Here are five tips to help you explore voices of the LGBTQ+ experience as well as a convenient clickable list of LGBTQ+ authors linked directly to our catalog for placing requests or checking out e-books and audiobooks.
Make a selection from some of the most distinguished honors in literature.
Browse OverDrive's LGBTQIA+ collections of e-books and downloadable audiobooks.
If you have never borrowed from OverDrive or the OverDrive Libby app before, both browser directions and app directions are available as well as a video tutorial and Overdrive/Libby Support.
Need more help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian.
Click on a featured booklist to get reading recommendations or see all our staff lists featuring LGBTQ+ authors here. Also browse the American Library Association Rainbow List.
Under the gaydar (scifi/fantasy)
In case you want some LGBTQ+ content but don't want the whole world to know it from the cover or description.
Transgender Fiction
Celebrate and recognize the transgender community with these reads.
LGBTQ+ Manga Artists More and more manga is being published with LGBTQ+ characters and themes. Here is a short list of manga by artists who are a part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Under the gaydar (contemporary teen fiction)
In case you're looking for some LGBTQ+ content but don't want the whole world to know it from the cover or description
Adult and Teen LGBTQ Fiction
LGBTQ literature is growing in popularity and these are just some of the many wonderful books that are out there.
Queer Vampires
Between the exchange of fluids and the forbidden desire, vampirism and queerness have been linked in literature for decades. Sexy or scary, you can really sink your teeth into these novels.
LGBTQ+ Friendly Manga and Anime
Manga and anime encapsulates a wide range of genres, from romance and slice-of-life stories to horror and fantasy. Here you can find a mixture of both nonfiction and fiction stories in anime and manga that are LGBTQ+ friendly.
Graphic Novels with Trans, Non-Binary, and Gender Nonconforming Characters
Here is a short list of some graphic novels and manga featuring trans, non-binary, and gender nonconforming characters. The list features titles for both kids and teens.
LGBTQ+ Nonfiction for Teens
Get ready for Pride Month with these great nonfiction teen reads - from histories to memoirs and everything in between.
Indiana Youth Group's Top Picks
Indiana Youth Group is a local organization that creates safe spaces to empower and foster community for LGBTQ+ youth (ages 12 - 24). Here we share the children's, middle grade, and teen book recommendations provided to us by IYG staff!
On Novelist Plus you'll find recommendations, read-alikes, series lists, reviews, and lists of award-winning books all by LGBTQ+ authors. You can browse the LGBTQIA category and see sample and see listings that show a star rating and the option to "Check Availability" to see if it is available to borrow from IndyPL. When you click on a book you can read a brief description and get ideas for read alikes.
Subscribe to NextReads to receive reading recommendation in your inbox monthly. Book suggestions are linked to our catalog for easy requesting. It's FREE! See a sample issue. Subscribe to NextReads here!
Noel Alumit
James Baldwin
Clive Barker
Elizabeth Bishop
Poppy Z. Brite
Rita Mae Brown
Octavia Butler
Truman Capote
Colette
Abha Dawesar
Emma Donoghue
Martin Duberman
Akwaeke Emezi
Leslie Feinberg
Fannie Flagg
Ellen Forney
Roxane Gay
Allen Ginsberg
Nicola Griffith
Radclyffe Hall
Lorraine Hansberry
Ellen Hart
Essex Hemphill
Patricia Highsmith
Nalo Hopkinson
Langston Hughes
Christopher Isherwood
Marlon James
June Jordan
Joy Ladin
Audre Lorde
Val McDermid
Janet Mock
Eileen Myles
Achy Obejas
Steve Orlando
Daniel Mallory Ortberg
Chuck Palahniuk
David Sedaris
Williams, H. Sharif
Gertrude Stein
Gengoroh Tagame
Colm Toibin
Gore Vidal
Alice Walker
Sarah Waters
Walt Whitman
Oscar Wilde
Tennessee Williams
Virginia Woolf