagesimus is the last necromancer of the Ninth House and, as such, has been drafted into an unwinnable war. Now she must become a perfect angel of death even while her health and mind seem to be simultaneously failing her and her own weapon seems to be making her sick. To truly summarize this book in a few words, it is gothic lesbian necromancers in space and all of the drama that comes with such an epic story.

Homesick: Stories. Nino Cipri. Dzanc Books, 2019. An eclectic mix of short stories across genres from romance to horror to science fiction that includes multiple queer identities and characters across the gender spectrum.

Homie: Poems. Danez Smith. Graywolf Press, 2020.  Poetry that explores queerness, friendship, family, illness, race, and death in America.

Indigo. Ellen Bass. Copper Canyon Press, 2020. Indigos poems roll off of the tongue and materialize in the mind. Thought-provoking and honest, this work will make you re-evaluate all of your relationships with others and yourself. Clear and precise, Bass poses questions while conjuring eternal themes of life, death, love, and yes, food.

Invisible Kingdom, Volume 1: Walking the Path. G. Willow Wilson with artist Christian Ward. Berger Books, 2019. This sci-fi saga focuses on two very different sects of one society and a small rogue spaceship on the run from both. It also draws the focus on two women from very different backgrounds and how their fates collide and connect with each other — and how the knowledge they unveil could change the very core of their society.

Junebat. John Elizabeth Stintzi. House of Anansi Press, 2020. This collection is a journey through identity exploration, specifically gender, of folding and unfolding, of becoming, of others seeing what you see or feel, and all the emotions and self-doubt that can go along with it. Also featured are a curious junebat, and Hale-Bopp, the queer cactus.

Little Blue Encyclopedia (For Vivian). Plante, Hazel Jane. Metonymy Press, 2019. The narrator, mourning the loss of her beloved friend Vivian, begins a project of writing about Vivian’s favorite TV show, the fictional Little Blue, as a way of remembering and memorializing her friend. Writing about the TV show in encyclopedic form provides a framework for a deep dive into the show, which reveals the life of her friend all the more. Unconventional in form, yet highly readable; playful and with a love of pop culture, the book is a celebration of friendship between trans women.

The Malevolent Volume. Justin Phillip Reed. Coffee House Press, 2020.
Reeds works are in conversation with other poems, mythology, and effuse emotion and experience.

Plain Bad Heroines. Emily M. Danforth. William Morrow, 2020. A queer, feminist horror-comedy centered on the deaths of five young women at a cursed New England boarding school for girls and the horror film now being shot on the school grounds.

The Prettiest Star. Carter Sickels. Hub City Press, 2020. In the final stages of AIDS, Brian Jackson returns to his small Ohio hometown from New York City in 1986 after a six year absence. The story is told in shifting perspectives from Brian, his mother, and his younger sister. The book showcases the fullness of life in the throes of illness and the potential and limits for growth and forgiveness.

Real Life. Brandon Taylor. Riverhead Books, 2020. Wallace is a young, black man from Alabama attending a Midwestern university to earn his biochem degree. Wallace also happens to be queer. These facts have led to him being understandably distanced even within his circle of friends until the events of one weekend threaten that distance as well as expose very real threats. This book discusses homophobia and racism in a very real way while also delving deeply into the helplessness and trauma that can come along with those experiences.

The Seep. Porter, Chana. Soho Press, 2020. Not your typical alien invaders, The Seep, have brought not destruction, but utopia, to Earth. Trina Goldberg-Oneka, a fifty-year-old trans woman, and her wife Deeba, are living a seemingly nice life under The Seep, with capitalism gone and where anything seems possible, until Deeba decides she wants to be reborn which, yes, is possible. Heartbroken at the loss of Deeba, and questioning utopia, Trina goes on a quest to save a lost boy from The Seep.

Shine Of The Ever. Foster, Claire Rudy. Interlude Press, 2019. Set in Portland in the 1990s, and described as a literary mixtape, Shine of the Ever is a collection of witty, bittersweet vignettes about characters young and queer, searching for love and community, making mistakes and sometimes succumbing to insecurities, yet doing it all in style.

The Subtweet. Vivek Shraya. ECW Press, 2020. The story starts with one musician covering the song of another, leading to a friendship that strains when one becomes more famous than the other. The author shows how texts and social media can complicate relationships, and how music can unite and divide.

This Town Sleeps. Dennis E. Staples. Counterpoint, 2020. A romantic mystery, with a supernatural twist, set on an Ojibwe reservation in northern Minnesota, involving Marion, a midtwenties gay Ojibwe man, and his old high school classmate, the closeted, and white, Shannon. Drawn back to his hometown for reasons he cant explain, Marion enters into a complicated relationship with Shannon, and becomes entangled in the mystery of another classmate who was murdered years earlier.

Thrown in the Throat. Benjamin Garcia. Milkweed Editions, 2020. A fantastic debut of poetry by the son of Mexican immigrants breaks down the walls and boldly questions who belongsin closets or in countriesand how and why do either exist?

Upright Women Wanted. Sarah Gailey. Tom Doherty Associates/Tor, 2020. An amazingly queer romp into an imagined future American Southwest which follows a stowaway young woman and the antifascist librarians that she runs away with.

Vera Kelly Is Not a Mystery. Rosalie Knecht. Tin House Books, 2020.  After losing her job and having her girlfriend leave her, Vera Kelly sets up a private detective agency and her first case involves a lost foster child, political intrigue and the internal workings of the Dominican community in the US.

You Exist Too Much. Zaina Arafat. Catapult, 2020. A story told in vignettes that goes between the U.S. and the Middle East while following the life of a Palestinian-American woman who when she comes out as queer to her mother is simply told that she exists too much. This book is a powerful look into queerness, trauma, mental, illness, and familial relationships as well as how all of these things affect someones search for love.

Honorable mentions

  • Boyfriend Material. Alexis Hall. Sourcebooks Casablanca, 2020.
  • The House in the Cerulean Sea. TJ Klune. Tor Books, 2020.
  • The Kill Club. Wendy Heard. Mira Books, 2019.

2021 Over the Rainbow Nonfiction Longlist

By Jane Sandberg  |  2021/01/26 13:00 Posted in Final Bibliographies  |  Comments Off on 2021 Over the Rainbow Nonfiction Longlist

Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex. Angela Chen. Beacon Press, 2020. An exploration of what asexuality means and what it reveals about a society that is obsessed with sex. Chen includes a diverse range of identities, and is frank about the book’s biases and why these biases exist.

Angry Queer Somali Boy: A Complicated Memoir. Mohamed Abdulkarim Ali. University of Regina Press, 2019. Ali writes about coming of age while being traumatically uprooted to Abu Dhabi, The Netherlands, and Canada. The writing is compelling and jarring, offering unique perspectives on immigration, homelessness, addiction, and loss.

Archiving an Epidemic: Art, AIDS, and the Queer Chicanx Avant-Garde. Robb Herndez. New York University Press, 2019. Even in 2020 we are learning lessons of AIDS impact on queer culture. In Archiving an Epidemic, Hernndez coins the theory Archival Body/archival Space and reimagines the Chicanx Avant-Garde movement in a queer way and artists works as Mexican American memorials. As we are currently in another pandemic, this book provides evidence and memory of what was lost during the AIDS epidemic.

The Art of Drag. Jake Hall. Artwork by Sofie Birkin, Hellen Li, Jashyot, Dingh Hans. Nobrow Ltd, 2020. This beautifully illustrated, hand-sized book takes the reader through a pictorial history of drag, providing brief, reference-like written entries to how drag has been perceived, experienced and has influenced throughout history. Whether it be activism or pop culture, this book celebrates the diversity and queerness of drag.

Before Trans: Three Gender Stories from Nineteenth-Century France. Rachel Mesch. Stanford University Press, 2020. Mesch discusses trans before trans and gender before gender in this thought-provoking book. Are the ways that we understand gender and the ways that gender has been placed on others the way that those in history experienced it? Unlikely, but Mesch provides detailed research and analysis to help us understand why.

Female Husbands: A Trans History. Jen Manion. Cambridge University Press, 2020.Were women assigned female at birth who took on male roles and were deemed female husbands lesbians or transgender? Manion looks at these earliest accounts of queerness that have been told through the lesbian or intimacy between women lens of sexuality, and instead examines these accounts through the lens of gender. How do we make meaning of people and relationships that existed far before the labels we now use? There may be no decisive answer by Female Husbands gives us a lot to consider.

Figure It Out. Written by Wayne Koestenaum. Soft Skull, 2020. This book of brief essays is perfect reading for the times we find ourselves in. How can a text be about nothing and everything at the same time? Introspective stories on things that commonly ground us and bind us together are awaiting.

Gender: A Graphic Guide. Meg-John Barker. Icon Books, 2020. An excellent introduction to many facets of gender, explained with sensitivity and clarity. The writing and illustrations are accessible and enlightening without feeling pedantic. For an introduction, this title covers a lot of ground, including contemporary topics like geek masculinities, trans time, the #MeToo movement, and the #ThisIsWhatNonBinaryLooksLike hashtag.

Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America. R. Eric Thomas. Ballantine Books, 2020. A hilarious memoir about growing up as a gay Christian Black man in the US. The contents range from poignant and personal essays to witty viral Facebook posts.

A History of My Brief Body. Billy-Ray Belcourt. Two Dollar Radio, 2020. Billy-Ray’s memoir details his early life in the Driftpile First Nation community, sexual exploration and identity, using writing as a survival technique, and love and loss.

Imagining Queer Methods. Edited by Matt Brim and Amin Ghaziani. New York University Press, 2019. This collection of innovative works in the field of queer scholarship aims to showcase the newly emerging field of queer studies. The works in the books cover a diverse array of topics from race studies to psychology to scientific appeals to many more. Brim and Ghaziana have done an incredible job of collecting these scholars into one volume that allows the reader to get an in-depth look into what queer theory is and what it could be.

Lady Romeo: The Radical and Revolutionary Life of Charlotte Cushman, Americas First Celebrity. Tana Wojczuk. Avid Reader Press, 2020.Did you know that Americas first international celebrity was a tomboy and a lesbian? Wojczuks Lady Romeo tells the story of famous nineteenth century actress Charlotte Cushman, who played male characters in Europe and across the United States including Romeo on the London stage. This short, but compelling, read takes the reader through the life of Cushmans career, her relationships with lovers, and a time when Shakespeare was the original binge watching.

My Autobiography of Carson McCullers: A Memoir. Jenn Shapland. Tin House, 2020. While working as an intern in the archives at the Harry Ransom Center, Jenn Shapland encounters the love letters between Carson McCullers and a woman named Annemarie. The result is this book, an interweaving of a new biography of McCullers, the story of how Shapland approached her research, and a memoir of the way Shaplands efforts to understand McCullers brought her closer to understanding herself. The result brings the reader into intimate contact both with Carson McCullers and with the author herself, as the uncovering of McCullers queer identity mirrors Shaplands own self-examination.

Something That May Shock and Discredit You. Daniel Lavery. Atria Books, 2020. A delightful mix of transmasculine memoir, biblical and pop culture references, and literary parodies reminiscent of Lavery’s work on The Toast website. This book is funny, relatable, and moving — often all at the same time.

Spellbound: A Graphic Memoir. Bishakh Kumar Som. Street Noise Books, 2020. This graphic novel memoir takes us through the authors life from the view she sees herself in, as a woman fully inside and out. This is a work that focuses not on how others perceive a transgender person but rather focuses on how they see themselves.

Tasty Pride: 75 Recipes and Stories from the Queer Food Community. Compiled by Jesse Szewczyk. Clarkson Potter, 2020. A recipe book that collects the stories and recipes from 75 chefs and celebrities from across the queer community. The recipes are simple and easy to understand and let the reader experience and connect to the stories in a real and physical way.

Tomboyland: Essays. Melissa Faliveno. Topple Books, 2020. Melissa Faliveno grew up a self-described tomboy in the Midwest, a land of softball, tornadoes, guns, and casseroles. In this collection of essays, the author revisits the internal and external landscapes of her childhood as a queer adult.

What’s Your Pronoun?: Beyond He and She. Dennis Baron. Liveright, 2020. A comprehensive and scholarly look at the history of pronouns and their usage in our society. This work puts pronouns outside of he and she into historical context, bringing new understanding to their usage.

Honorable mentions

  • The Fixed Stars. Molly Wizenberg. Abrams Press, 2020.
  • Rib Joint: A Memoir in Essays. Julia Koets. Red Hen Press, 2020.
  • Seeing Gender. Iris Gottlieb. Chronicle Books, 2019.
  • The Times I Knew I Was Gay. Eleanor Crewes. Scribner, 2020.

Over the Rainbow Press Release, ALA Midwinter 2020

By Jane Sandberg  |  2021/01/26 13:00 Posted in Final Bibliographies, News  |  Comments Off on Over the Rainbow Press Release, ALA Midwinter 2020

CHICAGO-The Over the Rainbow committee of ALAs Rainbow Roundtable gave careful consideration to 312 books this year.  We chose 29 fiction and poetry titles and 19 nonfiction titles to make up the complete 2021 Over the Rainbow book list.  The titles on this list all exhibit commendable literary quality and significant authentic LGBTQIA+ content.

In the books we reviewed, we were pleased to note the increased diversity of transgender, asexual, immigrant, indigenous, and asexual experiences.  Authors explored history and contemporary politics through new lenses, while we also saw innovations in formats — including a cookbook.

The top ten fiction and nonfiction titles are:

  • Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex. Angela Chen. Beacon Press, 2020.
  • Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America. R. Eric Thomas. Ballantine Books, 2020.
  • A History of My Brief Body. Billy-Ray Belcourt. Two Dollar Radio, 2020.
  • Homesick: Stories. Nino Cipri. Dzanc Books, 2019.
  • Homie: Poems. Danez Smith. Graywolf Press, 2020.
  • My Autobiography of Carson McCullers: A Memoir. Jenn Shapland. Tin House, 2020.
  • Plain Bad Heroines. Emily M. Danforth. William Morrow, 2020.
  • The Prettiest Star. Carter Sickels. Hub City Press, 2020.
  • Real Life. Brandon Taylor. Riverhead, 2020.
  • What’s Your Pronoun?: Beyond He and She. Dennis Baron. Liveright, 2020.
Image of the top ten books of the Over the Rainbow book list
The top ten books of the 2021 Over the Rainbow Booklist

Over the Rainbow Press Release, ALAMW 2020

By Kelsey Socha  |  2020/01/28 08:49 Posted in Final Bibliographies, News  |  Comments Off on Over the Rainbow Press Release, ALAMW 2020
PHILADELPHIA–The Over the Rainbow committee of ALAs Rainbow Roundtable gave careful consideration to 324 books this year, 152 fiction and 172 nonfiction. We chose 32 fiction titles and 38 nonfiction titles to make up the complete 2020 Over the Rainbow book list. We are excited by the continued expansion of queer publishing. The depth of substantial topics covered and the number of quality books from all over the genre spectrum is thrilling. No longer is the focus solely upon stories of tragedy. We read about lives filled with joy.
The top ten fiction and nonfiction titles are:
Black Leopard, Red Wolf. Marlon James. Riverhead Books, 2019.
Buying Gay: How Physique Entrepreneurs Sparked a Movement. David K. Johnson. Columbia University Press, 2019.
Claiming the B in LGBT: Illuminating the Bisexual Narrative. Edited by Kate Harrad. Thorntree Press, 2018.
Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers. Jake Skeets. Milkweed Editions, 2019.
Gideon the Ninth. Tamsyn Nuir. Tom Doherty Associates, 2019.
In the Dream House. Carmen Maria Machado. Graywolf Press, 2019.
Introduction to Transgender Studies. Ardel Haefele-Thomas. Harrington Park Press, 2019.
The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Machines. Olivia Waite. Avon Impulse, 2019.
The Priory of the Orange Tree. Samantha Shannon. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019.
When Brooklyn Was Queer. Hugh Ryan. St. Martins Press, 2019.

2020 Over the Rainbow Fiction Longlist

By Kelsey Socha  |  2020/01/28 08:46 Posted in Final Bibliographies  |  Comments Off on 2020 Over the Rainbow Fiction Longlist

Black Leopard, Red Wolf. Marlon James. Riverhead Books, 2019. Violent, lyrical and intense prose follow a troubled warrior around a high fantasy version of epic Africa. His quest is complex and caught up in stories inside stories, diversions that are literal as well as narrative, and James style tumbles through nonlinearly and evoking raw images. This book is full of pain, fear, rage and their flipsides of strength, grace and beauty. It is a difficult masterpiece.

Cantoras. Carolina De Robertis. Knopf, 2019. A lyrical novel about five queer women living in Uruguay from the 1970s to 2013. They find sanctuary in a coastal community that is temporary, but allows them to create a found family to sustain them despite dictators, trauma, and fear.

Condomnauts. Yoss. Restless Books, 2018. A totally zany space opera that is sexy, erotic and sometimes non-erotic on purpose. Follow along with the human crewmembers whose job it is to have sex with aliens, because sex is the way all aliens have been making first contact long before anyone in the galaxy knew about humans. Its funny, its gross, its queer, its happy, and its weird.

Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers. Jake Skeets. Milkwood Editions, 2019. Skeets tells fierce stories of growing up queer and indigenous in the American West. His debut collection of poems is a mix of brutality and tenderness, showcasing the raw beauty and horror of the southwest. Skeets is an essential and ambitious new voice.

Feed. Tommy Pico. Tin House Books, 2019. The final installation in the “Teebs” tetralogy weaves together a bountiful array of themes in this free-verse, tour-de-force of a book-length poem. With a style that moves at the speed of a social media feed, Pico kneads his inner dialogue into a beautiful and funny poetic form, with plenty of pop culture references and internet slang, along with a good helping of depth and meaning. This is queer poetry for right now.

Frankissstein: A Love Story. Jeanette Winterson. Grove Press, 2019. Three intertwined stories explore a transgender doctor falling in love, a cryogenics lab with people frozen and waiting to be revived, and Mary Shelley writes her famous story.

Gideon the Ninth. Tamsyn Muir. Tom Doherty Associates, 2019. After growing up in the geriatric 9th house of bone magicians, Gideon longs to be anywhere else. When she plans a daring escape, she is instead forced to fight against the other eight necromancer houses alongside her childhood nemesis to win a deadly trial put forth by the Emperor.

Girl, Woman, Other. Bernardine Evaristo. Grove, 2019. A joyful read following connected characters in the UK, each with their own lived experience with identities of color and queerness. Each section ha? its own voice and style while the connected nature gives varying perspectives of the others.

Grease Bats. Archie Bongiovanni. Boom! Box, 2019. This collection of comics follows the daily adventures of two queer main characters and their circle of friends. These comics explore the realities that queer individuals face in everyday life with dry humor.

Half Moon Street. Alex Reeve. Felony & Mayhem, 2019. Half Moon Street features a transgender main character, Leo Stanhope. Leo finds his life turned upside-down when the woman he loves is murdered. When local authorities show little interest in the truth of the killing, Leo turns into an amateur sleuth in order to discover what happened. Though this novel is imperfect, it remains a valuable addition to the list of works featuring a transgender main character.

In at the Deep End. Kate Davies. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019. Julia has a tumultuous coming out in her twenties, followed by a high-intensity relationship with the beautiful and confident Sam. As their relationship intensifies, Sams need for control begins to stifle Julias newfound liberation. This funny and painful coming of age novel does not shy away from the joys of queer community, or the challenges or shame of finding oneself in an abusive queer relationship. An unexpected and sincere read.

The Ladys Guide to Celestial Mechanics. Olivia Waite. Avon Impulse, 2019. After her fathers death and her female lovers sudden wedding to a man, Lucy wants nothing more than to distract herself with the challenge of translating a famous French astronomy text; however, in Regency England, the men offering to fund the texts translation refuse to support a female translator. Luckily, she finds an unexpected ally in the Countess of Moth, a widowed artist whose talents were never recognized. The Ladys Guide to Celestial Mechanics tells the story of how these two women navigate their differences, their shared goals, and, ultimately, their love for one another.

Last Night in Nuuk. Niviaq Korneliussen. Black Cat, 2019. Haunting and evocative prose pulls the reader into the messy lives of 5 young Greenlanders and never lets go, propelling with an inventive style and voice that is brand new and mature at the same time. Featuring lots of drinking and drugs, sex, ambiguity and fluidity, these characters and their relationships tell all about contemporary Greenland, as well as what it is like for any young person just trying to figure stuff out.

Leading Men. Christopher Castellani. Viking, 2019. The real-life relationship between Tennessee Williams and his longtime lover, Frank Merlo, is the starting point for this highly fictionalized tale. At a party thrown by Truman Capote in Portofino, Italy in 1953, the couple meets a Swedish actress who becomes a pivotal figure in their lives in this lush, evocative story about love and fame.

Lie With Me. Philippe Besson. Scribner, 2019. Philippe and Thomas become lovers in their last year of high school in rural France in 1984. Years later, Philippe looks back on their brief, doomed romance after spotting a Thomas look-alike. Translated by Molly Ringwald.

The Long Road to Liquor City. Macon Blair and Joe Flood. Oni Press, 2019. The Long Road to Liquor City is a graphic novel that follows two hobos, Jed and Thanny, as they search for the fabled Liquor City. Along the way, they run afoul of rail yard sergeant, Ronan OFeathers, who believes the two to be responsible for the death of his wife. This graphic novel is well-drawn, amusing, and features a unique and endearing cast of characters.

Love Letters to Janes World. Paige Braddock. Lion Forge, 2018. This collection pairs popular comic strips from Janes World–the first syndicated comic strip with a lesbian main character–with love letters from notable fans. This curated selection of strips from 1998 to 2018 will be a joy for current fans, as well as for new readers.

The Melting Queen. Bruce Cinnamon. NeWest Press, 2019. The annual crowning of the Melting Queen in Edmonton, Alberta is given an unexpected twist when gender-fluid River Runson is named the newest queen in this modern fairy tale.

Mostly Dead Things. Kristin Arnett. Tin House Books, 2019. After Jessa-Lynn discovers her fathers body on his taxidermy table, she must step up to run the family taxidermy business while her mother and brother fall apart. While grieving both her father and her brothers wife–her first love, who married her brother Milo and later walked out without a word–Jessa must navigate the world created by their absence, including her mothers increasingly sexualized art created out of her fathers prized mounts. This Floridian debut is macabre, intrinsically gay, and shockingly funny.

On Earth Were Briefly Gorgeous. Ocean Vuong. Penguin Randomhouse, 2019. Poet Vuongs debut novel, featured on several long and shortlists for the year, including the National Book Award Longlist, and winner of the 2019 New England Book Award for Fiction. The narrator, a twenty-something Vietnamese-American, is writing a long letter to his Vietnamese mother who cannot read. Vuongs tender prose spans generations of trauma, exploring the narrators familys experience in war, American poverty, and the narrators sexuality and relationships with other men. Vuong redefines form in this dreamlike and groundbreaking novel.

The Priory of the Orange Tree. Samantha Shannon. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019. The Priory of the Orange Tree is a welcome queer addition to the existing catalog of high fantasy novels. Presented in three unique perspectives, the novel tells a story of magic, dragons, and political intrigue. At over 800 pages, this feminist fantasy tale will delight readers looking for a long read with a unique setting and well-developed characters.

Red, White & Royal Blue. Casey McQuiston. St. Martins Griffin, 2019. The First Son of the United States and Prince of England go from antagonists to lovers in this slightly altered world. Both are very intelligent and quote literary icons in their emails. This was definitely the feel good read of the summer!

Scourge of the Seas of Time (and Space). Edited by Catherine Lundoff. Queen of Swords Press, 2018. This collection of short stories features themes of pirates and takes place across different settings and times. These stories feature a wide range of subjects from historical piracy on the seas to galactic piracy in space in the far future. Many of the characters featured throughout these stories are queer identified and are written by queer authors.

The Spellbinders. Aleardo Zanghellini. Lethe Press, 2018. This work of historical fiction reimagines the life of Edward II. The story focuses on Edwards relationship with a soldier, Piers Gaveston, and how this relationship affects and even helps to build his relationship with his queen before Gaveston is murdered by a jealous earl. This book looks at the medieval kings personal relationships with an honest and unapologetic lens.

Sugar Run. Mesha Maren. Algonquin Books, 2019. When Jodi McCarty is released from prison after 18 years on a manslaughter charge, she has plans for a low-key future, however the world is not cooperative in this noir-inspired tale of flawed characters living in Appalachia.

Thorn. Anna Burke. Bywater Books, 2019. Rowan is kidnapped by the legendary Huntress of local superstition after her father hunts on the Huntresss lands and steals a cursed rose. Despite being held against her will, Rowan finds herself drawn to the Huntress, a welcome reprieve from the arranged betrothal that awaits her should she return home. Thorn is a brilliant feminist retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

The Tradition. Jericho Brown. Copper Canyon Press, 2019. Jericho Brown speaks the truth through poetry about being a gay black man in America who is also HIV-positive. Poems reflect his own experiences, some incredibly painful, while others provide insights into other members of his community. If the personal is universal, Jericho Brown represents all of us.

Transcendent 3. Edited by Bogi Takcs. Lethe Press, 2018. A vivid collection of the years best transgender speculative fiction, these fantastical tales include everything from far futures to time travel, ghosts, horror movies, and much more. This anthology features diverse stories from important new voices: K.M Szpara, Rivers Solomon, Indrapramit Das.

Willa & Hesper. Amy Feltman. Grand Central Publishing, 2019. Willa and Hesper are both students in the MFA creative writing program at Columbia University, but it isn’t until a chance encounter one night in Brooklyn that their relationship turns romantic. The unraveling of their brief, intense relationship, and the journeys, both literal and figurative, that the break up propels both of them towards, are just as formative. The story is told with a thrillingly contemporary sensibility, mixing a lot of funny and playful moments with the sad ones.

Without Protection. Gala Mukomolova. Coffee House Press, 2019. Mukomolova mixes modern life as a lesbian in New York City with classic Russian folktales. In this stunning collection, Mukomolova explores her identities and family through the story of Vassilyasa, a young girl who must fend for herself against Baba Yaga. Her poems are compelling and erotic, a mix of mythology and modernity.

WWJD and Other Poems. Savannah Sipple. SIbling Rivalry Press, 2019. These poems cover themes of what it is like to grow up in Appalachia while queer, female, and fat. She doesnt shy from the seeming contradictions that evangelical underpinnings carry through her work.

You are enough: Love Poems For the End of the World. Smokii Sumac. Kegedonce Press, 2018. In his debut collection of poetry using haiku format as a starting point in composition, Sumac shares with us all 2 years of poetry created from the experiences of 2 years of his journey as a Ktunaxa, Two-Spirit trans masculine scholar. Funny, touching, and inspiring poems.

 

2020 Over the Rainbow Non-Fiction Longlist

By Kelsey Socha  |  2020/01/28 08:45 Posted in Final Bibliographies  |  Comments Off on 2020 Over the Rainbow Non-Fiction Longlist

The A-Z of Gender and Sexuality: From Ace to Ze. Morgan Lev Edward Holleb. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2019. This thorough A-Z glossary catalogs the ever-evolving vocabulary used to describe LGBTQ identities and experiences. Holleb has created an essential reference work that recognizes the power in having the language to describe a feeling, as well as dispelling the anxiety some feel around using the wrong terminology.

Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man. Thomas Page McBee. Scribner, 2018. In 2015, Thomas Page McBee began training to fight in a charity boxing match at Madison Square Garden — the first transgender man to do so. As he recounts his training and the emotions he feels as he learns to box in mostly-male spaces, he also confronts his relationship to masculinity and violence — and begins to chart a path toward a more whole vision of maleness.

American Boys. Soraya Zaman. Daylight Books, 2019. Pairing short autobiographical testimonials with revealing and beautiful portrait photo essays, Zaman presents a diverse array of trans male experiences across America.

Brown White Black. Nishta J. Mehra. Picador, 2019. Mehra is a lesbian daughter of Indian immigrants married to a white woman. The couple adopted a black son. In this candid series of essays she shares with us some of the daily struggles her family is faced with as they navigate the frontlines of cultural conflict. This powerful book serves as a call for a more compassionate understanding of identity and family.

Buying Gay: How Physique Entrepreneurs Sparked a Movement. David K. Johnson. Columbia University Press, 2019. Important study of male physique magazines, and how they facilitated not only gay male community and desire, but also created a market of things to buy and sell, and profits to be made.

Capturing Mariposas: Reading Cultural Schema in Gay Chicano Literature. Doug P. Bush. The Ohio State University Press, 2019. Bush aims to identify commonalities of genre in the writing of gay Chicano writers. Providing close readings of the texts of Rigoberto Gonzlez, Manuel Muoz, Alex Espinoza, as well as an examination of the market for gay chicano literature and interviews with Muoz and Espinoza, Bush does important scholarly work while also directing more readers to his featured authors.

Claiming the B in LGBT: Illuminating the Bisexual Narrative. Edited by Kate Harrad. Thorntree Press, 2019. An engaging and clear primer on bisexuality. The book tackles persistent and pernicious myths and misconceptions and explores bisexualitys intersections with non-monogamy, gender, race, disability, and faith (among other topics). The book includes numerous and diverse testimonials of bisexual people insterspersed throughout the book that provide real-world insights and experiences.

Cruising: An Intimate History of a Radical Pastime. Alex Espinoza. The Unnamed Press, 2019. Espinoza researches the history of anonymous public gay sex from Ancient Greece to Grindr mixing research and personal memoir in this conversational history.

Drag: The Complete Story. Simon Doonan. Laurence King Publishers, 2019. Doonan amusingly explores drag from a variety of lenses: history, philosophy, classification (glamour drag vs. art drag vs. butch drag). Doonans droll narration and the beautiful full color photos interspersed throughout the book provide an engaging and illuminating overview.

Dying to Be Normal: Gay Martyrs and the Transformation of American Sexual Politics. Brett Krutzsch. Oxford University Press, 2019. A look at how the deaths of gay people are portrayed in the media–be it from murder or suicide. Often portrayed as martyrs, the author analyzes their deaths from viewpoints of whiteness, Christianity, and heterosexual assimilation. The book concludes with thoughts of queering memorials with a comparison of the tragedies of the Upstairs Lounge fire in New Orleans in 1973 and the Orlando Pulse Nightclub massacre in 2016.

Gender Identity, Sexuality and Autism: Voices from Across the Spectrum. Eva A. Mendes and Meredith R. Maroney. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2019. An exploration of the experiences of people whose identity include both LGBTQ+ and Autism Spectrum Difference (ASD). The first portion of the book is interview transcripts with ASD/LGBTQ+ individuals and some interviews with family members and loved ones. The authors then analyze to discuss common themes.

Gender Queer: A Memoir. Maia Kobabe. Oni Press, 2019. Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, masterfully uses the graphic memoir format to describe what can seem indescribable. Kobabe charts eir journey from a childhood of feeling different to finally understanding eirself as non-binary and asexual with humor and heart, making space for the reader while also making it clear that the story is eirs and eirs alone.

Gentleman Jack: The Real Anne Lister. Anne Choma. Penguin Books, 2019. Read the words and learn about the life of a lesbian from more than a century ago. A woman who discarded the times gender roles and expectations and wrote more than 20 highly personal and detailed journal volumes. Some of her diary entries she wrote for all and some she wrote for herself–she wrote in plain hand and in crypt hand of her own secret code. Anne Lister has recently been recognized and brought to life on the screen of HBOs Gentleman Jack.

Headcase: LGBTQ Writers & Artists on Mental Health and Wellness. Edited by Stephanie Schroeder and Teresa Theophano. Oxford University Press, 2019. This anthology collects personal reflections and artistic interpretations that focus on mental illness and the LGBTQ community. These stories give a look into the lives of queer individuals and some of them document the process as the authors navigate a flawed and sometimes biased health care system. This collection features many stories that display the raw emotions of the authors with stories that display the experiences of a minority community.

Her Widow. Joan Alden. Hillside Press, 2018*. Told in the form of letters from Joan Alden to her deceased wife, Catherine Hopkins, Her Widow is a raw and powerful memoir of grief. Alden catalogs the intimate details of daily life both before and after Catherines passing and invites the reader to share in her devastation and her hope. The memoir is illustrated with Hopkins black and white photographs.

Honeypot: Black Southern Women Who Love Women. E. Patrick Johnson. Duke University Press, 2019. An oral history of the experiences of African-American women in the South who express same-sex desire. Johnson uses a creative approach to oral history by creating a fictional community liaison/travel companion Miss B to converse with in the narrative integrating bee and honey imagery in the prose. Johnsons study population spans age, social class, and the geography of the American South.

How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir. Saeed Jones. Simon & Schuster, 2019. Poet and journalist recounts his experience coming of age and coming out as a gay black man in the American south in the late 1990s and early 2000s through college in Kentucky and the path of his successful writing career. Jones writes with humor and emotional honesty about his complicated relationship with his mother and surviving in an America where Being a black gay boy is a death wish.

In the Dream House. Carmen Maria Machado. Graywolf Press, 2019. Carmen Maria Machado writes about her own experience in an abusive relationship, and also within the broader context of lesbian and/or queer domestic abuse. All the pieces of her life, experiences, and relationships create this dream house that also builds a structure to surround the experience. An essential read to highlight domestic abuse within the community.

Indecent Advances: A Hidden History of True Crime and Prejudice Before Stonewall. James Polchin. Counterpoint, 2019. Polchin investigates queer true crime stories recounted in the historical press between World War I and Stonewall shedding light on the violence of homosexual criminalization that eventually ignited organization and social protest.

Introduction to Transgender Studies. Ardel Haefele-Thomas. Harrington Park Press, 2019. This textbook is one of the first of its kind to be aimed at undergraduate students. It focuses on the transgender experience on a global scale and poses questions to the reader about how they can relate to this experience. This text also includes many stories and perspectives written by members of the transgender community and has chapters focused on the history of transgender society.

Mamas Boy: A Story from Our Americas. Dustin Lance Black. Knopf, 2019. A touching and often heartbreaking memoir from the Oscar-winning screenwriter and LGBTQ activist, this book tells Blacks mothers story as much as his own. Subtitled a story from our Americas it foregrounds the cultural, religious and political divides in the country, and looks at them in reference to his own (eventually redeemed) relationship with a conservative, Mormon and anti-gay mother.

Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age. Darrel J. McLeod. Milkweed Editions, 2019. The title of McLeods memoir is taken from the Cree word used as a response to dreams shared. Accordingly, McLeods own story of coming of age as a queer man is also the shared story of his family: his mother Bertha, his siblings, and the life of poverty, abuse, and racism they all experienced as First Nations people in Alberta, Canada.

No Walls and the Recurring Dream: A Memoir. Ani DiFranco. Viking, 2019. The coming-of-age of a musician who always refused to play by the rules, creating her own record label and finding her own way to radio play and the festival circuit. While not as linear as most memoirs, the narrative finds its way from childhood into the 21st century, with a lot of stories of life on the road, triumph and failure, relationships with both genders, and her political views.

Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity. Edited by Micah Rajunov and Scott Duane. Columbia University Press, 2019. This collection of thirty first-person narratives showcases a wide variety of experiences outside the gender binary, as well as illuminating how these experiences can be influenced by class, race, age, and ability. The result is a collection that is descriptive rather than prescriptive, and will be eye-opening to any reader who is interested in learning more about nonbinary experiences.

Not Just a Tomboy: A Trans Masculine Memoir. Caspar J. Baldwin. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2018. This memoir focuses on the authors experience growing up in a time when being transgender was not widely accepted in society. It takes an unflinching and personal look at the experiences that transgender people faced from the 90s until today along with showing the journey of transitioning during those times.

Precious and Adored: The Love Letters of Rose Cleveland and Evangeline Simpson Whipple, 1890-1918. Edited by Lizzie Ehrenhalt and Tilly Laskey. Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2019. An edited and annotated collection of original letters charting the romantic relationship between a Minnesota widow and the sister of President Grover Cleveland. The letters chronicle their sexual attraction and partnership over the years through heartbreak and reconciliation.

Pride: The LGBTQ+ Rights Movement: A Photographic Journey. Christopher Measom. Sterling, 2019. Described as a photograpic journey Measom selects a wide range of photos charting queer, mostly American, history from the 1920s through the modern day. A well-curated collection of visually interesting photos, posters, and illustrations charts the joy, sadness, and anger of the past century with informative accompanying text and descriptive captions.

Pride: Fifty Years of Parades and Protest from the Photo Archives of the New York TImes. The New York Times. Abrams Image, 2019. Pride highligts fifty years of LGBTQ progress, struggle, celebration and tragedy through the photographs and images of articles from the New York Times. Starting with the Stonewall riots, the book takes readers on a journey through the first gay liberation marches, the first March on Washington, the AIDS epidemic and ACTUP, modern Pride parades, Marriage Equality and the Pulse tragedy.

The Queering of Corporate America: How Big Business Went from LGBTQ Adversary to Ally. Carlos A. Ball. Beacon Press, 2019. This book traces the evolution of corporate America from being harsh bigots to using their leverage to advocate for equality. In a chonological order, it shows how LGBTQ activists used consumer power and pressure to change the queer rights movement. Employment discrimination, pharmacutical companies during the AIDS crisis, domestic partner benefits, and marriage equality are a few of the issues covered in how LGBTQ force corporations to improve and how in some cases corporations go a step further to become advocates for the community.

Raising Rosie: Our Story of Parenting an Intersex Child. Eric and Stephani Lohman. Jessica Kinglsey Publishers, 2018. When Eric and Stephani Lohmans daughter Rosie was born intersex, with ambiguous genitalia, they made the decision to allow for Rosies informed consent in terms of what cosmetic procedures she would undergo to normalize her genitalia. This brief book describes how they came to this decision, as well as their experience with a medical establishment that is still primed to operate on infants who display intersex characteristics. The Lohmans also briefly discuss how they have approached raising Rosie and their openness regarding her condition.

Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story. Jacob Tobia. G.P. Putnams Sons, 2019. Tobia takes the reader on a gender journey showing a hilarious embrace of the genderqueer experience. Tobia provides an example of overcoming gender-based trauma to thrive in a non-binary identity.

The Soul of the Stranger: Reading God and Torah from a Transgender Perspective. Joy Ladin. Brandeis University Press, 2018. Reading the Torah through the lens of transgender experience. Religious texts receive a close reading in this deeply personal search at understanding God. It shows how our own perspectives bring life to the ancient text. The book illuminates an openness and flexibility to gender roles in the Torah.

The Stonewall Reader. Edited by Jason Baumann. Penguin Classics, 2019. In this book the New York Public Library features LGBTQ+ first-hand accounts from its archives in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Magazine and newsletter articles, diary entries, and stories of major LGBTQ+ trail blazers including Audre Lourde, Harry Hay, Reverend Troy Perry, Frank Kameny, Sylvia Rivera, and Miss Major Griffin-Gracy.

The Stonewall Riots: a Documentary History. Edited by Marc Stein. New York University Press, 2019. Brings together an extensive range of primary sources documenting the Stonewall Riots. Importantly, it also includes documentation of the period leading up to the Stonewall Riots, and what came after, including the first pride parades. Contextualized in eight different chapters, provides insight into the thinking on activism and protest before, during, and after the riots.

Swelling with Pride: Queer Conception and Adoption Stories. Edited by Sara Graefe. Caitlin Press Inc., 2018. This book contains more than twenty personal accounts of how queer, transgender, and nonbinary people make families. Powerful and touching, the stories tell of in-vitro fertilization, adoption, co-parenting, and the many various ways queer families come to be. The editor provides for readers the book of stories that she and her wife wished they had on their journey to parenthood.

This One Looks Like a Boy: My Gender Journey to Life as a Man. Lorimer Shenher. Greystone Books, 2019. Lorimer Shenher is the former head of the Missing Persons Unit of the Vancouver Police Department and well known in Canada for their involvement in a serial killer case. Readers will be pulled in by his journey in his gender identity, finishing with gender reassignment surgery in his 50s, and navigating small-town Canadian life in the meantime.

Unashamed: A Coming-Out Guide for LGBTQ Christians. Amber Cantorna. Westminster John Knox Press, 2019. A slim guidebook helping those who identify as Christian to navigate coming out, establishing boundaries, and coping with the shame narrative. Also includes information for allies, families and church leaders who want to put their teachings of love into action.

When Brooklyn Was Queer. Hugh Ryan. St. Martins Press, 2019. Ryan recounts Brooklyns queer scene from the era of Walt Whitman up to Stonewall. Ryan highlights the lives of well-known queer historical figures like Carson McCullers and Hart Crane along with less well-known figures such as male impersonator Florence Hines, and dancer Mabel Hampton, as he vividly recreates the evolution of Brooklyns queer communities.

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*Her Widow originally published byDog Ear Publishing, 2018.

Over the Rainbow Press Release ALAMW 2019

By Alan Woo  |  2019/01/28 07:14 Posted in Final Bibliographies  |  Comments Off on Over the Rainbow Press Release ALAMW 2019

SEATTLE – The Over the Rainbow Booklist committee of the American Library Association’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Round Table (ALA-GLBTRT) considered 469 books this year, 284 fiction and 185 nonfiction titles. After careful reading, wide-ranging discussion, and due deliberation, the final Booklist consists of 50 fiction titles in 5 categories (Short Stories, Poetry, Literary and General Interest (combined), Graphic, and Genre (all genres)) and 54 nonfiction titles in 4 categories (Academic, Memoirs/Biographies, History, and General Interest).

With the expansion of queer publishing across the rainbow, we read an incredibly diverse collection of titles from major, independent, and self-publishers. Themes running through books this year include: the pros and cons of visibility; the resilience of individuals telling complex stories in their own voices that blurred lines between queerness and disability, class, ethnicity, race, religion and age; a ‘second phase’ of publishing, past the introduction of issues, that addressed law and medical practices; resilience in the face of oppression and violence; and the effects of history on both individuals and culture, envisioning a future outside current circumstances.


The top ten fiction and nonfiction titles for the 2018 Over the Rainbow Booklist are:

 

Bingo Love by Tee Franklin, Image Comics

David Bowie Made Me Gay by Darryl W. Bullock, Overlook Press

Harvey Milk by Lillian Faderman, Yale University Press

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado, Graywolf Press

House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara, Ecco/Harper/Collins

Living Out Loud, Michael Murphy, editor, Routledge

Mean by Myriam Gurba, Coffeehouse Books

Othered by Randi M. Romo, Sibling Rivalry Press

So Lucky by Nicola Griffith, Macmillan

Trap Door, Reina Gossett, editor, MIT Press