Our Pride Month Reading List: Queer Nonfiction from 2025!
New & Upcoming LGBTQIA+ Books for Your Summer Reading List!
Happy Pride Month everyone!
We said it last week but it bears repeating . . . June is a perfect month to celebrate and be proud of our beautiful LGBTQIA+ community, as well as enjoying and sharing the brilliant voices of queer writers and artists from around the globe. It’s an ideal time for educating ourselves and others about our community’s history and our stories, our struggles and our achievements, our chronicles of the past and our visions for the future. It’s the moment for organized resistance, strategizing, and solidarity. Great books can help us do all of these things. So what’s on your summer reading list?
Last week we chose 40 fascinating new queer fiction picks from 2025, and now this week we’re spotlighting 40 intriguing nonfiction picks from across the beautiful LGBTQIA+ rainbow. (Which includes books by allies who have written about subjects that will be of interest to our community.)
This list includes works of history, biographies, memoirs, essays, philosophy, science, cultural studies, activism, a graphic novel, and even a book about prehistoric ecosystems from an award-winning trans paleontologist!
All of these recently published (or soon to be published) books are new to us! We haven’t read them yet, but they’ve all piqued our interest for one reason or another, so don’t be surprised if quite a few of these eventually show up on our Aesthetic Arrest podcast. Let’s dive in to the list . . .
Pride Month Reading List: New Queer Nonfiction from 2025!
(in alphabetical order by author)
Fearless and Free: A Memoir by Josephine Baker (foreword by Ijeoma Oluo)
“[N]ow published in the US for the first time, Fearless and Free is the memoir of the ‘trailblazing’ (People), rule-breaking, one-of-a-kind Josephine Baker, the iconic dancer, singer, spy, and Civil Rights activist. … First published in France in 1949, her memoir will now finally be published in English. At last we can hear Josephine in her own voice: charming, passionate, and brave. … Through her own telling, we come to know a woman who danced to the top of the world and left her unforgettable mark on it.” [Source]
What Is Queer Food?: How We Served a Revolution by John Birdsall
“Poetically tracing the fascinating, elusive history of queer people and food, John Birdsall, author and former chef, serves us a scrumptious buffet of queer bakers, chefs, cookbook writers, eaters, foods, food parties, food writers, restaurant owners, and reviewers, and the waitpeople who carry it to us—in a nutshell, everything and everyone from soup to nuts. A feast to remember!” — Jonathan Ned Katz, author of The Daring Life and Dangerous Times of Eve Adams
When the Earth Was Green: Plants, Animals, and Evolution’s Greatest Romance by Riley Black
“A gorgeously composed look at the longstanding relationship between prehistoric plants and life on Earth. … Using the same scientifically-informed narrative technique that readers loved in the award-winning The Last Days of the Dinosaurs, … Riley Black brings readers back in time to prehistoric seas, swamps, forests, and savannas where critical moments in plant evolution unfolded. … Black guides readers along the burgeoning trunk of the Tree of Life, stopping to appreciate branches of an evolutionary story that links the world we know with one we can only just perceive now through the silent stone, from ancient roots to the present.” [Source]
Cleavage: Men, Women, and the Space Between Us by Jennifer Finney Boylan
“Jennifer Finney Boylan, bestselling author of She’s Not There and co-author of Mad Honey with Jodi Picoult, examines the divisions—as well as the common ground—between the genders, and reflects on her own experiences, both difficult and joyful, as a transgender American. … With Boylan’s trademark humor and poignancy, Cleavage is a sharp, witty, and captivating look at the triumphs and losses of a life lived in two genders. Cleavage provides hope for a future in which we all have the freedom to live joyfully as men, as women, and in the space between us.” [Source]
The Einstein of Sex: Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, Visionary of Weimar Berlin by Daniel Brook
“An illuminating portrait of a lost thinker, German-Jewish sexologist and activist Magnus Hirschfeld. … Rich in passion and intellect, The Einstein of Sex at last brings together this unsung icon’s work on sexuality, gender, and race and recovers the visionary who first saw beyond the binaries. A century after his groundbreaking work—as the fights for personal freedom and societal acceptance rage on—Hirschfeld’s gift for thinking beyond the confines of his world has much to teach us.” [Source]
Joy Goddess: A’Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance by A’Lelia Bundles
“A vibrant, deeply researched biography of A’Lelia Walker—daughter of Madam C.J. Walker and herself a central figure of the Harlem Renaissance—written by her great-granddaughter. … In Joy Goddess, A’Lelia’s radiant personality and impresario instincts—at the center of a vast, artistic social world where she flourished as a fashion trendsetter and international traveler—are brought to vivid and unforgettable life.” [Source]
Candy Darling: Dreamer, Icon, Superstar by Cynthia Carr
“From the acclaimed biographer Cynthia Carr, the first full portrait of the queer icon and Warhol superstar Candy Darling. … Brimming with all the fizz and wildness of New York in the 1960s and ’70s, this is the first biography of this extraordinary figure—an unintentional pioneer who became an icon. Cynthia Carr’s Candy Darling is packed with tales of luminaries, gossip, and meticulous research, laced with Candy’s words and her friends’ recollections, and signals Candy’s long-overdue return to the spotlight.” [Source]
Love You Madly, Holly Woodlawn: A Walk on the Wild Side with Andy Warhol’s Most Fabulous Superstar by Jeff Copeland
“Love You Madly, Holly Woodlawn is a story of how an unlikely friendship with a young gay writer and an, ahem, mature trans actress and performer created the bestselling autobiography of 1991, A Low Life in High Heels. This book about writing a book is a celebration of chutzpa and love as Holly, the embodiment of Auntie Mame, introduces Jeff to the glamorous (and sometimes larcenous) world of a Warhol Superstar. … In turns hilarious and heartwarming, Love You Madly, Holly Woodlawn is a portrait of the real Holly who loved deeply, laughed loudly, and left mayhem in her wake.” [Source]
Take My Name But Say It Slow: Essays by Thomas Dai
“Thomas Dai has never gone by his Chinese name, Nuocheng, fashioned from the Knoxville (Chinese: Nuokeshiweier) of his childhood and the Chengdu his mother called home. Seen another way, Nuocheng also contains the cheng of Chenggong: success. In one breath, his name speaks of a hometown, a geography, a half-baked promise to succeed. For Dai, every name is like a map, and every map can define identity. … Incisive and gorgeously written, Take My Name but Say It Slow offers a fresh perspective on placelessness, yearning, and belonging, and introduces a sparkling new literary talent.” [Source]
So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color by Caro De Robertis
“Award-winning novelist Caro De Robertis offers a first-of-its-kind, deeply personal, and moving oral history of a generation of queer and trans elders of color, from leading activists to artists to ordinary citizens to tell their stories of breathtaking courage, cultural innovations, and acts of resistance, all in their own words. … The anecdotes in these pages are riveting, joyful, heartbreaking—so full of life and personality and wisdom, and artfully woven together into one immersive narrative. In De Robertis’s words, So Many Stars shares ‘behind-the-scenes tales of what it meant—and still means—to create an authentic life, against the odds.’” [Source]
Before Gender: Lost Stories from Trans History, 1850-1950 by Eli Erlick
“Explore the trailblazing lives of 30 trans people who radically change everything you’ve been told about transgender history. … These narratives chronicle the grit, joy, and survival of trans people long before gender became an everyday term. … Bold and visionary, Erlick’s debut uncovers these lost stories from the depths of the archives to narrate trans lives in a way that has never been attempted before.” [Source]
Sex Is a Spectrum: The Biological Limits of the Binary by Agustín Fuentes
“Why human biology is far more expansive than the simple categories of female and male. … Sex Is a Spectrum offers a bold new paradigm for understanding the biology of sex, drawing on the latest science to explain why the binary view of the sexes is fundamentally flawed—and why having XX or XY chromosomes isn’t as conclusive as some would have us believe. … Bringing clarity and reason to a contentious issue, Sex Is a Spectrum shares a scientist’s perspective on why a binary view of sex and gender is not only misguided but harmful, and why there are multitudes of ways of being human.” [Source]
Hermaphrodite Logic: A History of Intersex Liberation by Juliana Gleeson
“Hermaphrodite Logic celebrates the history of intersex liberation as a political movement that creates a new ethics of living with the variety of sex. Emerging in the 1990s, Juliana Gleeson traces how this movement countered the scars of medical intervention imposed on the intersex with wit and logic. The result is a moving and sardonic account that speaks of the intersex with a chorus of voices, rupturing the limits of our normative conceptions of gender and sexuality.” — Benjamin Noys, Professor of Critical Theory, University of Chichester
Alligator Tears: A Memoir in Essays by Edgar Gomez
“Alligator Tears is a fiercely defiant memoir-in-essays charting Gomez’s quest to claw his family out of poverty by any means necessary and exposing the archetype of the humble poor person for what it is: a scam that insists we remain quiet and servile while we wait for a prize that will always be out of reach. For those chasing the American Dream and those jaded by it, Gomez’s unforgettable story is a testament to finding love, purpose, and community on your own terms, smiling with all your fake teeth.” [Source]
In Theory, Darling: Searching for José Esteban Muñoz and the Queer Imagination by Marcos Gonsalez
“A love letter to queer of color theory and how it has helped the author to discover himself, reclaim identities, celebrate queer joy, and work towards liberation. … Conversational yet deeply analytical, intimate yet wide-ranging, youthful yet sophisticated, Gonsalez’s essays crackle with intellectual energy—and remind us just how life-giving theory can be.” [Source]
Art Above Everything: One Woman’s Global Exploration of the Joys and Torments of a Creative Life by Stephanie Elizondo Griest
“Meet queer, BIPOC, and women artists around the world as they discuss the gifts, costs, and redemptive power of pursuing a creative life. … Art Above Everything introduces us to legendary writers, visual artists, dancers, and musicians across the globe, who talk intimately about their art, what it requires, what it gifts them, and what it costs them. … Bold and inspiring, Art Above Everything never pretends that the artist’s path is easy—but it illuminates the infinite ways we can wield creativity as a vitalizing force.” [Source]
Black. Fat. Femme: Revealing the Power of Visibly Queer Voices in Media and Learning to Love Yourself by Jonathan P. Higgins (foreword by Latrice Royale)
“A celebration of (and how to find your own) queer intersectional identity through the lens of media. … [E]ducator and media critic Dr. Jonathan P. Higgins—aka Doctor Jon Paul—delivers an honest and extraordinary new take on how the author, and other Black Fat Femmes like them, have come to find and understand their identity. … Perfect for anyone with an interest in unique voices and truly singular perspectives, Black. Fat. Femme. is a one-of-a-kind book that will help you see the world with entirely new eyes.” [Source]
William Blake and the Sea Monsters of Love: Art, Poetry, and the Imagining of a New World by Philip Hoare
“This wild, dreaming leviathan of a book is undoubtedly Hoare’s masterpiece. Who but the leading visionary of English letters could take on Blake, and find in him such riches? It is a mesmerising tapestry, intricate, strange and very queer, that ranges through time and space to create both a loving, wonderstruck portrait of the artist and a map of the universe of enchantment, terror and revolt that he opened for us all.” — Olivia Laing, acclaimed author of The Garden Against Time
Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian
“A thrilling book about the abounding queerness of the natural world that challenges our expectations of what is normal, beautiful, and possible. … In Forest Euphoria, Kaishian shows us this making of a scientist and introduces readers to the queerness of all the life around us. … Nature, Kaishian shows us, is filled with the unusual, the overlooked, and the marginalized—and they have lessons for us all. Wide-ranging, richly observant, and full of surprises, Forest Euphoria will open your eyes and change how you look at the world.” [Source]
No One Taught Me How to Be a Man: What a Trans Man’s Experience Reveals about Masculinity by Shannon T. L. Kearns
“In a world where men are actively discouraged from reflecting on what it means to be a man, this smart, highly readable invitation to do so from someone who clearly has is urgently needed. With meaningful personal anecdotes and an approach that speaks to all varieties of men (and anyone who has ever cared about one), No One Taught Me How to Be a Man is an essential book.” — Chris Stedman, author of IRL and Faitheist, and writer/host of Unread
Sick and Dirty: Hollywood’s Gay Golden Age and the Making of Modern Queerness by Michael Koresky
“A blazingly original history celebrating the persistence of queerness onscreen, behind the camera, and between the lines during the dark days of the Hollywood Production Code. … In this insightful, wildly entertaining book, cinema historian Michael Koresky finds new meaning in ‘problematic’ classics of the Code era … Through his brilliant inquiry, Sick and Dirty reveals the ‘bad seeds’ of queer cinema to be surprisingly, even gleefully subversive, reminding us, in an age of book bans and gag laws, that nothing makes queerness speak louder than its opponents’ bids to silence it.” [Source]
Deep House: The Gayest Love Story Ever Told by Jeremy Atherton Lin
“From the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of Gay Bar comes a rule-breaking, sweat-soaked, genre-busting story of outlaw love. It’s 1996, and Jeremy Atherton Lin has met the boy of his dreams — a mumbling, starry-eyed Brit — just as, amid a media frenzy, US Congress prepares the Defense of Marriage Act, denying same-sex couples federal rights including immigration. … Deep House is at once a historical kaleidoscope and the innermost tale of two boyfriends who made a home in the shadows of a turbulent civil rights battle.” [Source]
Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line by Elizabeth Lovatt
“A narrative blend of history, cultural criticism, and memoir in celebration of everyday queer women, based on a lesbian helpline that existed in North London in the nineties … Steeped in pop culture references and feminist and queer theory, Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line is a timely and vital exploration of how lesbian identity continues to remake and redefine itself in the 21st century, and where it might lead us in the future.” [Source]
Unassimilable: An Asian Diasporic Manifesto for the Twenty-First Century by Bianca Mabute-Louie
“Bianca Mabute-Louie’s Unassimilable is an expansive — sometimes funny, sometimes harrowing — portrait of growing up in the Chinese American ethnoburbs and coming into awareness of her place in the world. Through memoir, witness, and sociology, she never fails to ask the hardest questions of herself and her peers. With this personally moving and intellectually bracing narrative, she becomes an important new voice in the discussions over the future of Asians in diaspora.” — Jeff Chang, author of Can’t Stop Won’t Stop and We Gon’ Be Alright
Desi Queers: LGBTQ+ South Asians and Cultural Belonging in Britain by Churnjeet Mahn, Rohit K. Dasgupta & DJ Ritu
“Desi Queers reveals how diasporic South Asians have shaped LGBTQ+ movements and communities in Britain, from the 1970s to the present day. … Drawing on artistic creations, archives and oral history, Desi Queers celebrates rich traditions of social and cultural activism alongside stories of everyday life among Britain’s LGBTQ+ South Asians.” [Source]
Liberation Stories: Building Narrative Power for 21st-Century Social Movements by Shanelle Matthews, Marzena Zukowska, & the Radical Communicators Network
“From an international cast of leading activist communicators, a timely and instructive handbook for telling stories that change the world. … In Liberation Stories, today’s foremost progressive and leftist communicators, organizers, artists, journalists, and academics share their collective wisdom in one powerful volume. … As far-right and conservative movements gain traction worldwide—attacking our books, our bodies, and our democracies—Liberation Stories emerges as a vital resource for constructing the world we envision, one story at a time.” [Source]
Rachel Carson and the Power of Queer Love by Lida Maxwell
“How Silent Spring stands as a monument to a unique, loving relationship between Rachel Carson and Dorothy Freeman, and how such love underpins a new environmental politics. … In this moving new book, Lida Maxwell explores their letters to reveal how Carson’s masterpiece, Silent Spring, grew from the love these women shared for their wild surroundings and, vitally and increasingly, for each other. … [W]e see the path toward a more loving use of nature and a transformative political desire that, Maxwell argues, should inform our approach to contemporary environmental crises.” [Source]
So What If I’m a Puta: Diaries of Transness, Sex Work, Desire by Amara Moira
“So What If I’m a Puta, originally published on author Amara Moira’s popular blog of the same name, consists of 44 crônicas that wryly portray her experiences as a trans sex worker in Brazil. … Woven through Moira’s essays are reflections on transition, safe sex, desire, whorephobia, consent—in the grim context of Brazil’s record rates of violence against trans women. Ultimately, Moira writes to ‘give a voice to us prostitutes’ and center trans sex workers in Brazil’s putafeminist movement, modeling a feminism that envisions inclusivity, safety, self-determination, and joy for us all.” [Source]
All the Parts We Exile: A Memoir by Roza Nozari
“From a queer Muslim woman and artist, a generous, heartfelt and insightful memoir about family and finding the path to one’s truest self. … In All the Parts We Exile, Roza braids a tender narrative of her mother’s life together with her own ongoing story of self, as she arrives at, then rejects, her queer identity, eventually finds belonging in queer spaces and within queer Iranian histories, and learns the truth about her family’s move to Canada.” [Source]
The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick: Sex and the Supreme Court in the Age of AIDS by Martin Padgett
“Michael Hardwick had no idea that when a police officer stood at his bedroom door on August 3, 1982, he would become a face of the gay rights movement. Arrested for sodomy, Hardwick sued for his right to privacy all the way to the Supreme Court … When he lost, his era-defining case inspired a half-million people to protest, and the ruling became one of the most reviled of its time. … Today, Bowers v. Hardwick reverberates again, as the rights of privacy underpinning legal abortion, contraception, and same-sex relationships come under fire. … [Padgett] reveals how Hardwick forced America to come to grips with queer people—and to acknowledge its moral failures toward some of its most marginalized citizens.” [Source]
Black Panther Woman: The Political and Spiritual Life of Ericka Huggins by Mary Frances Phillips
“The first biography of Ericka Huggins, a queer Black woman who brought spiritual self-care practices to the Black Panther Party. … Transcending the traditional male-centric study of the Black Panther Party, Black Panther Woman offers an innovative analysis of Black political life at the intersections of gender, motherhood, and mass incarceration. This book serves as an invaluable toolkit for contemporary activists, underscoring the power of radical acts of care as well as vital strategies to thrive in the world.” [Source]
Dysphoria Mundi: A Diary of Planetary Transition by Paul B. Preciado
“The central thesis of this monumental work is that dysphoria, to be understood properly, should not be seen as a mental illness but rather as the condition that defines our times. Dysphoria is an abyss that separates a patriarchal, colonial, and capitalist order hurtling toward its end from a new way of being that, until now, has been seen as unproductive and abnormal but is in fact the way out of our current predicament. … Dysphoria Mundi is Preciado’s most accessible and significant work to date, in which he makes sense of a world in ruins around us and maps a joyous, radical way forward.” [Source]
Plato and the Tyrant: The Fall of Greece’s Greatest Dynasty and the Making of a Philosophic Masterpiece by James Romm
“[A]cclaimed historian and classicist James Romm draws on personal letters of Plato—documents that have long been kept in obscurity—to show how a philosopher helped topple the leading Greek power of the era: the opulent city of Syracuse. There, Plato encountered two authoritarian rulers, a father and son both named Dionysius, and tried to steer them toward philosophy. … Plato’s close friendship with Dionysius’s uncle, Dion—possibly a bond of romantic love—created a rift in the ruling family that led to a chaotic civil war. … Plato and the Tyrant demonstrates how Plato’s experiment with enlightened autocracy spiraled into catastrophe, and also gives us nothing less than a new account of the origins of Western political thought.” [Source]
The Secret Public: How Music Moved Queer Culture from the Margins to the Mainstream by Jon Savage
“Savage, a deeply knowledgeable British music journalist whose subjects have included the Sex Pistols, Joy Division, and teenage culture, tells this enthralling story by focusing on five moments between 1955 and 1979, when gay culture and popular youth culture, in tandem, took quantum leaps into public consciousness ... His encyclopedic scope ranges from the famous—James Dean, Andy Warhol, the Kinks, David Bowie, Bette Midler, Sylvester—to the less known but no less consequential contributors. ... A keenly intelligent, comprehensive survey of some of the bravest artists in history.” — Kirkus Reviews
The Intermediaries: A Weimar Story by Brandy Schillace
“Set in interwar Germany, The Intermediaries tells the forgotten story of the Institute for Sexual Science, the world’s first center for homosexual and transgender rights. … Through its unforgettable characters and immersive, urgent storytelling, The Intermediaries charts the relationships between nascent sexual science, queer civil rights, and the fight against fascism. It tells riveting stories of LGBTQ pioneers—a surprising, long-suppressed history—and offers a cautionary tale in the face of today’s oppressive anti-trans legislation.” [Source]
The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity by Sarah Schulman
“In this searing yet uplifting book, award-winning writer and cultural critic Sarah Schulman delves into the intricate and often misunderstood concept of solidarity to provide a new vision for what it means to engage in this work—and why it matters. … By turns challenging, inspiring, pragmatic, and poetic, The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity provides a much-needed path for how we can work together to create a more just, more equitable present and future.” [Source]
Theory of Water: Nishnaabe Maps to the Times Ahead by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
“‘Love is the necessary precursor to world building,’ Leanne Betasamosake Simpson teaches us, before she proceeds to enact that very idea with a fierce generosity in this very book. Theory of Water offers us new ways of relating to that animating spirit that keeps us alive, that binds us together in shared fate. Water is teacher, water is ancestor, water is power, and water is song. Through tender moments of mourning an Elder and unapologetic assertions of rage at colonial injustice, Simpson offers a tremendous gift for those seeking a shared map for reciprocity, accountability, and resilience.” — Eve L. Ewing, author of Original Sins
It Rhymes with Takei by George Takei, with Justin Eisinger & Steven Scott (illustrated by Harmony Becker)
“George Takei has shown the world many faces: actor, author, outspoken activist, helmsman of the starship Enterprise, living witness to the internment of Japanese Americans, and king of social media. But until October 27, 2005, there was always one piece missing—one face he did not show the world. There was one very intimate fact about George that he never shared…and it rhymes with Takei. Now, for the first time ever, George shares the full story of his life in the closet, his decision to come out as gay at the age of 68, and the way that moment transformed everything. … Looking back on his astonishing life on both sides of the closet door, George Takei presents a charismatic and candid account of how far America has come…and how precious that progress is.” [Source]
Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson by Tourmaline
“Black transgender luminary Tourmaline brings to life the first definitive biography of the revolutionary activist Marsha P. Johnson, one of the most important and remarkable figures in LGBTQIA+ history, revealing her story, her impact, and her legacy. … Written with sparkling prose, Tourmaline’s richly researched biography Marsha finally brings this iconic figure to life, in full color. … Marsha didn’t wait to be freed; she declared herself free and told the world to catch up. Her story promises to inspire readers to live as their most liberated, unruly, vibrant, and whole selves.” [Source]
The Dream of a Common Movement: Selected Writings of Urvashi Vaid by Urvashi Vaid (foreword by Tony Kushner)
“The Dream of a Common Movement collects essays, interviews, and speeches by the late feminist and civil rights activist Urvashi Vaid, whose pioneering writing and organizing over the course of four decades fundamentally shaped the LGBTQ+ movement. … Offering a window into the breadth of her progressive vision for social change, this volume inspires readers to never stop organizing and marching.” [Source]
So many exciting new books for your summer reading list! (Click here if you missed last week’s list of queer fiction picks!)
All of the books on this list were first published (in the U.S.) in 2025, and can be purchased or pre-ordered from a local independent bookstore near you! (Need helping finding a bookstore that’s not owned by an amoral billionaire? Try the Indie Bookstore Finder!)
And if you must order your books online, please consider clicking the links below each book cover to purchase your books via Bookshop.org. All of these books (and most of the books we’ve ever linked to here on our Substack) can be purchased via our Epicurean Vagabonds storefront at Bookshop.org. If you purchase books from Bookshop.org via our links (or *any* books — even ones we haven’t mentioned — after visiting our storefront here), we will receive 10% of your purchase! And another matching 10% of your purchase will go directly to support independent brick-and-mortar bookstores. Bookshop.org has raised over $39 million for local bookstores! Let’s keep bookstores alive!
Click here to order or read more about every single book on this list: Our Pride Month Reading List: New Queer Nonfiction from 2025!
Click here to order or read more about every single book on last week’s list: Our Pride Month Reading List: New Queer Fiction from 2025!
And once again, Happy Pride Month everyone! What’s on your summer reading list?