2026 Queer Reading Challenge: A Cozy LGBTQ Book Challenge for the New Year

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I read. 

Not how many books I read, not how aesthetic my TBR looks, but the actual books I end up choosing when it’s time to sit down and read. 

I realised that if I’m not intentional, I default to the same kinds of stories over and over again and that doesn’t always reflect what I say I care about. 

This year, I really wanted to change that and read with more purpose.

That’s how this queer reading challenge was born. For me, it’s about slowing down and being thoughtful with my reading life. 

And honestly, I think this matters for everybody, not just queer readers. The books we choose shape our perspectives in quiet ways. They influence whose lives feel familiar to us and whose stories we treat as important. 

Being intentional about reading is one of the simplest ways to grow, even when you don’t realise it’s happening.

One thing I was very deliberate about with this challenge is centering non-Western queer books. I didn’t want this to be another list where queer stories only exist in Western spaces. 

Queer people exist everywhere, and I really wanted my reading to reflect that. I’m genuinely excited (and a little nervous, in a good way) to step into stories shaped by different cultures, histories, and realities than my own.

How the Queer Reading Challenge Works

This isn’t a book club, and it’s not a group challenge you have to keep up with, so I’m not creating a group chat or organising discussions. 

This is very much a personal reading journey – something I’m doing for myself and simply sharing out loud in case anyone wants to read along.

Each month has one theme or one guiding question. Instead of assigning just one book, I’ve listed several options around that theme. 

You pick two books for the month and split them into two-week reading blocks – one book for the first half of the month, and one for the second. 

That structure feels realistic to me, and I wanted this challenge to feel doable, not stressful.

And if you don’t want to read alone, you don’t have to. You can use the comment section to say what you’re reading, find someone reading the same book, or casually become reading buddies. 

JANUARY: THE MONTH OF BECOMING

1. Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi (Nigeria)
2. The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi (Nigeria)
3. Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H (Muslim diaspora)
4. Nevada by Imogen Binnie (USA)
5. Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters (USA)
6. Proud Pink Sky by Redfern Jon Barrett (Indigenous Australia)

Quiet-time question: When did I first learn the language for who I am by and who benefited from my silence before that?

FEBRUARY: THE MONTH OF BELONGING

1. Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi (Nigeria/Canada)
2. Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson (Ghana/UK)
3. Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian) by Hazel Jane Plante (Canada)
4. A Dutiful Boy by Mohsin Zaidi (UK/Pakistan)
5. Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis (Uruguay)
6. We Are Okay by Nina LaCour (USA)

Quiet-time question: Where do I soften when I feel safe and who taught me what safety looks like?

MARCH: THE MONTH OF INTERIORITY

1. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong (Vietnam/USA)
2. Intimacies by Katie Kitamura (Japan/USA)
3. The Details by Ia Genberg (Sweden)
4. Real Life by Brandon Taylor (USA)
5. My Tender Matador by Pedro Lemebel (Chile)
6. Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski (Poland)

Quiet-time question: What parts of myself do I only meet in silence?

APRIL: THE MONTH OF POWER

1. Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg (USA)
2. Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin (France/USA)
3. The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar (Syria/USA)
4. Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde (Caribbean/USA)
5. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka (Sri Lanka)
6. Neneh Cherry’s Thousand Threads

Quiet-time question: Which parts of my identity have been regulated, punished, or policed by and how do I resist quietly or loudly?

MAY: THE MONTH OF DESIRE

1. Milk Fed by Melissa Broder (USA)
2. Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour (USA)
3. Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson (UK)
4. A Little Life (optional, heavy) by Hanya Yanagihara (Hawaii/USA)
5. Love After the End by edited by Joshua Whitehead (Indigenous, multi-author)
6. The Gods of Tango by Carolina De Robertis (Argentina/Uruguay)

Quiet-time question: What have I been taught to desire by and what do I desire when no one is watching?

JUNE: THE MONTH OF HISTORY

1. The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr. (USA)
2. Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta (Nigeria)
3. Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo (China/USA)
4. Days Without End by Sebastian Barry (Ireland)
5. The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta (UK/Jamaica)
6. Brother to Brother by Paul M. Smith (Harlem Renaissance)

Quiet-time question: Whose queer history was I never taught by and how does that absence shape me?

JULY: THE MONTH OF BODY

1. The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson (USA)
2. Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon (USA)
3. Pageboy by Elliot Page (Canada)
4. Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin (USA)
5. Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe (USA)
6. Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin (Taiwan)

Quiet-time question: How do I inhabit my body when I stop trying to explain it?

AUGUST: THE MONTH OF PERFORMANCE

1. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (USA)
2. Memorial by Bryan Washington (USA)
3. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
4. Confidence by Rafael Frumkin
5. The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta
6. Little Fish by Casey Plett (Canada)

Quiet-time question: Who am I performing for by and who do I become when the audience leaves?

SEPTEMBER: THE MONTH OF LINEAGE

1. Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi
2. The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
3. What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell
4. Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta
5. Nevada by Imogen Binnie
6. Guapa by Saleem Haddad (Arab diaspora)

Quiet-time question: What have I inherited and what do I refuse to carry forward?

OCTOBER: THE MONTH OF SPIRITUALITY

1. Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi
2. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
3. Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis
4. The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar
5. Black Leopard, Red Wolf (queer mythic lens) by Marlon James
6. She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan (China-inspired)

Quiet-time question: Where do I locate the sacred and who taught me it couldn’t look like me?

NOVEMBER: THE MONTH OF TRAUMA

1. Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart (Scotland)
2. Punch Me Up to the Gods by Brian Broome (USA)
3. The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
4. At Night All Blood Is Black (queer-readable) by David Diop (Senegal)
5. Guapa by Saleem Haddad
6. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves (adjacent)

Quiet-time question: What did I survive that I never properly mourned?

DECEMBER: THE MONTH OF FUTURES

1. This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone
2. The Deep by Rivers Solomon
3. Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (Japan/USA)
4. Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
5. Love After the End by Joshua Whitehead (ed.)
6. Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

Quiet-time question: What kind of future feels possible when I center queer joy instead of survival?

Queer literature is vibrant, diverse, and full of stories that matter. 

Whether you’re new to queer  books or already a fan, this challenge is a great way to explore different voices and experiences. 

Share your favorite books in the comments – I can’t wait to see your picks!

Discover more queer books here:

1. 20+ Must-Read LGBTQ+ Novels

2. 10+ Coming-of-Age Queer Books

3. 15+ Romantic Queer Books You’ll Adore

4. 10+ Queer Fantasy and Sci-Fi Books

5. 10+ Memoirs and Nonfiction by Queer Authors