21 Queer Women of Color Books You Have To Read!

I love reading bi and lesbian books, but that subcategory is…pretty white, as a whole. There are some amazing women of color writing queer women books, but they can be hard to find. This is far, far from a definitive list! These are only the books that I personally have and can recommend. (Titles are listed below the graphics.) Please add in your own recommendations for queer women of color books in the comments!

Fiction:

• The Color Purple by Alice Walker
• Painting Their Portraits in Winter by Myriam Gurba
• Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera
• Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert

Fabulism & Magical Realism:

• Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
• The Summer We Got Free by Mia McKenzie

Poetry:

• Bodymap by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

Historical/Alternate History:

• The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson
• Prairie Ostrich by Tamai Kobayashi
• Miss Timmins’ School for Girls by Nayana Currimbhoy
• Everfair by Nisi Shawl

Werebears:

• Bearly a Lady by Cassandra Khaw

Vampires:

• The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez

Sci-Fi:

• Adaptation and Inheritance by Malinda Lo
• Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi

Fantasy:

• Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova
• When Fox is a Thousand by Larissa Lai

Comics:

• Supermutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki

Memoirs:

• When We Were Outlaws by Jeanne Cordova
• Hunger by Roxane Gay
• Before the Rain: A Memoir of Love & Revolution by Luisita Lopez Torregrosa

Let me know in the comments what queer women of color books I’ve missed!