Pride Month LGBTQ+ Books and Resources

June bursts with colour and celebration as communities around the world come together to observe Pride Month, commemorating the ongoing journey toward LGBTQ+ equality. Here in the UK, we celebrate Pride by reflecting on the powerful history of the movement, from the 1969 Stonewall Riots to the first UK Gay Pride Rally in 1972.

Pride events serve as powerful reminders of past struggles, platforms for visibility, representation and for fostering an inclusive society. Happy Pride from all of us at Inspire!

We've put together a range of resources to support you and the people around you - discover LGBTQ+ stories, wellbeing support and family resources at your local library. 

If you want life-affirming, Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City series, the very definition of found family love, are nine books published between 1976 and 2014. Covering the highs and lows of a group of people in an apartment block on Barbary Lane in San Francisco, many LGBTQ people found themselves represented in fully rounded ways for the first time, and the witty dialogue makes it fun for all to read.

Christopher Isherwood’s A Single Man is no less full of love, though heartbreakingly it covers the story of George, an English professor, trying to cope after the death of his love, Jim. First published in 1964, it was hailed as a masterpiece then, and an extract taken from the blurb states how “with devastating clarity and humour, Christopher Isherwood shows George's determination to carry on, evoking the unexpected pleasures of life as well as the soul's ability to triumph over loneliness and alienation.” 

Sarah Waters is our next must-read. All her books are worthy of mention, but her debut novel, Tipping the Velvet, was highly acclaimed, while Fingersmith was shortlisted for both the Man Booker and Orange Prizes. Waters specialises in writing about women in Victorian England, exploring issues of gender, sexism, social conditions and class differences.

Call Me by Your Name by Andre Aciman is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blooms between 17-year-old Elio and his father's house guest Oliver during a restless summer on the Italian Riviera. The experience marks them for a lifetime. As author John Glynn writes: “No book captures the unalloyed intensity of first love with such gutting and gorgeous clarity, the life-starting possibility that lingers between glances.”

Penguin Classic Zami: a new spelling of my name by Audre Lorde is described in the blurb as “a rapturous, life-affirming tale of independence, love, work, strength, sexuality and change, rich with poetry and fierce emotional power.” An autobiographical novel, Lorde writes of her life as a Black and legally blind child in 1930s Harlem, as she stumbles through teenage pain and loneliness on to happiness in friendship, work and sex, always changing, always strong. As Jackie Kay writes: “I came across Audre Lorde's Zami, and I cried to think how lucky I was to have found her. She was an inspiration.”

Proud: Stories, Poetry and Art on the Theme of Pride, complied by Juno Dawson is an anthology of stories and poetry by top LGBTQ+ YA authors and new talent, responding to the broad theme of pride. Each story has an illustration by an artist identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Shortlisted for the Polari Prize, Neon Roses by Rachel Dawson is set in a valley in south Wales, 1984. Eluned Hughes feels stuck - caught between a crumbling mining community, a drifting sister and a boyfriend pressuring her to settle down. Then Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners arrive from London, and Eluned meets June, a bold, snaggle-toothed artist who opens up a new world of possibility. But as tensions rise at home, Eluned must decide: can she truly leave everything behind for a different kind of life?

Mona of the Manor by Armistead Maupin follows Mona, the Lady of Easley House, an eccentric English manor turned bed and breakfast. Lady Mona keeps things afloat with charm and chaos. Her adopted son Wilfred spends his weekends in London, looking for love in the gay bars of Soho while pining after his pen pal, Michael 'Mouse' Tolliver. Their latest guest, Rhonda, a sheltered Southern belle fleeing an abusive marriage, finds herself unexpectedly entangled in their unconventional world.

One Love by Man Cain - spanning two decades, this heartfelt LGBTQ+ romance follows Danny and Guy from their first meeting at Manchester University in 2002 to a pivotal weekend at Manchester Pride in 2022. As Danny prepares to reveal a long-held secret, that he's always been in love with Guy, their lifelong friendship hangs in the balance. Is it the end, or a new beginning?

Emma Donoghue's historical novel, Learned by Heart, is based on the real-life relationship between Anne Lister and Eliza Raine, two outsiders who meet at a boarding school in 19th-century York. Sharing an attic room, the girls form a close bond that grows into a profound and secret love.

You can find more reading recommendations on our online catalogue.