Our Favorite Queer Books!

‘Noto’ by Adriano Sack is la dolce vita , love, death, friendship, grief, laughter. It evokes so many emotions, both good and bad. But it's mostly hopeful. Konrad is back in Sicily, specifically in Noto. He and his partner Adriano built a vacation home here, with their best friends right next door. But this time, Konrad is alone. More or less. He is carrying some of Adriano’s ashes with him. And Adriano’s voice. Adriano died suddenly and tragically, and Konrad is not yet read

‘Wild Dark Shore’ by Charlotte McConaghy is set on the fictional Shearwater Island, located somewhere between Tasmania and Antarctica, in 2025, right after the publication of the book. And although it is set in the present, the story focuses on the future—a future that seems insecure due to climate change. The story is told from several perspectives: Rowan, Dominic, Raff, Fen, Orly, and, at one point, Alex.

‘When God was a Rabbit’ by Sarah Winman is divided into two parts: the Before and the After. However, Winman clarifies that it's “not really a Before and After, more as if they are bookends.” Eleanor Maud Portman, called Elly, grows up in Essex. Her parents are charmingly eccentric, and her brother Joe, who is five years older, is her constant companion and protector. Elly feels lonely and friendless, so one Christmas, Joe gives her a rabbit—God.

‘Tin Man’ by Sarah Winman is set mostly in Oxford, mostly in the 1990s, as well as in London and France. At the heart of this story of friendship, love, and grief are Ellis, Michael, and Annie. The first half of the book is told from Ellis’s point of view. In the second half of the book, the readers read a journal written by Michael, Ellis’s best friend since childhood.

Vivek is dead. And no one seems to know what happened. ‘The Death of Vivek Oji’ by Akwaeke Emezi is set in Nigeria and tells the story of Vivek’s life and death through a chorus of voices—family, friends, lovers. It is a story about gender identity, queerness, friendship, community, and the constraints of silence and shame.

‘All This Could Be Yours’ by Jami Attenberg unfolds over a single day, centered around Victor Tuchman, a deeply flawed man whose heart attack signals the approaching end of his life. As Victor’s family members grapple with their own complicated feelings and memories, they navigate the day in fragmented ways.

‘The Guncle’ by Steven Rowley is a heartwarming story about grief, healing, and the messiness of chosen and biological families. It’s about getting through loss together—and about finding moments of lightness and joy even when things feel impossibly hard.

‘Love and Other Thought Experiments’ by Sophie Ward is a philosophically grounded exploration of ‘what if’ scenarios, such as what would happen if someone didn't die. Eliza and Rachel plan to have a child using Hal’s sperm. One night, Rachel tells Eliza that an ant entered her brain through one of her eyes. She’s convinced it happened; it wasn’t a dream. Eliza argues that it’s scientifically impossible.

She was the perfect reckless. ‘The Stars and the Blackness Between Them’ by Junauda Petrus is so sweet—and heartbreaking. And although...

‘ ‘Memorial’ by Bryan Washington is a quiet yet powerful novel set in Houston and Osaka, exploring love, family, and the complexities of...

In ‘No Proper Grief: A Journey of Loss and Resilience,’ Jakob Franzen tells the story of his grief.  When his husband Jayson dies of an...

‘딸에 대하여’ by Kim Hye-jin, translated into English as ‘Concerning My Daughter’ by Jamie Chang (I read the German translation, ‘Die...