7 LGBT Books to Devour on the Beach or the Bus

Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man is Thomas Page McBee's poetic exploration of (sometimes toxic) masculinity as he trained to become the first trans man to box in Madison Square Garden. Author of the award-winning memoir Man Alive, McBee expected men drawn to boxing were motivated by bloodlust. Instead, he discovers mentorship among men overcoming weaknesses. In finding the vulnerability guys hope to hide, McBee finds hope for all men. (Scribner) --Jacob Anderson-Minshall

Never Anyone But You

Never Anyone But You by David Bowie's favorite author, Rupert Thompson, delves into the fascinating true affair between two female artists in the 1930s, Suzanne Malherbe and Lucie Schwob, who also were step-sisters. For fear of being discovered, the girls left their hometown for Paris and reinvented themselves as Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore. Friends with celebs like Ernest Hemingway and Salvador Dali, they left behind a series of arrestingly avant-garde photos. (Other Press)--Desiree Guerrero

Tomb of the Unknown Racist, by Blanche McCrary Boyd, examines the convoluted workings of racism and white supremacy that is no longer under the radar. Author of the groundbreaking essay collection, The Redneck Way of Knowledge, Boyd masterfully breaks down the drive and historical connections that make racism's continued existence painfully real. And no, you don't have to be Southern (or a lesbian) to enjoy her work. Just human. Definitely worth a read. (Counterpoint Press) --Ashley Scheibelhut

Butch Heroes is Ria Brodell's colorful obituaries of masculine (generally queer) women and transgender men. Brodell, an author and artist, recounts the lives of several butches the way they should have been told: with portraits modelled after Catholic holy cards. A quick read, Butch Heroes is a fascinating, intersectional, feminist art-text project, and overall a rather wonderful reclamatory book of LGBT history that subverts and resonates in the human psyche. (MIT Press)--Diane Anderson-Minshall

The Wild Inside by Jamey Bradbury is a novel about a teenage musher in Alaska named Trace who is dealing with loss and a secret she inherited, which compels her to drink blood. Trace learns each drink includes the memories of animals she kills. How this translates to humans unveils slowly, but Trace learns people can never truly know another person, not even when they fall in love -- as she does with a boy who turns out to be transgender. The book is great commentary on the unanswerable nature of certain questions. (William Morrow)--JAM

In Blackfish City, Sam J. Miller creates a dystopian future where climate change and machinations of the "landlord" class led to genocide and global destruction. Survivors gather on a floating, crumbling city -- beset by massive wealth disparities, political corruption, crime, an over-reliance on AI, and a deadly, sexually-transmitted epidemic. Particularly delightful is the prevalence of LGBT characters in this gripping novel full of vivid descriptions, compelling characters, timely urgency, and thrilling action. An immediate page-turner. (Ecco)--JAM

Check Please, the first half of Ngozi Ukazu's hugely entertaining comic web series, is now a book. The series chronicles Eric "Bitty" Bittle through his freshman year at fictional Samwell University. An expert figure skater, Bitty is recruited to Samwell as a hockey player. To call this book joyous is an understatement. In a time where gay skater Olympian Adam Rippon is a fan fave, Check Please is another piece of evidence that the next generation of LGBT kids are alright. (First Second Books)--Savas Abadsidis

Confessions of a Fox, by trans author and scholarJordy Rosenberg, is a unique love story set in 18th century London as the city was brimming with notorious thieves and queer subcultures--a perfect setting for this genre-bending tale that touches on gender, desire, and liberation. Centering on professor R. Voth -- desribed as "a guy by design, not birth" -- who sets out on an academic adventure that goes awry, the book is ambitiously fascinating in its exporation of gender and so much more. (Penguin Random House)--DG