100 Must-Read Bisexual And Lesbian Books
When I was just a babygay, I passionately identified as both queer and bookish, but I had not yet considered the intersection between the two. It was one conversation with my mom about lesbian books that set me on a lifelong path of queer women reading. It went like this:
“Danika, have you read Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown?”
“No, what’s that?”
“And you call yourself a lesbian.”
That back-and-forth opened the door to a whole world of stories in which women could love women. At first, I thought there were dozens of these lesbian books. When I couldn’t find many, I started a book blog with the “humble” goal of reading “everything lesbian” (The Lesbrary). Six years later, that idea is laughable. There are way more lesbian and bi women books out there than I could possibly read in my lifetime, and although I want there to be even more, I am profoundly grateful for the many, many we do have. It’s easy to think that only a handful of LGBTQ books exist: the ones that are recommended over and over by mainstream book media as their token Pride examples. Happily, that’s not true. There are queer books in every genre, for every reader.
A 100-book list can’t possibly contain the multitudes of queer women books worth reading out there! I tried to make this an example of the diversity of lesbian and bi women books out there, but it does come with my own bias. For example, I don’t read much romance (yet), so there aren’t many romance titles on this list (but you can find more here). I included some of the classics, but also titles that are my personal favourites, that are lesser-known and might be new to you.
If you feel like I’ve left off a must-read bisexual or lesbian books, definitely let me know in the comments! I want this list to be the start of a conversation, not the end of it!
Classics
1. Odd Girl Out by Ann Bannon
2. Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown
3. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
4. The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall
5. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith
6. Patience and Sarah by Isabel Miller
7. Women’s Barracks by Tereska Torres
8. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
9. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
10. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Fiction
11. Nevada by Imogen Binnie
12. Pages for You by Sylvia Brownrigg
13. My Education by Susan Choi
14. Missed Her by Ivan Coyote
15. Painting Their Portraits in Winter by Myriam Gurba
16. When Fox is a Thousand by Larissa Lai
17. The Collection edited by Tom Leger and Riley Macleod
18. Lost Boi by Sassafras Lowrey
19. Hero Worship by Rebekah Matthews
20. A Safe Girl To Love by Casey Plett
21. I Can’t Think Straight by Shamim Sarif
23. Empathy by Sarah Schulman
23. The Long Way Home by Rachel Spangler
24. (You) Set Me On Fire by Mariko Tamaki
25. Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson
Historical Fiction
26. The Last Nude by Ellis Avery
27. Miss Timmins’ School for Girls by Nayana Currimbhoy
28. Prairie Ostrich by Tamai Kobayashi
29. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
30. Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters
31. The Passion by Jeanette Winterson
Poetry
32. Not Vanishing by Chrystos
33. Sisterhood by Julie R. Enszer
34. Movement in Black: The Collected Poetry of Pat Parker
35. Bodymap by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
36. If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho edited by Anne Carson
37. When I Was Straight by Julie Marie Wade
Young Adult and New Adult
38. Starting From Here by Lisa Jenn Bigelow
39. The Miseducation of Cameron Post by emily m. danforth
40. Down to the Bone by Mayra Lazara Dole
41. Annie On My Mind by Nancy Garden
42. The Difference Between You and Me by Madeleine George
43. Just Girls by Rachel Gold
44. Silhouette of a Sparrow by Molly Beth Griffin
45. You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan
46. Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera
47. Empress of the World by Sara Ryan
48. Under Threat by Robin Stevenson
49. Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley
50. The House You Pass On the Way by Jacqueline Woodson
SFF Young Adult
51. Love In the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block
52. Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova
53. All Good Children by Dayna Ingram
54. Adaptation by Malinda Lo
55. Inheritance by Malinda Lo
56. Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce
57. As I Descended by Robin Talley
Science Fiction & Fantasy
58. Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey
60. The Narrows by m. craig
60. Indigo Springs by A.M. Dellamonica
61. Kissing the Witch by Emma Donoghue
62. Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History edited by Rose Fox and Daniel José Older
63. The Second Mango by Shira Glassman
64. The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson
65. Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi
66. Fire Logic by Laurie J. Marks
67. Hellebore & Rue edited by JoSelle Vanderhooft and Catherine Lundoff
68. The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson
Horror, Vampires, and Zombies
69. Fist of the Spider Woman edited by Amber Dawn
70. The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez
71. Eat Your Heart Out by Dayna Ingram
72. The Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan
73. Better Off Red by Rebekah Weatherspoon
Comics
74. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
75. Darlin’ It’s Betta Down Where It’s Wetta by Megan Rose Gedris
76. 100 Crushes by Elisha Lim
77. Beyond: The Queer Sci-Fi and Fantasy Comic Anthology edited by Sfé R. Monster
78. On Loving Women by Diane Obomsawin
79. Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, and Shannon Watters
80. Supermutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki
81. Jem and the Holograms by Kelly Thompson and Sophie Campbell
82. War of Streets and Houses by Sophie Yanow
Memoirs
83. Two or Three Things I Know for Sure by Dorothy Allison
84. Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
85. The Family Tooth by Ellis Avery
86. The Other Side of Paradise by Staceyann Chin
87. When We Were Outlaws by Jeanne Cordova
88. Prairie Silence by Melanie Hoffert
89. The Secret Diaries Of Miss Anne Lister
90. Zami by Audre Lorde
91. First Spring Grass Fire by Rae Spoon
92. Gender Failure by Rae Spoon & Ivan E. Coyote
93. Before the Rain: A Memoir of Love & Revolution by Luisita Lopez Torregrosa
94. Licking the Spoon: A Memoir of Food, Family and Identity by Candace Walsh
Nonfiction
95. Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme edited by Ivan Coyote and Zena Sharman
96. Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women’s Love and Desire by Lisa M. Diamond
97. Inseparable: Desire Between Women In Literature by Emma Donoghue
98. Aimée & Jaguar: A Love Story, Berlin 1943 by Erica Fischer
99. Kicked Out edited by Sassafras Lowrey
100. Dear John, I Love Jane edited by Candace Walsh and Laura Andre
What do you think are the best bisexual and lesbian books out there?
