Dive into pride month with fiction and non-fiction books that explore the varied experiences of LGBTQ+ people! Each of these titles is available online through the University of Michigan library catalog.
Classic Novels
The Well of Loneliness
Banned for obscenity in 1928 and not republished until 1949, The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall recounts the life and loves of Stephen Gordon, a defiant woman who simply wants to be true to herself.
Read it online through the U-M catalog!
Giovanni's Room
In James Baldwin's classic story of death and passion Giovanni’s Room, David is a young American expatriate who has just proposed marriage to his girlfriend, Hella. While she is away on a trip, David meets a bartender named Giovanni to whom he is drawn in spite of himself.
Read it online through the U-M catalog!
Academic Reads
Lesbian, Queer, and Bisexual Women in Heterosexual Relationships: Narratives of Sexual Identity
Ahoo Tabatabai’s academic book uplifts the voices of feminist, queer women who find themselves viewed by society as heterosexual, but who themselves, with two exceptions, do not identify as such. This book is a rich collection of wonderfully human stories about what it means to be “true” to oneself.
Read it online through the U-M catalog!
Out in the Country: Youth, Media, and Queer Visibility in Rural America
In Out in the Country, Mary L. Gray illustrates that, against a backdrop of an increasingly impoverished and privatized rural America, LGBT youth and their allies visibly—and often vibrantly—work the boundaries of the public spaces available to them, whether in their high schools, public libraries, town hall meetings, churches, or through websites.
Read it online through the U-M catalog!
Whipping Girl
A provocative manifesto, Whipping Girl tells the powerful story of lesbian transgender activist and professional biologist Julia Serano, who reveals the ways in which fear, suspicion, and dismissiveness toward femininity shape our societal attitudes toward trans women, as well as gender and sexuality as a whole.
Read it online through the U-M catalog!
Not Gay: Sex Between Straight White Men
In Not Gay, Jane Ward illustrates that sex between straight white men allows them to leverage whiteness and masculinity to authenticate their heterosexuality in the context of sex with men.
Read it online through the U-M catalog!
Self-Help Books
My Gender Workbook: How to Become a Real Man, a Real Woman, the Real You, or Something Else Entirely
Cultural theorists have written loads of smart but difficult-to-fathom texts on gender, but none provide a hands-on, accessible guide to having your own unique gender. With My Gender Workbook, Kate Bornstein brings theory down to Earth and provides a practical approach to living with or without a gender.
Read it online through the U-M catalog!
The Autism Spectrum Guide to Sexuality and Relationships: Understand Yourself and Make Choices that Are Right for You
In Emma Goodall’s straight-talking guide about the complexities of relationships and sexuality, plus associated social, emotional and physical issues, The Autism Spectrum Guide to Sexuality and Relationships will help you to understand how to find and maintain a relationship of your choosing in a safe and enjoyable way.