67 of the Best Queer Books of 2020
2020 was terrible in every way except for queer books. There were so many amazing queer books published this year! Here are 67 of the best of them.
Allison Moon’s “Getting It” Is the Casual Sex Guide You Didn’t Know You Needed
Allison Moon’s Getting It: A Guide to Hot, Healthy Hookups and Shame-Free Sex is about more than scissoring strangers — it’s about cultivating self-awareness and sexual self-esteem. Hookup culture might look different right now, but communication and boundaries are perhaps more important than ever before. The skills outlined in Getting It will help you navigate virtual slutdom in this challenging new era of distance. And if you want to gracefully transition into a post-pandemic world of IRL sexcapades, then you better start studying up now.
Eight Fat Positive Queer Books Featuring Queer Fat Characters in All Their Glory
Eight great fat positive queer books featuring queer fat characters in all their glory: teen superheroes, fashionista bloggers, bisexual nannies, lesbian home economists, self-deprecating humorists, wannabe K-Pop stars, and more!
Lez Liberty Lit: The Word of the Year
The word of the year is… depends on who you ask. Plus, being very gay online, a trans-only writing class, getting back into journalling and more.
Hil Malatino’s “Trans Care” Doesn’t Have the Answers on Meeting Trans Community Needs — But It Shouldn’t
It’s doubly oppressive that we’re denied care and then left to fulfill the care needs of each other with our own depleted resources. Transantagonism is a global pandemic of indifference and hatred – but there’s no vaccine coming. If you were looking for answers, they aren’t here. If you want to ponder the nuance and difficulty of care, though – dive into Trans Care.
Year of Our (Audre) Lorde: November’s Sister Love
It has felt hard to state how much I’ve been missing my family lately. But Audre Lorde and Pat Parker’s relationship is a testament to the life-affirming power of queer kinship. Their enduring love attests to the power and beauty of Black queer sisterhood.
Curses, Crushes and Celesbians Abound in Emily M. Danforth’s “Plain Bad Heroines”
Plain Bad Heroines is a story so much about storytelling that it feels almost obscene to point it out. “This is story-telling, people!” it seems to shout, in the voice of The Happenings at Brookhants movie director Bo Dhillon, calling “cut” on a disastrous scene that somehow fits perfectly into his plan.
Lez Liberty Lit: A Cute Panopticon
Why literature is so self-aware, living like an artist, caring for others without destroying yourself and more.
No Adam for Eve: The Quiet History of Lesbian Pulp Fiction
A look into the history — and present! — of mid-century lesbian pulp fiction.
Things I Read That I Love #314: There Were Many Days In Which Several People Were Typing
Topics include Far Right literature, the Spelling Bee game, influencers traveling during COVID, the pandemic DIY boom, the Folgers Incest Ad, Lean Cuisine, recovery, faking illness on GoFundMe and truly a whole lot more! Like a lot. Sorry it’s been a minute.
Lez Liberty Lit: What’s Up With Reading Lists
What is Afrofuturism, readings on climate and clean energy transition, a new anthology of radical trans poetics and more.
Year of Our (Audre) Lorde: October’s Dead Is Behind Us
To be Black in this world is to be intimate with a kind of living death. It’s an intimacy no one craves, and yet Black people know better than most that Audre Lorde speaks truth to power when she says “we were never meant to survive.”
Eight Trans-Inclusive Fantasy Books for Harry Potter Fans
Eight trans-inclusive fantasy books for the Harry Potter fans , from all-gender Quidditch to trans boys summoning ghosts, there’s a book here for every Potterhead!
What Is Queer Fiction? An Interview with Patrick Cottrell
The first time I encountered a book with queer characters must have been James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room. At the time I remember feeling afraid of its intensity. Now it’s one of my most returned-to books along with Lydia Davis’ The End of the Story.
Sex Ed 2.0: Books on Queer Sex That Answer Questions You Never Got To Ask
Our ongoing adult sex ed requires a little research. These books on queer sex address the questions you didn’t get to ask in health class.
Lez Liberty Lit: Poetry Is Not a Luxury
What happens when literary events move online, why we’re obsessed with other people’s bookshelves, lots of horror reading lists and more.
Kamala’s First Novel Zigzags Is Out Today!
Ultimately, Zigzags was fueled by the nostalgia of all the places I’ve loved and left and missed. There’s a lot of flirting and parties and witty banter, but it’s very much about the necessary and heartbreaking recognition of when it’s time to move on.
Season of the Witch: 40 Books on Witches, Witchcraft and Wonder
Whether you’re interested in witches as a horror trope, a doorway to sex positivity, a topic of historical exploration, or rich characters and ideas in fiction or poetry, at least one of these witch books will bring something into your life!
“Steven Universe: End of an Era” Reveals How Hard Rebecca Sugar Fought for Our Queer Gem Wedding
“But if Steven Universe gets a gay wedding, then every show is going to want a gay wedding!” “‘YES!’ I said. ‘GOOD! WHY NOT???'”
Carnal Knowledge Is the Sex Guide You Wish You Had In High School
Carnal Knowledge is full of the truths you wish you’d learned from your hip older sister if your hip older sister happened to read a lot of feminist literature.