Queereaders discussion

I think there should be a list of Queer novels that are not depressing. Any recommendations?

uhm yeah good idea! what kind of books are you looking for? There is tons of queer romance books but...
and what would you recommend?
at least i'll follow this thread to see hwats gion to happen here =)

Zoe wrote: "uhm yeah good idea! what kind of books are you looking for? There is tons of queer romance books but...
and what would you recommend?
at least i'll follow this thread to see hwats gion to happen ..."

I guess I would have to exclude the romance genre, because that's not really the point I'm trying to make. Everything else I'm open to: literary fiction, genre fiction, even nonfiction--anything that doesn't focus on Queer suffering.

As gay as I am, I often avoid gay lit because I find it incredibly depressing. I love finding books that have Queer characters, but that don't make sexuality the point of the book. There is more to being Queer than our Queerness.

Some examples: The House in the Cerulean Sea and Ammonite. Both feature Queer characters without placing too much focus on Queerness or romance. Cerulean Sea has a little romance, but it's not the point.

And I guess I should clarify. What I'm avoiding are books that involve repression, bullying, sexual assault, self-hate, depression, etc. All of those are facets of our existence, but sometimes I want to focus on our joy and not our struggles.

ah yes i thought as much about the romance genre =D.
I know what you mean. I just today DNFed Shuggie Bain because I cant sometimes with queer pain.
Although I love queer lit, I often have the feeling it's not written for us, they are a justification to the cishets that we have a right to exist, of sorts. And I dont want my books to be painless, I want them not to be about hatecrimes and self-deprecation - not to be about queerness being the reason for pain.

Here are some I loved:
Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars, its great and weird and funny, and there is pain but also agency which is why i didn't find it deppressing.
Less (one of my absolute faves)
The Subtweet
Gideon the Ninth, and it's follow upHarrow the Ninth
This Is How You Lose the Time War

I guess these are popular books but as you said it's hard to find these

Zoe wrote: "ah yes i thought as much about the romance genre =D.
I know what you mean. I just today DNFed Shuggie Bain because I cant sometimes with queer pain.
Although I love queer lit, I of..."

Thanks for the recs! I’m actually supposed to read Time War next month for a buddy-read, so that works out great.

And you make an interesting point. I hadn’t thought about it, but all the suffering in LGBTQ+ books could be an attempt for straight cis folks to empathize with our experiences. Which is a positive. But still.

That then makes me wonder, who is the intended audience of Queer lit?

I think Sarah Water's books would be recommendable.

Ultimatley, I think queer lit is for everyone. I mean, nothing I read reprensents my own experience 100%, so why shouldnt other people read about queer experiences? Reading about other ways of living makes everyone more symathetic, I guess, so I think variety is great for all. It also helps people feel seen and validated. There are so many YA books that would have been so helpful to me when I was a teen.

It makes sense for queer writers to write about their experiences, an that is unfortunately often painful, but it's valid, and important.

I only think it's harmful when it derails into torture porn territory, or, what I feel is a common think, fetishizing, like a lot if straight women writing and reading gay romance. I don't really see what that's about =D
My favorite though is when I get the feeling that it's queer people writing for other queers. Like Detransition, Baby, which is so unapologeticly t4t, or where, as you said, it's not a big deal to be queer, and the characters dont spend the whole book figuring themselves out, like in The Gloaming.

I don't know. I'm rambling and it's not even original =D

Have fun with Time Wars, I really loved it!

Luís wrote: "I think Sarah Water's books would be recommendable."

I’ve had a couple of Waters’ books on my list for a while but haven’t gotten around to them. Maybe I need to change that.

Zoe wrote: "Ultimatley, I think queer lit is for everyone. I mean, nothing I read reprensents my own experience 100%, so why shouldnt other people read about queer experiences? Reading about other ways of livi..."

Oh yes, it’s definitely for everyone. I was kind of generalizing.

I guess there has been so much trauma in our lives that it’s inevitable that it’ll fill up our books.

Variety is my genre of choice. I can never make up my mind.

Timothy wrote: "Luís wrote: "I think Sarah Water's books would be recommendable."

I’ve had a couple of Waters’ books on my list for a while but haven’t gotten around to them. Maybe I need to change that."

I've read already Fingersmith and The Little Stranger, and I have on my wishlist The Night Watch.

Luís wrote: "I've read already Fingersmith and The Little Stranger, and I have on my wishlist The Night Watch."

Tipping the Velvet is the one I’m always hearing about.

Timothy wrote: "Luís wrote: "I've read already Fingersmith and The Little Stranger, and I have on my wishlist The Night Watch."

Tipping the Velvet is the one I’m always hearing about."

Thank you! I've forgot that one.

Queer lit, Non-depressing, non-romance (mostly):
The Jake Bennett Adventures (books 1-3), by Bayla Dornon.
These books are a lot of fun, and don’t fall into the traps of so many queer books. Not coming out stories, not “first time”, not romance (only). Lots of diversity and exciting stories.

I have also been on the search for queer joy, admittedly most of what I have found so far are YA novels and most of them have romance, but i’ll take all the positivity I can get. Here’s what I’ve read so far:

-The City Beautiful (YA) (Historical Fiction) (Thriller)
-Red, White & Royal Blue
-Heartstopper: Volume One (YA) (graphic novel)
-Heartstopper: Volume Two
-Heartstopper: Volume Three
-Heartstopper: Volume Four
-A Complicated Love Story Set in Space(YA) (Sci Fi)
-In Deeper Waters (YA) (Fantasy)
-Before We Disappear(YA) (Fantasy) (Historical Fiction)

The following are sweet love stories with happy endings but there is a sprinkle of homophobia on the journey:
-Chariots on the Highway (Romance)
-Date Me, Bryson Keller (YA)

Thanks for the recommendations! Hopefully the list keeps growing.

Hey, so I read a mix of books. But there are two that I highly recommend. The first one is The Dangerous Art of Blending In, this book gives insight on what people of the LGBTQ+ community face daily. At times it can be very in depth and a little dirty, but it is good. Another book is The 57 Bus. This is a true story on what happened to an agender person. It’s amazing and it was great to read representation of an agender person in a book and what they face too. Hope these are helpful.

Kyler wrote: "Hey, so I read a mix of books. But there are two that I highly recommend. The first one is The Dangerous Art of Blending In, this book gives insight on what people of the LGBTQ+ community face dail..."

Thanks! I took a look at some of the reviews, and, honestly, they both seem to have a rather depressing premise (suicide, abuse, etc.). But I can see how they can hopefully have a happy ending. It’s difficult to avoid trauma in Queer lit, so I guess we can only hope for an exploration of joy after the trauma has taken place. With trauma being the catalyst for change.

Ya they both have dark sides but in the end I guess when I read it I saw the beauty behind it all. I’m also someone who sees like the bright side to literally everything.

Hi!
I wondered if anyone had any good queer summer book recommendations, if you understand what I mean. I loooved ‘Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe’ and I just want simple but cute queer love books:) I feel like those might be hard to find sometimes.. please let me know if something comes to your mind❤️

Written in the Stars is a really good queer retelling of Pride and Prejudice that’s a rom com that is funny too!

So is Red, White and Royal Blue:))

Sofie Valmire wrote: "Hi!
I wondered if anyone had any good queer summer book recommendations, if you understand what I mean. I loooved ‘Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe’ and I just want simple ..."

Did you know that there's a sequel? Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World I haven't read it yet, so I don't know how good it is. But if you really liked the first book, it's probably worth checking out book two.

A fantasy book I really enjoyed is She Who Became The Sun :)

Nici wrote: "A fantasy book I really enjoyed is She Who Became The Sun :)"

Good choice; that seems to fit the bill. I added it to my own list.

Nici wrote: "A fantasy book I really enjoyed is She Who Became The Sun :)"

I recently bought a copy of this book and I’m looking forward to reading it:)) thanks for reminding me of it, Nici!!