LGBTQ Books to Read for Pride Month

This blog post is a day late because it was my husband’s thirtieth birthday yesterday! Woohoo! He took off work and we spent the day doing all different activities so I wasn’t home to post to the blog, but here we are!

June is Pride Month—a time to honor the LGBTQ+ community, reflect on its history, and celebrate the diversity that makes our world vibrant and beautiful. At The Reading Chamber, we believe that stories have the power to build empathy, foster understanding, and help young readers see themselves and others in all their complexity. To see yourself in characters or to recognize friends, family members, or strangers in these books is incredibly important for the mental health of readers as well as society as a whole.

Whether you're looking for affirming coming-out stories, heartfelt romances or everyday reads with queer leads, we’ve put together a list of our LGBTQ+ reads that deserve a spot on your TBR:

Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao

After suffering devastating loss and making drastic decisions, Zetian finds herself on the seat of power in Huaxia, but she has alos learned that her world is not as it seems. Revelations about an enemy who dangles one of her loved ones as a hostage force Zetian to share power with a dangerous man she cannot simply depose. Despite their mutual dislike and distrust, the two must work together to take down their common enemy and stoke a revolution against the systems of exploitation that plague their world.

However, power is not so easy to wield once seized, and a revolution is not so easy to control once unleashed. As Huaxia’s former elites strike back and the common people’s fervor for justice turns bloody and paranoid, can Zetian remain a fair and just ruler? Or will she be forced to rely on fear and violence and succumb to her darker instincts in her quest for vengeance and liberation?

If We Were a Movie by Zakiya N. Jamal

Rochelle “The Shell” Coleman is laser focused on only three things: becoming valedictorian, getting into Wharton, and, of course, taking down her annoyingly charismatic nemesis and only academic competition, Amira Rodriquez. However, despite her stellar grades, Rochelle’s college application is missing that extra special something: a job.

When Rochelle gets an opportunity to work at Horizon Cinemas, the beloved Black-owned movie theater, she begrudgingly jumps at the chance to boost her chances of getting into her dream school. There’s only one problem: Amira works there…and is also her boss.

Rochelle feels like being around Amira is its own kind of horror movie, but as the two begin working closely together, Rochelle starts to see Amira in a new light, one that may have her beginning to actually…like her?

But Horizon’s in trouble, and when mysterious things begin happening that make Horizon’s chances of staying open slim, it’s up to the employees to solve the mystery before it’s too late. But will love also find its way into the spotlight?

Maybe Meant to Be by K.L. Walther

Everyone at Bexley School believes that Sage Morgan and Charlie Carmichael are meant to be. Even though Charlie seems to have a new girlfriend every month and Sage has never had a real relationship, their friends and family all know it's just a matter of time until they realize that they are actually in love.

When Luke Morrissey shows up on campus, his presence immediately shakes things up. Charlie and Luke are drawn to each other the moment they meet, giving Sage the opportunity to spend time with Charlie's twin brother, Nick.

But Charlie is afraid of what others will think if he accepts that he has much more than a friendship with Luke. And Sage fears that if she lets things with Nick get too serious too quickly, they won't be able to last as a couple outside of high school and they'll miss their chance at forever. Charlie and Sage will need to rely on each other and their lifelong friendship to figure things out with the boys they love.

The Book of Living Secrets by Madeleine Roux

Connie and Adelle have been friends for years, united by their love of a little-known novel called Moira. Since the girls can’t reach Robin Amery—the story’s reclusive author—they have to settle for reading the book again and again, pouring over the pages and dreaming about how much more exciting their lives would be in the world of this romantic fantasy filled with intrigue and possibility.

So when the owner of a local oddities shop offers the girls a chance to enter the world of Moira, they humor him, not fully believing it could ever be possible. That is—until it happens, and Adelle and Connie are actually transported into the book’s pages.

But…everything is wrong. The lavish balls and star-crossed love affairs are now interlaced with unspeakable horror, danger, and gore. Desperate for a page turn that’s not coming, the girls realize that something sinister is behind their foray into fiction. They’ll have to rewrite their own arcs if they hope to escape the nightmare with their lives.

The Loudest Silence by Sydney Langford

Casey Kowalski once dreamed of becoming a professional singer. Then the universe threw her a life-altering curveball--sudden, permanent, and profound hearing loss--just before her family's move from Portland to Miami. Now, she's learning to navigate the world as a Deaf-Hard of Hearing person while trying to conceal her hearing loss from her new schoolmates.

Hayden González-Rossi is also keeping secrets. Three generations of González men have risen to stardom on the soccer field, and Hayden knows his family expects him to follow in their footsteps, but he wants to quit soccer and pursue a career on Broadway. If only his Generalized Anxiety Disorder didn't send him into a debilitating spiral over the thought of telling the truth.

Casey and Hayden are both determined to hide who they really are. But when they cross paths at school, they bond over their shared love of music and their mutual feeling that they don't belong, and the secrets come spilling out. Their friendship is the beating heart of this dual-perspective story featuring thoughtful disability representation, nuanced queer identities, and a lovably quirky supporting cast.

The Rebel Girls of Rome by Jordyn Taylor

Pre-order. Release Date July 8

NOW:

Grieving the loss of her mother, college student Lilah is hoping to reconnect with her ever-distant grandfather who refuses to talk about his past. When a fellow student in Italy brings a long-lost family heirloom to her attention, Lilah travels to Rome with her grandfather in the hopes of unlocking his history as a survivor of the Holocaust once and for all.

But as they get closer to the truth—and the possibility of healing through new connections—she begins to realize that some secrets may be too painful to unbury . . .

THEN:

It’s 1943, and nineteen-year-old Bruna and her family are doing their best to survive in Rome’s Jewish quarter under Nazi occupation. When the dreaded knock comes early one morning, and Bruna realizes her youngest brother, Raffa, is missing, her desperate search to find him separates her from the rest of her family irrevocably.

Overcome with guilt at escaping her family’s fate in the camps, Bruna joins the partisan efforts against the Nazis and Italian Fascists. When her missions bring her back to her childhood crush, Elsa, she must decide what it really means to live and love—and if fully embracing herself might be her greatest act of resistance of all. But just as she starts to find light in the darkness, an attack that ends in unspeakable tragedy leaves Bruna questioning her fortitude to survive more than ever before.